Lawsuits in New York, other states threaten to shut pot legalization

Citizens in New York and Connecticut filed lawsuits against their states.  Among the three in New York:

1. Filed in New York Supreme Court:

It attacks the state rules on medical marijuana, marijuana product labeling and marijuana advertising. It is based on federal preemption as it violates federal law to have marijuana medicine, labeling and advertising. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug and cannot be used as medicine or advertised and labeled as medicine.
2. To be Filed in the New York Supreme Court:  This suit argues preemption in that the state cannot spend state taxes on setting up marijuana stores. This practice involves marijuana trafficking and money laundering.
3. To be Filed in the New York Supreme Court: A third lawsuit will argue that there is a state constitutional right to clean air that is violated by public marijuana smoking. Marijuana smoke is more dangerous than tobacco smoke; it is carcinogenic and causes allergic reactions.  (It’s ironic to think how hard it was to get tobacco smoke out of public places, only to find the smell of marijuana ubiquitous.)

Connecticut

Residents of Stamford, Connecticut filed a lawsuit aiming to shut down pot shops throughout the state.  The Stamford Neighborhoods Coalition is seeking an injunction in Superior Court to prohibit commercial cannabis operations, not just in the city, but in all of Connecticut.     The chief argument supporting the petition is that the 2021 legalization of marijuana in the state violated the federal Controlled Substances Act and should never have happened.The lawsuit also argues that legalization is a public safety issue, saying, “Siting cannabis facilities anywhere in Stamford necessarily increases criminal  activity in Stamford, putting children at greater risk.”

The Massachusetts Lawsuit

In Massachusetts, David Boies filed a lawsuit on behalf of cannabis companies suing Merrick Garland to overturn the federal status of marijuana.    This BIG MARIJUANA case seems frivolous and greedy next to the cases brought by local citizens.

We’ve heard that citizens of other states such as Minnesota may also take action against the pot industry.

The problem is that once a state legalizes, the industry overpowers local citizens and forces pot shops on communities.

In this battle, knowledge is our strongest weapon – science, data, and evidence.

 

Data to track Child Abuse and Neglect for 11 + years

As of January 2024, we’ve tracked 312 child abuse deaths related to cannabis in the United States over the past 11 years. Our data comes mainly from news stories found online.  Where are the academic researchers who should be studying this problem?

In three states that track substance use in reports of child abuse  — Arizona, Florida and Texas — marijuana is most frequently listed.  

Yes, Virginia Governor Youngkin was correct to veto a bill that prevented marijuana use from consideration in child safety decisions.

Our count begins in November 2012, when the first two states, Colorado and Washington, voted to legalize pot .Legalizing marijuana sends an underlying message, ‘If it’s legal, it must be safe’; we suspect the number is much higher.  

When recreational pot shops opened in January 2014, the Colorado news media reported on three pot-related child deaths. Pro-pot activists wondered if it could dampen public opinion of legalizing pot, but national media chose not to report it.

Using Texas to typify what happens

Although a new report should be released any day, we share the chart from the report from Texas in 2022.  Of 182 child abuse or neglect deaths in 2022, 73 of the perpetrators were active marijuana users at the time, 40 percent. Fifty-nine percent were former marijuana users.  Texas includes unsafe sleeping as a factor in death, as it contributes to about 30 -50 deaths per year.  Education on child safety and not using drugs would reduce that number.  Texas has made admirable attempts to bring down the number of child deaths, but 60 to 75 percent of reported deaths over several years involve substance use. Continue reading Data to track Child Abuse and Neglect for 11 + years

Virginia Governor Youngkin vetoes cannabis parental rights bill

Cannabis advocates fight to prohibit parental pot use from being part of child protective services and custody agreements. NORML has long pushed for this legislation, but Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia saw right through this sham.  

On  March 8, the governor vetoed a bill that had the potential to prevent parent marijuana use from consideration in child protection, visitation and custody!  This is a win for child safety, keeping Virginia in line with the international treaties on the rights of children. Read Legal Drugs are Fashionable — and Treacherous for Children.

The governor should also veto a bill to commercialize marijuana.  Virginia legalized marijuana in 2021, but does not have recreational pot stores. We urge our followers in Virginia to send this form asking the governor to veto the bill

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida recently commented on the negative aspects of a Florida ballot to legalize pot. He mentioned the failures of other states and horrendous smell from public smoking, but does not mention the dangers to children.  

His veto is important for many reasons

Virginia had two appalling instances of marijuana use affecting the ability to parent — recently.   In one case, the mother of a six-year-old lied about marijuana use on her gun ownership application.  The boy shot and severely wounded his 1st grade teacher, in an incident that made national news. Continue reading Virginia Governor Youngkin vetoes cannabis parental rights bill

Marijuana advertising lies, so where’s the outrage?

Billboards across the country advertise marijuana with false health claims that would never be allowed for tobacco or alcohol.  Big, bold and high (no pun intended), these signs help to sell the drug — while being seen by thousands of children.

Seen in Massachusetts

Why can’t state regulators stop these assaults on the public that attempt to portray weed as the road to a long life and better health?

Our answer: the cannabis industry which has legions of lobbyists in state governments — routinely prevails against sensible legislation. Only the states of Vermont and Montana ban billboard advertising. Most states struggle to regulate marijuana because the industry overpowers legislators with incredible promises.

Portland, Oregon

This sampling of billboards from around the country proves that the cannabis industry gets away with “murder” in legalization states.  It also proves that the ganjapreneurs, or so-called cannabis “doctors,” make fraudulent claims.  

Las Vegas

Quack Medicine and Phony Doctors

No ethical doctor would claim that cannabis is the road to a long and healthy life.  It’s about as medical as 100-proof alcohol.  Heavy, long-term cannabis users, like smokers and heavy drinkers, shorten their lives.   Even when some choose cannabis for palliative care, the drug doesn’t do anything comparable to real medicine.  Many with cancer try cannabis and reject it. Washington state

The “medical” marijuana industry’s false advertising began when they adopted a green cross, a pharmaceutical sign used in Europe.  The gimmick continued by using the term “dispensary, ” which means a clinic, or a room where medicine is dispensed.  Marijuana is numbness, not medicine.   Chicago in 2021

The pot industry understands addiction marketing.   In Chicago, 2021, Cresco Labs ran billboards repeating the word, EVERYDAY several times.   Of course, a public outcry followed.  

Marketing sex

After public outcry, an advertisement for cannabis-infused drinks near O’Hare Airport was replaced with something less sexual.

More recently, drivers into Chicago and O’ Hare Airport were greeted with a large billboard exclaiming that cannabis-infused drinks are better than SEX.  Big bold letters and hot red on a white background were used to capture attention.

A public outcry followed, with complaints written in the Chicago newspapers.  We’re happy to see that the sign was recently replaced,  but it still advertises for cannabis-infused drinks.

In Washington state, signs of pretty young women lure people into a pot shop called “Green Lady Marijuana.”

What about the Freebies?  

In Colorado, one billboard announced Free Dabs.   

Even worse, an activist group in Washington, DC,  gave out free marijuana with COVID shots.  The program was called “Joints for Jabs.”   Washington, DC, bans pot shops but allows gifting.

Most despicable are the advertising campaigns trying to get parents, and particularly women, to use weed.   Based on the number of child abuse deaths caused by pot-using parents and the knowledge that pregnant women must not use cannabis, these promoters must be stopped.

We may hate the cannabis industry, but give them credit for being some of the biggest con artists of our era — better than Big Tobacco and the opioid industry.

Have any complaints ever worked? 

Yes, a Colorado store with a mural of Cookie Monster from Sesame Street was forced to take it down after Sesame Street sued.  

Cookie Monster with pot cookies in Colorado, 2015.  A lawsuit forced the mural to be removed.

In California, a father complained the pot shops weren’t following the promise of Prop 64 not to advertise on interstate highways. He sued and won.

Editor’s Note:  Many of these signs are no longer visible, but the article is meant to alert the public of cannabis industry tactics.

COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains

My twin daughters were honors students and athletes. They entered senior year of high school in 2019, and earned full scholarships to college.  They were so talented and bright.

Now they’re 21. They dropped out of college, moved a few hours away and broke off relationships with the family. 

They began using medical marijuana when they were 18. Their behavior changed completely.  

COVID hit in the winter of 2020.  Lockdowns began. Essentially the second half of their senior year was remote. The girls were isolated from everything, and they claimed to be depressed. One had a new boyfriend, who —  I later found out — was buying and selling illicit drugs. By all accounts, he seemed like a perfectly normal good kid and you would not expect it from him. Continue reading COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains

Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

A national group of 104 parents and victims wrote to the DEA Administrator and the Attorney General, asking that cannabis not be rescheduled. The greatest number of people signing the letter were in California and Colorado; many asked to sign the letter after it had been mailed on December 2nd.  (A bipartisan group of former states attorneys also sent separately a letter to the DEA and DOJ; SAM put out a press release about the letter.)   Here’s the content of the letter:

Administrator Anne Milgram
Drug Enforcement Agency
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

Honorable Merrick Garland                                                                                         US Department of Justice                                                                                         950 Pennsylvania Avenue                                                                                 Washington, DC 20530 – 0001

Dear Attorney General Garland and Administrator Milgram:

Everyone signing onto this letter has a personal or familial story of permanent damage caused by cannabis (marijuana). For some of us, a loved one died as a direct result of cannabis use. For others, cannabis brought unfathomable damage to mental or physical health. Others were in car crashes caused by THC. For most of us, it was because of the industrial strength pot of today, but we include on this list those harmed by the old-fashioned marijuana of the 20th century. Besides those who lost their lives, there are those living with chronic conditions like permanent Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (Schizophrenia) or Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.

We are Victims of Marijuana even if we did not die from it. We also speak for victims who find speaking out on these issues is too painful.  A small number of the signatories have children who died from fentanyl or another drug, but blame marijuana for starting the loved one on drug use and/or addiction. Continue reading Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

From PotHead to Pot Educator

By Bart Bright

I once was pure Libertarian, an ally of Dennis Peron, and especially a Libertarian when it came to marijuana. Here’s how I transformed from a PotHead to a passionate Pot Educator.  My love of children makes this urgent.  ……

 It was in the 1970s, growing up in Marin County, that I became a pothead.  I went to college in San Francisco. My roommates and I grew pot in our apartment. It wasn’t so unusual at the time.  Continue reading From PotHead to Pot Educator

Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk

What do parents say?

“I smoked pot in high school and I’m ok, so I won’t make an issue of it now that I found out my teen is doing it. I prefer my kids don’t smoke pot, but it didn’t really harm me, and I don’t want a be hypocrite.”

“At least it’s pot and not opioids or fentanyl.” 

“It’s not addictive.”   

Is this reaction ok?   No it’s not.  Wake up parents; there’s a new landscape today and you had better be concerned.   Do everything in your power to stop it.

A Washington Post article earlier this year warned:  “That sense of disbelief — pot wouldn’t do this — is prevalent among parents who have watched their teenagers become gripped by addiction.”

One of the most impactful side effects of the expanded legalization movement is normalization.   Another outcome is the advertising to youth, and packaging made to imitate popular candies.  And yet another aspect is higher potency THC.

The narrative from the Big Cannabis industry and its special interest lobbyists is that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine…a harmless social vice…an expression of personal freedom…it’s ANYTHING but a dangerous and addictive drug. Continue reading Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk

It’s way to easy for kids to buy marijuana online

One of the major criticisms of expanded marijuana legalization is that it makes the drug more accessible to minors. A recent study  published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that has turned out to be a valid concern. Because of this problem, please tell  your representatives in Congress and the Senate to oppose the SAFER Banking Act.

We also urge our followers to write the DEA and DOJ and tell them not to reschedule marijuana, using the address published by SAM.  if you have not done so.  More than 100 victims of marijuana  from many states already sent such a letter to the DEA and DOJ on December 2nd.

The JAMA Study

“Pediatricians and caregivers must be aware of the widespread availability of online dispensaries and potential dissemination of marijuana to minors.”

~ Access to Marijuana by Minors Via Online Dispensaries, JAMA Pediatrics

According to the study, which looked at online weed sales in 32 states, internet dispensaries are woefully negligent when it comes to age verification safeguards that are supposed to prevent underage purchases.  To understand what to today’s marijuana looks like in its many disguises, go to THCphotos.org.

This new information should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who thinks that making marijuana available everywhere for adults won’t have an effect on children.

Troubling Findings

By nearly every measure, online cannabis dispensaries are failing at keeping the drug away from adolescents and teens. Of the 80 internet weed shops looked at by researchers:

  • Only 70% asked website visitors if they were of legal age. The standard is 100%.
  • Less than 4% asked for a specific birthday.
  • NONE of the dispensaries “required verified age documentation to enter the website”.
  • Just 1 in 5 required formal age verification at any stage in order to purchase a cannabis product.
  • 1 in 4 would deliver marijuana across state lines.
  • Of those, 95% would deliver their products even if the other states had different laws.
  • 84% of the cannabis stores accepted non-traceable payment methods such as cash, prepaid debit cards, or even digital cryptocurrency.
  • The authors noted that this allows “youth to hide their transactions”.

Verification failures at so many dispensaries demonstrate just how egregious the lack of regulation, enforcement, and accountability is within the cannabis industry.

Targeting Youth or Turning a Blind Eye?

Despite most of the dispensaries listing their policies prohibiting sales to minors, there was not much done in practice to prevent it. Worse still, it seems as if some of the products were aimed specifically at young people.

The vast majority offered marijuana edibles such as candies, gummies, chocolates, baked goods, and sweetened drinks. Among these, 67% used colorful packaging that could be attractive to minors.  California’s AB 1207 addressed the problem, but Governor Newsom vetoed the bill — under pressure from the cannabis industry.

More Marijuana Means More Problems

The study shows what we have been warning about for years. Marijuana use was on a decades-long decline thanks to the concerted work of prevention efforts, but the legalization and commercialization of marijuana is threatening to erase those public health gains.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and former Senior Drug Policy Advisor to the White House

A study published in the March 2023 edition of Addictive Behaviors found that youth marijuana use increases after state recreational marijuana is legalized.

Key findings include:

  • Past-month cannabis use went among adolescents and young adults.
  • Among young people, the perceived risk of harm went down.
  • Use increased, but treatment admissions for Cannabis Use Disorder decreased.

Dr. Sabet continues, saying, “There is no question that CUD is stigmatized and proponents of legalization have told us that legalizing marijuana will lead to more and better treatment options for those struggling with a substance abuse disorder. This study shows that in reality, legalization normalizes use and creates heavy users who are less likely to seek help.”

Good Drug Policy

“The goal of good drug policy should be to decrease access to addictive substances and increase access to treatment. Studies like this one show that legalizing drugs makes matters worse, especially for kids.”

~ Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions.

Weed Doesn’t Deserve its “Chill” Reputation

Recent news stories of homicide prove that marijuana does not deserve its reputation as the “chill” drug.  Otherwise, why would people do such stupid things and even kill others after smoking weed and then not remember why?  Are blackouts from weed similar to alcohol-fueled blackouts?

In Illinois on August 14, a father apprehended his son for smoking weed at breakfast, claiming he should not go to work at a coffee shop while stoned.   The son, Isaac Thurston, got out the kitchen knife and killed his father, Perron Thurston, 50.  “I don’t know why I did it,” he said according to bond proffer of the Cook County prosecutors.  Isaac Thurston had never been arrested before, and his uncle posted bond for him. Continue reading Weed Doesn’t Deserve its “Chill” Reputation

Evidence for Cannabis Heart Damages Proves Stronger

The evidence for the heart damages from cannabis has grown stronger since April 10, 2017, when Kristine Ziobro went into her son’s bedroom to say good night and found him non-responsive.

The parents of Michael Ziobro believe that high-potency marijuana caused Michael’s heart to go into arrhythmia and killed him.  He was 22 at the time and living at home. Michael had been taking medical marijuana for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

He thought it was safe, natural and organic.  His parents found packages in his bedroom after death that had THC concentrations of 28 percent and 24 percent.

Kristine Ziobro, Michael’s mom spoke to the New Jersey state legislature a few years ago.  “I feel in my heart of hearts, if Michael knew the full implications of smoking marijuana with high levels of THC, he would be alive today.”  It is shocking that companies get away with calling high-potency smoked marijuana “medicinal.” Continue reading Evidence for Cannabis Heart Damages Proves Stronger

Boycott CNN and pay no attention to Dr. Sanjay Gupta

We call for a boycott of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s program, Weed 7, to be aired August 6, 2023, on CNN.  Dr. Gupta’s weed series has always been an aggressive attempt to sell the public on marijuana, even when the medical studies don’t support him.

For years Dr. Gupta has been supporting controversial medicines, such as Vioxx and the Gardasil shot.  He’s choosing to embroil himself in controversy again and ignore the pleadings of doctors and victims who’ve been harmed by cannabis.

The Parent Action Network (PAN) calls on parents to write CNN’s editors with objections to the program.  Continue reading Boycott CNN and pay no attention to Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Need to Close the Farm Bill Loophole

 A loophole in the farm bill has allowed sellers to process CBD from hemp into Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC and THC-0. We urge our followers to write to your Reps in Congress and the Senate and demand they close the loophole, using this form  letter.

Delta-8 THC,  Delta-10 THC and other THC analogs are sold in gas stations and smoke shops throughout the country. Many states have banned these products, but most have not. Unfortunately, these products have been getting into the hands of children and teens who are vaping it. Continue reading Need to Close the Farm Bill Loophole

SAM Report shows devastation to children, young adults

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) recently released a “Lessons Learned” report showing what we’ve known all along: there’s no good way to legalize marijuana.  The time has come for states to repeal this policy and put Pandora’s evils back into the box.  Data continues to show the damaging effects of marijuana legalization.

 SAM’s 2023-2024 report presents a different reality than the narrative advanced by BIG POT, which considers only money.   SAM’s President and Executive Vice President will explain the report in a webinar on June 16th.  We encourage you to attend to hear  Kevin Sabet and Luke Niforatos.

Legalization has had a devastating impact on children and young adults, not only because of the poisonings described previously, but several other problems. Continue reading SAM Report shows devastation to children, young adults

More than 300 child abuse deaths in last decade linked to THC

We frequently hear about children hospitalized or poisoned by marijuana edibles, but we don’t often hear about the significant number of children who died of child abuse or neglect associated with THC! 

The totals compiled by Parents Opposed to Pot reached a new milestone — 302. Our tracking begins on  October 30, 2012, and continues through early 2023. 

Texas released its 2022 maltreatment fatalities report in March.  Of the 182 child abuse deaths last year, 73 of the perpetrators were active marijuana users.  In contrast, only 12 used alcohol, 10 used cocaine and 6 used opiates. Continue reading More than 300 child abuse deaths in last decade linked to THC

Oklahoma votes on marijuana ballot in March

In 2018, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford warned of the medical marijuana question on the state ballot: “This state question is being sold to Oklahomans as a compassionate medical marijuana bill by outside groups that actually want access to recreational marijuana.”

The time has come, and Oklahomans will vote next month on Question 820, a marijuana legalization and commercialization bill. The State Supreme Court ruled that the ballot could not be included in the 2022 midterm election. Governor Kevin Stitt set the date for March 7.

By December 31, 2022, five donors gave over $3.2 million in support of legalizing marijuana, a big commercial enterprise. According to Ballotpedia, the opposition had not yet raised moneyHowever, Protect Our Kids PAC is currently raising funds to oppose the ballot. Continue reading Oklahoma votes on marijuana ballot in March

Los Angeles Times publishes “Broken Promises” series

The Los Angeles Times articles in a series called “Legal Weed – Broken Promises” highlight the false promises of marijuana legalization.  The latest article on marijuana legalization suggests that state legislators have finally woken up; they now want to take action to stop the problems.  Reports show rampant labor abuses, human trafficking, exploitation and the deaths of 32 marijuana farm workers.

It’s hard to imagine a political movement that has failed more miserably. Even now the use of cannabis has leveled off at 12% of the population, up from 7% in 2013, but not likely to increase.

Unlike the LA Times, the national press rarely chooses to explore why marijuana legalization doesn’t work. Even reputed sources such as PBS take their information from the cannabis industry instead of independent investigations.*

We’ve reported on the many lies of the marijuana legalization movement.  These  Los Angeles Times articles detail the societal harms of marijuana legalization (without even showing its harm to individual users):

Dec. 29, 2022

Legal Weed, Broken Promises: A Times series on the fallout of legal pot in California

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-08/a-series-on-the-fallout-of-legal-weed-in-california

Dec. 22, 2022

Dying for your high: The untold exploitation and misery in America’s weed industry

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-22/the-exploitation-violence-and-desperation-that-produces-the-pot-you-smoke-and-eat

Sept. 22, 2022

Inside California’s pot legalization failures: Corporate influence, ignored warnings

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-22/california-legal-pot-measure-has-not-met-expectations

Sept. 15, 2022

‘$250,000 cash in a brown paper bag.’ How legal weed unleashed corruption in California

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-15/cannabis-corruption-threats-secret-financial-deals-politicians

Sept. 8, 2022

The reality of legal weed in California: Huge illegal grows, violence, worker exploitation and deaths

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-08/reality-of-legal-weed-in-california-illegal-grows-deaths

__________________________

* An exception to the industry-slanted reporting comes from Rocky Mountain PBS, specifically “Insight with John Ferruggia.

Does California Sober work?  We say NO

“I really believe in the ‘Cali sober’ method. It’s helped me. I actually just hit five years clean.” Aaron Carter made that declaration on Adam Grandmaison’s “No Jumper” podcast — just days before he died on November 5, 2022.  As he fingered a joint, he continued, “This, I don’t consider a drug. I consider this a gift from God.” 

What is Cali sober and does it work?    

In California, where the drug culture has been strong since the 1960s, many young people go into harm reduction therapy for the treatment of addiction, instead of abstinence.   California sober, or Cali sober, goes along with this trend. We see little evidence that this approach works.  Continue reading Does California Sober work?  We say NO

New York’s wild weed sales prove “Biggest Fool Theory!”

Fly-by-night pot shops operate everywhere in New York City, with little attempt to stop them. A new state legislature was elected; so can a new crop of legislators put Pandora’s evils back into the box? Can the state admit failure and undo its reckless law which legalized cannabis?

Meanwhile, Canadians who invested in cannabis stocks and companies lost $131 billion dollars.  In Colorado, on November 30, it was reported that the cannabis industry has seen the largest downturn ever.   After three years of cannabis in Illinois, sales are flat, despite the addition of new licenses

So why did New York legislators fall for a failed policy?

It’s the Bigger Fool Theory:  If you bought say a gas station on the same corner where 6 other operators had failed, why would you do the same?  They may be fools, but you were the bigger fool.  New York is the biggest fool of all!   Officials should have known that the black market expands and can’t be controlled once you legalize pot.
Continue reading New York’s wild weed sales prove “Biggest Fool Theory!”

Soros vs: Koch: Competing Models for Marijuana Legalization

Over the past 30 years, George Soros has spent about $100,000,000 of his own money to legalize marijuana.  Charles Koch, of Koch-brother fame, is also in the game.   Americans deserve to know how much megadonors control our daily lives. 

For parents fighting to save kids from drug addiction and pay for treatment, we’re perplexed at their callous indifference to our plight.

The pollsters offer a selling point for legalization, too, claiming that 70% of the country supports legalization.  However, both Pew and Gallop Polls come out inaccurate, because they don’t word the question properly.  They never ask whether people prefer decriminalization or legalization.

What is the difference between the Koch and Soros programs?  While Charles Koch supports the market-based model for legalization, Soros regularly supports the candidates who are part of the Progressive movement within the Democratic Party.  

Regardless of which roadmap a state follows to legalization, all roads lead to monopolies.   (We will show this conclusion in a two-part series. Subscribe to our blog to read Part II) Continue reading Soros vs: Koch: Competing Models for Marijuana Legalization

Advertising drives higher youth use of marijuana in legalization states

In states where recreational marijuana is legal, adolescents ages 12 to 17 reported a 25% higher increase than in states without legalized cannabis.  The spike in marijuana usage that came with legalization is most dramatic among young people, and advertising probably drives the increase.

The unstated goals of the legalization movement – seen in the billboards, push polls, lobbying, political donations and empty promises – are making money and increasing usage. Continue reading Advertising drives higher youth use of marijuana in legalization states

Cannabis during pregnancy may cause mental health issues in children

Mental health is the buzzword of today. Children whose mothers used cannabis during pregnancy may develop attention and behavioral problems around ages 11 and 12. The findings come from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, also called the ABCD Study.  Scientists at Washington University analyzed data and published their findings in JAMA Pediatrics last month.

Considering that prenatal cannabis use increased from 3 % to 7 % between 2002 and 2017, the warnings against pot use for pregnant women need to get stronger.  (The first two states voted to legalize pot in 2012, and now that number stands at 19 states.)  While mental health problems in youth are growing, it’s shocking that states follow policies that increase mental health risks. Continue reading Cannabis during pregnancy may cause mental health issues in children

Medical marijuana users should not be allowed to own guns

Guns are a hot topic. This year a 21-year-old “isolated stoner “killed multiple people at the 4th of July Parade in his hometown. The most notable mass shooters in Illinois– the Highland Park Shooter and the Aurora factory shooter – were marijuana users, presumably heavy users. Both men were able to bypass FOID laws to buy or own guns.

Gary Martin, the disgruntled employee from the Henry Pratt factory in Aurora, IL, used a gun to kill five fellow employees in 2019.  When police arrived at the scene, they shot and killed him.

Martin had THC, caffeine, nicotine, and THC metabolites as the only drugs in his system when he died. *  Continue reading Medical marijuana users should not be allowed to own guns

Secondhand Smoke from Marijuana Worse than Cigarettes

The toxic air quality from the secondhand smoke of cannabis became so bad that a group of citizens banded together last year to form Breathe Free Oregon.  Oregon legalized marijuana, which is interchangeable with the term cannabis, in 2015. The group posts important blog articles on their website, and the most recent science backs up their findings. 

According to a brand-new study, secondhand marijuana smoke from a bong is even more dangerous than cigarette smoke. The first-of-its-kind study, which was just published in JAMA Open Network, found that secondhand marijuana bong smoke contains four times as many toxic air pollutants as smoke from tobacco cigarettes.

In fact, after just 15 minutes of bong smoking, the level of toxins in the air is more than double the Environmental Protection Agency’s hazardous air quality threshold. Continue reading Secondhand Smoke from Marijuana Worse than Cigarettes

Marijuana use by parents may increase chances of having autistic children

True or false — are people who use a lot of marijuana more likely to have children with autism?  Recent scientific studies suggest that the link between parent pot use and autistic children is much more than urban legend!

As more states legalize, more Americans support the legalization of marijuana, rushing to be at the forefront of social change.  Autism is also a hot topic, because rates of autism in the United States spiked in recent years.  We caution politicians and voters not to leap into legalization without a thorough study of the issue.  Do not disregard studies that link parental pot use to autism.

The science suggests that mothers who use marijuana while pregnant and fathers who are heavy users before their partners’ pregnancy put their future kids at risk. They’re more likely to have children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Continue reading Marijuana use by parents may increase chances of having autistic children

The Problem of “Laced” Weed

By Pam Zuber, guest columnist

In November, a Connecticut laboratory reported of marijuana laced with fentanyl and called it “a new public safety threat.”  In early February, a 16-year-old student overdosed on fentanyl-laced marijuana at Broomfield High School. He went to the hospital and required multiple doses of Narcan to be revived.

While the problem of laced weed is nothing new, the lacing with fentanyl appears to be the latest rage. In fact, the Connecticut Department of Public Health reported of 39 cases of naloxone revival last year for patients claiming to have smoked marijuana.

The problem of laced weed is one more reason to encourage kids never to use drugs, including weed. It is not an excuse to legalize marijuana, a drug that also cannot be ruled as safe – even for adult consumption. Continue reading The Problem of “Laced” Weed

A Response to Dr. Gupta’s program on Marijuana and Autism

On December 19, 2021, Dr. Sanjay Gupta presented on CNN a program about Marijuana and Autism, a program that begs a response.

Most of the program concentrated on one Texas family and their daughter with an extreme form of autism.  Their daughter, now a teen, was born very prematurely and has suffered for years.  Based on the recommendations of a neighbor, the parents found that marijuana use can stop their daughter’s self-injurious behavior.  (We sympathize with the girl, the parents and their very difficult situation.)

If THC can stop a brain that’s misfiring so easily, one begs to ask what cannabis can do to a brain that isn’t damaged?  Continue reading A Response to Dr. Gupta’s program on Marijuana and Autism

The Devil is in THC Details

The mainstream media makes CBD seem harmless, but what happens when chemists turn it into the Delta forms of THC?  The problem is that CBD, which is legal and widely available, can be converted –or “isomerized” in a lab — into various THC derivatives. These derivatives become 3 times stronger through the “acetylation” process. 

Because of these processes, legal CBD-based products may cause mental impairments such as psychosis, similar to Delta-9 THC. 

Today, almost any person in the US can buy CBD-derived Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC, and acetylated THC products in local shops or online.  Vape shops and gas stations advertise the Delta products, because they’ve found a means of selling THC in the states where marijuana isn’t legal.  In some states where weed is legal, buying the Deltas allows consumers to get out of paying state taxes on marijuana.  

These problems resulted unexpectedly from legalizing hemp in the 2018 Agriculture Bill, as explained in Part 1:  The Problem of Delta-8 and other THC Analogs.

Even if they can’t be sold legally to teens, Delta-8 and other THC analogs get into the hands of our teens. Some of the youths who recently died by suicide were vaping Delta-8 THC.

The ABCs of THC chemistry

The word “cannabinoids” refers to the many naturally occurring chemical compounds in cannabis plants, specifically hemp and marijuana plants.  While there are hundreds of naturally occurring cannabinoids in hemp and marijuana, the two most well-known cannabinoids are CBD from the hemp plant and THC from the marijuana plant.  THC is also known as Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol or Delta-9 THC. 

Made by nature or in labs?

An “isomer” is a molecule that has the exact same molecular formula as another molecule.  A well-known example of a molecular formula is water, or, H2O.  Water’s molecular formula specifies that it contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.  Pivoting the discussion to CBD, the molecular formula for this molecule is the same as Delta-9 THC; therefore, CBD and Delta-9 THC are considered isomers of one another.  What is different about these two molecules is the arrangement of the atoms, which causes the human body to respond to each one differently.

“Isomerization” is a chemical process whereby one isomer can be transformed structurally into another isomer by the use of other chemicals.  After the process occurs, the resulting chemical needs to be further processed to remove any residual byproducts.

Today, legal CBD can be isomerized into various THC derivatives.  These derivatives include Delta 8-THC, Delta 9-THC, and Delta-10 THC.  All of these have the exact same molecular formula and are therefore isomers of one another.  The arrangement of the atoms of each molecule is what differentiates one from another.

Delta-8 THC

Delta 8-THC is about one-third as potent as Delta-9 THC, but there are anecdotal reports of Delta-8 THC users becoming just as psychotic as those who use Delta-9 THC. (Read our previous article on Delta 8-THC.) Delta 10-THC is also reported to be less potent than Delta 9-THC.  Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC are legal because they are derived from federally legal hemp. Many states have recently banned or restricted the sale of these chemicals because of the expected health risks.  Similarly, the FDA recently issued a warning about the health risks of Delta-8 THC.  

Delta 8-THC becomes more potent by using the same chemical process that creates heroin out of morphine.  The chemical process used to convert morphine into heroin is called “acetylation”.  When this process is applied to Delta 8-THC, the resulting chemical could be just as potent as Delta 9-THC.  Delta 9-THC can be acetylated and made about three times more potent than its original form. We do not have data on whether acetylated THC derivatives are more addictive. Increased addictiveness and potency are hallmarks of heroin when compared to morphine. The US Army studied Acetylated Delta-9 THC and found it to be so potent that it was considered a possible chemical warfare agent that could physically incapacitate enemy troops during the Cold War.

Little information is available about the possible adverse side-effects of Delta-10 THC because it is very new to the market.

The Discovery of Delta-10 THC

Circling back to Delta 10-THC, this is where the isomerization process gets very interesting. In 1984, an Israeli scientist documented the earliest scienc-based information on the synthesis of Delta-10 THC.

Fusion Farms, a marijuana farm in California, was hit by wildfires in the summer of 2020. To suppress the fires, firefighters used fire retardants via aircraft which subsequently contaminated the marijuana crops at Fusion Farms. After the fires subsided, the farm processed the plant material that remained. During the processing, they found the end product contained Delta 10-THC, rather than the Delta 9-THC which they expected.

It is absolute madness for these unregulated, dangerous chemicals to be considered legal — simply because they’re derived from the CBD found in the hemp plant before industrial processing turns them into another form of THC.

Claiming that these forms of THC are natural is wrong. There’s nothing natural about what is currently sold as THC and has been transformed through industrial laboratory processes. The end results often affect our young people’s minds permanently. Cannabinoids are very complicated and THC details matter.

Jesse LeBlanc, a mechanical engineer with experience in the chemical industry and member of our Board of Directors,  wrote this paper. Read his previous article on Delta-8 THC. 

On February 1, Dr. Aaron Weiner and IASIC will present a free webinar on Delta-8, THC-0 and the future of cannabis.  Register here: https://julnet.swoogo.com/iasic-seminars/1510302

marijuana to fentanyl pipeline continues …….until Death

On November 17, 2019, Michelle Leopold’s son Trevor died of an overdose after purchasing counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl. He was only 18. His drug use started a few years earlier, when he used marijuana as a freshman at Redwood High School in Marin County, CA.  He graduated from Tamalpeis High School in 2019. (Trevor is shown with his mother Michelle at a residential treatment center in Utah, above photo)

The nation was shocked when television therapist Laura Berman’s son, Sammy Chapman, 16, died of a fentanyl overdose earlier this year.  She and her husband knew he had been using marijuana and tried to stop him.  All it took was a pill that he purchased on Snapchat. 

The teens dying of overdoses in California are getting younger and younger —16, 15, 14, 13.

The number of overdose drug deaths this past year climbed past 100,000. Of these deaths, 75% were from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Initiation of marijuana use before age 18 is the predominant predictor of an opioid use disorder.

A revealing obituary in Illinois

An obituary of a young man from Illinois who died in October appeared in a local paper. Beloved to his family and friends, the tribute reads: “He was passionate about cannabis.”  

The announcement said he was in recovery but died of heroin laced with fentanyl.  Marijuana is often the “relapse drug” for those addicted to opioids, as well as the gateway. This webpage covers many explanations of how marijuana provides the gateway effect to other drugs.

Would he still be alive if his state had not joined the marijuana bandwagon last year?  By legalizing pot, under the guise of social justice and tax money, Illinois may have sabotaged his recovery, as they did for this man. Pot use wires the brain for other pathways of drug and alcohol addiction.

People in the more experienced drug markets of California understand the marijuana to fentanyl pipeline, sometimes followed by death. 

Tori Kropp’s son Xander also died of a fentanyl overdose:                                          “18 months after he first smoked weed, he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose,” his mom said.

The Northern California epidemic

We learned about Tori through The Pitch, a newspaper put out by the advanced journalism students of Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo, California.  Henry Pratt’s article, “Every parent’s worst nightmare”: fentanyl epidemic overtakes teens” won a national journalism award.  

In the article, Kropp explains that “marijuana is a “gateway drug” to other illicit substances and that it is more dangerous for the developing teenage brain. According to Kropp, marijuana sold today has much stronger concentrations of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main component of marijuana that gives users a high. “

Pratt also interviewed Michelle Leopold for the article.  Leopold explains that the cannabis industry’s anger at her comes from her truthful comments about marijuana as a “gateway drug” to other addictive substances.  The industry, unable to admit the dangers of their products, blames her as a parent for her son’s addiction. 

Pratt’s outstanding student article further explains what fentanyl is, how it’s infiltrating the world of students. COVID, the lockdown and social media have made the situation worse.  Pratt explains how Narcan may be able to stop a fentanyl overdose. However, it’s not a long-term solution to the addiction and overdose epidemic. Primary drug prevention will take us much further.

Marijuana to Fentanyl pipeline in other states

Officials from Connecticut Overdose Response and the Department of Public Health put out a warning about the dangers of marijuana laced with fentanyl. The press release of November 18 explained 39 overdose cases since July 2021, in which patients required naloxone but claimed to have only used marijuana.  Testing proved that the marijuana had been laced with fentanyl.

Two days ago Michigan Poison Control put out a press release warning of 8 such cases in Michigan since June.  Since fentanyl-laced marijuana shows up in states with legalized marijuana, it’s clear that state “regulation” doesn’t take away these dangers. 

Today COVID, the overdose epidemic and the marijuana-to-fentanyl pipeline converge for a very challenging period of time!

The Problem with Delta – 8 THC and other THC Analogs

Why is the United States passively allowing the manufacture, sale, and use of Delta 8-THC, Delta 10-THC, and THC-O, all of which are harmful chemicals that may be even more damaging than nicotine/tobacco? Why is this happening in a supposedly science-based society? Could this be occurring because of loopholes in the 2018 Agriculture Bill?

Currently, hemp-derived CBD is being synthesized and converted into these chemicals, which are then made into different products for retail sale.¹ ² ³ We can see many of these products being advertised for sale online, in vape & smoke shops, gas stations, and convenience stores in almost every state. These items are even being marketed to children through the use of very inviting packaging and products, such as the all popular gummy bears. Luckily, some state authorities have decided to stop the sale of these products because health officials have identified that there is a potential for serious harm when using these chemicals.

The FDA even recently issued a warning about one of these synthetically produced chemicals, namely Delta 8-THC: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/5-things-know-about-delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-delta-8-thc. Continue reading The Problem with Delta – 8 THC and other THC Analogs

E-cigarettes, marijuana and Juul, crossovers between the products

Part 1 of 2

As the Surgeon General warned In 2016, vaping by teens had begun to rise dramatically that year.  This rise in vaping e-cigarettes played a role in reversing a long-term decline of teen smoking. In the coming weeks, the FDA will be making a decision whether or not to ban flavored vapes.  Flavors like mango and mint enticed so many teens who got hooked on nicotine through vaping.

Just as the rise of vaping — and lax regulation — paved the way for teen smoking, marijuana legalization — without the federal government doing its job to stop it — paved the way for more teen marijuana use. Addiction-for-profit industries work in similar ways. Continue reading E-cigarettes, marijuana and Juul, crossovers between the products

Opinion: Is Drug Use a Victimless Crime?

By Ron Cuff, originally published in the Paso Robles Daily News

Three Heritage Ranch residents were recently charged by San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow with the tragic death of a 7-month old infant due to methamphetamine and fentanyl poisoning. On June 4th in Indianapolis, Crystal Martin admitted before a court to giving her three-year-old son Johnathan Johnson two 100mg pills of Zoloft, an antidepressant drug, before leaving him unsupervised to play near a creek, where he was found face down in four feet of water. Continue reading Opinion: Is Drug Use a Victimless Crime?

IASIC, International doctors’ group formed to educate on marijuana

A doctors’ group is taking on cannabis education.  On May 20, 2021, the International Academy on the Science and Impact of Cannabis (IASIC) officially launched with a press conference held in San Diego and live streamed across the country.  

President of the newly-launched group IASIC, Dr. Eric Voth, is no stranger to addiction and drug policy work.  In his forty years involved in the fields of Internal Medicine, Pain Medicine and Addiction Medicine, he confidently asserts, “…We’ve seen marijuana become a serious public health problem…Today, as a direct result of rigorous efforts to legalize and normalize marijauna, it is responsible for a host of medical problems.”

IASIC has been founded to fill the serious void Continue reading IASIC, International doctors’ group formed to educate on marijuana

Riveting Testimony in Colorado House

Colorado State Representative Judy Amabile of Boulder gave riveting personal testimony of her son on May 26. Along with many others, she spoke in favor House Bill 21-1317, “Regulating Marijuana Concentrates.” 

She described how her son began using Colorado marijuana in 8th grade. He had his first psychotic break at 18. He now has schizoaffective disorder.  “Let’s not talk about him today.  It’s too late for him. Let’s talk instead about your children and thousands of other children who are negatively being impacted by the use of marijuana,” she said.  

Speaking for all families affected by today’s high potency pot, she continued, “We are done being shamed and blamed into silence.”

Finally, a parent in a position to make a difference gave a story comparable to those told on Parents Opposed to Pot, Moms Strong and Johnny’s Ambassadors. Many parents testified in favor of the House bill.  Some of their children survived marijuana, but others, such as Johnny Stack, did not. 

The bill passed in the committee and then the Colorado House last week. Rep. Yadera Caraveo of Thornton, Rep. Tim Geitner of Falcon and House Speaker Alec Garnett of Denver co-sponsored the legislation.

The Denver Gazette wrote an article about the bill’s content and Rep. Judy Amabile’s remarkable speech. The bill passed the entire Colorado House of Representatives and a version is currently being debated in the Senate.   

In the Senate testimony, Kirk Quitter, principal of a Boulder Valley High Schoo, said that he’s witnessed several psychotic breaks in school.  “We’re gambling away our kids for money,” he exclaimed.  Let’s hope the Senate uses its conscience and rubberstamps this bill.

A summary of the bill.

“The bill requires the Colorado School of Public Health to do a systematic review of the scientific research related to the physical and mental health effects of high-potency THC marijuana and concentrates. The bill creates a scientific review council to review the report and make recommendations to the general assembly. Based on the research and findings, the Colorado School of Public Health shall produce a public education campaign for the general public, to be approved by the council, regarding the effect of high-potency THC marijuana on the developing brain and mental health.”

A Founding father of legal reveals regrets

Excerpts from PERSPECTIVE, published in The Colorado Springs Gazette, April 4, 2021

Editor’s note: Robert Corry played a prominent and pivotal role in the movement to legalize marijuana in Colorado. The University of Colorado graduate and Stanford-trained lawyer helped draft groundbreaking Amendment 64 on Colorado’s 2012 statewide ballot — permitting production and retail sales of recreational pot. Corry also designed and implemented the dispensary framework for patients and caregivers under Amendment 20, enacted by the state’s voters in 2000 to allow medical use of marijuana. As a trial attorney, he represented hundreds of clients accused of marijuana-related offenses, and he litigated cases and administrative actions involving Amendment 64’s implementation. Yet, nearly a decade after voter approval of his handiwork, he now professes deep disappointment and wide-ranging regrets. In today’s Perspective, he issues a searing indictment of how legalization has turned out. He decries the legal marijuana industry’s “crony” capitalism and its cozy relationship with government. He lets on, “I wish I could be proud of what we created, but I’m not. The outcome of 64 is shameful, hurts people, and Colorado is not ‘safer.’ ”

We started with the best of intentions. Colorado Amendment 64, which I helped draft, made three Continue reading A Founding father of legal reveals regrets

Two huge changes about cannabis and criminal justice, in the US

The good news comes from a study finding that the inequality in sentencing between blacks and white drug offenders has gone down to zero.  That conclusion was published March 15, 2021, by Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The study covers the years between 2009 and 2018, and it studied the federal court, rather than state court, system.

The bad news comes from the impacts of increased cannabis potency.  Support in Colorado and Washington for potency limits is growing.  Although previous attempts failed because of the pot industry’s power, this year the potency caps may pass. Continue reading Two huge changes about cannabis and criminal justice, in the US

Weed users who committed or attempted mass violence

After the shooting deaths of 10 people in Boulder yesterday and 8 people in Atlanta last week, we beg to know what drugs may have been used by the shooters.  

The Boulder shooter’s brother described him as anti-social and paranoid, traits that often….but not necessarily… come with heavy pot use.  

What’s in that Colorado Rocky Mountain high?   As the New York Times reports, From Columbine to Boulder, Colorado has a long history of mass shootings.

Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana, one of Poppot’s allies, is calling for a national law requiring that toxicology reports be made public.  In a statement today, AALM said:  

“With the dramatic increase in the potency and use of marijuana, senseless violent acts are and will become more common.   Toxicology reports of recent mass murderers must be released to the public.”

In December, the Ventura County District Attorney released a report on the Thousand Oaks, CA, shooting and killing of 12 people.  “Toxicological testing on Ian David Long detected marijuana, caffeine, and tobacco, but no other drugs, medications or psychoactive substances.”  It’s yet another incident showing the relationship between cannabis and mass violence, a factor rarely discussed by the press.   The incident occurred in November 2019, and the full report took two years to be made public. Continue reading Weed users who committed or attempted mass violence

The link between cannabis concentrates and psychosis | Guest View

By Lauren Davis, published in the Edmonds Beacon, February 18, 2021

In 2012, Washington voters approved Initiative 502, legalizing cannabis. Back then, the black market was dominated by dried cannabis flower, with a potency of approximately 10%.

Dried cannabis flower is biologically limited to about 30% potency, and I-502 capped the potency of edibles at 10%.

But in an oversight of extraordinary proportions, there was no potency limit established for cannabis concentrates like THC-infused vape oils, shatter, and dab wax. Enter science, industry, business investors, and profit motivation and, today, concentrates with 99 percent potency are readily available at cannabis retailers.

According to researchers, these concentrates are “as close to the cannabis plant as strawberries are to Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts.” Cannabis concentrate sales have soared from 14% of the market share in 2015 to 37% in 2019.

I have devoted my professional and legislative career to mental health and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Spurred by reports of youth with cannabis-induced psychosis filling emergency departments and psychiatric wards and high school students having psychotic episodes after dabbing (inhaling), I began to delve into the research on cannabis and psychosis.

The literature is both definitive and damning. Washington’s leading cannabis experts at the University of Washington and Washington State University recently released a consensus statement summarizing the science:

“High potency cannabis use can have lifelong mental health consequences, which often manifest in adolescence or early adulthood. Daily cannabis use, particularly of high potency products, increases the risk of developing a psychotic disorder, like schizophrenia, and is related to an earlier onset of symptoms compared to people who do not use cannabis.”

During the 2020 legislative session, I introduced a bill to cap the potency of cannabis concentrates at 10%. This figure matched the limit for edibles and was a starting point for negotiation. The bill included an exemption for patients using high potency concentrates for medical purposes.

I had numerous meetings with cannabis industry representatives, and no one was aware of the psychosis link. Though they disagreed with my proposed solution, industry leaders were emphatic in their commitment to coming to the table as thoughtful partners to address this issue.

So, you can imagine my surprise when, instead of proposing more palatable policy solutions as promised, cannabis industry representatives testified before the House Commerce & Gaming committee that the research implicating cannabis in psychotic disorders is unfounded.

Borrowing from the well-worn playbooks of their forefathers, big tobacco and opioid manufacturers, cannabis business leaders attempted to poke holes in the science and offer alternative explanations.

In 1957, tobacco industry director Clarence Cook Little wrote: “No one has established that cigarette smoke, or any one of its known constituents, is cancer-causing to man.”

Sixty-three years later, cannabis industry leaders testified to our legislature that “cannabis use [is] not independently associated with psychosis.”

Modeling after Purdue Pharma, the opioid maker that wrote that addiction “is not caused by drugs … it is triggered in a susceptible individual by exposure to drugs,” the cannabis industry tried to offer a counter theory – that it is people who have a genetic predisposition for psychotic disorders who are developing them and then using cannabis to self-medicate.

That theory has been debunked by studies that account for family history and still show a significant increase in psychotic disorders from cannabis use.

I never anticipated the cannabis industry would enthusiastically agree to a low potency limit. I only expected them to make good on their word – to show up as earnest partners in addressing their product’s role in one of the largest emerging health crises of our time.

When the industry’s opening move is to spit on the consensus of the scientific community in the spirit of climate deniers, it’s difficult not to question the sincerity of their espoused commitment to public health.

I’ve introduced House Bill 1463, which caps the potency of cannabis concentrates at 30% and raises the age of purchase for concentrates from 21 to 25. Washington’s cannabis industry now has a second chance to act with integrity and come to the table as problem solvers.

It is only the fate of our children with which we are gambling.

Rep. Lauren Davis (D-Shoreline) serves northern King County and a portion of Edmonds in the 32nd Legislative District. She was the founding executive director of the Washington Recovery Alliance and taught UW’s graduate mental health policy course.

Legalization invites black market, lawlessness into state

Black market growers of marijuana destroyed my Colorado retreat

Whenever you listen to or read dialog from the pro-marijuana crowd, they say that legalizing marijuana will make the black market go away.  This statement is a blatant lie.  Rather, legalizing marijuana invites criminal organizations into your state and allows them to grow pot illegally under the guise of running a legal operation. 

I am the owner of a summer home in rural Colorado with beautiful mountain views.  In the midst of this beauty, a Chinese group purchased a ten-acre parcel with a house near my home.  Within a year, they had cleared a section of the indigenous vegetation, which is so important to the survival of the local wildlife, and illegally grew thousands of marijuana plants. Continue reading Legalization invites black market, lawlessness into state

Opinion: Let’s face up to marijuana’s toll on kids before it’s too late

An opinion from Colorado

By Robin Noble

It was prom night 2018, but my teenager wouldn’t be putting on a tuxedo. He had been throwing up since dawn. 

His low back was aching, a sign of kidney distress. He needed to go to the ER. It would be our 11th trip in just over nine months. I found myself hesitating because, at about $8,000 a visit, even with insurance the costs were severe.

My son was suffering from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). Once rare, the condition is being seen increasingly in Colorado and other states that have legalized marijuana. It includes intractable vomiting and, strangely, compulsive hot water bathing. Continue reading Opinion: Let’s face up to marijuana’s toll on kids before it’s too late

Colorado has a drugged driving problem; here’s the data

By Ed Wood, for DUID Victims Voices   Lukas Myers knows this.  The photo shows him being extracted from a car when he was 12 years old after a crash caused by a marijuana-impaired driver.  Most bones in both of Lukas’s legs were broken as well as both wrists.  

For some, stories like this are convincing.  

Others need data.

 So here is a summary of relevant data from 10 sources.

  1. Percent of drivers who admit driving after marijuana use:
    • 18.6% of past-30 day adult marijuana users[1]
    • 54.4%% of past-30 day high school student marijuana users[2]
  2. Toxicology tests of those arrested for DUI[3]:
Drug category Number
Cannabinoids Positive screens 4,205
  THC positive 4,069
Alcohol   3,956
Benzodiazepines   1,774
Methamphetamine and similar   1,090
Cocaine      838
Opioids/opiates      699
Sleeping Zs      115
Barbituates        51

Note: CBI  data from Jul 2019 to Jun 2020 when all DUI blood samples were tested for both alcohol and a full drug panel. 

  1. DUI charges– percent caused by alcohol, THC and polydrug use – 3 year trend [4]
  2016 2018 Percentage change
Alcohol 78.8% 75.3% -4.4%
THC   5.4%   6.4% +18.5%
Polydrug 12.7% 14.5% +14.2%
  1. Traffic deaths per Billion Vehicle Miles Traveled (BVMT):
    • Increased from 9.91 in the five years before marijuana commercialization to 11.26 in the five years after marijuana commercialization[5].
    • Increase of 1.46 deaths/BVMT per year adjusted after marijuana commercialization, compared with a synthetic control[6].
    • Increase of 1.9 deaths/BVMT per year adjusted after marijuana commercialization, compared with states with stable legalization policies[7].
    • Increase of 1.7 deaths/BVMT per year non-adjusted after marijuana commercialization compared with states without legal recreational or medical marijuana[8].

Note: the above reports measured the effect of marijuana commercialization in 2014, not marijuana legalization in 2012.

  1. Traffic fatalities implicating THC:

There were 632 traffic fatalities in 2018.  87% of the drivers in those fatal crashes were tested for drugs.  83 tested positive for THC including 36 at or above 5 ng/ml[9].

  1. Vehicular homicide convictions by drug group in 2016[10]:
Drugs detected Number
Alcohol only 10
THC only 2
Single other drug only 1
Alcohol + THC 2
Alcohol + other drug 1
Alcohol + THC + other drug 2

So what is Colorado doing about the problem?

    Deny the problem exists

In 2020 the Department of Motor Vehicles revised the Driver Handbook to say, “…it is unclear whether cannabis use increases the risk of car crashes.”

    Encourage marijuana use

During the COVID pandemic shutdown, marijuana dealers were classified as an “essential business” by the Governor, permitting them to sell their product while non-essential businesses were required to close.

Home delivery of marijuana was authorized, ostensibly to reduce drugged driving.

At the December 14, 2020 meeting of the Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee, the Colorado Department of Public Health an Environment announced that henceforth, “marijuana users” were to be referred to as “cannabis consumers” since the former label is pejorative.  You just can’t make this stuff up.

    Subsidize the marijuana industry

Governor Polis announced a $584,399 tax credit to Canadian marijuana company SLANG Worldwide to expand operations in Colorado.

On a side note that may not be completely unrelated, Governor Polis is rated A+ by NORML, the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws.

[1]https://marijuanahealthinfo.colorado.gov/health-data/behavioral-risk-factor-surveillance-system-brfss-data

[2]https://marijuanahealthinfo.colorado.gov/health-data/healthy-kids-colorado-survey-hkcs-data

[3] https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?u=8c19b56d089ffb41f61475b71&id=7e46389639

[4] Rosenthal A, Reed J. Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol.  Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, Office of Research and Statistics, Nov 2020

[5] Federal Highway Administration, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/pubstats/

[6] Santaella-Tenorio J, Wheeler-Martin K, DiMaggio CJ et al. Association of Recreational Cannabis Laws in Colorado and Washington State With Changes in Traffic Fatalities, 2005-2017. JAMA Intern Med. Published Online June 22 (2020)

[7] Aydelotte JD, Mardock AL, Mancheski CA et al. Fatal crashes in the 5 years after recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington. Accident Analysis and Prevention 132 (2019) 105284

[8] Kamer RS, Warshafsky S, Kamaer GC. Change in Traffic Fatality Rates in the First 4 States to Legalize Recreational Marijuana. JAMA Intern Med. Published Online June 22 (2020)

[9] Gorman T. The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact. Vol 6 Sept 2019. Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

[10] Bui B, Reed J. Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Drugs. A Report Pursuant to HB 17-1315. July 2018. Colorado Division of Criminal Justice

HHS Data, Monitoring the Future data show troubling trends

Youth drug use increases in legalized states

State-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), found significant increases in youth marijuana use in several recently legalized marijuana states versus last year.  At the same time, mental illness indicators worsened across the country while alcohol, cocaine, and tobacco use dropped, especially among young people. Continue reading HHS Data, Monitoring the Future data show troubling trends

Judge’s ruling to end many cannabis billboards in California

A judge’s ruling last week blew the lid off of the deceptive practices of the marijuana legalization program in California.  San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Ginger E. Garrett made a ruling that bans certain billboard advertisements.  The decision affects the entire state.  Hopefully, children will see fewer large signs promoting marijuana. 

State officials allowed hundreds of billboards advertising marijuana along California highways, in contrast to voters’ expectations. A 2016 ballot initiative that legalized the sale of pot for recreational use was supposed to ban this type of advertising.  Proponents of the ballot gave voters the impression that children wouldn’t see such ads. The Bureau of Cannabis Control, a regulatory agency,  violated terms of Proposition 64.

We quote from the Los Angeles Times : “The lawsuit was filed by Matthew Farmer, a San Luis Obispo construction contractor who is father to a 15-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son.

“One of his two attorneys, Stewart Jenkins, said Farmer voted for Proposition 64 in 2016 because he did not think adults should go to jail for smoking pot but was concerned when cannabis ads began appearing along the 101 Freeway traveled by his family. Continue reading Judge’s ruling to end many cannabis billboards in California

Medical Societies of five states speak out against marijuana legalization

Recently the medical societies of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania joined together to express mutually shared concerns about efforts to legalize marijuana by state governments. Also in late October, the family of a California woman brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the maker of an edible product bought at a San Diego pot shop.

Legalization continues to present serious public health concerns.  The societies issuing the warning represent tens of thousands of physicians. Their statement echoes our view that marijuana legalization is an anti-science policy. Continue reading Medical Societies of five states speak out against marijuana legalization

International drug dealers move in, hiding behind legal pot

This week’s front-page article about the mass murder of seven in the Los Angeles Times demonstrates that international marijuana growers have infiltrated the United States.

If seven Americans had been shot in a similar fashion, it would be the main topic of nightly news.  But the victims were middle-aged men and women from Laos.  It happened on a marijuana farm in Riverside County in California, on September 7, 2020.  The status of the murdered farm workers is unclear; they may be indentured servants, slaves or victims of human trafficking. 

This crime doesn’t fit the narrative that the US government’s “War on Drugs” is responsible for killings at drug operations.  The Drug Policy Alliance turned the “War on Drugs” into a negative term, asserting that drug dealers are innocent victims. Continue reading International drug dealers move in, hiding behind legal pot

New Jersey’s Springsteen Has secret to being “The Boss”: No pot or drugs

Born-to-Run Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen still performs vigorously, after more than 50 years in music.  A few weeks ago he turned 71, and he remains trim and fit.

There’s a secret to Springsteen’s continual renewal and energy, the constant ability to write, to create, to evolve and to correct. Springsteen never used drugs, including marijuana.  When we look for reasons why some artists survive, thrive and are universally respected, Springsteen, “The Boss,” shows the advantages of staying sober.

According to long-time friend from E Street band days, Steve Van Zandt, “He’s a living example of what happens when you never do drugs your whole life. I mean, I’m sure he’s taken a drink or two a few times in his life, but he was never a drinker either.”Springsteen also didn’t follow the expected routines of school. For him, life was never easy, not at home, not in school, nor in music. Success was won with slow and steady, lots of trial and error, band changes and rearrangements.

Springsteen’s non- conformity included not taking drugs and not drinking at the bars where his bands played. He bailed out band mates who were busted for marijuana and even joked about the drug.  But in interviews and in his autobiography, Born to Run, he claims that he didn’t partake.

“I had the goods and nope, I didn’t fuck around, no drugs, no booze, girls………yeah but not if they got in the way of “the music.”   Born to Run, p. 115

“I was living the life of an aspiring musician. A circumstantial bohemian — and as I’ve mentioned, I didn’t do any drugs or drink.”  Born to Run, p. 117.

Sins of the father and family inheritance

The son of a bus driver, Springsteen gives voice to the working class.  He speaks the language of Jersey, and liberal politics define his roots and struggles.

“Losing My Religion,” a chapter in his autobiography, refers to the time Bruce took his first drink of alcohol at age 22.  He held off on drinking until age 22, a good idea considering that his father drank too much and had violent outrages.  However, it’s not only people with alcoholism in the family who can suffer from addiction. Mental illness runs in his family, at least through his father’s side.  But its also not only those with mentally ill relatives whose minds derail from drug use.

bruce-springsteen-drugs

Springsteen admits to depression for which he takes medication. Yet, he forgives the sins of his father and lets pain fuel his writing, singing and expression.  “The Boss” gives all of us an example how to pursue life with incredible passion.  He also shows us that it’s possible to be endlessly creative and poetic without the drug use. 

A creed to live by

“I’d seen people mentally ruined, gone and not coming back.  I was barely holding on to myself as it was.  I couldn’t imagine introducing unknown agents into my system. I needed control and those ever-elusive boundaries.  I was afraid of myself, what I might do or what might happen to me. I’d already experienced enough personal chaos to not go in search of the unknown. Over all my years in bars an out-of-line drunk in my face was the only thing that could get me fighting mad. I’d seen my dad and that was enough. I wasn’t looking for outside stimulants to help me lose or find anything. Music was going to get me as high as I needed to go.

How ironic if the state of New Jersey votes would vote to legalize pot this year, when the state’s most famous icon eschewed pot and all drugs.  Springsteen probably won’t take stand on the ballot, but voters should take inspiration from his history.

Lessons Learned from Legalization 2020-2021

Smart Approaches to Marijuana released its latest report in September 2020. From the various graphs, data and statistics, it is clear that the harmful consequences of marijuana use are more extreme in states that have legalized marijuana. State regulation fails in a number of ways highlighted in the report:

  1. In legal pot states, youth use at higher rates and they “dab” at higher rates than the states without a marijuana industry. There’s a 25% increase in youths with Cannabis Use Disorder in states that legalized pot. The increase follows the increase in marijuana potency, as pot shops sell the most addictive products that create the highest demand. Between 30-40% of teen pot users in Oregon and Colorado report dabbing; dabs have upwards of 50% THC content.
  2. At least 18% of traffic fatalities in Colorado and Washington involve drivers impaired by THC. Driving under the influence of THC remains a huge problem, as pot users believe they aren’t impaired.

    Continue reading Lessons Learned from Legalization 2020-2021

Do marijuana grows lead to fires and global warming?

For thousands of miles along the west coast, skies are red, orange, or gray with the dust of ash. It’s apocalyptic.  People are losing their homes and more than a few people have died in the three states which bookend our west coast.  Watching these catastrophic flames begs the answer to a new question.  How much global warming and climate change could have been avoided if California, Washington and Oregon hadn’t legalized pot? 

The track of west coast fires follows the trail of growth in the massive marijuana industry over 25 years. It began north of San Francisco, moved further south along the central coast of California and up into Oregon and Washington. Washington, which made pot legal in 2012, hit a historical moment with more than 330,000 acres burning in 24 hours, more than in the entire fire seasons of 12 out of the last 18 years. Not until the last few years has Oregon, which legalized marijuana in 2015, been a large part of the fire problem.  Oregon has a huge surplus of marijuana.

At the moment, four cities on the “West Coast of Weed” have the world’s worst air quality.  Please tell Congress not to allow expansion of the marijuana industry. Continue reading Do marijuana grows lead to fires and global warming?

New book has up-to-date facts about cannabis as Medicine

A distinguished group of doctors, scientists and academics present the latest research in Cannabis in Medicine: An Evidence-Based Approach.  Dr. Kenneth Finn, a professional advisor to Parents Opposed to Pot, edited the book and Springer, a prominent medical textbook company, published the book in July, 2020.   

In recent years, marijuana has grown exponentially stronger and the science on its effects has grown more robust. Between 2011 and 2019, 15,269 marijuana-related manuscripts were published in biomedical literature.  The notions that the Schedule I designation of marijuana prevents research, and that we need a MORE Act to allow research, are false.  As the drug grows more potent, its damaging effects become more obvious, too. Continue reading New book has up-to-date facts about cannabis as Medicine

Marijuana Legalization and Heightened Violence in Portland

The city of Portland has been plagued with nightly violence, arson and attacks on police for three months. Last month Portland experienced the highest homicide rate in one month in the last 30 years.  In fact, in each month except March, the number of shootings exceeded the previous year’s rate for that month.

How does one explain extreme changes in the city over 5 years?   How much does the explosion of new marijuana stores fuel the current violence in Portland?  Oregon opened commercial “recreational” marijuana stores in July 2015, and now Portland boasts 304 licensed marijuana shops.

Obviously there’s much going on that does not concern Black Lives Matter in this city that is 6 % African American and 77 % white.  While COVID-19 frustrations and concern over the treatment of African Americans may have started the protests, a different force fuels nightly crimes.  Anti-police sentiment runs strong, but the current violence has nothing to do with the right to protest and free speech. 

Could the anti-police protests be associated with cannabis use among young adults in that city? Negative effects of marijuana include irrational fears (paranoia), impaired judgement, delusional thinking, and aggressive or violent behavior. Remember how San Francisco’s Summer of Love came to a very bad end back in 1967?  History often repeats itself.

Defunding the police

In June, Portland’s mayor announced the city would stop using its marijuana tax revenue to fund police. The cannabis industry association requested the defunding, objecting that $2 million in the city’s marijuana tax goes to the police.

The first unit to go was the gun violence reduction unit.  Portland’s fiscal year began July 1, so it’s easy to measure the outcome of disbanding the gun violence reduction unit. There were 99 shootings in July, resulting in 15 deaths. August looks to be much the same, now that people 8 people were shot in the last week

The mayor and city council decided to reduce the police budget specifically by defunding three specific units.  As schools begin, Portland’s high schools will no longer use the police department’s school resource officers.   Then in January, the police department will no longer patrol the transit system.  As city officials give into demands of the rioters, the more the rioters mock and take advantage of them.

Portland police union president Darryl Turner called getting rid of the gun violence reduction team “a big mistake” that would threaten the safety of residents.  Last week, rioters set the police union building in North Portland on fire. 

Protestors burning a pig head, their symbol for police.

Portland residents Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein explain their views of what’s happening in a series of podcasts, the Dark Horse Podcast. Only a tiny proportion of Portlanders agree with the defunding policy, but the rioters win.  Seattle, another city full of pot shops, is also defunding its police, but a petition to refund the police gathered over 200,000 signatures

Marijuana stores busier and pot shop thefts explode

Cannabis sales have gone up 20% since March. Furthermore, 60 weed store thefts have occurred since May.  Really? Weed was supposed to make people mellow, or so they claim. 

From this article, Weed Robbery Spree Strikes Portland: Joe Russo, who co-owns a cannabis distribution company, says the sales increase makes sense. People are working less [coronavirus related job loss] and many are getting generous unemployment benefits.

“It makes sense that recreational vices are picking up,” Russo says.

Police officers speak up

Is it possible that Portland’s violent protestors deliberately loot the purveyors of their favorite drug? Are these nightly rages against the federal courthouse drug-fueled rampages? We submit the following evidence to the court of public opinion.

This below video is a press conference with some of the front lines police officers giving their perspective. The first to speak is Sargent Brent Maxey, who described a nightmarish attack on his Central Police Precinct building, and the civilian workers inside. Maxey says:

“It got to the point where they were throwing burning material into the lobby through the gaps in the windows, and blowing marijuana smoke, it was almost like a scene out of a horror movie. It was really unnerving…they had removed all the plywood, they had disabled all the exterior cameras, they started coming at the windows with hammers, they had removed some 2×4 lumber and were smashing at the windows of the precinct at what I believe was a sincere effort to get inside… by words and actions their intent was to harm us and essentially burn down the building…”.

–from Police on Portland Protests video, below
https://youtu.be/wMe2hou_sgE

Officer Rehanna Kerriage describes many of the calls received by the downtown Portland precinct:

“consist of livability issues: camping issues, mental health, drug issues, some shootings, stabbings, protest related issues and defending police property.”

–from Police on Portland Protests video, above

We know that many drug users end up homeless and living on the street (camping issues) with deteriorating mental health issues. 

Homelessness is up, too.

The homelessness population has completely changed since 2014.  Back then, it wasn’t even noticeable.  Are people moving to the city because of the weed and then becoming homeless?

A drug legalization lobby, spearheaded by Drug Policy Alliance, aggressively demonizes law enforcement with oft-used phrases such as, “war on drugs,” “mass incarceration,” “militarized police force,” “low level drug crimes.”  Their game is to make the public believe that possession of drugs, rather than crimes committed while on drugs, lands people in jail. This year, the Drug Policy Alliance donated nearly $ 2.5 million for a ballot to decriminalize all drugs in Oregon.  Drug Policy Alliance, a Soros-funded group, gave most of the $ 9.2 million used for Measure 91, the ballot to legalize pot, back in 2014.

Marijuana use is a frequent element of these mass protests the “Chaz/Chop zone” in Seattle, the Ferguson protests and the attack on the Central Portland Precinct.  While it may be scientifically difficult to associate marijuana use to the mob violence breaking out in several cities, it is still important to observe and pinpoint what role marijuana use plays as a root cause of the violence.

Cannabis’ negative effects can promote some of the behaviors we witness in the triggering incidents and the follow-on protests and riots. Among those are, resisting arrest, confusing fact with fiction, attractions to violent ideologies, mood disorders, paranoia and psychosis, violent outbursts.  Jeremy Christian, who committed the violent knife attack on a Portland train three years ago, was a cannabis fanatic.

For more information about cannabis related violence, see Think Ya Know? Is Marijuana a Risk Factor for Violence? Or, read Alex Berenson’s book, Tell Your Children the Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence.

Sargent Brent Maxey gave a longer interview to a local Portland reporter. Check it out, I Want People to Know the Truth – A Police Officer’s Perspective on the Portland Protests.

Is Marijuana A Gateway Drug?

The marijuana activists get very upset at any suggestion of marijuana being called a gateway drug.  Of course not everyone who starts using marijuana uses other drugs; some just go on to stronger versions of marijuana, such as “wax,” “dabs” or vapes.  Others may not use anything stronger than the old-fashioned weed of the last century.   

Yet the scientific evidence suggests it is a gateway drug which can open the doors to other addictions, including alcohol. Studies show that marijuana affects dopamine receptors and our brain’s reward system which may lead to the use of many other drugs. In one study done by the University of Michigan Medical School, researchers found a negative correlation between the amount of marijuana consumed over time and the amount of dopamine that was released in the brain in response. Smokers will then seek other drugs in order to achieve the high they used to experience with pot.

Continue reading Is Marijuana A Gateway Drug?

Fix What You Can: A Letter to My Granddaughter

Young Brains & Marijuana

Originally written for Mindy Greiling’s blog,

A Letter to my fifteen-year-old granddaughter

Dear Taylor,

I learned a lot about marijuana and mental illness at a recent National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Conference. I want to share some of it with you while it’s still fresh on my mind, because it scared me. I don’t want you to get schizophrenia like your Uncle Jim.

When I was young, I pooh-poohed scare tactics about marijuana. I only used it once, however, because I didn’t want to get in legal trouble. The information we have now is much more based in science and much more dire than what we were told as kids.  Marijuana is three times stronger than it was then, according to University of Minnesota and hospital doctors who presented at the conference. Apparently it’s not as harmless as I thought either, especially for young people. They said that marijuana use hijacks normal brain development Continue reading Fix What You Can: A Letter to My Granddaughter

Alarming Increase “Dabbing” and “Vaping” by Colorado Kids

Six years after adult-use marijuana commercialization began in Colorado, teens report an alarming increase in their use of ultra-potent pot products in the form of dabs and vapes, according to official state data released today.  A statewide Healthy Kids Survey from last year questioned 53,520 students chosen randomly from 195 middle and high schools.

More than half of high school students who use marijuana reported that they dab marijuana to get high. Among students who reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, 52% said they dabbed it, up from 34.4% just two years ago— a 50% increase. 

“Dabbing” is a method of inhaling highly concentrated THC (commonly referred to as hash oil, wax or shatter) Continue reading Alarming Increase “Dabbing” and “Vaping” by Colorado Kids

Poppot’s positions on Legalization and Decriminalization of Marijuana

Parents Opposed to Pot does not support the legalization of marijuana.  Nearly a decade of marijuana commercialization in Colorado and Washington gives us an informed perspective, and the policy of legalization failed at all levels. 

We believe that states that have legalized adult use of marijuana need to repeal it. The tax money does not make the social costs worth it. States with legalization break federal law, even if the federal government does not enforce the law.  Legalizing and commercializing marijuana should not be a states’ rights issue.

We do not take a position on decriminalization, but ask our supporters to explore the position statements of SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) and AALM (Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana) for education on this matter.

Is it ok to use pot?

We believe the message to youth must be that no amount of pot use is ok.  This message will save lives, preserve young brains, and lead to better short-term and long-term mental health. 

We strongly believe that the use of marijuana is more dangerous than an arrest for marijuana. We acknowledge that damages from marijuana use on individuals are uneven and unpredictable.  The potency (percent of THC) in marijuana, the amount of use, and the starting age of the user affect outcomes, but no one can predict who will have a psychotic reaction from using it.  You do not need mental illness or addiction in the family to suffer extreme consequences from using marijuana.   Also, the brain damages from marijuana appear to come on to users much more quickly than the brain damage from extensive alcohol use.

We object to claims that marijuana is a “harmless herb,” “safer than alcohol,” or that it can be “regulated like alcohol.”  The industry targets youth through its advocacy in social media and advertising for marijuana.  The press fails at its duty to investigate false claims by the industry.  Drug education fails because it emphasizes harm reduction over primary prevention.

We don’t call people who use cannabis “criminals,” nor do we claim that people should go to jail if they use it.  There are all kinds of other variables that go into incarceration: plea bargaining down from other crimes; selling to youth; intent to sell, or if another person dies from drugs given or sold to them.  

Parents and children

We object strongly to any marijuana use by pregnant and lactating women. The medical evidence against its use, and the potential for future damage to the children, are strong.

We strongly object to the use of marijuana by parents who have children in the home, or by people in charge of minors.  Any marijuana use impairs judgment a great deal more than a glass of wine or beer, and the number of child abuse deaths related to marijuana use is staggering.  Whenever small children are left in hot cars or left alone to drown in pools, we should check into the caregivers’ drug use.

No age group is safe from the risks of this drug, which is not safer than alcohol or tobacco.  In fact, studies show that: 1)the percentage of marijuana users who develop a cannabis use disorder is higher than the percentage of alcohol only users who develop an alcohol use disorder.  2) Long-term, heavy marijuana users  have more downward social mobility, job and relationship problems than long-time, heavy alcohol users. 

Social Justice Issues

Inequalities in the justice system are not caused by drug laws, and are not unique to drug laws.  Certainly wealthy criminals can afford to hire topnotch defense attorneys, while low income defendants reply on public defenders.

Legalizing drugs is the wrong way to address issues of unequal justice, such the higher rate of arrests for black and brown citizens, relative to their rates of usage, than whites. We concede that arresting people for possession of marijuana is not the best way to educate them about the true dangers of this drug.

Problems of unequal justice should not lead to the legalization of drugs.  Legalization enables more drugs, and more drugs cause more criminal behavior.  Other means of criminal justice reform are possible, such as diversion and drug courts, which can help people without resources.

We don’t take a stand on the expungement of records for marijuana, due to the great variation in states’ laws.

Schedule I Designation

We believe marijuana must remain in a Schedule I classification, the same designation for heroin.  Schedule I is for drugs that have a high potential for abuse. Several agencies of government reviewed the designation multiple times.  Scientists in these agencies keep coming to the same conclusion:  Marijuana is a Schedule I drug.

The schedule I category also stands for no acknowledged medical use.  For information, we recommend a recently-published medical book, Cannabis in Medicine, edited by Kenneth Finn, MD.  

Whole plant marijuana is not medicinal.  If components of the plant, or synthetic cannabinoids, are “medicinal,” the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) should make the determination. 

Because the industry avoids FDA approval, it’s harder to hold them accountable.  For example, many people who became sick or died from EVALI were using marijuana vapes for “medical” reasons.   We accuse many medical marijuana dispensaries of failing to warn their “patients” of the risks, such as driving under the influence of medical marijuana and causing traffic fatalities.

Contrary to popular belief, there are extensive studies on the medicinal properties of marijuana.

Normalization and promotion of drug use

Marijuana legalization contributes to the epidemic of addiction, because it normalizes the use of drugs.  Addiction today is mainly poly substance abuse.  We believe — in contrast to the Drug Policy Alliance — that it’s possible to have a rich and fulfilling life without drug use. Whether we’re children or adults, we’re better off if we negotiate the challenges of life without substance use.  Using the term “War on Drugs” is passe, since the government stopped using that term over a dozen years ago. 

(For more detail, please utilize the search function on this website, for example “drug policy,” “schedule I” “mental health,” etc.  We refer the public to a detailed article from USA Today for the problems presented by legalization. )

 

Johnny’s Story

By Laura Stack, Founder, Johnny’s Ambassadors

Johnny Stack was born on February 7, 2000 and died by suicide on November 20, 2019 at the age of 19. He was an incredibly intelligent, funny, charming, handsome young man, which you can see in his tribute video. We are a normal suburban family and did normal family things. He had a happy life, a 4.0 GPA with a scholarship to college, and a family who loved him very much. Unfortunately, we live in Colorado, which was the first state to legalize marijuana in 2014, when Johnny was 14 years old.

Three days before he passed, he came over for dinner. He lived in our condo a couple miles down the street and would often pop in for a home-cooked meal. “I need to tell you that you were right,” he says me. “Right about what?” I ask. “Right about the marijuana. You told me weed would hurt my brain, and it’s ruined my mind and my life. You were right all along. I’m sorry, and I love you.” He died by suicide three days later. Continue reading Johnny’s Story

Is marijuana good for social justice?

It is popular to say that marijuana was made illegal because of racism. The truth is marijuana was first banned in a military hospital in Mexico City in 1882, where it was used to treat pain, in an effort to prevent violence and disorder. Mexico then banned all production, sales and recreational use in 1920, and export in 1927. This was a result of Egyptian officials asking the international community to join in a treaty to make it illegal around the globe in 1925. It wasn’t until 1985, some 60 years later, that a book by a U.S. author referred to marijuana laws as racist.

Any claims that marijuana is illegal in America because of racism are in conflict with history.

Will more pot shops in our neighborhoods and marijuana in our homes really reduce incarceration rates and improve the quality of life for minorities? We don’t think so. Marijuana is an equal opportunity destroyer. And we know every brain matters.


Thought Provoking Facts

The facts show that even under legalized marijuana, the poor and minority communities suffer the worst outcomes. For instance, after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, minority teens were arrested in greater numbers for marijuanaviolations. Pot shops are disproportionately situated in impoverished communities, in Colorado, also. Clearly, making the residents more susceptible to high use rates and addiction. In Denver, as an example, pot shops are heavily concentrated in Hispanic communities. This sends the message to the youth that drugs are harmless, which we know is not the case. Combine struggling schools with drug abuse and student grades are sure to plummet. We know that amotivational syndrome, a harmful side effect of pot, will cause poor educational outcomes and lead to more school dropouts. More access to this psychoactive drug will increase violence, addiction and theft, all of which have high arrest rates.

The link between marijuana use and crime is also downplayed by those who promote legalization. Industry lobbyists also tell us the the black market will disappear when marijuana is legally available. However, in legalized states, we are seeing an increase in gang activity, crime and black market sales.

What Does the Evidence Show?

Contrary to the social justice claims of the legalization activists, prison populations are rising in states where marijuana is legal and sanctioned for recreational use. Project SAM depicts these trends very clearly in these illustrated graphs for Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia.

William Jones III fought against legalization in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He writes a compelling opinion piece to the Philadelphia Inquirer about why marijuana legalization will harm our inner city communities. Calling marijuana toxic and addictive, he makes a strong case that pot shops will destablize communities already suffering from education and health disparities.

Other Voices on Marijuana and Social Justice

Abu Edwards, Director of State Affairs for Project SAM says state legalization will be a disaster for black communities. He clearly lays out how minorities are being used to further profit motives of big business rather than social justice. Of particular concern is how the children in his community are going to be led into a drug lifestyle by the aggressive advertising of this industry.

So, is it as the marijuana activists say, a choice between legal weed and social injustice? Dr. Kevin Sabet discusses the false dichotomy of legalization and criminalization in his TEDx PrincetonU talk. It is not a black and white issue, he advises there are many dimensions to consider, as this is an important social and public health discussion.

Take Action

You can equip yourself to debate the finer points of marijuana and social justice. We recommend taking the time to downloand and read these excellent materials.

First, take a look at this easy to navigate fact sheet, a downloadable one pager on Social Justice by Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

Read also this important PopPot perspective about the disingenuous social justice argument for pot, Social Justice, the Pretext Legalizers Use to Get Support.

Once again, we rely on the great work of Project SAM on this issue. Kevin Sabet and Will Jones, III co-authored this excellent article on Marijuana Legalization, The Social Injustice which debunks many of the racially based arguments for legalization.

Now that you know, take some time and help educate 5 people you think need to know.


Candidate Joe Biden sticks to the science against legalizing pot

Today, a broad, diverse group of renowned scientists, led by the first Black United States Magistrate Judge and researchers from Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical School, sent a letter to former Vice President and current presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, commending him for his unwavering commitment to a well-reasoned approach to marijuana policy.  The former vice-president respects the science on this issue.

We suggest to Joe Biden that he not consider any vice-presidential candidate who is pro-marijuana. Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren should be struck from his list because of their pro-pot stances which are at odds with his. Continue reading Candidate Joe Biden sticks to the science against legalizing pot

A Powerful New Video on Racism and the War on Drugs

Phil Vischer, founder of Veggie Tales, has a powerful new video on race.  After discussing racism, he calls out the “war on drugs” and policing, as potential reasons for continued wealth disparity between blacks and whites. His video doesn’t explain how drug use ravages individuals and communities.

Vischer doesn’t claim to know the solutions, but he calls upon people to “care.”  But, we ask, where’s the caring for children who die in the crossfire of drug wars or gang wars?  What about the children of all races killed by drug-using parents? Continue reading A Powerful New Video on Racism and the War on Drugs

It’s just marijuana. The problem with denial

By Anne Moss Rogers, emotionallynaked.com  and webinar presenter, Turning Pain into Purpose, on June 19

“It’s just marijuana. It’s not like he’s doing heroin or meth.”

“I can’t worry about pot and drinking? We all did it in high school.”

“We didn’t want him to get arrested so we let him smoke marijuana at home. It’s a harmless drug.”

“His anxiety is so bad, we let him smoke marijuana.”

“My son is not smoking marijuana. His grades are perfect and he’s just not the type.”

I have heard parents say all of the above statements, dismissing marijuana as harmless. Continue reading It’s just marijuana. The problem with denial

My Daughter Suffered Paranoia and Psychosis from “Medical” Marijuana

My daughter is in her thirties.  A friend who was a recovering drug addict introduced her to marijuana. She started experimenting with pot after high school. I didn’t know about it at the time, only found out years later. She said it brought up memories and was sort of traumatic for her.

She started seeing a therapist.  And, eventually, she was recommended a medical marijuana card. I still don’t know the diagnosis. She was smoking marijuana occasionally before that, but once she got the card she started smoking large amounts of pot. She was telling me strange things, things that didn’t make sense. I thought ‘this is really odd.’ The next time we visited she was very secretive. She was dressed nicely and seemed to be taking care of herself, as normal. But it was our conversation that was unnerving.  She took me outside to the woods nearby to speak, because she suspected there were hidden cameras all over her home. Continue reading My Daughter Suffered Paranoia and Psychosis from “Medical” Marijuana

Think ya know: is marijuana addictive?

Promoters of marijuana claim pot is not addictive. We beg to differ! What follows are videos and links with evidence proving that claim is simply untrue. Cannabis with THC, in every form, is a dangerous, mind-altering substance that often creates a need for more and higher dosages. Daily use is a significant risk for addiction. And, for those who brag about “waking and baking,” we know that they exhibit signs of extreme dependency.

Today’s turbo-charged pot is much more addictive and addiction comes on much faster than it did in the ’70s when the THC content was just a fraction of what it is today.

Continue reading Think ya know: is marijuana addictive?

Cannabis and THC: How it damages the brain and body

By Mary Brett BSc (Hons) Chair of Cannabis Skunk Sense in Great Britain www.cannabisskunksense.co.uk

Damage is caused in several different ways.

Neuron — Courtesy of Mary Brett who provided the image

BRAIN: Messages are passed from cell to cell (neurons) in the brain by chemicals called neurotransmitters which fit by shape into their own receptor sites on specific cells.

The neurotransmitter, anandamide, an endo-cannabinoid (made in body) whose job is to control by suppression the levels of other neurotransmitters is mimicked and so replaced by a cannabinoid (not made in body) in cannabis called THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). THC is very much stronger and damps down more forcefully the release of other neurotransmitters. Consequently the total activity of the brain decreases. Chaos ensues. Continue reading Cannabis and THC: How it damages the brain and body

Free Zoom Event to watch A Night in Jail

Behavioral Health Services, a contractor for Los Angeles County Substance Abuse Prevention and Control, will present a free Zoom event during National Prevention Week on Thursday, May 14, at 5 PCT, 8 pm on the East Coast. Please join in with us. Continue reading Free Zoom Event to watch A Night in Jail

A Victory over Marijuana, a Rally and a March

Parents Opposed to Pot enjoys a victory over the marijuana hype now that both major party candidates for the presidency oppose the legalization of marijuana.  Neither former Vice-President Joe Biden nor President Trump support nationwide legalization.

It ‘s a triumph of sorts, since nearly all the presidential candidates who dropped out are on record for supporting nationwide legalization.  We’ll celebrate this fact and other triumphs at the Voices of Truth: A Rally for Victory over Marijuana on October 3.  As a result of the COVID 19, we rescheduled our events from May to October 1 – 3.  People from all over the country will attend the rally, culminating with a march to the Martin Luther King Memorial. Continue reading A Victory over Marijuana, a Rally and a March

Homeschool Drug Prevention Resources

Suddenly Homeschooling? Why not add a little drug prevention?

Many parents are facing the daunting task of teaching their children while they are home for an extended time. This week is National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week so the Drug Free America Foundation came up with a fun way to add drug prevention into your child’s curriculum.

They are suggesting that you add these games which are a fun way of conveying and testing your child’s knowledge.

Day 1

Play Kahoot! Marijuana Myths: Can You Tell Fact From Fiction?

Day 2

Take the National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge

Day 3

Play the Jeopardy-style interactive game: Drug Facts Challege!

Day 4

Take an exploration on Brain Power! to learn the effects of drugs on the body

Day 5

Have fun on social media by printing these fun “Not everyone’s doing it” cards and uploading a picture with your child holding these cards to brag how they are not engaging in drugs or alcohol! Make sure to include #NDAFW in your posts.

COVID-19 + Pot: Lung Issues, Suppression of Immune System, ER Problems

By David G. Evans, Esq

Hundreds of businesses in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.  However, “medical” marijuana stores remain open as officials revise public health orders to include cannabis as an essential medicine.

Who is Vulnerable to Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Is keeping marijuana stores open a good policy? The science shows that it is not.

The Centers for Disease Control states that the people at high risk of getting very sick or dying Continue reading COVID-19 + Pot: Lung Issues, Suppression of Immune System, ER Problems

Parent Movement 2.0 launches, starts “I’m in” Pledge

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic, and the recent vaping crisis, parents are uniting in Parent Movement 2.0 via the “I’m in” pledge, an instrument designed to create an online community intent on reducing the use of marijuana, alcohol, nicotine and other drugs among kids. These drugs can hurt and kill. “Because it attacks the lungs, COVID-19 could be an especially serious threat to those who smoke or vape tobacco and/or marijuana,” warns Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Drugs are different from what today’s parents may have known when they were young, Continue reading Parent Movement 2.0 launches, starts “I’m in” Pledge

The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Published on Parents Movement 2.0.  Most parents of teens today don’t realize there was a massive parent movement (1979-1992) that influenced Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign of their youth. Prior to the slogan in the early 1980s, those parents were taking very practical steps to change the local environments in which their kids grew up – reducing access and visibility of pot and drug paraphernalia and offering other parents at the time a way to think about teen drug and alcohol use and team up against it. Continue reading The parents succeeded before; we can do it again

Parent’s Book on Marijuana Suicide Now on Amazon


They say you can’t overdose on marijuana. When Brant Clark was seventeen years old, he had a devastating experience from smoking an enormous amount of marijuana at one time. It led to a sudden, major psychotic break, emergency room care, hospitalization for nearly a week, and ultimately his suicide two weeks later. This book documents some of the most important, yet widely under-reported research about the risks of marijuana and THC to youth.

Continue reading Parent’s Book on Marijuana Suicide Now on Amazon

Online Courses announced

online-marijuana-course

“…To further enhance your knowledge, personal development and ability to assist in marijuana prevention efforts.”

Paula D. Gordon, Ph.D. is an Educator, Writer, Strategist, Online Publisher (including http://GordonDrugAbusePrevention.com ), and Instructor of three online courses offered by  Auburn University Outreach. The courses include the following:

  • “The Effects and Impacts of Marijuana Use ~ Policies and Approaches Addressing the Challenges”
  • “A National Public Health Disaster: Drug Abuse, Addiction, and the Opioid Crisis~ The Role that Marijuana Use and Legalization are Playing” and
  • “Transforming and Leading Organizations and Organized Efforts”   

Further information concerning these online courses is included here and can also be found at http://GordonDrugAbusePrevention.com .

Continue reading Online Courses announced

Will Jesse Bullard’s death waken the public to dangers of legal pot?

Toddler’s death highlights how marijuana use becomes abuse

Jesse James Bullard’s sweet smile lit the world of all those with whom he came in contact, but he lost his life abruptly on January 22.   His father, Isaac, smoked a marijuana “dab” that morning, backed his car out and ran over the baby boy.  Jesse was was about a month shy of his second birthday.  But this was Colorado, and health officials don’t find parents’ marijuana habits unusual.

Popular magazines and newspapers publish articles which promote marijuana for moms and dads.  Newspapers – with some notable exceptions — are reluctant to report about the true dangers of marijuana. Continue reading Will Jesse Bullard’s death waken the public to dangers of legal pot?

AOC and Senator Crapo Hold key to marijuana Banking

Social justice failure of legalizing weed

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exposed the fact that marijuana legalization fails as a social justice issue. https://youtu.be/kW7fWM04Uyc   The Congresswoman spoke to the House Committee on Financial Services on February 13, 2019. She pointed out that 81% of dispensaries in Colorado are owned by whites, and that only 3% of dispensaries in Massachusetts are minority owned.  Representative Ocasio-Cortez spoke at a House committee meeting discussing access to banking services for the marijuana industry.

Senate considers SAFE Banking Act

Senator Mike Crapo and the Senate Banking Committee are now considering the SAFE Banking Act. According to a secret recording of April 2018, Ukrainian businessman Lev Parnas urged President Trump to support the SAFE Banking Act.  It is assumed that Parnas wanted to own or invest in American marijuana businesses. Continue reading AOC and Senator Crapo Hold key to marijuana Banking

Washington legislators propose curb on high potency marijuana concentrates

A bipartisan group of 22 Washington state legislators introduced a bill to curb the potency of marijuana concentrates.

Citing concerns about the connection between cannabis and psychosis, the lawmakers want to slash the potency of cannabis products, limiting THC levels to no more than 10%.    The ban would be limited, because it  doesn’t cover products sold as “medical.”

House Bill 2546, would outlaw the vast majority of state-licensed vape cartridges, dabs, wax, extracts and other concentrates. These products account for nearly 40% of state-regulated marijuana sales in 2019. 

In Washington, as in Colorado, typical strains of raw cannabis flower average around 20% THC. However, this bill only applies to extracts, and it would still allow the high-potency raw marijuana.

Hamza Warsame, a Seattle teen, jumped 6 stories to his death after smoking pot for the first time.  An older friend purchased the high-potency marijuana at a legal pot shop.  Investigators on the case called the 16-year-old’s death an accident, not a crime.  

In 2016, Colorado citizens introduced a ballot to cap the THC at 16%.   The industry objected and used hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy off the petitioners of this sensible public safety suggestion

Alex Berenson’s concerns about marijuana and psychosis

A year ago, writer Alex Berenson published Tell Your Children the Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence.   The book will become available in paperback on February 18, 2020.

USA Today has published a provocative series on the links between marijuana and psychosis, as well as the problems related to vaping THC.   Although Washington did not ban vaping products, this bill would affect marijuana vapes.

Government setting wrong example on pot

The following article comes from the “Your Views” section of The Daily Herald, a Chicagoland newspaper, on January 7, 2020.

What was Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton thinking when she purchased recreational marijuana in Chicago on the first day of its legal sales in Illinois? Does she not understand that as a public official, she is setting a reckless and foolish example, especially for children and teens?

Illinois policymakers are sending a dangerous message to our young people. First, we called it “medicinal.” Now, we call it “recreational.” Gone are the days of “this is your brain on drugs.” Instead, elected officials like Stratton are celebrating drug use by welcoming the marijuana industry to communities throughout the state.

Their feckless example will mislead citizens into a diminished understanding of the dangers of drug use until it affects them personally. As the perception of risk plummets, drug use (and addictions) will climb.

Not only have lawmakers failed to do their due diligence before passing this marijuana law, but they have also failed to heed the compelling research that indicates how regular use of marijuana affects young people, including an increased risk of psychiatric illnesses and loss of IQ points.

Parents, grandparents, teachers, and religious leaders would do well to counter Stratton’s irresponsible example by returning to the sensible message, “just say no to drugs.”

David Smith, Executive Director, Illinois Family Institute

Lies and propaganda designed to get full marijuana legalization

These claims aren’t based on fact, but they’re propaganda points commonly used to get public support for legalization.

  • Marijuana needs to be rescheduled in order to explore its medical properties. (The National Academy of Medicine Report of 2017 considered at 10,000 scientific abstracts to reach 100 conclusions.  There’s no shortage of research studies on marijuana.)
  • Marijuana is safer than alcohol. (The risks of marijuana use are somewhat different from those of alcohol. Seth Leibsohn’s article, When a Lie Travels, demonstrates why it’s inappropriate to compare these two substances.  Both are dangerous, but marijuana is far more toxic to the brain than alcohol. Keeping marijuana illegal keeps usage down which is a form of “harm reduction.”)

Strangely, pot advocates often talk about the dangers of alcohol as a reason to legalize marijuana.

  • Millions of people are in jail for possessing small amounts of marijuana. (The number of people in federal and state prisons for minor marijuana infractions is less than 1%. There is truth to the claim that blacks and Hispanics are treated more harshly by the criminal justice system. True before and after legalization, this issue cannot be resolved by legalization and it isn’t limited to drug policy.)

Not good substitute for opioids

  • Legalizing marijuana frees police to concentrate on more serious crimes. (FBI data from the first four states to legalize, Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon, shows that crime increases significantly after legalization. Those four states had about 450 murders and 30,300 aggravated assaults in 2013. In 2018, they had almost 620 murders and 38,000 aggravated assaults—an increase of 37 percent for murders and 25 percent for aggravated assaults, far greater than the national increase.
  • Regulation works. (Despite the fact that states have costly regulatory bodies, much dispensary marijuana is tainted with mold, fungus and pesticides.  Some of the vaping illnesses and deaths can be traced to legal, regulated marijuana stores. In other words, it’s not only bootleg marijuana vapes that are causing deaths.)

Not a tax windfall

  • Legalized marijuana brings billions of tax dollars into the states that have legalized. (In all the states that have legalized, marijuana tax money represents less than 1% of state revenue.  We don’t have detailed analysis of the social costs: crashes, traffic deaths, butane hash oil explosions, mental health and emergency room costs related to cannabis.)  States that have legalized faced a huge increase in homelessness.
  • People do not drive better under the influence of marijuana, as pot advocates claim. (Traffic deaths rose in the first states to legalize marijuana. Although data is preliminary, insurance company statistics suggest this outcome, too.  Mixing marijuana and alcohol, and multi-drug impairment is a rising problem that coincides with marijuana legalization. Drugged driving surpassed drunk driving as a cause of traffic deaths a few years ago. Marijuana is the number one drug associated with drugged driving.)
  • Marijuana isn’t addictive. (Roughly 30% of regular marijuana users in the US are classified as having a cannabis use disorder, versus 10-20% of alcohol users.  A study from UC Davis found that adults dependent on cannabis had more financial and social problems than those dependent on alcohol. Addiction studies show that 9% of adult users and 17% of those who begin pot use as adolescents become addicted. These statistics come from the last century and don’t account for today’s high potency cannabis.)

The most devious lie

  • Marijuana never killed anyone.  The most pernicious lie is that marijuana never killed anyone, which advocates repeat because marijuana doesn’t cause overdose deaths by crossing the blood-brain barrier.  (In addition to those killed by marijuana-impaired drivers, we have a long list of those whose marijuana use caused mental illness and led to other drugs or suicide.  Young people have also died from cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, heart arrhythmia and from vaping marijuana. Not to mention when people do foolish and stupid things when under the influence, causing accidental death.)

When asked in polls, about 65% of the people claim to favor legalization, but these polls don’t ask about decriminalization.   When polls ask about decriminalization, the answers change.

The Drug Policy Alliance, an organization at the forefront of drug policy reform, pushes for the legalization of all drugs.

Read our position on legalization and rescheduling.

California Suspends More Than 400 Licenses as Feds Debate Marijuana

By Brad Jones, published November 18, 2019, in The Epoch Times, State Suspends More Than 400 Marijuana Licenses as Federal Legalization Debate Looms

Amid a renewed push to legalize marijuana federally, California has suspended 407 marijuana business licenses, affecting about five percent of legal cannabis supply chains, ranging from manufacturers to retailers.

Forbes Magazine reported on Nov. 16 that “a key congressional committee plans to hold a historic vote on a bill to end the federal prohibition of marijuana next week, two sources with knowledge of the soon-to-be-announced action said.” Continue reading California Suspends More Than 400 Licenses as Feds Debate Marijuana

Parent Gives Riveting Congressional Testimony about VAPINg Dangers

My name is Tiffany Barnard Davidson. I moved to Washington DC six weeks ago. Prior to that, I was a resident of the state of Connecticut for 19 years. I sit before you today to speak about the impact that vaping high-nicotine content JUUL pods and high-potency THC oil has had on my family. I would like to begin by expressing my condolences to those families who have been much less fortunate than mine as a result of this escalating vaping crisis. True to what I have learned this past year, stories endlessly more tragic than mine often go untold because families are often too traumatized.

On December 9, 2018, my eyes were forever opened to marijuana addiction and its deleterious consequences. That evening, my then-17-year-old son lay in my arms sobbing uncontrollably. I would soon learn that he was struggling with marijuana addiction. Continue reading Parent Gives Riveting Congressional Testimony about VAPINg Dangers

Andy’s Mom asks for Ask for Appeal to Senators, No on S. 1200

By Sally Schindel, mother of Andy Zorn

Inexplicable to me – public opinion has been supporting normalization and promotion of drug use, legalizing and commercializing recreational use. It is very politically unpopular to stand up against it. I know firsthand.

But too many families are losing too many children. It can’t be too far away when the majority start deciding they want to be on the right side of this issue and won’t be bullied Continue reading Andy’s Mom asks for Ask for Appeal to Senators, No on S. 1200

Vaping Crisis: POPPOT Suggests Ban on Cannabis Vaporizers

A CDC report issued October 28, 2019, tells of staggering numbers of lung illnesses (1604) and  deaths (36) caused by vaping.  It also reveals that the majority of victims (63%) were vaping THC with cannabis vaporizers .  Vaping is widely perceived as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco. However, teens and adults are increasingly using it as a means of delivering the THC high. By November 1, there were 1,888 confirmed and probable cases of the respiratory illness and 39 deaths.

Now that deaths are being reported, we must take a pause while trying to discover the exact cause of the danger.

Consuming THC and CBD via a vape pen is aggressively promoted by the marijuana industry.  Dispensaries push it as a discreet, clean and easy way to use these drugs. Continue reading Vaping Crisis: POPPOT Suggests Ban on Cannabis Vaporizers

It wasn’t democracy that forced dangerous pot option on communities

By Barbara Shafer

Editors Note: The Opt Out groups in Illinois have educated themselves to see through the smokescreen of marijuana legalization.  We thought this article in The Daily Herald touched on every major reason why states shouldn’t legalize marijuana. Heather Steans is the state senator who introduced the bill.  It passed in a shell bill, avoiding much discussion.

Sen. Heather Steans couldn’t be more wrong, answering the question (re: cannabis legalization HB1438) “Is democracy a bad thing?” by stating the bill’s co-authors “don’t think so.” It wasn’t democracy. It was representation gone awry with 104 Illinois legislators speaking on behalf of 12.8 million Illinoisans.

With 60 out of 104 legislators having received a total of $630,000 in marijuana lobbyist money in 2017 and 45 voting yes, is it interesting? Yes. Comped? Maybe. Democracy? No. Continue reading It wasn’t democracy that forced dangerous pot option on communities

Marijuana-impaired drivers pose threat to bicyclists

On October 23, a 21-year-old woman drove through a California neighborhood and rear ended a cyclist riding in front of her.  The cyclist died at the scene, but the driver survived.  Police detected the strong smell of marijuana in her car. 

Police charged the driver, Korina Machuca, with DUI and vehicular homicide.    Detectives in Fresno County say they’ve seen a rise in drug-related crashes.  Last year they had 54 drug-related crashes, but this year 141 crashes involved drugs.

Tracing bicycle deaths of 3 children and 5 adults killed by marijuana-impaired drivers shows how justice for victims is reduced after marijuana decriminalization and legalization.

Continue reading Marijuana-impaired drivers pose threat to bicyclists

Marijuana DUI crashes in Illinois rise

Many recent crashes in Illinois suggest that pot users think it’s safe to drive after toking, or they simply don’t care.  Prior to the decriminalization of marijuana, Illinois experienced less than 1000 vehicle deaths each year.  In 2016, the year of marijuana decriminalization, traffic deaths rose to 1078. In 2017, 1091 people died from fatal crashes on Illinois roads, and 1038 died in 2018. 

With decriminalization, Illinois raised the marijuana limit from zero THC  to 5 ng of THC.   When politicians talk of decriminalization or legalization, they signal to the public a belief that pot is harmless.

On May 31, the day legislators passed a legalization bill, Erik McKay drove recklessly and killed a passenger, Continue reading Marijuana DUI crashes in Illinois rise

Vaping Deaths Test marijuana industry’s resistance to Regulation

All eyes on Governor Kate Brown

The marijuana industry proves that “tax and regulate marijuana” cannot work.   One year ago, October 3, 2018, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB), announced new regulations that would ban marijuana edibles.  The LCB responded to 382 cases of toxic overdose of marijuana products in 2017, 82 of them involving children ages five and under.

A week after the announcement, the LCB rescinded the regulations in response to fierce objections from the industry.

Governor Kate Brown of Oregon

Now Oregon Governor Kate Brown has a good opportunity to ban marijuana vaping products in Oregon. Continue reading Vaping Deaths Test marijuana industry’s resistance to Regulation

Legalizing marijuana isn’t about social justice

By Will Jones III

The Philadelphia Inquirer asked advocates for and against legalization/commercialization of marijuana to weigh in on the topic.  Here’s what Will Jones, of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) wrote:

Calls to legalize marijuana often lead with the cry of social justice. Many advocates argue that legalization will right the wrongs of our racist past in the criminal justice system.

In reality, legalization would make our society much less just than it is now. Legalization would lead to increased commercialization of marijuana, playing into the hands of an intoxicating, addictive, for-profit industry that is appropriating problems of systemic injustice to the tune of billions of dollars in profits. Pennsylvania should instead focus on decriminalization. Continue reading Legalizing marijuana isn’t about social justice

Lowell Protesters demonstrate against pot dispensaries

“Prohibitionists” against marijuana are alive and well in Massachusetts. They’re a growing army.  Hundreds of people participated in a Peace March from Lowell Auditorium to Lowell City Hall on September 28 to demonstrate concerns about marijuana in the city.

Many people held signs, proclaiming “We have a Dream,” and “Keep Kids Safe.”   One sign proclaimed a “War on Addiction.”  Organizers planned the march to express problems associated with the  marijuana stores in the City of Lowell.

Many in the immigrant community joined the group.   How can anyone live the American dream, if a community promotes drug use?

After the march, several people gave speeches in front of city hall, explaining their opposition to marijuana.  They talked about psychosis and suicide, and the deaths of young people.  

We found many photos on the website for Citywide Ministries Network of Greater Lowell.   Other groups joined in the march. The turnout was huge. 

Lowell, the fourth largest in Massachusetts, lies 30 miles north of Boston.   

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker took a courageous step last week, banning all vaping products, for four months. The CDC warned that 77% of the lung illnesses from vaping were from marijuana vapes, some of which were mixed with nicotine.

Let’s Get a Ban On Marijuana Vaping Products

Vaping of High-Potency THC Products Carries Significant Health Risks for Users

The human social experiment with pot has been a social and health failure. It is time for the federal government to be the adult in the room and ban all marijuana and cannabinoid products immediately.

In response to a growing national crisis over the tragic deaths and hospitalizations of hundreds of people from lung infections associated with e-cigarette products, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President called for a moratorium on the sale of all THC vape products.

“We are calling on the Trump Administration Continue reading Let’s Get a Ban On Marijuana Vaping Products

The marijuana of the 1960s sent me down a path of mental illness

As far as I’m concerned, those who claim that marijuana is harmless don’t know what they’re talking about.   Also there’s a misconception that only the stronger pot of today is dangerous.

What you don’t know is that I became addicted to marijuana in my early 20s, and suffered a psychotic breakdown shortly after my 25th birthday. Ever since then I’ve struggled with mental illness, especially depression with frequent thoughts of suicide. Continue reading The marijuana of the 1960s sent me down a path of mental illness

Surgeon General, HHS Secretary issue blunt warnings About Marijuana

Parents from every part of the country tell us that their teens claim “marijuana is safer than alcohol.”  That’s because many teens take messages from social media and fake news.

The Surgeon General and Secretary of Health and Human Services issued a blunt warning today, clarifying why cannabis is not safe.  Together with the heads of SAMHSA and NIDA, Dr. Jerome Adams and HHS Secretary Alex Azar spoke at a Press Conference today, detailing the risks of pot.

Continue reading Surgeon General, HHS Secretary issue blunt warnings About Marijuana

Latest survey raises concern about pot

On August 20, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the 2018  Annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the most comprehensive survey on drug use. According to the survey, 45,000 more teenagers are regularly using the drug, marijuana users are more likely to abuse opioids than non-users, and levels of marijuana use disorder continue to rise. 

According to the study, approximately 4.4 million people aged 12 and older had a marijuana use disorder in the last year. Breaking this out further, 2.1 percent of youths aged 12-17, 5.9 percent of young adults aged 18-25, and 0.9 percent of adults 26 and older suffered from a marijuana use disorder. The percentage of young adults with a marijuana use disorder is significantly higher than last year and is the highest it has been since 2004.

At the same time, the mental health problems in young adults ages 18-25 are growing. This age group that suffers the most from cannabis use disorder.  It’s hard not to see the mental crisis is related to the increasing use of marijuana and the increased potency of the marijuana that has come with legalization.  Mental health care is the weakest link in our health care system and the increase in drug use exacerbates the issue. Last year it was found that

The latest statistics

The data on use in American youth aged 12-17 show an upward trend in use rates over the last few years, with use among this population at 12.5 percent. According to the report, about 1 in 8 (or 3.1 million) adolescents were past year users of marijuana. Almost 12 million young Americans 18-25 (34.8 percent) reported past year use. This percentage is on par with 2017 levels and continues to represent the highest level of use in the past 25 years. 

Additionally, the study found 15.4 percent of past year daily marijuana users reported past year opioid misuse, 19.1 percent reported past month heavy alcohol use, 17.1 percent reported past year cocaine use, 4.1 percent reported past year methamphetamine use, 17.9 percent reported a major depressive episode, and 14 percent reported a serious mental illness.  Continue reading Latest survey raises concern about pot

Cannabis is to blame for my son’s death – please don’t legalise

The following is the bulk of a letter from Janie Hamilton to Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Great Britain. We thank Mary Brett informing us, and Janie Hamilton for allowing us to share this letter. 

Dear Mr. Johnson:

Our beloved son, James, died on 31st July 2015 after a cannabis-induced psychotic refusal to accept life-saving treatment for testicular cancer.  He was 36 and did not have to die. The cannabis stole his life three times over – first it stole his young life from under our very eyes, then it possibly caused the testicular cancer, and then it stole his capacity to make a right-minded decision to have treatment at the first sign of the lump. Continue reading Cannabis is to blame for my son’s death – please don’t legalise

Eric’s Story: All for nothing, because of pot

I’ve been broke my whole adult life because of marijuana. I married the wrong woman and had a horrible 12-year relationship because of marijuana. I settled for a less than part-time, back- breaking job because of pot. I can’t have real relationship because of pot.

Since becoming a single dad in 2010, my teenage son has watched me fail time and time again in relationships. Without my parents, we would be on the streets with nothing. They’re enabling me, not sure they realize it. They help for my son’s sake, I believe.

Continue reading Eric’s Story: All for nothing, because of pot

Senator Harris’ bill, like Prop 64, is another gimmick

Yesterday Senator Kamala Harris and Representative Jerrold Nadler introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, a bill to federally legalize, commercialize, and tax the use of marijuana.

Senator Harris owns much responsibility for the marijuana problems that plague the state of California.  When she first ran for Attorney General in 2010 she promised not to go after the marijuana industry.  She kept the hands-off approach, allowing illegal growers whose plants continue the destruction of the environment in California. Four federal district attorneys still prosecuted marijuana growers, despite Harris’ opposition. Continue reading Senator Harris’ bill, like Prop 64, is another gimmick

Backed into a corner and he couldn’t escape

This week we got some bad news. A friend’s son ended his battle with drugs by committing suicide. He was 28 and had battled hard drugs for several years. But, it all began with marijuana. He may have still been smoking it, but I’m not sure.

He lost his dad 7 years ago and his brother last winter (to drugs as well). The only job he ever knew was working with his dad at their pizza shop. After his dad died, and the pizza shop was sold, he just couldn’t cope. Drugs are the only way he knew to cope with life.

By legalizing marijuana, we are giving our kids a crutch, an excuse, a way to “cope” with life. Only, it’s not a way to cope, it’s a way to escape….until they can’t escape anymore. They’re backed into a corner, and don’t know what to do. So sad. So, so sad.

By an anonymous supporter of Parents Opposed to Pot.   If you have a testimony to share, please write [email protected].

WHO’S REALLY IN PRISON FOR MARIJUANA?


by David G. Evans, Esq.

Drug legalization advocates claim that prisons are overflowing with people convicted for only simple possession of marijuana. This claim is aggressively pushed by groups seeking to relax or abolish marijuana laws. A more accurate view is that the vast majority of inmates in prison for marijuana have been found guilty of more than simple possession. They were convicted for drug trafficking, or for marijuana possession along with other offenses. Many of those in prison for marijuana entered a guilty plea to a marijuana charge to avoid a more serious charge. In the US, just 1.6 percent of the state inmate population were held for offenses involving only marijuana, and less than one percent of all state prisoners (0.7 percent) were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge. An even smaller fraction of state prisoners were first time offenders (0.3 percent). The numbers on the US federal prisons are similar. In 2001, the overwhelming majority of offenders sentenced for marijuana crimes were convicted for trafficking and only 63 served time for simple possession. [FN1]

Continue reading WHO’S REALLY IN PRISON FOR MARIJUANA?

We urge congress to vote against States Act

Parents Opposed to Pot urges Congress to reject the STATES Act, which would allow states to break federal law in order to become drug dealers. Senators Gardner and Warren and Representatives Blumenauer and Joyce introduced bills into their respective houses of Congress.  Some states like California and Colorado feed illicit drug markets throughout the country.  We should not sanction this rampant lawlessness, because it leads to terrible public health and safety consequences. Continue reading We urge congress to vote against States Act

Alex Berenson editorial suggests parents step up to the plate

This was supposed to be the year full cannabis legalization in the U.S. moved much closer to being a reality.  Instead it has been a disaster for advocates.  Although Illinois legalized recreational use on the final day of its legislative schedule, a half-dozen other deep-blue states that were expected to legalize failed to follow — including New York.

Advocates want to believe legalization on their terms, with few restrictions on marketing and limits potentially as low as 18, remains inevitable.  Polls show that between 62% and 66%of Americans support legalization.  But cannabis supporters are wrong, and the pushback against marijuana has only begun.

Why?  Because teen use is on the rise.  And the experience of the 1970s — the last time cannabis advocates believed they might win full national acceptance — shows that the strongest voices against cannabis use aren’t police officers or even physicians.  They’re parents. …As teenage use of cannabis exploded during the 1970s, many parents became deeply concerned. The drug seemed to damage their children’s motivation, memory and grades. …

Not coincidentally, in states where legalization failed this year, wealthier suburban lawmakers proved a crucial political stumbling block.  Because of the cost of vaping, the habit seems to be more attractive to upper-middle class kids, and their parents are nw seeing marijuana’s real risks up close.  As that knowledge spreads, the media is likely to take a more skeptical stance, and national support for legalization will shrink.  

Alex Berenson, The Wall Street Journal   

As published in the Chicago Tribune, July 3, 2019  

Alex Berenson is the author of Tell Your Children the Truth about Marijuana, Mental Health and Violence and 12 other books.

Big Surprise: Illinois legalizes weed in state legislature

On May 31, Illinois became the first and only state to commercialize marijuana through state legislature.  Governor Pritzker hopes the state can raise money this way.  The legalization bill passed on the very last day of the legislative session. The law goes into effect January 1.

Other state legislators looked at facts and figures, and rejected legalization this year.  Continue reading Big Surprise: Illinois legalizes weed in state legislature

SAM Defeats marijuana in nine states

Efforts by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and SAM’s allies defeated marijuana legalization and commercialization in 9 state legislatures: New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Hawaii.  When legislators listen to experts, as well as doctors, they reject marijuana legalization, a failure in every other state.

This year, only the Illinois rejected experts’ opinions and positioned itself as an outlier.  Continue reading SAM Defeats marijuana in nine states

Can states regulate marijuana?

 Many people tell us that the solution to the problems of marijuana legalization is “regulating,” so that the stronger stuff will no longer be sold.  Let’s go back to the marijuana of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, they say. (THC levels had skyrocketed from 3.6% in the 1990s to around 20% in Colorado and more than 20% in Washington.) Can states regulate marijuana? 

Since states are the “laboratories of democracy,” and several states have had legalization for years, we can evaluate whether or not regulation works.

The answer is no.  Continue reading Can states regulate marijuana?

SAM’s Work Brings International Recognition

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) designated Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) special consultative status to the United Nations. It happened on June 26, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

This status allows SAM to designate official representatives to the UN headquarters in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and submit written and oral statements to the Council. SAM representatives have already been discussing marijuana policy at UN meetings since its founding in 2013, Continue reading SAM’s Work Brings International Recognition

Rick Steves Misrepresents Legalization Violations in Washington State

Yesterday Rick Steves was on C-SPAN and he misrepresented marijuana legalization. For a more truthful representation of legalization, we advise our followers to listen to Luke Niforatos of Smart Approaches to Marijuana who was also on C-SPAN recently. In Steves’s home state of Washington, there’s a terrible track record of legalization violations. 

According to the FBI, the murder rate in Washington rose 44% between 2013 and 2017.  Steves claimed crime did not go up.  Continue reading Rick Steves Misrepresents Legalization Violations in Washington State

Rip the Pot Van Winkle wakes up

When I was 17 my BFF Lisa was in a single car accident.  She was prone to smoking bong hits and driving with her knees.  She was in a coma for a year and died.  I first smoked pot with her and her mom. Lisa was her only child. 

I blamed a faulty car for her death, not pot.

In my 30s, I partied with a young 20s co-worker from UMass.  She had smoked strong pot, AK-47 for years.  I stopped hanging out once she became paranoid, delusional and agoraphobic.  She later was in a mental hospital for schizophrenia and has been on disability ever since. 

I blamed her genes for her debilitating mental illness, not pot.

The rose colored glasses of denial.

I dated a patient,  also named Lisa, at the dispensary who had extreme psychotic episodes whenever she smoked high potency Sativa.  She would almost collapse, regress into a two-year-old state of mind, scream at the top of her lungs and then go into loud, joyous religious rapture singing.  

The scariest experience was when in psychosis she uttered in a guttural deep voice so unlike her’s, “Choke her!”  It was an alarming Sybil Stephen King moment that sent chills down my spine. I didn’t know if her split personality was talking about choking herself or me. 

Needless to say, it was very hard being with her, we were not a good match whatsoever and broke up.  I later learned that she committed suicide at 52. 

I blamed her diagnosis of bipolar for her suicide, not pot.

Rip the Pot Van Winkle

Bong rips: “A noun that refers to the action of smoking from a bong. So named for the sound that air makes when it bubbles through the bong water.”

One time in college my friends had too much water in a bong – really dirty, unchanged, high potency bong water.  The too high water level caused me to unintentionally swallow a huge mouthful of bong water when I released the carburetor.   
 
I immediately started to hallucinate, almost passed out.   Was lucky to stay conscious long enough to make it to the bathroom and vomit profusely.  Took a heck of a long time for my mind to clear and body to recover.  But I saw no problem with continuing to use pot.

For years I discounted all of those signposts showing that marijuana is dangerous  because I was so enmeshed in my pot denial.

When, finally, I experienced such terrible physical and mental effects myself, this Rip the Pot Van Winkle woke up out of a pot slumber.  The truth could no longer be denied. Horrible psychosis woke me up.  I am SO lucky I survived.

I had the epiphany that pot caused my BFF’s death via DUI; pot caused my friend to become schizophrenic, and pot caused psychosis and suicide with my ex-girlfriend.  Pot caused me to think violent thoughts like shooting people, and brought me to the brink of suicide.

Pot almost took me out.  I couldn’t perceive the damage because I was high on pot.  

By Anne Hassel,  a new friend of Parents Opposed to Pot.

 

STONED BABIES AND UNDERACHIEVING ADULTS

By Dr. Drew Edwards

Physicians and medical professionals routinely warn women not to use marijuana while they are pregnant or nursing. Why? The best available scientific evidence has established that exposure to marijuana’s psychoactive constituent, THC, in utero causes neuroadaptive changes in their baby’s brain, especially in the regions where their cognitive capacity and emotional regulation is formed. As a result, the life trajectories for prenatally exposed children may be permanently altered. These facts, like so many others germane to marijuana’s toxic effects have been well established in the scientific literature for years—and largely ignored. But why? Continue reading STONED BABIES AND UNDERACHIEVING ADULTS

The risks of marijuana need to be included in teen mental health

Teen marijuana use

By Heidi Swan, published in The Beach Reporter, May 23.

My brother had good grades, friends and played sports. He came from a loving home and got his graduate degree at USC. He also liked to get high. After graduate school, he became homeless, mentally ill and went to jail many times.

Many parents simply haven’t heard about the association between teen cannabis use and psychosis and adult schizophrenia. Many aren’t aware these negative mental health effects often don’t emerge for several years. Continue reading The risks of marijuana need to be included in teen mental health

Getting a psychiatrist and breaking cycle of Homelessness

By H. Swan

Part 3 of a 3-Part Series Read Part1 and Part 2. This entire story first appeared on the MomsStrong.org website.

After doing some research, I told K he should get psychologically evaluated for social security disability because– if he was mentally ill –he could get benefits and could afford a place to live. I reasoned he would cost the government a lot less by not being in jail or prison.

I’M NOT CRAZY!

I looked up all kinds of things about mental illness. We were warned by many people that getting benefits for mental illness was becoming harder and harder, and even the people who really deserved it weren’t getting it. Continue reading Getting a psychiatrist and breaking cycle of Homelessness

Four States decline to legalize pot through legislatures this year

Marijuana legalization hit stone walls in New York and New Jersey this week and another effort died in New Hampshire.   In Vermont, legislation to establish a commercial marijuana market faltered, too.  Four states failed.  Tiny windows of opportunity may still be open, but passing bills doesn’t appear possible before the end of this year’s legislative session.

It was the second year New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tried to implement marijuana legalization through the legislature.  In New Jersey, Continue reading Four States decline to legalize pot through legislatures this year

Years of pot, drug addiction and homelessness

By H. Swan, co-author, A Night in Jail

Part 1 of a 3 Part Series. This article first appeared on MomsStrong.org

K started getting high at a young age. He smoked just a little bit, almost every day, through junior high, high school, college and graduate school. To him, it seemed like harmless fun. But within a few years after completing his higher education, he became a homeless drug addict and dealer with schizophrenia. He went to jail eighteen times. Relative to so many others, K’s story ends well. He is alive, out of jail, off the streets, and is sober. He is receiving psychiatric care. He lives in a group home where his meals and transportation are provided, and his psychiatric medications are dispensed. He is alive to tell his harrowing story. To warn teenagers that what seems like harmless fun can actually ruin their lives, K and I wrote a book which is inspired by his experiences.

Continue reading Years of pot, drug addiction and homelessness

Marijuana killed my son David in only a couple of years

Our son’s story is a warning to other parents

Our son was happy and healthy before he started using marijuana at age 14.  A friend introduced him to marijuana during a time when our family was supporting my wife in her fight against breast cancer.  We noticed David changing rapidly, but attributed the change to   puberty. 

After being kicked out of the private school he had attended for many years, he became a heavy user and seemed to lose motivation for school and for life. He graduated from high school at the bottom of his class and started work as a plumber’s assistant. With his paychecks, he would buy more weed.

As his use became even heavier, he became increasingly removed from our family. He spoke of seeing aliens. By last Thanksgiving he appeared catatonic. The next day he stabbed his right palm with his pocket knife. He was hospitalized in a local mental health facility and diagnosed with depression and psychosis, and only tested positive for marijuana. 

After a 6-day inpatient stay, David was discharged with no discharge planning. Notes from the facility reveal that David filled out a questionnaire on the day of discharge expressing that he “often” felt panic or terror and that he had made plans to end his life. This was not made known to the family, and he was discharged anyway.  

After discharge he started an outpatient program. On the fourth day he smoked cannabis in the woods behind our house. Then he came inside, got a gun from the safe and shot himself.

Marijuana kills! It killed my son. We will never escape David’s loss, but we hope that by telling his story we can help other parents and children understand that marijuana is far from harmless.   (We published a testimony by David’s sibling who described the effects of his death on the family.)

We have other articles that explain how the mental health system often fails in treatments for marijuana addiction, part 1.  Mental health care fails at addiction treatment, part 2

Reflections on losing my brother to marijuana suicide

By BC, University of Texas   If you told me five years ago that my brother would end his life in such a degrading state following marijuana-induced psychosis, I would have called you crazy. Unfortunately, I have lived with this reality every day for the past 5 months.

I am a business and pre-medical student at The University of Texas in Austin.  David was my little brother, my confidant, and my workout partner. Continue reading Reflections on losing my brother to marijuana suicide

WHY CANNABIS IS NOT A SOLUTION TO OPIOID CRISIS

Addiction weighs you down, so marijuana can’t solve the opioid problem

By Cassidy Webb

Many marijuana enthusiasts share a popular belief that marijuana is the solution to the opioid crisis. As a former opioid addict and as a person who has tried to substitute marijuana for opioids, I beg to differ. My personal experience demonstrates that marijuana is not an effective way to get people off of other drugs. If anything, it only prolongs the suffering of addicts who have the potential to get well.

In addition, I can attest from my own example that marijuana increases the likelihood of adolescents developing a substance use disorder. Continue reading WHY CANNABIS IS NOT A SOLUTION TO OPIOID CRISIS

Attackersmokedcannabis.com asks Residents of UK to sign petition

A new website records murders, suicides and violence connected to cannabis use in Great Britain and Ireland.   Ross Grainger, writer, administers the website, attackersmokedcannabis.com.

‘Cannabis is a common factor in an alarming number of violent crimes, including murder, rape and child abuse, as well as suicide. As calls for the legalisation of cannabis grow ever louder, we demand the government first investigate the possible link between cannabis and violence.’

Grainger asks readers in Great Britain are asked to sign a petition to the British parliament. With more than 12,000 signatures, this petition passed the mark requiring a response.  Government responds to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures.  At 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The website links to a 287-page catalogue of over 150 tragedies which occurred between 1998 to 2018.  For example,   “Beloved mentally ill teenage cannabis smoker found dead in woodland” is one sad story similar to stories in the USA.    Another incident dates back to 2003. Charles King, 23, a student at Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design hung himself from a tree. He left a note saying, “Cannabis has ruined my life.”   (In Arizona, Andy Zorn left a similar message, “My soul is dead. Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain.”  His mother wrote some blogs for us, and his story is found on MomsStrong.org.)

Categories

The website divides incidences into following categories:                  Murder, manslaughter and infanticide (53)
Frenzied stabbings and savage assaults (48)
Rape and sexual violence (21)
Suicide and self harm (28)

In addition, there are sections on media bias, the tip of the iceberg and objections anticipated.  After Great Britain downgraded cannabis from a Class B drug to Class C in 2002, mental health problems increased. New cases bipolar and schizophrenia rose to record numbers. Great Britain went back to the earlier classification, after six years.

The catalogue reinforces our claims about murders, child abuse and suicides related to marijuana.  It is a valuable addition to the book a book published in January, Alex Berenson’s Tell Your Children the Truth about marijuana, mental illness and violence.

Follow Grainger on Twitter

Grainger also reports crime news involving psychotic breaks or cannabis withdrawal symptoms on Twitter, at Ross_Grainger.  He recently posted a horror story of cannabis addiction, the  ‘barbaric’  man who threatened to cut unborn child from mother.

He also reported of the hideous rape and murder of six-year-old Alesha MacPhail in Scotland, brought to justice  last week.  Of this crime, Peter Hitchens said:  “As soon as I heard the appalling details of this case, which took place on the peaceful Isle of Bute, I searched for the word ‘cannabis’ in the trial records. And immediately, as usual, I found that the accused was known to be a regular user of this drug.”

Hitchens continued, “It really is time to blast aside the PR spin which claims that marijuana is a ‘soft’, safe drug or even an actual medicine. It is nothing of the kind. Users all too often become mentally ill. And they are all too often found – as in the Alesha MacPhail case – to be the perpetrators of terrible, violent crime.”  (Peter Hitchens frequently writes of the connection between marijuana and crime)

Large new study shows teen cannabis use risk for later depression

Leaders of the Parents Movement of the late 1970s and 1980s feared their children’s pot use led to apathy, lower grades and other drugs. The old concerns remain, but the new anti-pot Parents Movement warns more about the fact that marijuana may lead to severe forms of mental illness.  A new study confirms that teen marijuana use increases depression and the risk for suicide in young adulthood.

According to the study, the odds of developing depression are 37% higher in young adults up to age 32 who used marijuana as teens, compared to those who did not. The odds of a young adult thinking about suicide were 50% higher in those who smoked pot as teens. The odds of a suicide attempt were almost 3.5 times higher in the pot smokers versus those who didn’t use marijuana. Continue reading Large new study shows teen cannabis use risk for later depression

The Marijuana Emperor Wears No Clothes

By Cannabis Activist

Part 5: Journey of a Budtender. Read Part 1Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

Like everyone else, the Marijuana Emperor duped me into becoming a participant in the “medical” marijuana industry sham.  When I woke up, people ignored or discounted my revelations.   My name for this last section is a play on Jack Herer’s book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, which had convinced me the US government is wrong.

How the industry duped me and others

I am not popular.  What I have to say threatens the appealing, mesmerizing façade of the “medical” marijuana industry.

However, I was a cannabis purist for decades. Continue reading The Marijuana Emperor Wears No Clothes

Senator Durbin, Illinois Bishops push back against legalizing marijuana

As published in the February 2 in the State-Journal-Register:                      U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Illinois, says he doesn’t think Illinois should rush into making recreational use of marijuana legal.

Durbin, of Springfield, was asked about the issue when appearing on another topic last week at the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation. Continue reading Senator Durbin, Illinois Bishops push back against legalizing marijuana

Another Horror Story of cannabis user who killed his family

 

Last week another violent horror story made national news, and once again, there’s a marijuana connection. Dakota Theriot, a 21-year-old from Louisiana, allegedly killed his parents, his girlfriend and her father and brother. A sheriff called the Dakota Theriot case an “extremely horrific example of failed mental health system.” Five people died, but the violent outbreak follows a pattern of family murders linked to pot use and mental illness.

Authorities tracked Theriot to his grandmother’s home in Virginia. It didn’t take one journalist long to find out that Theriot had used cannabis for many years. Continue reading Another Horror Story of cannabis user who killed his family

Veteran grieves his mistake — using marijuana for PTSD

Disabled Marine Says Marijuana is Not Preferable to Pharma Drugs

By Andrew ,  a veteran’s testimony from Oregon

I wish there were better warnings and awareness on marijuana (there aren’t, currently, under Oregon regulations), especially in regards to mental health.

I am a 100% disabled combat veteran who served in the U.S. Marines during the Iraq War in 2003-2005. I never made any progress in my post-traumatic stress disorder when I was self-medicating under the elusive medical marijuana card. Continue reading Veteran grieves his mistake — using marijuana for PTSD

Bay State, Charlton face problems going against pot industry

Did Massachusetts residents understand the difficulty of preventing Big Marijuana in their neighborhoods when they voted to legalize in 2016?  If marijuana industry gets its way in the Bay State, the biggest cannabis cultivation and processing plant in the United States will be built in Charlton, a small town in Worcester County.

Valley Green Grow wishes to build a 1 million square foot facility to grow cannabis and manufacture cannabis products.  The North Andover company seeks approval from the Charlton Planning Board for its site plan and definitive subdivision plan.  Its eyes are on converting Charlton Orchards, 44 Old Worcester Road, into this project.

The Charlton Planning Board will vote Jan. 2 for approval of the plan, or for denial.  Continue reading Bay State, Charlton face problems going against pot industry

Headlines bring up more marijuana – related behavioral issues

Amanda Bynes made headlines last week, sharing her story for the cover of Paper Magazine.  Her optimistic tale of recovery repeats in People Magazine, which published portions of the interview. Amanda admitted that she began drug abuse starting with marijuana, age 16.  She continued pot use and also used Molly, Ecstasy and Adderall.

An article from four years ago quoted her mother explaining the former child star’s odd, unpredictable behaviors Continue reading Headlines bring up more marijuana – related behavioral issues

My neighbor’s marijuana almost killed my dog

By Erin  My neighbor’s marijuana almost killed my dog…..and that could’ve been my child.  The guy continually smokes on his porch, in front of me and my four year-old child, then throws his half-smoked smoked marijuana cigarettes on my porch. He’s my upstairs neighbor.   My dog ate one of his butts and almost died.

It easily could’ve been my child. The thing is, no matter who I call — police, property management, they treat me like I’m some overzealous, anti-drug mom. Continue reading My neighbor’s marijuana almost killed my dog

Redemption and Recovery from Marijuana Addiction can happen

By Veronique, Ottawa, Canada, November, 2018

It was an adult who made me smoke my first hashish joint, a man of about forty years who loved little children. I was 15 years old and I didn’t feel anything the first time. It is a funny phenomenon, the first joint that does not do anything. This often happens. By the second joint, I was addicted.

I had always struggled to make friends, but instantly I became part of a group in high school: the “freaks”. I did not even know what it meant, but I was proud of it. Very quickly, I had to smoke every day. I financed this operation by hitch-hiking and accepting the advances of the men who picked me up. Continue reading Redemption and Recovery from Marijuana Addiction can happen

Legalization wins in Michigan; questionable ethics

TV stations pulled anti-legalization ads ahead of
midterm marijuana votes, advocates say

This headline, and the story it describes in Michigan, raises two questions:

  1. Is it ethical for TV stations to pull political ads off the air?
  2. Is it ethical for the ads’ opponents to set up their own “fact-checking” committee as the basis for complaining that the ads are inaccurate?

Will Common Cause intervene? Continue reading Legalization wins in Michigan; questionable ethics

Addiction often begins with a beautiful boy or girl

By Dr. Robert DuPont in StatNews  In the American mind, drug addiction happens only to people “born under a bad sign.” That’s just not true. Worse, it implies that success in life protects individuals from addiction. Throughout my 50-year career working on drug abuse prevention and treatment, I’ve often seen drug addiction befall every kind of person.

That’s one reason I have been urging people to see “Beautiful Boy,” a new film about the relationship between a good father and his good son as the teenager dives into addiction. Continue reading Addiction often begins with a beautiful boy or girl

DUID Deaths are Reason to Vote No on Marijuana

Last year in Michigan, Henry MacDougall, 16, of Ludington had been “dabbing” marijuana and then crashed the car he was driving.  He died instantly.  Henry’s dad Gordon Mac Dougall, as well as Detroit city leaders, urge voters to vote no on marijuana legalization in Michigan, where DUID traffic deaths related to marijuana are a problem.

In July, 21- year-old Jacob Scot Damron  drove high, killing newlyweds Hannah and Jacob Allbaugh. He a was arraigned Oct. 23 in Allegan County District Court on multiple felonies, including operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death.

One quarter of the traffic fatalities in Colorado and Washington, the first states to legalize marijuana, involve a driver under the the influence of THC.  Continue reading DUID Deaths are Reason to Vote No on Marijuana

JB Pritzker wants legal weed in Pay-to-Play Illinois

Chicago is the most corrupt city in the country and Illinois is a pay-to-play state.  Billionaire JB Pritzker hopes to become the next governor of Illinois. When he talked to young voters at Northwestern University, he highlighted a plan to legalize marijuana.  But do these students know the true dangers of the drug? Do they know that the marijuana industry is Big Tobacco 2?

Illinois has budget woes, but legalization of marijuana will bankrupt the state even more.  The relatives of billionaire Pritzker invest in marijuana companies and donate nationwide to legalization campaigns.  Their companies contribute to the politicians in California with its burgeoning marijuana industry.  (See chart below from CALMatters.org) Continue reading JB Pritzker wants legal weed in Pay-to-Play Illinois

Father Spearheads Drug Awareness Campaign

Drug Prevention Speaker Touching Hearts and Changing Lives

New York father, Jeffrey Veatch is taking the pain of loss from his son’s tragic drug overdose death, and turning it into a positive force for good.  His son Justin was a talented musician with big dreams. Dreams that his father refuses to let die. Continue reading Father Spearheads Drug Awareness Campaign

Pot Poisonings and Legalization Violations in Washington State

Which will destroy Washington faster, cannabis or earthquakes?  Legalization violations run rampant, as the Washington Poison Control reported 378 cases of toxic exposure to marijuana in 2017.  Last week, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced announced rules to end the production of cannabis-infused gummy bears and candies that appeal to children.  On October 12, the regulators reversed their decision because of fierce opposition from the marijuana industry.

Once again the cannabis industry proves that it is hostile to all attempts at honest and sensible regulation.  In 2016, the cannabis industry bought off a ballot designed to cap the potency of marijuana sold in Colorado dispensaries to 16% THC. Continue reading Pot Poisonings and Legalization Violations in Washington State

New groups rise up against pot, challenge big marijuana

Beware of Big Marijuana.  A nationwide movement is fighting back against the marijuana industry, and the victims will no longer be silent.  The Marijuana Victims Alliance ( MVAA.info)  has harsh words for the marijuana industry.   Parents Opposed to Pot, as well as national anti-marijuana organization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), focus on stopping the marijuana tsunami which is already taking over the country.  National Families in Action writes of the latest studies and reports about marijuana in its blog, The Marijuana Report. Continue reading New groups rise up against pot, challenge big marijuana

Former NYT writer’s New Book Warns of Marijuana, Violence, Mental Illness

A former New York Times reporter and now a best-selling author, Alex Berenson has an important new book, Tell Your Children: The truth about marijuana, violence and mental health. Simon & Schuster will publish and release it on January 8, 2019.

Indeed Berenson’s book promises to confirm the facts that we’ve been warning about: the marijuana-psychosis links; that pot use often makes people violent; that it leads to more crime, more overall drug abuse and more fatalities.  Continue reading Former NYT writer’s New Book Warns of Marijuana, Violence, Mental Illness

Heavy Marijuana Use Skyrockets According to Government Survey

42% of Users Get “High” Nearly Every Day

(Alexandria, Va) – There are now twice as many daily or near daily marijuana users in the US than just a decade ago, according to the most comprehensive survey on drug use released today by the federal government. There are also now 8,300 new marijuana users each day, and 22% of 18 to 25 year olds are currently using the drug–the highest number for all three stats in recent memory. Continue reading Heavy Marijuana Use Skyrockets According to Government Survey

Marijuana Documentary “Chronic State” Chronicles Societal Ills

Click on Image to Watch the Film

 

New Tool for Activism and Lobbying Now Available

Drug Free Idaho produced a one hour documentary which details the negative outcomes of the marijuana “experiment” in states like California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Before we hastily usher in a new commercial marijuana market in other states, it is imperative that parents, pundits and politicians check out the unintended result in these wild, wild, West states.

Aubree Adams of Moms Strong and Dr. Libby Stuyt, medical advisor to PopPot were among those interviewed for the film. The film describes the impacts in the schools, the workplace, on healthcare industry. Companies and doctors are leaving the communities. Leaving them wanting for jobs and adequate health care. Taxes raised on marijuana are not really adding enough revenue into the state to cover the new problems.  Lynn Riemer, anti-drug educator, describes marijuana as the biggest problem in elementary, middle and high schools in Colorado.

The impact on families and neighborhoods is also discussed. Hypodermic needles littering public parks where children play is a never before seen problem. Grow houses are being set up in residential neighborhoods attracting unsavory outsiders who pose a risk to safety.  A sheriff from the Emerald Triangle explains the difficulty of keeping up with crime and illegal grows.

Please take the time to watch this important film. This film is being freely shared on the internet for you to use in educating your friends, neighbors and elected officials about the problems stemming from taking an illicit drug and trying to legitimize its use.

It Only Takes an Hour to Watch

Chronic State from DrugFree Idaho, Inc. on Vimeo.

 

See What Experts are Saying about “Chronic State”

Several drug prevention experts were interviewed about the film at its world premiere. Here is what they had to say.

Conclusion: Looking back 40 years later

Part 3, of a series about two friends who used cannabis in the ’70s.  (Read part 1, Why I hate cannabis and part 2, another direction)  Now I’m looking back at when I decided to quit, more than 40 years ago.  Note that I retired at age 60, well in advance of my original plan and also before reaching social security age. I retired comfortably, with zero debt, having no mortgage, no car payment, and no credit card debt. Amazing what a clear mind can do for a fella.

As for Don, he’s still alive. I’m glad but surprised he’s still around.  Those afflicted with schizophrenia lose 10-25 years off their lives.  Continue reading Conclusion: Looking back 40 years later

My story why I hate cannabis, that vile drug

A Story of Two Friends

My name is Tom. I was born in 1957 and am 60 years old, living in Ohio. I am living happily, having recently retired from a prominent local manufacturer and retailer.  Here is why I hate cannabis.

One of my closest friends during my junior high and high school years was a buddy named “Don.” He was two years older and two grades ahead of me in school. Don was also a brilliant math student who tutored many neighborhood kids, helping them get through high school math. Everybody who came in contact with him really liked him.  He was a member of the wrestling team. We lived on the same street, so when he got a car, a cool “hot rod,” I was impressed.  He paid for with the wages he’d earned from his part-time jobs in high school.  He knew his way around the engine of a car, and did all his own repairs. Continue reading My story why I hate cannabis, that vile drug

Marijuana Users Grossly Underachieve

by Dr. Drew W. Edwards

Republished from DrDrewEdwards.org

All the independent, peer-reviewed research confirms what I and  other experts have observed for years. Cannabis users significantly underachieve in education, their careers, and have significant problems with their most significant relationships. Two recent and eye-opening studies published in the medical journals Addiction, and Neuropharmacology respectively reveal gross deficits in cognitive ability (IQ) executive functioning, attentiveness, inhibition of impulsiveness and motivation. Continue reading Marijuana Users Grossly Underachieve

10 Myths Marijuana Advocates Want you to Believe

By Dr. Christine Miller, Ph.D,  originally published by Poppot on October 29, 2014
Myth #1. It is rare for marijuana users to experience psychotic symptoms like paranoia.
In fact, about 15% of all users and a much higher percentage of heavy users will experience psychotic symptoms.1 Half of those individuals will become chronically schizophrenic if they don’t stop using.2 Fortunately, some do stop using because psychosis is not pleasant and they wisely recognize that pot caused their problems.

Continue reading 10 Myths Marijuana Advocates Want you to Believe

Marijuana is the Common Web Between So Many Mass Killers

A toxicology report on Devin Patrick Kelley, who shot and killed 26 at a church in Texas on November 5, revealed marijuana.

As Senator Chuck Schumer moves to decriminalize marijuana, he should scrutinize why marijuana plays a role in  so many mass killings.  The toxicology screen of mass killer Devin Patrick Kelley revealed marijuana in his system when he killed 26 people at a Texas church last November.  A week after the killings in Texas,  California “pot farmer” Kevin Neal murdered five people and injured eleven others.  Marijuana, or heavy use of marijuana at a young age, is a common web between many mass killers.

Diagnosed with cannabis-induced psychosis, Satoshi Uematsu killed 19 handicapped people in Japan and injured many others.

Although Devin Kelley had an anti-church bias, other marijuana-using killers express different ideological bents. Satoshi Uematsu, hated handicapped people whom he considered a burden on society.  The Japanese man who stabbed and killed 19 disabled people in 2016 frequently advocated for marijuana legalization.  Just weeks before his attack, Uematsu had been diagnosed with cannabis-induced psychosis and paranoia.  

In 2013, President Obama’s director of drug policy, Gil Kerlikowske released a study which cited marijuana as the drug most commonly linked to crimes.  The links between marijuana and violent behavior transcend national, religious and racial divides.  (Read the two most recent cases of religious violence.)

Jared Loughner, killed six and injured many  in Tucson, AZ, 2011.

Heavy or very heavy use of marijuana at a young age links several gunmen and terrorists with or without ideologies:  Planned Parenthood shooter Robert DearAurora shooter James Holmes; Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, and the Chattanooga shooter Mohammed Abdulazeez.

Marijuana was intricately tied to the Boston bombers, the Oklahoma City bomber and the Bastille Day terrorist in Nice. Brahim and Salah Abdeslam, who planned killing 130 at a Paris night club, and Cherif Kouachi, of the Charlie Hebdo killings, also belonged to the complicated web of heavy, chronic marijuana users.  The perpetrators of bombings in London and Manchester were known to be heavy marijuana users.

When Marijuana Use Leads to Acute or Chronic Psychosis

Robert Dear, Planned Parenthood shooter, November 27, 2015

While around 50% of American adults have tried marijuana, only 10-13 % of adults smoke pot on any regular basis.  Pot-using mass killers often stand out because of the chronic and obsessive nature  of their marijuana habit.   Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear appears to have moved from North Carolina to Colorado, fixated on his desire to be high.

A significant chunk of marijuana users experience psychotic symptoms.  Psychotic killers with mental illness may appear different from political and religious killers, but they often share the trait of persistent, early marijuana use.

Noah Harpham, was in mania when he shot three people in Colorado Springs  in 2015.

Noah Harpham, who shot three people in Colorado Springs weeks before the Planned Parenthood shootings,  experienced early pot addiction and tried to recover.    When he used marijuana again after Colorado legalized it, he immediately went into psychosis.   Shortly before the shooting rampage, he had been trying to get mental health treatment.  His toxicology report tested THC+, and no other drugs were found.

Aurora, Colorado theater shooter, James Holmes, was a heavy marijuana user.  A neighbor reported regularly seeing him smoking weed behind his apartment, but never talked to him.

James Holmes, Aurora shooter used to smoke weed behind the apartment.

The Chattanooga shooter suffered mainly from depression and/or bipolar disorder, and may not have been driven as much by  ideology as the other mass shooters.  Heavy marijuana use was an essential part of his life, and it had prevented him from getting a job.

The Teen Brain

The Boston bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,  had been heavy, persistent teenage marijuana users.  A study from the University of Pittsburgh shows strong changes may affect the adolescent user years later, even after stopping the use of marijuana.

Nice terrorist Mohammed Bouhlel smoked very strong weed in high school, and had his first psychotic break at 19.

The Nice terrorist, Mohammed Bouhlel, plowed into the crowd with a truck on Bastille Day two years ago, killing 86 people.  Bouhlel had a history of smoking strong cannabis as a teen.  He had an early psychotic break at age 19, a few years before the move to France.  His psychosis predated his interest in jihad, which had begun only a few months before the Bastille Day attack. Bouhlel also took steroids and pharmaceutical drugs years later, but started his drug use with weed.

In 2014, Washington State high school student Jaylen Fryberg shot five friends whom he had invited to eat lunch with him.  On Twitter he revealed the need to smoke a ton of pot because of a breakup.  The girl who had broken up with him said on Twitter that smoking pot made him stupid.   He was only 15 at the time, but Washington State started selling commercialized pot about four months earlier.

Marijuana strongly alters the teen brain, and  a recent study from Montreal pinpointed that any user under age 25 can become of victim of psychotic symptoms.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh killed 168 in 1996

Another pair of high school shooters, the Columbine shooters, chose to do their rampage on 4/20, a symbolic date for junkies.  Timothy McVeigh also chose this day for the Oklahoma City bombing.

Were the DC Snipers, John Allen Muhammed and Lee Boyd Malvo,   pot users?  They fit into a pattern of an older man using marijuana to control a teenager.  Before ending up in the DC area, they moved between places  known for marijuana: Jamaica, Antigua, Bellingham,  Tacoma.

When Marijuana Psychosis Leads to Violence: Aurora, Arizona

Some the most notorious recent murderers who were marijuana users fell victim to psychosis and delusion: Aurora shooter Holmes, Tucson shooter Loughner, Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear and Eddie Routh.  Routh shot “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield because of his paranoia.  He smoked marijuana the day of the murders.  Suffering from PTSD, he thought the other men would hurt him.

Eddie Routh, veteran with PTSD, smoked pot the morning before he killed Chris Kyle Chad Littlefield.

The Planned Parenthood shooter in Colorado Springs, Robert Dear,  appears to have been both ideologically fanatic and psychotic.  Eric Rudolph, another infamous anti-abortion terrorist, also had a marijuana history –the reason for his discharge from the Army.
The 15% or so of marijuana users who experience psychotic symptoms from marijuana or go into permanent psychosis (schizophrenia) are 9x more likely to become violent than schizophrenics whose illness has nothing to do with drugs. *

Marijuana often creates a cat-and-mouse chase with depression, bipolar, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia, and it makes these conditions worse. 

Educating about the connection between drug use and violence with an eye on drug prevention could alleviate much violent crime.

Solution to Cutting Down Mass Violence

Americans argue over the most effective means to stop mass killers.

Discussions often leave out one of the most important components of violence……compulsive drug use, especially marijuana.  Let’s consider that the root of violence goes much deeper than a person’s religion, gun laws or innate mental illness.  Let’s stop legalizing drugs.
A Secret Service report on mass attacks in public places, 2017, connected 54% of attackers to illicit drugs or substance abuse.

Manchester terrorist Salmon Abedi

We acknowledge that not everyone who uses marijuana becomes mentally ill or psychotic.  However, cannabis use, especially in young users can cause extraordinary changes to the brain.   Read how Salman Abedi changed from a cannabis smoking teen to an Isis terrorist. 

Robert Durst, who allegedly murdered several people throughout the United States depended upon his “beloved marijuana.”
Readers should check out the many excellent sources describing links between marijuana, mental illness and violence, including:

*Fazel S, Långström N, Hjern A, Grann M, Lichtenstein P. Schizophrenia, substance abuse, and violent crime. JAMA. 2009 May 20;301(19):2016-23.

Miller, Norman S Miller and Thersilla Oberbarnscheidt.  Marijuana Violence and Law. Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy, January 17,  2017

Harris AW, Large MM, Redoblado-Hodge A, Nielssen O, Anderson J, Brennan J. Clinical and cognitive associations with aggression in the first episode of psychosis. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2010 Jan;44(1):85-93..……

Big Marijuana moves to exploit the Opioid Epidemic

Remarks prepared by Drug Free America Foundation, March 2018. Get a downloadable copy here.

Marijuana use is associated with an increased risk of prescription opioid use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and found respondents who reported past-year marijuana use in their initial interview had 2.2 times higher odds than nonusers for having a prescription opioid use disorder and 2.6 times greater odds of abusing prescription opioids.[i]

Marijuana use seems to strengthen the relationship between pain and depression and anxiety, not ease it. A recent study that surveyed 150 adults receiving MAT examined whether marijuana use diminishes the relationships between pain, depression, and anxiety and whether self-efficacy influences these interactions. The study concluded that marijuana use strengthens the connection between feelings of pain and emotional distress. Marijuana use was also associated with a low sense of self-efficacy, making it harder for them to manage their symptoms.[ii] Continue reading Big Marijuana moves to exploit the Opioid Epidemic

More child abuse deaths related to marijuana

At least two more child abuse deaths related to marijuana use occurred in May.   In Florida, Charles Lee left a baby, aged one,  alone.  He went into the front yard to smoke pot with a 15-year-old and the baby drowned in a backyard pool.  It is not clear what Charles Lee’s relationship is to the parents, but they had entrusted him with the child at the time.

In Salt Lake City, a father smoked pot and fell asleep on the floor.  He left out a loaded gun and his two year-old shot himself.    Both these incidents reflect the irresponsibility, forgetfulness and selfishness that surround using pot.  Unfortunately, the victims are so young.

Parents Opposed to Pot has found 11 incidences of children drowning in pools, five of them in Florida and two in California. Continue reading More child abuse deaths related to marijuana

Australian Twins Study Supports Gateway effects of marijuana

Twins who use cannabis by age 17 are 2.1 to 5.2 times more likely to develop addiction issues.  An Australian twins study determined this likelihood by comparing twins who used pot to the co-twins who hadn’t used marijuana.

Although not a gateway for everyone, cannabis often is a gateway for those who become addicted and die.  Study after study has shown a relationship between the use of marijuana and other psychoactive and addictive substances.   Yet marijuana lobbyists twist the issue and say it’s not a gateway drug.

Marijuana is a major cause of drug-related medical and psychiatric emergency room episodes.   Liberalizing marijuana laws escalates this problem.  Some go to the hospital for marijuana-induced psychosis while others seek medical help for vomiting.

The Australian Twins Study

The January 22/29, 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published the outcome of a well-controlled study designed to determine whether genetic predisposition or environmental factors determine if an underage cannabis user will progress to other drugs.  The findings from this research led to “Escalation of Drug Use in Early-Onset Cannabis Users vs. Co-Twin Control,” by LynskyM, HeathA and BucholzK.

The study found that a twin who had used cannabis by age 17 was significantly more likely to use other drugs.  The same twins were more likely to become drug and alcohol dependent, compared with their co-twin who had not used marijuana.  And there was very little difference whether the twins were fraternal or identical.

Which way will your child go? The Australian twins study found results similar for fraternal and identical twins, supporting the idea of the gateway effects.

In other words, environmental influences can trump genetic predisposition for those who progress from cannabis use to the use of other psychoactive and addictive substances.  For the sake of this study, “environmental factors” were “associations and circumstances” leading to this progression.

According to the authors, “In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.”

The study predicted what has happened in the USA and Canada. For example, a large group of young people who died of overdoses in Massachusetts began their drug use with marijuana.  Politicians continue to consider the overdose problem only an issue with opioids rather than a poly-drug addiction.  People continue to suggest that marijuana will substitute for opioid pain medications, despite the fact that most youth who overdose begin with pot.

Exposure to One Class of Drugs increases consumption of other drugs

The same issue of JAMA carried an editorial entitled “Does Marijuana Use Cause the Use of Other Drugs?”  The author referenced research which found cross-sensitization between repeated exposure to THC (The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) and opiates.  “With cross-sensitization, exposure to one class of drug increases consumption of other drug classes, consistent with the existence of a gateway effect.”

The editorial stated, “Prevention efforts will presumably affect the underlying risk and protective factors related to the onset of marijuana use, whether or not these factors are shared with the onset of the use of other illicit drugs. For youths who have already used marijuana, the issue is: can and should intervention programs be developed to target this group at very high risk for progressing to other substances? It appears so.”

Parents, please don’t take early teen marijuana use lightly.  It frequently leads to significant poly-drug abuse problems.   Sometimes the problem stops at marijuana addiction.  Addiction to pot occurs in 1 in 6 users who begin between ages 12 and 17.  Until we stop minimizing the harm of early pot use, we won’t get the drug epidemic under control.  

Heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine users are invariably poly drug-abusers.  Marijuana facilitates their drug abuse.  It can enhance the high, but cannabis also helps to minimize the withdrawal symptoms.

Why would a single policymaker still supports legalization of such a dangerous substance?   Follow the money to answer that question.

 

Denver Community Leaders Ask Mayor to Keep Kids Out of Pot Rallies

Lakewood, CO — On Friday, May 4th at 2:00 pm, the Centennial Institute, Smart Colorado, and The Marijuana Accountability Coalition delivered a letter to Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock at Denver City Hall calling on the city to ban individuals under the age of 21 from attending marijuana rallies where they are exposed to hazardous secondhand smoke. Continue reading Denver Community Leaders Ask Mayor to Keep Kids Out of Pot Rallies

A Father’s Grieving Tale: “A Life Half Lived”

A Life Half Lived is wonderful biography and memoir by a father who lost his son in a tragic car accident. Darryl Rodgers’s love for his son Chase shines through on every page of this book.  Chase made some bad choices about substance abuse, the company he kept and the final decision about getting into the car with an impaired driver.

As the father explains, Chase packed forty years of life into twenty years.  The book is so engaging that the reader doesn’t want to stop. When Darryl wrote the book, it appears he was trying to figure out where he went wrong, or what Continue reading A Father’s Grieving Tale: “A Life Half Lived”

Medical Studies Document Dangers Related to marijuana

Attached is a list of medical articles that document medical warnings against marijuana that are running in newspapers throughout the country, to warn in advance of participation in 420 events.

Click here to see the Parental Advisory Ad

Marijuana Potency unlike 1990s

Highly potent marijuana today is different for the 1990s, with much higher THC and much lower cannabidiol concentrations (Elsohly et al 2016).

ElSohly MA, Mehmedic Z, Foster S, Gon C, Chandra S, Church JC. Changes in Cannabis Potency Over the Last 2 Decades (1995-2014): Analysis of Current Data in the United States. Biol Psychiatry. 2016;79(7):613-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4987131/pdf/nihms-762043.pdf

Average flower is 17.1% in one state with legal sales of recreational marijuana, Colorado, much higher than the national average (HIDTA, 2017), and as high as 30% THC in some samples (NBC News report).  It should be noted that variation in testing results is quite high between laboratories (Jikomes and Zoroob, 2018).

HIDTA, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Report, The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact. 2017 Vol. 5, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Investigative Support Center, Denver, Colorado. https://www.rmhidta.org/html/FINAL%202017%20Legalization%20of%20Marijuana%20in%20Colorado%20The%20Impact.pdf

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/legal-pot/legal-weed-surprisingly-strong-dirty-tests-find-n327811

Jikomes N, Zoorob M. The Cannabinoid Content of Legal Cannabis in Washington State Varies Systematically Across Testing Facilities and Popular Consumer Products. Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 14;8(1):4519. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22755-2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22755-2.pdf

Processed cannabis reaches up to 90% THC

Jikomes N, Zoorob M. The Cannabinoid Content of Legal Cannabis in Washington State Varies Systematically Across Testing Facilities and Popular Consumer Products. Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 14;8(1):4519. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22755-2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22755-2.pdf

Marijuana is the Number 1 substance now found in Colorado suicides, 10-19 years old, 2014-2016

https://cohealthviz.dphe.state.co.us/t/HSEBPublic/views/CoVDRS_12_1_17/Story1?:embed=y&:showAppBanner=false&:showShareOptions=true&:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no#4)

Marijuana use is linked to increased suicide risk.

Marijuana products contain contaminates, (fungus, heavy metals, pesticides, and chemicals

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/modern-marijuana-more-potent-often-laced-heavy-metals-and-fungus-180954696/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/contaminated-medical-marijuana-pot-believed-to-have-killed-cancer-patient/

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/I-Team-Marijuana-Pot-Pesticide-California-414536763.html

https://modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/whats-the-matter-california-cannabis

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article131391629.html

http://sfist.com/2017/08/31/80_percent_of_medical_marijuana_tes.php

Causes mental illness, and is associated with onset of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders such as bipolar disorder with psychosis

Association with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders such as bipolar and schizophrenia. (Miller, 2017; Cougle et al., 2015), completed suicides and suicide attempts (Arendt et al., 2013; Silins et al., 2014; Clarke et al., 2014) and violence towards others (Arseneault et al., 2000; Dugre et al., 2017; Harford et al., 2018)  particularly in those who develop marijuana-induced psychosis.

Arseneault L, Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Taylor PJ, Silva PA. Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort: results from the Dunedin Study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2000;57(10):979-86.

Arendt M, Munk-Jørgensen P, Sher L, Jensen SO. Mortality following treatment for cannabis use disorders: predictors and causes. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2013;44(4):400-6.

Clarke MC, Coughlan H, Harley M, Connor D, Power E, Lynch F, Fitzpatrick C, Cannon M. The impact of adolescent cannabis use, mood disorder and lack of education on attempted suicide in young adulthood. World Psychiatry. 2014;13(3):322-3.

Cougle JR et al. (2015). Quality of life and risk of psychiatric disorders among regular users of alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis: An analysis of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). J Psychiatr Res., 66-67, 135-141

Di Forti M, et al. Proportion of patients in South London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2(3):233-8.

Dugré JR, Dellazizzo L, Giguère CÉ, Potvin S, Dumais A. Persistency of Cannabis Use Predicts Violence following Acute Psychiatric Discharge. Front Psychiatry. 2017 21;8:176. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613094/pdf/fpsyt-08-00176.pdf

Harford TC, Chen CM, Kerridge BT, Grant BF. Self- and other-directed forms of violence and their relationship with lifetime DSM-5 psychiatric disorders: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III). Psychiatry Res. 2018;262:384-392.

Miller CL. The disconnect between the science on cannabis and public health campaigns. Addiction. 2017;112(10):1882-1883. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/add.13918

Silins E, Horwood LJ, Patton GC, Fergusson DM, Olsson CA, Hutchinson DM, Spry E, Toumbourou JW, Degenhardt L, Swift W, Coffey C, Tait RJ, Letcher P, Copeland J, Mattick RP, for the Cannabis Cohorts Research Consortium. Young adult sequelae of adolescent cannabis use: an integrative analysis. Lancet Psychiatry 2014; 1(4): 245-318.

Starzer MSK, Nordentoft M, Hjorthøj C. (2018) Rates and Predictors of Conversion to Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder Following Substance-Induced Psychosis. Am J Psychiatry,175(4), 343-350

Harm to unborn, nursing babies

Marijuana harms unborn children (Jenkins et al., 2007; Trezza et al., 2012; Tortoriello et al., 2014; Grewen et al., 2015; Zumbrun et al., 2015; Leemaqz et al., 2016; Benevenuto et al., 2017), and may concentrate in breast milk if used repeatedly (Perez-Reyes and Wall, 1982; Grotenhermen, 2003), with consequences for the developing neonate (Astley and Little, 1990).

Astley SJ, Little RE. Maternal marijuana use during lactation and infant development at one year. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1990 Mar-Apr;12(2):161-8.

Benevenuto SG et al., Recreational use of marijuana during pregnancy and negative gestational and fetal outcomes: An experimental study in mice. Toxicology. 2017 Feb 1;376:94-101

Grewen K, Salzwedel AP, Gao W. Functional Connectivity Disruption in Neonates with Prenatal Marijuana Exposure. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015;9:601.

Grotenhermen F. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2003;42(4):327-60. Review.

Hurd YL, Szutorisz H, High times for cannabis: Epigenetic imprint and its legacy on brain and behavior. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 85 (2018) 93–101  https://oir.nih.gov/wals/2015-2016/high-times-drugs-epigenetic-imprint-legacy-brain

Jenkins KJ, Correa A, Feinstein JA, Botto L, Britt AE, Daniels SR, Elixson M, Warnes CA, Webb CL; American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young. Non-inherited risk factors and congenital cardiovascular defects: current knowledge: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young: endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Circulation. 2007 Jun 12;115(23):2995-3014.

Leemaqz SY et al. Maternal marijuana use has independent effects on risk for spontaneous preterm birth but not other common late pregnancy complications. Reprod Toxicol. 2016;62:77-86.

Perez-Reyes M, Wall ME. Presence of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol in human milk. N Engl J Med. 1982;307(13):819-20.

Tortoriello G, et al. Miswiring the brain: Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol disrupts cortical development by inducing an SCG10/stathmin-2 degradation pathway. EMBO J. 2014;33(7):668-85.

Trezza,V. et al. Altering endocannabinoid neurotransmission at critical developmental ages: impact on rodent emotionality and cognitive performance. Front Behav Neurosci. 2012; 6: 02. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265033/

Zumbrun EE et al. Epigenetic Regulation of Immunological Alterations Following Prenatal Exposure to Marijuana Cannabinoids and its Long Term Consequences in Offspring. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2015; 10(2):245-54.

Marijuana causes cyclic vomiting

Sorensen CJ, DeSanto K, Borgelt L, Phillips KT, Monte AA. Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome: Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, and Treatment-a Systematic Review. J Med Toxicol. 2017;13(1):71-87. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5330965/

Alaniz VI, Liss J, Metz TD, Stickrath E. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome: a cause of refractory nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Jun;125(6):1484-6.

Marijuana can trigger violence in those with PTSD and make PTSD worse

Wilkinson ST, Stefanovics E, Rosenheck RA. Marijuana use is associated with worse outcomes in symptom severity and violent behavior in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Sep;76(9):1174-80.

Friedman A, Glassman K, Terras A Violent Behavior as Related to Marijuana and Other Drugs, by Albert Journal of Addictive Diseases, Vol 20(1), 2001,pp. 49-72. Marijuana users nearly as likely to engage in violent behaviors as crack users.

Marijuana is linked to increased driving fatalities

Hartman RL, Huestes ME, Richman JE Hayes CE, Drug Recognition (DRE) examination characteristics of cannabis impairment.  Accident Analysis and Prevention 92(2016)219-229.  http://www.decp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/302-Marijuana-DRE-Evaluations-Study.pdf .  Factors to measure cannabis impairment

 Staples JA, Redelmeier, DA, The April 20 Cannabis Celebration and Fatal Traffic Crashes in the United States. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(4):569-572. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.8298 Rate of traffic fatalities go up 12% after 4/20 festivities, in comparison to one week before and one week after.

Bosker WM, Kuypers KP, Theunissen EL, et al. Medicinal Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (dronabinol) impairs on-the-road driving performance of occasional and heavy cannabis users but is not detected in standard field sobriety tests. Addiction. 2012;107(10):1837-1844.

Compton WN, Volkow Nd, Lopez MF. Medical marijuana laws and cannabis use: intersections of health and policy,  JAMA Psychiatry.  2017: 74 (6): 559-560

Del Balzo G, Gottardo R, Mengozzi S, Dorizzi RM, Bortolotti F, Appolonova S, Tagliaro F, “Positive” urine testing for Cannabis is associated with increased risk of traffic crashes, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2017.12.059

Hartman RL, Huestis MA. Cannabis effects on driving skills. Clin Chem. 2013;59(3):478-492.

Gjerde H, Morland J. Risk for involvement in road traffic crash during acute cannabis intoxication.  Addiction 2016;111(8):1492-1495.

Martin J-L, Gadegbeku B, Wu D, Viallon V, Laumon B (2017) Cannabis, alcohol and fatal road accidents. PLoS ONE 12(11): e0187320.    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187320

Ramaekers JG, Kauert G, van Ruitenbeek P, Theunissen EL, Schneider E and Manfred R Moeller, High-Potency Marijuana Impairs Executive Function and Inhibitory Motor Control. Amer Col of Neuropsychopharmacology (2006) 31, 2296–2303.

Raemakers, JG  Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis: An Increasing Public Health Concern. JAMA published online March 26, 2018  Regular cannabis users wrongfully believe that cannabis does not affect their driving performance or that they can compensate for cannabis-associated impairment.  Raemakers_2018 JAMA driving editorial.pdf

World Health Organization. Drug Use and Road Safety: A Policy Brief. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2016.

Marijuana associated with lung disease, cancer

Marijuana smoke is associated with lung disease (Tan et al., 2009; Tashkin, 2015) and the development of some cancers (Efird et al., 2004; Lackson et al., 2012).  High levels of the cannabinoid receptor that is preferentially activated by THC (CB1) correspond to shorter survival in many cancers (Michalski et al., 2008; Carpi et al., 2015; Suk et al., 2016)

Carpi S, Fogli S, Polini B, Montagnani V, Podestà A, Breschi MC, Romanini A, Stecca B, Nieri P. Tumor-promoting effects of cannabinoid receptor type 1 in human melanoma cells. Toxicol In Vitro. 2017 Apr;40:272-279. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2017.01.018. Epub 2017 Jan 26

Efird JT, Friedman GD, Sidney S, Klatsky A, Habel LA, Udaltsova NV, Van den Eeden S, Nelson LM. The risk for malignant primary adult-onset glioma in a large, multiethnic, managed-care cohort: cigarette smoking and other lifestyle behaviors. J Neurooncol. 2004 May;68(1):57-69.

Lackson et al., 2012, Population-based case-control study of recreational drug use and testis cancer risk confirms an association between marijuana use and nonseminoma risk. Cancer 188:5374-83

Michalski CW, Oti FE, Erkan M, Sauliunaite D, Bergmann F, Pacher P, Batkai S, Müller MW, Giese NA, Friess H, Kleeff J. Cannabinoids in pancreatic cancer: correlation with survival and pain. Int J Cancer. 2008;122(4):742-50. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2225529/pdf/nihms38106.pdf

Suk KT, Mederacke I, Gwak GY, Cho SW, Adeyemi A, Friedman R, Schwabe RF. Opposite roles of cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 in hepatocarcinogenesis. Gut. 2016;65(10):1721-32.  http://gut.bmj.com/content/gutjnl/65/10/1721.full.pdf

Tan WC, et al. Marijuana and chronic obstructive lung disease: a population-based study. CMAJ. 2009;180(8):814-20

Tashkin DP. The respiratory health benefits of quitting cannabis use. Eur Respir J. 2015;46(1):1-4

Legal marijuana increases youth use (Cerda et al., 2017) and is associated with youth switching to more potent marijuana products (Borodovsky et al., 2017)

Use by youth in 8th and 10th grades has gone up significantly in Washington State (Cerda et al., JAMA Pediatrics ). School districts with the highest density of legal dispensaries in Colorado have a 30% higher rate of use in students by the time they reach their senior year of high school (Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 2015: Adolescent Health); and to compile data on density of dispensaries for each school district https://weedmaps.com/dispensaries/in/united-states/colorado)

The percentage of youth on probation testing positive for marijuana has increased steadily since 2012 (DPS, 2017)

Borodovsky JT, Lee DC, Crosier BS, Gabrielli JL, Sargent JD, Budney AJ. U.S. cannabis legalization and use of vaping and edible products among youth. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017; 177:299-306. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28662974

Cerdá M, Wall M, Feng T, Keyes KM, Sarvet A, Schulenberg J, O’Malley PM, Pacula RL, Galea S, Hasin DS. Association of State Recreational Marijuana Laws With Adolescent Marijuana Use. JAMA Pediatr. 2017;171(2):142-149. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5365078/

Marijuana decreases IQ in those who begin their use young

Meier MH, Caspi A, Ambler A, Harrington H, Houts R, Keefe RS, McDonald K, Ward A, Poulton R, Moffitt TE. Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 2;109(40):E2657-64. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1206820109

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479587/pdf/pnas.201206820.pdf

Mj harms developing adolescent and young adult brains.

Camchong J, Lim KO, Kumra S. Adverse Effects of Cannabis on Adolescent Brain Development: A Longitudinal Study. Cereb Cortex. 2017 Mar 1;27(3):1922-1930. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw015.  https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/27/3/1922/3056289

Marijuana does not cure cancer

https://www.nap.edu/resource/24625/Cannabis_report_highlights.pdf

Marijuana does not help common pain conditions

Allan GM Simplified guideline for prescribing medical cannabinoids in primary care  Canadian Family Physicians Vol 64: February 2018      2018 Cannabis Prescribing Guidelines.pdf.

Richards JR, Treatment of acute cannabinoid overdose with naloxone infusion.  J Toxicology Com-munications Vol 1, 2017 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24734306.2017.1392715

Finn, K, The Clinical Conundrum of Medical Marijuana, Pain Medicine News, 2016 https://www.painmedicinenews.com/Commentary/Article/06-17/The-Clinical-Conundrum-of-Medical-Marijuana/41579

Finn, K, Current research on marijuana for pain is lacking. https://poppot.org/2017/06/26/current-research-marijuana-pain-lacking/

Olfson M, Wall M Cannabis Use and Risk of Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in the United States   American J Psychiatry. Cannabis use, even among adults with moderate to severe pain, was associated with a substantially increased risk of nonmedical prescription opioid use at 3-year follow-up.  https://doi-org.proxy.hsi.ucdenver.edu/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040413

Graph provided by The Marijuana Report/National Families in Action. March 2018

 Marijuana is not curbing the opioid crises

Caputi TL, Humphreys K, Medical Marijuana Users are More Likely to Use Prescription Drugs Medically and Nonmedically, JAddiction Medicine: April 17, 2018 https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/publishahead/Medical_Marijuana_Users_are_More_Likely_to_Use.99476.aspx?PRID=JOAM_PR_041718

Olfson M, Wall M Cannabis Use and Risk of Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in the United States, American J Psychiatry. Cannabis use, even among adults with moderate to severe pain, was associated with a substantially increased risk of nonmedical prescription opioid use at 3-year follow-up.  https://doi-org.proxy.hsi.ucdenver.edu/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040413

This data is available in SAM’s Lessons Learned report https://learnaboutsam.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SAM-Lessons-Learned-From-Marijuana-Legalization-Digital.pdf

Court of Appeals Rules DOJ can enforce law on federal land

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of Justice can go after pot growers on federal lands.  The ruling says a congressional budgetary restriction preventing the enforcement of federal laws in medical pot states does not apply to the growing and manufacturing of marijuana on federal land.
Under the court’s ruling, pot growers can now be investigated by DEA and prosecuted by United States Attorneys if their pot operations occurred on federal lands managed by the Forest Service and other federal agencies, even in states where “medical” marijuana is allowed.

Continue reading Court of Appeals Rules DOJ can enforce law on federal land

How Did I Miss Those Signs?

My Kids and their Friends are Dying Faster than my Friends

This testimony from South Florida was published on 6/21/2015.

I know that has lost a child tells me they first used cannabis. The numbers of young people I know that have died that were friends of my children between 15 and 30, including my daughter, all began with smoking marijuana.  And their numbers are greater than the number of my friends that have died and I graduated in 1962. My daughter died at 28. Continue reading How Did I Miss Those Signs?

New Jersey Governor Murphy Fights for Marijuana Industry

Yesterday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy vowed to fight for the legalization of marijuana, despite opposition in his own party, the Democratic Party of New Jersey.  New Jersey’s Black Caucus and many Democratic representative support decriminalization as a better alternative. Governor Murphy seems to be acting recklessly.

Continue reading New Jersey Governor Murphy Fights for Marijuana Industry

What’s the Marijuana Mania of Today?

The cockpit after man disrupted a flight from Seattle to Beijing. AP Photo

Man on pot edibles disrupts flight to Beijing

The turbo-charged, high-THC marijuana of today brings out lots of marijuana mania. Jimmy Kimmel’s pot jokes at the Oscars fell flat, but Kimmel could try using these stories on his nightly comedy show.  Or maybe they aren’t so funny, just a reflection of how marijuana does a number on the human brain.

Continue reading What’s the Marijuana Mania of Today?

Alcohol and Marijuana together Magnifies Driving Difficulties

Mixing Alcohol and Marijuana Amplifies THC in the System

Three news stories exemplify the tragic results of mixing alcohol and marijuana before getting behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.  Most recently, a suspected-DUI driver crashed into a California Highway patrolman in a parked vehicle on Christmas Eve.  Andrew Camilleri, 33, died instantly.  He left behind a wife and three children. Continue reading Alcohol and Marijuana together Magnifies Driving Difficulties

Explosions last weekend highlight Michigan’s problem controlling BHO

Two explosions in one weekend

Two Butane Hash Oil (BHO) explosions ignited in Michigan last weekend, when amateurs were attempting to extract THC from marijuana to make “dabs.”  Michigan’s BHO problem will grow into a bigger problem, because legalizers succeeded in getting marijuana on the ballot in November.  (Read this article to understand the difference between decriminalization and legalization.)

On Saturday, January 20 in Orion Township, a tenant was making BHO  when he suddenly tried to light a cigarette, and everything exploded. The “victim”/maker of the substance was badly burned on his arms and face.   He’s been hospitalized, but the other four roommates made  it out of the house unharmed. Continue reading Explosions last weekend highlight Michigan’s problem controlling BHO

HS teacher tells truth about pot in Colorado schools

Teacher in Pueblo Describes the Problem

Defenders of marijuana such as Governor John Hickenlooper say youth use of pot did not go up after legalization.  When surveys don’t track the state’s largest schools, the information gets distorted. Many counties in the eastern plains and western slopes do not allow marijuana shops.  Interviews with teachers and administrators in Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and the central part of the state tell another story.

We believe the evidence of teachers, counselors, parents and school administrators reveal more than any survey of students.   Please listen to this video:

Continue reading HS teacher tells truth about pot in Colorado schools

Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12

Monitoring the Future,* the nation’s annual survey of students, reported today marijuana use in 8th, 10th and 12th grades was higher than last year.  The survey also found that students in medical marijuana law states vaped marijuana at higher rates than students in other states, and consumed pot edibles (that can come in candies, sodas, or ice-creams) at double the rate than in non-medical marijuana law states. The survey does not include youth who drop out of school.

Misuse of prescription opioids continued its 10-year decline.  Virtually all other substances are at their lowest point in the history of the survey. The contrast is very significant, because many people think the overprescribing of opioids is the only reason our youth die of drug abuse.  They fail to reflect on the fact that early marijuana use is a predictor of other substance abuse.  Continue reading Annual Survey Shows Marijuana Use Up Among Grades 8, 10, & 12

Pregnant and Parenting Moms in Washington Harmed by Legal Pot

A new peer-reviewed study about to be published in the January 2018 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that marijuana use at exit from a 3-year case management intervention program for pregnant and parenting women increased significantly after marijuana legalization in Washington state.
“This study adds to the data we have about legalization driving up use and negatively impacting society,” said SAM President Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D. “States should slow down and realize that their actions have real consequences, especially among populations highlighted in this study — parents and children.”
The researchers divided the study sample into two cohorts based on whether participants had completed the program before or after legalization.
Researchers reported the following results:
“Most study participants reported complete abstinence from alcohol and nonprescription drugs at program exit. Among those who were still using substances, women who completed the intervention after marijuana legalization were significantly more likely to report marijuana use at program exit compared with women who completed the intervention before marijuana legalization. Across both cohorts (pre- and post-legalization), we found a positive association of exit marijuana use with alcohol, illegal methadone, other opioids, amphetamines, and cocaine use; even when we controlled for historical period, the association with some of these substances with marijuana use remained evident. Independent of marijuana use, we saw increased use during the post-legalization period of alcohol, illicit methadone, and other opioids.”
The study concluded that “Women who were not abstinent from marijuana at program exit were likely to report use of other substances as well. Our study design demonstrates an association but does not allow us to conclude that marijuana use leads to other substance use among this sample of women with a history of polysubstance use.”
www.learnaboutsam.org
###
__________________________________________________________________

About SAM

 

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is a nonpartisan, non-profit alliance of physicians, policy makers, prevention workers, treatment and recovery professionals, scientists, and other concerned citizens opposed to marijuana legalization who want health and scientific evidence to guide marijuana policies. SAM has affiliates in more than 30 states.

Tracking the Effects on Children

Since legalization began  on December 5, 2012, Parents Opposed to Pot has been tracking marijuana – related child abuse deaths.    We have found 102 such deaths; we believe the problem is significant and should be studied. https://poppot.org/2015/09/14/the-role-of-marijuana-horrific-cases-of-child-justice-failure-part-1/ Continue reading Pregnant and Parenting Moms in Washington Harmed by Legal Pot

Drug Policy Alliance Pushes Legalization of all Drugs

The growth of the Drug Policy Alliance’s influence and emphasis contributes to the staggering increase in overdose deaths. * DPA gets political mileage from using the term “war on drugs,” and turning it into a negative term.  However, the USA officially abandoned the term eight years ago, and then the death rate began to rise.

Drug Policy Alliance recently put out a paper on decriminalizing all drugs, a first step towards legalization of all drugs. This group often talks about Portugal as an example which is misleading, because Portugal never legalized drugs. Portugal decriminalized drugs while providing assessments and treatment.   Continue reading Drug Policy Alliance Pushes Legalization of all Drugs

Tragedy comes to teens who risk riding with stoned drivers

Driving with friends when they’re stoned

Read Part 1 and Part 2.   Many teens have heard “stoned is safer than drunk.” In the social media, the pot advocates claim to drive more carefully when high on pot.  Long-time pot users say ridiculous things which make young people think they’re immune to tragedy.  Smoking pot and driving is not safe, and it’s foolish to guess which risky behavior is more dangerous than another.

Too many teens take a risk by getting into the cars of friends or classmates who have been smoking pot.  Marijuana was a factor in the crash that killed Darion Wheeler, 18, Destinee Wheeler, 15, and Paul McEwan, 20.  It shocked a small Wyoming town when they died last March. Continue reading Tragedy comes to teens who risk riding with stoned drivers

Time to get mad, change attitudes about stoned driving, part 2

Read Part I: Time to get mad about stoned driving.  The next step is to change attitudes about stoned driving.

Marijuana Policy Project promoted marijuana as an alternative to alcohol in the 2012 campaign to legalize pot in Colorado.  However, the recent Rocky Mountain HIDTA Report revealed the overlap between those who use marijuana and drink before driving.   It’s not a substitution, but an adjunct to alcohol.  The alcohol industry has been selling more since legalization. Continue reading Time to get mad, change attitudes about stoned driving, part 2

The genius behind Washington’s marijuana ballot

Alison Holcomb designed I-502 and the state changed the terms

Alison Holcomb of the ACLU used her genius to write I-502, the 2012 ballot which legalized pot in Washington.  She addressed the public’s biggest concerns about accepting the legalization of marijuana, and wrote the ballot to appeal to non-users.  It was a brilliant tactic.  Soon after legalization, the state disregarded many of those terms.

I-502 had safeguards to prevent stoned driving, public smoking of marijuana, home grows and under-age usage.

Yet, passage of I-502 created many new victims. To a strong extent, the 5-nanogram allowance for THC in drivers is not protecting public health and safety.

Continue reading The genius behind Washington’s marijuana ballot

Time to Get Mad against Stoned Driving

Driver, allegedly high on marijuana, killed father of four

Joseph Bresnyan, a 40-year-old father of four, was changing a flat tire along Interstate 80 near Sacramento on May 3.  A passing motorist drifted onto the shoulder of the highway,  struck him and killed him.   California Highway Patrol arrested the other driver on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide.   He tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Californians approved pot legalization last November, but the impaired driver didn’t realize that driving after smoking is dangerous.  The public shares much of this ignorance and technology has not caught up with policy.   Law enforcement is scrambling to find good ways to test for and control stoned Continue reading Time to Get Mad against Stoned Driving

Let’s tackle drugs during domestic violence awareness month

Marijuana-induced psychosis leads to domestic violence

Domestic Violence Awareness month comes around each year in October.   Violence prevention groups would gain ground by targeting drug use and alcohol abuse, which trigger most cases of domestic violence.

Too many people are still deceived by the image of the laid back pot smoker.  A significant subset of stoners become psychotic and violent from using marijuana.   Davie Dauzat, who beheaded his wife on August 25, 2016, told the police it was a  “battle between good and evil.”  He and his wife had smoked pot together before he killed her.  Dauzat  was having the type of psychotic break that overwhelms certain pot users, leading them to commit acts of violence.   A similar event happened to Tyler Denning on March 25, when he jumped from a 4th floor window clutching his son.  He had smoked marijuana that day and claimed that God had made him do it.

Continue reading Let’s tackle drugs during domestic violence awareness month

Teens, college students, young adults add Xanax to their marijuana

For teens and college students, it’s a trend to add Xanax to their marijuana.  Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication classified as a benzodiazapine. Some who use Xanax have real anxiety.  Because “medical” marijuana activists advertise marijuana as a treatment for anxiety, some people use marijuana to deal with anxiety. Continue reading Teens, college students, young adults add Xanax to their marijuana

Marijuana gummy bears make children sick throughout country

As of this week, marijuana-infused gummy bears can no longer be sold in Colorado.  On October 1, a law banned marijuana treats in the shape of animal, people or otherwise designed to appeal to children.   Smart Colorado, a non-profit group, worked diligently to pass child protection laws.

As Colorado tightens restrictions on the sale of marijuana edibles, the problems with pot candies have reached other states.   Children all around the country have accidentally eaten pot-infused sweets and turned up in hospital emergency rooms. Continue reading Marijuana gummy bears make children sick throughout country

Crashes show need to change laws about stoned driving

Three years ago a four-year-old girl in upstate New York survived a brutal car crash when her father drove stoned.  The remarkable recovery of Peyton Bean, who survived, is testimony to the advances in modern medicine and the skills of doctors at who treated her.  However, her story illustrates the need to changes laws. Continue reading Crashes show need to change laws about stoned driving

Student pot use rises at DC middle, high schools

Marijuana use among students rose after the District of Columbia decriminalized pot in 2014 and legalized it for ages 21 and over in 2015.  Now we have some statistics about middle schools and high schools.  After troubling information came out about increased usage, The Blunt Truth campaign launched as an underage prevention initiative.

In Ward 7, for example, there was a three-fold increase in 30-day use of marijuana among surveyed middle school students from 2013 to 2015, from 2.5% to 7.8%. For high school students surveyed, there was a 28% increase from 2013 to 2015, from 24% to 30.7%.   Parental acceptance of the drug use was 15% in 2013, but grew to 32% in 2015. Continue reading Student pot use rises at DC middle, high schools

Addicted to Weed? How I Suddenly Came to Realize the Truth

Addicted to Weed?  in The Fix on July 19, 2017

There was so much misinformation about marijuana that I was willing to doubt anything negative, even if it was backed by hard science. Then I got a brain scan.

I’d always been told that marijuana addiction was impossible, that it was a harmless herb with only medicinal properties.

I have about a month of sobriety under my belt. I still wake up most days after dreams where I spark a bowl or drop some acid thinking that sobriety is too much, that it isn’t doable, not for me. Continue reading Addicted to Weed? How I Suddenly Came to Realize the Truth

New Discrete Cannabis Test Kit Helps Parents

Fighting the Good Fight Against Teen Drug Use

There’s no doubt that parents are the most powerful force in protecting and preparing children for the future. But these days, that job has become exponentially more confusing with the legalization of marijuana in many states and the subsequent arrival of a much more allusive, potent and dangerous variety that’s already flooding across state boarders. One thing has become clear: there’s no such thing as a harmless habit.

Marijuana is no stranger to most parents, but many are unaware of the way it’s being ingested these days and that it has 5x more THC than it did in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Recent studies have concluded that it can even cause a permanent lowering of I.Q. for adolescents, along with a host of other problems which decrease the chances of having and enjoying a prosperous future. Continue reading New Discrete Cannabis Test Kit Helps Parents

A Stairway to Heaven Leaves a Hole in our Hearts

The Carlos Castellanos Story

By Pam Garozzo

I am a mother with a hole in her heart, one who mourns the loss of her beloved child every day.  My son, Carlos Castellanos, died at age 23 from a drug overdose, just three weeks after walking me down the aisle at my wedding and two days before Christmas.  He had been clean from an opioid addiction for ten months and was happy, healthy and loving life.  My son had a job and was expected to get a promotion the following month, loved his girlfriend dearly and was planning to resume taking college courses.  Carlos’ dream was to become an aerospace engineer and to work for a company that would enable him to be part of the Engineers Without Borders program so that he could help others.  He was sensitive, humble, kind, love and precious to all who knew him.

Smart and witty with a great sense of humor, Carlos was very musically gifted; he played drums and guitar since the age of seven.  But he was also a perfectionist and constantly doubted himself and his abilities.   Despite having much success academically and in his musical pursuits, my son never felt worthy of the honors and accolades he received.  He also craved the love of support of his “absentee” father and often expressed anxiety about what he could do to make his dad want to spend time with him. Those feelings of inadequacy are what caused him to start smoking marijuana at age 15.  Very quickly, though, he moved on to cocaine, heroin and other drugs.  At age 18, just months before his high school graduation, Carlos suffered a grand mal seizure.  He had attended a “pharm party” the night before (where teens mix prescription drugs into a bowl and take turns ingesting them), and then took crystal meth the next morning.  I remember getting that heart-stopping call from the friend who dropped off my son at the entrance to the hospital ER and hearing the doctor tell me to contact our family so they could say goodbye to Carlos.  By the grace of God, Carlos miraculously recovered from that trauma, but he did sustain some short-term memory loss.  He vowed to stay clean and thought that he could do it on his own, without any program or support.  Within weeks however, he was quickly drawn back into the drug world.

Just before high school graduation, Carlos was arrested outside our home for carrying a quantity of marijuana that was just over the limit for a misdemeanor charge.  Since he was an adult, he received a felony conviction, which made him ineligible for a college scholarship at a prestigious university.  In Carlos’ mind, his dream to become an engineer died with the loss of that opportunity; he had been selected as one of a small group of freshman to enter the engineering program usually just open to college juniors.  So, Carlos went to his place of escape once again – drugs – this time, with a vengeance.

Hidden Dangers That I didn’t Know

My son was in and out of rehab facilities and intensive outpatient programs multiple times from age 16.  His most successful clean period was for 20 months, during which time he participated actively in AA/NA meetings and surrounded himself with those who were dedicated to addiction recovery.  He volunteered at a local rehab and facilitated recovery sessions for other young people who were fighting to stay clean like he was.  During this time, Carlos and I talked openly about his drug use.  It seems I had only known the tip of the iceberg.  I listened in horror as he told me about the types and quantities of drugs he had ingested and cried when he said that a dealer had held a gun to his chest when he didn’t have enough money to pay for the drugs he wanted to use.  He sold off almost everything that was dear to him during his periods of heavy use – his beloved guitars, computers, suitcases full of his clothes.  He lost friends who didn’t know how to deal with the significant changes in him.  He pulled away from family because he was ashamed about who he felt he had become.

When Carlos was clean and clear-headed, he would talk regretfully about the experiences that he had missed out on during his years of drug use.  For example, although he graduated from high school, he did not attend the actual ceremony and didn’t want a graduation party.  He also missed family events, such as birthday parties (he was often too high to attend or to care), an entire Christmas season spent in jail due to drug use, etc.  Carlos explained that these “voids” in his life made him very sad and depressed because he would never get that precious time back.  Although he didn’t acknowledge it for years while he was using, Carlos eventually started talking about what a major part marijuana had played in his teenage years and on the road to opioids and other mind and body-altering drugs.  He acknowledged that pot was indeed a gateway drug for him; after several months of initial use as a high school sophomore, he quickly moved to other drugs, searching for the “ultimate high.”

After relapsing again in winter 2015, my son got and stayed clean for the last 10 months of his life.  He seemed to be on a path to what he hoped to achieve and was working on his self-esteem and self-worth.   We will never know what caused him to use on December 23, 2016.  I will forever have the image of the police detective and officer who rang our doorbell that night, to inform us that Carlos had found dead in my car, from a drug overdose.  (We later learned that his drug of choice that afternoon was laced with fentanyl.)  No parent should ever have to endure the agony and heartbreak of losing a child.  Such a devastating loss crushes your soul and leaves you frozen in your tracks.  You don’t know whether you can go on without your precious loved one and it becomes an effort to do the most mundane of everyday tasks.  You spend hours and days casting your memory back to the day he was born, the day he learned how to play “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar, the last time he hugged you and you pray that you will be able to remember his voice.

The Gaping Hole in Those of us Left Behind

What about those of us whom Carlos left behind?  My husband Mike (his stepfather) and I, Carlos’ sisters and brothers, friends and co-workers?  How are we learning to cope when a piece of our lives is missing? The photo albums that we will create as a family going forward will not be filled with pictures of our beautiful son and brother as our wedding album is now.  We will never again hear his laughter, see him drumming, singing and playing the guitar or just goofing around with his cat, Simon.  My husband, Mike and I will miss having Carlos outlive us – nothing any parent should ever have to endure.  His friends have told me that they will miss his quirky sense of humor and his willingness to go out of their way to help him; in one instance, buying a Christmas tree for a family in need.  His siblings won’t be able to make new memories with a younger brother whom they adored.

How do we go on?  How do we survive without the son, brother, friend who we lost to this terrible disease?  For my husband and me, we have chosen to do what Carlos would have done had he lived.  We tell his journey – one of an amazing human who thought about others before he thought about himself.  Who dreamed of a future without drugs, a future with hope and life and success and love.  We share the story of who Carlos was and we preserve his memories by fighting against the disease of drug abuse when he cannot.  We want everyone to know that drug addiction is most definitely a primary, chronic disease that alters who you are.  It’s a disease that is often progressive and fatal.  No one chooses to be addicted to drugs.  Carlos recounted that he often asked people “Do you think I choose this life (of addiction), with all of its pain and loss?  I want to be healthy and happy just like anyone else and to help others.”

We share Carlos’ story and urge other parents to educate themselves about the signs and symptoms of addiction.  We encourage them to get help for their loved one and for themselves.  We fight to get laws enacted to help those who struggle with this disease so that they have full access to treatment and care.  Most of all, we rest in God’s embrace, knowing that Carlos is our angel and that we will be reunited with him one day when we climb the stairway to heaven.

Pam made a video on Mother’s Day and she asks others to take action:

 

True Confessions from a Marijuana Addict in Recovery

Detox Patient Hopes Cyclical Vomiting Ends

By KM,  this testimony comes from a patient in rehab who struggles from the cyclical vomiting syndrome associated with marijuana.

CHS symptoms lead me right into rehab. Morphine was the only thing that helped when they cut me off morphine I started getting pills off the street. I found cocaine helped so I was doing it everyday just to make it stop. Finally, I graduated to heroin and fetanyl and let me tell you the dope sickness plus CHS is a real treat.

I was in denial for 6 years I was actually told I had Cannabis Hyper………whatever Syndrome, CHS, but was so confused cause pot actually seemed to help.

I’m a little more than a month into rehab and I’ll tell you I already notice the difference. The problem is you’re sick for so long you forget what it’s like to live, so you keep on going back to the old ways and smoking pot. You lose all of your friends and jobs. You begin to isolate and you bond with the only thing that will bond with you and it turns out to be the drugs.

I remember screaming and crying in the shower. Begging strangers to rub my back in an emergency. Going to the psych ward because I would freak out and try and kill myself.

I know it sounds like a huge drastic thing but if you can’t quit put yourself in rehab. Or some kind of detox place. There will be doctors there to help you, and they will show you a new way of life and you won’t want to go back. Even though it has been over a month, I still get sick after I eat but the difference is undeniable. I know people don’t think they need NA and AA for pot but when it really comes down to it, marijuana is a drug and it’s ruining your life. You will lose everything with CHS. It’s only a matter of time if you haven’t yet. I know it will be a rough few months without it but I promise you it’s worth it…

I’ve even asked to be a case study so other people can get information. If it doesn’t get better after a few months maybe it’s something else. But try and rule this out and then the doctors can take a better look at you. But if you find yourself taking frequent showers, that is a pretty much dead give away. I hope you all luck and I wish I could take this pain away from you but sadly I can’t. Only you can help yourself by taking 3 months out of your life and quitting pot.

 KM

The information in this testimony backs up some of the information we shared from a previous blog article, Cannabis Hyperemesis Exposed: Toxic Side Effect of Dangerous Drug.

“…doctors find that even when cannabis use is consistent, the bouts of hyperemesis come and go, which further serves to keep the patient in denial about the connection to their drug use.”

“The most prominent cases are among long-term users that started using the drug at a very early age and have used daily for over 10 years…”

“Symptoms reported in a Current Psychiatry article include cyclic vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea, gastric pain and compulsive hot bathing or showers to ease pain.  Frequent bathing and vomiting can also lead to dehydration and excessive thirst. Mild fever, weight loss, and a drop in blood pressure upon standing are other symptoms.”.”

“Complete cessation of marijuana use is the only known cure for Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.”

In San Diego, Dr. Ronnet Lev’s  explained the vomiting during a press conference against Proposition 64.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H80742mVwZ0&feature=youtu.be

In Days of Legalization, Pot-Impaired Babysitters Concern Parents

Impaired babysitters are a new problem, as the laws across the country continue to advance the cause of marijuana legalization.    About half the Americans now want to legalize the drug, because the marijuana lobbyists have invented the idea it is safer than alcohol.  Their propaganda comes with a cost in terms of driving deaths and child deaths from abuse or neglect.

Impaired babysitters

One such instance happened in Palm Bay, Florida when babysitter Jacqueline Bjorndal used marijuana, alcohol, and meth at a party the night before she was supposed to watch a little girl. The following day she showed up to work and was instructed to not let the child go near the pool because she could not swim.

During the course of the day the child asked if she could go outside near the pool to pet the family pig to which Bjorndal said she could.

Minutes went by and there was no sign of the child anywhere so Jacqueline called her roommate over and they continued searching for another 20 minutes or so. Eventually, the roommate looked in the bottom of the dirty pool and saw the outline of the child.

Police reports say that there was a bunch of debris and hoses loosely scattered around the pool. The babysitter has been charged with Aggravated Manslaughter by Neglect of a Child.  In the state of Florida if you are convicted of that charge you are likely to expect a: Minimum-mandatory 16 ¾ years in prison, you can receive up to Life in prison, Up to Life on probation & Up to $10,000 in fines.

Another babysitter Went Out to Smoke Pot

There was a case in San Diego where a teen-aged girl was hired to babysit a 16-month-old old toddler. While at the house, the baby was playing inside with his slightly over sister.  The girl got a call from her aunt, stepped outside, and the two females smoked pot out in the car. The baby come out of the house and walked into the behind the car as the visitor’s car pulled away. The baby was killed.   However, two California juries acquitted the babysitter.  The sitter’s first error in judgement was thinking that she could leave the toddler out of her sight.  We don’t know how much time she spent in the car, but smoking marijuana distorts time.

Both these horrendous deaths occurred because young people have been told marijuana is harmless.

Babysitter Ate Pot Cookies by Mistake

In another case in Palm Beach, Florida, the roles got reversed. The mother of the house had gone out and hired a babysitter for the evening and at some point she went into the refrigerator and ate one of the homemade cookies that were in there.

The cookies, unfortunately, had been laced with marijuana which caused the victim to start hallucinating.

The police report stated she felt like she was going to die and kept thinking that she had a brain tumor. The babysitter was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Police spoke to the mother and she said, of course, “that she had never seen the cookies before.” But, when police talked to the children they were aware to not eat the homemade ones but to only eat the store brand ones.

This is not just negligent because the babysitter got sick, it is also because the container was within the children’s reach. This was noted in the police report and relayed to the Department of Children and Families.  Hopefully somebody will follow up with the case.

Trusted Sitter Believed in “Harmless Herb” Message in Missouri

Another instance occurred in St. Louis Missouri after a 10-month child was found with a fractured skull after the child care provider had left for the day. Katie Hartwig, 31, was arrested after the girl’s mother found her, “sleeping face down on a couch.”

Hartwig was no stranger to the family as she had been taking care of the baby for most of the past year. The family thought this was completely out of character for her.

“Our sweet baby Quinn was abused by her babysitter who was also our family friend.  We are all so devastated and still in shock.  Her skull was shattered by a person we cared for and trusted.  She has a long recovery and between  medical bill and time off work we would be so grateful for any help.”

Katie was arrested and charged with first-degree felony child abuse and misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The “reason” Katie gives for injuring the child is because she wouldn’t stop crying.

These are just a few examples of completely irresponsible behavior that cannot go on while raising or taking care of a child.  Marijuana should not be around at all in a household especially when others can mistakenly gain access to it.

Child Abuse Deaths Have Been Caused by Babysitters who Toked

 

Child death-Marijuana

As of January 1, 2017 Parents Opposed to Pot traced 80 deaths to child abuse and neglect by parents or caregivers under the influence of marijuana.  In three cases, the babysitters stopped paying attention when the children who died.  In Florida, babysitters were the responsible party in two of the deaths by drowning.   In California, a sitter left the toddler and went outside to smoke pot in the car of a visitor.  But the 16-month-old boy wandered outside and was hit by the car when the visitor back out and left.

Many of the marijuana-related deaths, about 15% of them, occurred because of the mothers’ irresponsible or abusive boyfriends.  It’s not clear how many of these were boyfriends who had been babysitters.  However, we are creating a sad society in which a mother puts her precious baby in the care of irresponsible drug users.  These deaths point to another reason we should caution people not to date marijuana users.

Children testing positive for THC

Recently in Nebraska a babysitter has been investigated after a child in her care tested positive for THC. The girl was taken to the emergency room where doctors determined that the 2-year-old was suffering from exposure to the psychoactive ingredient.

After the police investigated more into the matter it was discovered that the day care provider had baked marijuana brownies and used the same pan to make some cookies for the kids to eat throughout the day.

The babysitter was ticketed for suspicion of child abuse and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services issued an emergency order to close the daycare.

Whom do you trust?

When it comes to your family, you always want the best for them and that means choosing the right person to watch them when you are not around.  We need to trust that teachers, babysitters and bus drivers would not put our kids in harm’s way.

Children’s minds are molded by what they experience in the household and if this type of behavior is displayed in front of them at an early age, they will begin to accept its normality.

While it is considered the norm to hire a neighbor or good friend you have known for awhile it is always important to really know a good amount about the person before letting them take care of somebody you love.

Today’s teens do not realize the consequences of smoking and then being around small children or infants.  Many parents also don’t realize the problem.

The notion that marijuana is considered harmless has caused a number of tragedies and it leads babysitters (and other professionals) to believe that they are not impaired.

Problems Testing for Marijuana DUI

How do we know a driver is marijuana-impaired?

All around the U.S. there are horror stories of passengers being seriously injured or killed by other drivers who are under the influence of marijuana.

Stoners will argue that, “I drive better when I’m high, ” but unfortunately for them science tells us that this is not the case. The National institute on Drug Abuse conducted a study with 19 participants in “the most sophisticated driving simulator of its kind to mirror real-life situations.”    Read about the study on marijuana impact on driving.

Although marijuana had a less dramatic effect than alcohol on drivers the study found it still impairs driving performance.  Researchers found the drug reduced the drivers’ peripheral vision giving them tunnel vision.  Drivers with blood concentrations of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, showed increased weaving within the lane, similar to those with 0.08 breath alcohol, the threshold for impaired driving in many states.

Currently there is no federal regulation on the amount of  marijuana allowed to be in one’s system while driving.  Since legalization, both Colorado and Washington have agreed that the base level would be five nanograms.

No standardized marijuana tests exist

How do police officers go about testing for marijuana in a drivers system? Currently there is no standardized test for officers to use in order to determine the marijuana intoxication level of a driver.

THC rapidly leaves the bloodstream so any time delay before testing gives false readings.Marijuana can still impair judgement once it leaves the bloodstream, because the THC can remain in fatty brain tissue, for days or weeks.

States that have decriminalize laws are much tougher to prove marijuana intoxication since the person in question might legally be allowed to possess the drug.

Something needs to change

Within the past few years there have been multiple instances where “professional” drivers have been cited for being stoned on the job. Recently on March 28th, 2017 a school bus driver in Massachusetts was called out by students for smelling like marijuana.

He was arrested on scene but will most likely not face charges since there is no proven way to accurately test for the marijuana in his system.   Laws vary from state to state regarding what kind of background check different drivers have to go through.

For instance, in Pennsylvania school bus drivers are required to submit finger prints to the FBI, provide a urine sample, and complete a background check before being appointed the position.

However in Kansas, it is not required by the state to have a background check performed on a school bus driver, although the option is still available.

In 2013, the first full year after Washington state legalized pot, nearly 25 percent more drivers tested positive for marijuana than before legalization.

Also in Washington State, fatal driving accidents had risen 122% between 2010 & 2014.  Since dispensaries have opened, the number of drivers testing positive for pot jumped by one third.

The first marijuana related death in Washington occurred when a young man went to pass another car on the highway. He crossed over the center line and struck another car head on and then managed to hit another two cars.

The passenger in the car was also killed on scene but the driver he hit head on managed to survive the impact. Later on it was discovered that the deceased driver tested positive for marijuana.

On October 4, 2013 a young adult male riding his motorcycle died after being struck by a stoned driver.  The driver, Caleb Floyd, made an illegal left-hand turn into the cyclist killing him at the scene. Blake Gaston had just left dinner that night with his family and was headed home when he was struck.

At Floyd’s sentencing there was not one dry eye in the room when Mary Gaston, Blake’s mother, was speaking. She had this to say, “I heard the thud, and I knew — I knew immediately that he had been hit, the force of the impact resulted in a horrific death. I know because I was there. I watched my son die.”

Floyd received a 34 month prison sentence with an additional 365 days hanging over his head if he somehow violates his plea agreement with the court or his probation once he is released.

Unfortunately the California Highway Patrol doesn’t keep statistics on traffic accidents attributed to marijuana use. But, according to Prop 64 backer Nate Bradley; who just happens to be a former police officer, the new marijuana initiative will actually help to put protocol into place to test for impairment.

Better testing protocols need to come before legalizing marijuana

California is legalizing first and asking questions later. “The initiative would direct $15 million over five years to the Highway Patrol to determine protocols and best practices for detecting people driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, including marijuana.”  Since Colorado and Washington haven’t found ways to cut out the stoned driving, why would California do any better?

More states across the country are seeming to adopt this relaxed marijuana policy and before you know it, a good majority of drivers on the road will have marijuana in their system.

 

I Was Biting Glass and Biting My Way out of Delirium

I am not a long-time user.  I used casually for about six months, but then suddenly had a terrible experience with marijuana-induced psychosis.   I had moved from a state where is was illegal, to Washington.  A dispensary sold me something incredibly strong just recently, in March.   It was a joint mixed with a marijuana wax- I didn’t even know what that was.  I was SO naive, but there is literally NOTHING out there that lets consumers know that ANYthing even remotely bad can happen.

As long as I didn’t drive under the influence, what could go wrong?   I thought all pot was “safe.”    The irony is that I am nearly 40, a stay-at-home mom with honor roll kids, no history, ZERO history with drug usage, or ANY depression, mental illness etc etc.. NONE.  I never used marijuana before I moved to Washington. I literally just set out to listen to music and unwind while I got the house clean….awaiting the arrival of my husband who was gone on a business trip.   My kids were on Spring break, at a friend’s house.

About halfway through I felt very dizzy and unbalanced… So I thought I just needed to sit down, or maybe eat.. I looked at the glass of wine I had poured… and dumped it in the drain…. Then I had a sudden disturbing image of myself biting THROUGH the wine glass… It came over and over.  Bite the glass….. the words wouldn’t leave my head…. I’m biting glass.  My heart began to race, my hands began to shake. I felt freezing cold, yet was sweating. Then I was feeling a sudden surge of Adrenalin and was panic stricken.  I began having suicidal ideations, in MINUTES…

Shooting Myself and Biting Glass

Over and over and over… shoot yourself… bite through the glass… shoot yourself…and much worse.. it was as if a tape of my worst nightmares were playing over and over and over again in my head…and it was just as physical as it was psychological….. With absolute sincerity, I tell you that I barely made it through that night alive, and even the subsequent days and weeks… I still suffered terrible suicidal ideation……….

NEVER, ever did I have suicidal thoughts or feelings in my life. I am happy, well-adjusted, and a warm, outgoing person with lots of friends and a solid marriage.

Within days I began researching, because I KNEW what I had experienced was from smoking…again, I reiterate, I had nothing else in my system or history to indicate otherwise….and there it was.. All the research indicating that it WAS the pot.. Marijuana-induced psychosis is a proven thing and all too common. There is ZERO safety put in place in these recreational pot stores.  They don’t warn a consumer about strength, concentration or side effects.  It as if you are buying a glass of milk to them!! I later found out that marijuana wax is known as a “dab” and I am still unsure of what they really are…

No Warnings Against Psychosis!

The ER in Olympia Washington sees on average TWO cases of marijuana-induced psychosis a DAY!! Yet we don’t hear of this!? Why not? I would have NEVER tried any medicine or drink that could even remotely do this to me, but thought I was using something as harmless as a glass of wine because they say it is.   I can’t even fully describe the horror of that night as it’s very, very hard to revisit. Thank you for warning people.  I am glad I was able to use some of the resources and information you have shared to help recover…….People need to know.  Marijuana can be deadly.   I almost lost everything to very casual use.

I am lucky to have health insurance and lucky that my husband could be with me.  My husband had to take an entire week off to stay home with me! Again how fortunate I am and I’m in the position to have someone that could do that.

I am lucky in that I am NOT an addict or addicted to it. So not using isn’t an issue….. I would never smoke pot again, but the suicidal ideation was so intense and such a terrible and traumatic experience…. It is hard to describe how horrific it is was and I’d rather be tortured than ever experience that again…. I just never thought that was even possible….    From BK, Washington

Parents Sharing Child Loss from Substance Passing in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Moms Warn Legislators
Opioid Use Often Starts with Marijuana

After recreational marijuana legalization and commercialization passed in Massachusetts last November 2016, Cheryl was despondent. The Governor, Lt. Governor, and Mayor of Boston all were against it. Yet, the pro-industry spin held sway with the voters.

Cheryl’s son’s drug use began with marijuana. She couldn’t believe the voters wanted to legalize the drug that took her son down the path to addiction to heroin. At the time of his death, at the age of 23, he was in recovery yet struggling with depression. He left behind the mother of his child and a 4-1/2 month old daughter. Cheryl doesn’t want more teens to get caught in the downward spiral leading to early death.

Some moms from her grief support group were out in force trying to educate the public prior to the election. In Eastern Massachusetts, the ballot initiative was defeated by voters in 90 towns, due in large part to these moms and their grassroots campaigning. But, voters in Western Massachusetts didn’t have the benefit of such education due to lack of funding. And, the drug legalization effort had big money to advertise and convince the public to their side.

Recently, Cheryl met Jody Hensley, a lead activist and supporter of the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts which opposed Marijuana legalization and commercialization under Ballot Question 4, who also led a successful effort for her town of Westborough to opt out of hosting commercial marijuana businesses. Cheryl showed Jody her list of parents, and their child’s birth and death dates. Jody was shocked and in disbelief. The portraits of those lost children, held in their mother’s arms at an addiction prevention event in New Hampshire the previous week, resonated powerfully. The two women wondered how lawmakers and the public could be reached through the pictures and stories of these many families. Cheryl’s group of over 300 families included members who could collect the photographs and produce a video to send the members of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy before the first public hearing on the subject. The video showcases photos of 79 children and young adults who started their drug journey with marijuana and died either by suicide or drug overdose.

The video was shared by many in Facebook and Cheryl is now getting calls from drug prevention groups all over the country. You can help it go viral!

Watch Parents Sharing our Childs Loss from Substance Passing video

 

This video only represents a fraction of the annual drug related deaths in Massachusetts. Here are the sobering statistics: in 2014—1379 deaths, 2015- 1751 deaths, and 2016, 1979 died. Decriminalization of marijuana in the state of Massachusetts occurred in 2008, and medical marijuana became legal in 2012. To give some perspective, Massachusetts opioid related deaths in 2000 were only 318 for the entire state.

Recreational marijuana legalization in Massachusetts doesn’t become official until 2018. There is time for voters to get politically active to make sure that your community is educated and can arrange to opt out. Cities and towns will have that ability, but the critical effort now is to make it easy for jurisdictions to do so, as the marijuana industry lobbyists want to make it nigh on to impossible.

For parents who have lost a child to drug-related overdose or suicide, Cheryl recommends joining a grief support or recovery group. The risks for parents struggling with the loss of a child from substance use are isolation, depression and even suicide. Cheryl started a closed Facebook Group that gives comfort to hundreds of such parents in Massachusetts. She would like to see such groups all over the U.S. She has already helped one parent in New Hampshire start one.

Visit the Facebook Page Here:

Sharing our Childs Loss from Substance Passing in MA

How You Can Help

Please attend a public Hearing for the Marijuana Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy if you Live in Massachusetts

Monday 3/20/17 hearing began at 11 am in Hearing Room A-1 and A-2 in the State House

Monday 3/27/17 hearing began at 4 pm at the West Springfield High Auditorium

Monday 4/3/17 hearing will begin at 11 am in Hearing Room A-1 and A-2 in the State House

Monday 4/10/17 hearing will begin at 4 pm at the Shrewsbury High School.

If you want to start a Sharing our Childs Loss from Substance Passing in your state, contact  [email protected]

Massachusetts-Death-Marijuana-Gateway Drug-Marijuana Policy-Marijuana legalization
Parents Share Child Loss from Substance Passing

It’s not ‘just’ marijuana

It’s Not ‘Just’ Marijuana

Allowing marijuana use will just give addiction a foot in the door

(It’s not ‘just’ marijuana originally posted in Central Maine Press on March 4, 2017)  Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel (Maine)

BY ROBERT CHARLES

He came into my office with his hair on fire. A father, middle-aged. I made a habit of leaving my door on Capitol Hill open.

Most committee staff directors and counsels don’t do that; they have “gatekeepers.” Nominally, I did too, but I felt I worked for every taxpayer, every single one, and he was one.

My criminal justice committee, plus the speaker’s task force and bipartisan working group on narcotics and addiction that I ran, all focused on oversight. Part of the job was oversight of the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other federal agencies struggling with the spike of drug abuse that was happening then, in the 1990s.

I asked this upset father to come in. He had something obviously important on his mind. In that moment, I appeared to be “the federal government.” I pointed to the big stuffed chair, sat down myself and listened.

He was mid-sentence. “And he was a typical, strong, independent 18-year-old,” he was saying. I nodded. “And he was a good kid … I had been law enforcement, see? I found the pot in his room.” I nodded. “And he was a skier, loved to ski.”

When Teaching Moderation Didn’t Work

“I confronted him, knew what it was …” He seemed to be reliving that inflection point. “But I said, look, ’cause he was a good kid, I said, “OK, OK, look, everything in moderation.”

I did not say anything.

“It seemed OK, you know? That’s what they always said about other things. I wanted to keep the relationship with my son, you know? A good kid.”

The conversation poured out of him.

“Then things changed, he got distant. Other drugs, heroin. He tried to stop.” The father started to ramble. The law’s fault. The criminal justice system. His son had been stealing. Treatment. Friends who weren’t friends. More treatment. Profanity. Exasperation.

I listened. Sometimes that was all I could do. He had come to tell someone. He was looking for something, and I sensed I could not give it to him.

“So, you see, that was three years ago. I was a good dad, said everything in moderation … it was just marijuana.”

He looked up at me sharply. I knew there was more. Finally, it came.

“Last month, I went up there, top of the mountain, where he always skied. I took the ashes of my son, in a shoe box. I held him in a shoe box. The same son I had held 21 years ago as a baby. And I sprinkled his ashes there…”

We were both quiet. He cried. And I cried. I told him he was not alone. I told him many things about this terrible crisis that gripped us, gripped the nation. And he got, I think, some small, insignificant consolation.

That father wanted something I could not give him, beyond a hug and shared tears, and consideration for his agony. He wanted the moment back. The earlier moment. He wanted his son back.

Why No Caring and Empathy for Others’ Pain?

That was almost 20 years ago. The nation had lost 14,000 kids to overdoses that year. Congress wrote and passed the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997, Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and federal anti-drug trafficking laws, including against trafficking marijuana. And drug abuse went down — markedly.

People cared. They knew intuitively that narcotics — including marijuana — were not cigarettes, not beer. Attitudes changed, as they had back in the 1980s during the Ronald and Nancy Reagan years.

And then the great forgetting began again. Drug addiction — so often starting with marijuana, as it is readily available — began to climb again. Then the availability of opiates and heroin. No one paid attention.

And here we are, again, today. Only last year, more than 52,000 people died of drug overdoses, taken from loving, devastated parents, as well as siblings and friends. They want the status quo ante, those precious moments back, decisions back, sons and daughters back.

They want to be able to say, “No, marijuana is not harmless, not a good choice, not the right thing — no matter what voters or governments say.”

This week, I talked to another parent who lost her son to heroin, and began with marijuana.

I teared up again, a good kid, led in the wrong direction by a government that did not care enough to tell the truth, explain the trap door, the treachery of addiction that comes so often with marijuana. “We thought, you know … it was just marijuana.”

The truth? There is no “just” about it.

Robert Charles grew up in Maine who served as assistant secretary of state under Colin Powell.

USC Athlete Rape Incident is a Warning Against Marijuana Edibles

Marijuana Cookie Used in Alleged Rape Crime

Osa Masina, a USC football player who was suspended, is going to be tried for an alleged rape.  The trial is set to begin June 25.

The 19-year-old met up with a former classmate last summer, on July 25.   The Salt Lake Tribune describes the incident:

There, a night of partying — Bacardi rum, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and half of a marijuana cookie — left her feeling so intoxicated she says could not get out of a car on her own that night when she went with Masina and a group of his friends to get fast food, and she said she cannot recall how she got back inside the house.

She said the next thing she remembered after passing out was waking up with Masina raping her.

“It hurt. It was very painful,” she said, and though she said she felt “scared and helpless,” she tried to move her legs to stop him.

“Did you consent in any way to the sexual contact you’ve been describing?” the prosecutor asked.

“No,” the woman said.

The woman testified she passed out and awoke several more times throughout the night, each time to a different horror: She awoke to Masina forcing her to engage in oral sex so rough she could not breathe; she awoke unable to move from a couch and unable to reach someone to come help her; she awoke, wearing only a bra and a blanket, on the lawn of a neighboring home where she saw Masina’s car still parked outside and “that fear came over me again because I knew he was still in the house.”

Guys, as well as gals, should consider that marijuana use may lead to unwanted sex

Calling Out the Role of Marijuana is not “Victim Shaming”

The description of the rape is horrible.  The evidence suggests that the football player and the woman were abusing substances before the sexual activity occurred.  The law should not excuse this behavior towards a woman who has passed out.

Nine days earlier, Masina, her high school friend, had invited the victim to Los Angeles for a long weekend.   At that time, Masina, the woman and another football player, Max Hill, partied hard.  The victim took marijuana, two Xanax pills along with alcohol   The woman alleges that both Masina and Don Hill raped her.   Masina and Hill were suspended from the team, but a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles has been dismissed.

Alcohol can produce some pretty outrageous behaviors, but when alcohol mixes with marijuana or other drugs, extremes happen.    This case, the Stanford swimmer’s case and many others exemplify why we need to educate against intoxication.  It is not “victim shaming” to explain that the 19-year-old would not have passed out if she had did not eat half a marijuana cookie.  The effects of marijuana cookies happen about two hours after ingestion.

In 2014, the Vote No on 2 campaign in Florida warned about marijuana cookies and date rape.  This recent rape case involving a college football player should scrutinize the role of the marijuana -laced cookie .

Half of a cookie from Colorado, Washington or California could have as much as 50 milligrams of marijuana.  Levy Thamba jumped off a building to his death after eating a marijuana-laced cookie.  A few weeks later, Richard Kirk shot his wife after eating a marijuana candy and going crazy.

The marijuana industry in Colorado prevented a ballot supported by 80 % of the state which would have capped the strength of edibles.  (Failure to warn of the psychotic effects from these edibles is a disservice to both the victim and the accused.  Both were 19, below the legal age to buy marijuana cookies in any state.)

There is no mention of how and when Masina or the woman obtained the cookies.   Who bought or provided the cookie?  Was interstate drug trafficking involved?  Calling out substance abuse as a factor doesn’t excuse rape, but it warns of the conditions in which rape is most likely to occur.

No on 2 Predicted Correctly

In 2014, the Florida Vote No on 2 Campaign forecast that marijuana would become the new date-rape drug.  Journalists, respectable blogs and the marijuana industry laughed at the idea.  No on 2’s prediction was correct.  Let’s hope the prosecutor explores the role of the pot-laced cookie during the trial.  It should serve as a warning against this type of impairment.

States should pass laws to clarify consent for sexual activity in order to guard against rape and unwanted sex.  Equally important, educators need to inform about the role of substance abuse in domestic violence and rape.  Pedophiles often give marijuana to their victims.

Even groups concerned with violence against women remain in the dark.   Colleges don’t do enough to warn against drugs to avoid unwanted sex.  In fact, the United States is quite backwards compared to other countries in failing to see the connection.  Those who blame alcohol only, and not other drugs, are complicit in the denial.

date-rape
The incident happened off campus during the summer, but the defendant was suspended from his team last fall.  A sophomore, he was slated to be a starting linebacker for USC’s varsity team.

Marijuana Use is Linked to Increased Suicide Risk

(Please see Part 1: Marijuana Suicide, a Growing Risk for our Youth)

Marijuana-related suicide is a controversial topic because other websites include commenters who claim marijuana saved their lives. Pot interferes with the reward center of the brain, just like cocaine, alcohol and heroin. So when someone dependent on the drug doesn’t have it, their depression or anxiety becomes stronger than previously.   After prolonged use, the brain eventually doesn’t function as well.

For this reason, it’s much wiser to rely on yoga, counseling, walking, and other exercise for depression and anxiety.  (Others will say that anti-depressants are safer, although we won’t actually endorse them, and don’t think they’re always necessary.)

suicide-risk
Source: Christine Miller, PhD

Marijuana increases the risk for psychosis more than any other drug.   Marijuana is not the panacea the pot industry wants you to believe.

What Conditions Increase Suicide Risk?

Daily marijuana use below age 18 is connected to 7x the risk of attempted suicide before age 30.

In today’s world, students have huge problems and challenges even if they don’t abuse substances.  Marijuana is the most likely drug of abuse for teens.  Any substance abuse –marijuana, alcohol, opiates, other drugs or a combination – generally makes the depression more difficult to overcome.

The town of Pueblo, Colorado has had an alarming trend of suicides among its teens, at least five this year.    Although local officials link these deaths to bullying, Pueblo is infiltrated with marijuana and other drugs.   Dr. Steven Simerville, head of pediatrics at a Pueblo hospital, has spoken about the connection between marijuana and teen suicide.   In October, 2016, he said that all but one of teens who attempted suicide had THC in their toxicology reports.

A few years ago studies showed that 28% of all high school students are depressed.  There are plenty of reasons for teens to be depressed in this society: hormonal change, social pressure, relationships and academics.  The social media adds a layer of complication to the problem with cyber bullying.  When a teen becomes an adult, additional challenges emerge, and for some, entry into adulthood is jolting.

Family relationships and community connection are important.  With support systems, many youth go through the rough patches and come out stronger.  It’s a reason that government needs to protect our youth, educate against marijuana and stop legalization.  

From the Moms Strong website, provided by Dr. Christine Miller, PhD

Suicide is Increasing Above National Rate in Colorado

The opposite is occurring in Colorado.  Suicide rates in Colorado have reached all-time highs, according to a recent report by the Colorado Health Institute.   Each one of Colorado’s 21 health regions had a suicide rate higher than the national average.

Those old enough to go into dispensaries can see how the pot industry advertises marijuana to treat depression or anxiety.    Dispensaries prey on the vulnerable.  For veterans and those without a job, it’s hard to resist.

When the pot industry tells us that “no one ever died from marijuana,” they’re being dishonest.  There’s a popular strain of marijuana called Purple Suicide.  There’s also a line of vape pens called Suicide Girls, specifically marketed for using honey/hash oil.  Makers of the vape pens and marketers of Purple Suicide are onto something: marijuana use increases the suicide risk.

When they assert the numbers of those who die from alcohol each year, please ask who is tracking deaths from marijuana.   Maybe it is time for the CDC to start tracking marijuana-related deaths.   Please read Part 3, The Common Element.

Can Marijuana Help with the Opioid Overdose Problem?

Smart Approaches to Marijuana has the Answer for Senator Warren

Last year Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked the CDC if marijuana can be used to fight the opioid epidemic.  There’s an answer in Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s recent publication, its educational toolkit for 2017.  The publication refers to academic studies which suggest that marijuana primes the brain for other types of drug usage, alcohol and heroin.  Here’s the summary on that subject from page 4, Marijuana and Other Drugs: A Link We Can’t Ignore :

MORE THAN FOUR in 10 people who ever use marijuana will go on to use other illicit drugs, per a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.(1) The CDC also says that marijuana users are three times more likely to become addicted to heroin.(2)

Although 92% of heroin users first used marijuana before going to heroin, less than half used painkillers before going to heroin.

And according to the seminal 2017 National Academy of Sciences report, “There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and the development of substance dependence and/or a substance abuse disorder for substances including alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs.”(3)

RECENT STUDIES WITH animals also indicate that marijuana use is connected to use and abuse of other drugs. A 2007 Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology study found that rats given THC later self administered heroin as adults, and increased their heroin usage, while those rats that had not been treated with THC maintained a steady level of heroin intake.(4) Another 2014 study found that adolescent THC exposure in rats seemed to change the rodents’ brains, as they subsequently displayed “heroin-seeking” behavior. Youth marijuana use could thus lead to “increased vulnerability to drug relapse in adulthood.”(5)

The National Institutes of Health says that research in this area is “consistent with animal experiments showing THC’s ability to ‘prime’ the brain for enhanced responses to other drugs. For example, rats previously administered THC show heightened behavioral response not only when further exposed to THC, but also when exposed to other drugs such as morphine—a phenomenon called cross-sensitization.”(6)

Suggestions that one addictive substance replaces another ignores the problem of polysubstance abuse, the common addiction of today.

ADDITIONALLY, THE MAJORITY of studies find that marijuana users are often polysubstance users, despite a few studies finding limited evidence that some people substitute marijuana for opiate medication. That is, people generally do not substitute marijuana for other drugs. Indeed, the National Academy of Sciences report found that “with regard to opioids, cannabis use predicted continued opioid prescriptions 1 year after injury.  Finally, cannabis use was associated with reduced odds of achieving abstinence from alcohol, cocaine, or polysubstance use after inpatient hospitalization and treatment for substance use disorders” [emphasis added].(7)

Moreover, a three-year 2016 study of adults also found that marijuana compounds problems with alcohol. Those who reported marijuana use during the first wave of the survey were more likely than adults who did not use marijuana to develop an alcohol use disorder within three years.(8) Similarly, alcohol consumption in Colorado has increased slightly since legalization. (9)

Here’s the complete Data on Marijuana Policy for 2017 in pdf form.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is a strong advocate for consumer rights

Here’s the Answer for Senator Warren

Senator Warren, Parents Opposed to Pot, which doesn’t support any political party, hopes you’re satisfied with the answer.  We miss your previous, more sensible approach to marijuana before NORML criticized you a few years back. These industry promoters are placing their stories in national publications because they honor their profits over public health.  They want users who will become addicted and so suggest the substitution of marijuana for pain pills.  We believe the future of pain medicine is in utilizing alternative, mind-based stressed reduction strategies and meditation to deal with chronic pain.   Remember, “medical” marijuana was planned as a hoax.

Senator Warren, you’re deeply respected by youth.  You could be a powerful spokesperson by advocating for them not to use drugs.  The problem is that — for some young people — that critical first choice to use a drug turns into a game of Russian Roulette.

Parents who lost children to drugs overwhelmingly insist their children initiated drug use with marijuana and alcohol.  Marijuana advocates insist marijuana is “not a gateway” drug, but studies show otherwise.  Marijuana is a gateway to other drugs for 40+ percent of those who start using pot.  It is never wise to substitute one drug of addiction for another drug of addiction.   Please consider that not everyone who becomes addicted to opiates started because of pain.  Many started for fun.  According to a Jon Daily of Recovery Happens, most begin pain pill abuse because their relationship with intoxication began as a relationship with marijuana and/or alcohol.

There are many other ways to treat the opiate epidemic:  better prevention programs, mandating education in the schools and  clamping down on internet sellers of these drugs.  Studies claiming fewer overdose deaths occur in marijuana states need to consider the availability of suboxone, other drugs to counter the overdose.

Senator Warren, please check out Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which advocates an alternative to legalization which does not include incarceration.    In our next article, Senator Warren, we will discuss the marijuana-mental illness links………… once again.

FOOTNOTES:

  1. Secades-Villa R, Garcia-Rodríguez O, Jin CJ, Wang S, Blanco C Probability and predictors of the cannabis gateway effect: a national study. Int J Drug Policy. 2015;26(2):135-142

2. Centers for Disease Control. Today’s heroin epidemic Infographics more people at risk, multiple drugs abused. CDC, 7 July 2015.

3. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Population Health andPublic Health Practice; Committee on the Health Effects of Marijuana: An Evidence Review and Research Agenda (“2017 NAS Report”).

4. Ellgren, Maria et al. “Adolescent Cannabis Exposure Alters Opiate Intake and Opioid Limbic Neuronal Populations in Adult Rats.”Neuropsychopharmacology 32.3 (2006): 607–615.

5. Stropponi, Serena et al. Chronic THC during adolescence increases the vulnerability to stress-induced relapse to heroin seeking in adult rats. European Neuropsychopharmacology Volume 24 , Issue 7 (2014), 1037 – 1045.

6. “Is marijuana a gateway drug?” National Institute on Drug Abuse. Jan. 2017. See also Panlilio LV, Zanettini C, Barnes C, Solinas M, Goldberg SR. Prior exposure to THC increases the addictive effects of nicotine in rats. Neuropsychopharmacol Off Publ Am Coll Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013;38(7):1198-1208; Cadoni C, Pisanu A, Solinas M, Acquas E, Di Chiara G. Behavioural sensitization after repeated exposure to Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cross-sensitization with morphine. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2001;158(3):259-266.

7.  2017 NAS report.

8.  Weinberger AH, Platt J, Goodwin RD. Is cannabis use associated with an increased risk of onset and persistence of alcohol use disorders? A three-year prospective study among adults in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend. February 2016.

9. Rocky Mountain HIDTA Investigative Support Center Strategic Intelligence Unit. The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact, Volum

Newest Activist Groups Go Against “Recreational” Marijuana

The newest groups against marijuana commercialization:                         Marijuana Science Forum  (objective; not necessarily for or against) Texans Against Legalizing Marijuana (LIKE their  Facebook page)  Families Against Recreational Marijuana (FARM)                    
Neo-American Political Group
(Like their Facebook page, please)  Marijuana Victims Association

Legalization means commercialization (don’t deny it–that is what has happened in every state that voted to legalize.)   Please join us in stopping the commercialization of marijuana.  Decriminalization is already in place.  NORML is raising money and trying to normalize pot use in every state.   Hit the “LIKE” and “SHARE” buttons in order to raise the profile of all groups that fight this in their states.   (Just Say No to Marijuana went online after we published this article.)

Canada                                                                                                                                   Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada

California Groups  (Please suggest to friends, family in the state)
Marijuana Harms Families                                                                                        Butane Hash Oil and Honey Oil Dangers (against pot labs only)
Ban Commercial Cultivation                                                                          BSane.org                                                                                                                     Calaveras Residents Against Commercial MJ                                               
Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana

Moms Strong
Stop Pot
RAM – Rethinking Access to Marijuana
STOP Commercial Pot (California)
Take Back America Campaign

 Colorado Groups (Please suggest to friends, families there)
Parents of Colorado Against the Normalization of Dope
Parents for a Healthy Colorado
People Against Retail Marijuana in Manitou Springs (PARMMS)
Smart Colorado
Pueblo for Positive Impact                                                                                      Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo                                                                                      Act on Drugs

Massachusetts                                                                                                               The Marijuana Policy Initiative                                                                                     Be Smarter Massachusetts
Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts

Florida                                                                                                                                        Auntie Cannabis is Anti-Pot                                                                                            No on 2
Mothers Opposed 2 Marijuana
Prevention Plus Wellness

Maine
Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Maine
Mainers Protecting Our Youth and Communities

Oregon
Portland for Positive Impact
Clear Alliance

Nationwide and/or Other States
Educating Voices
Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy
Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada                                                      Don’t Roll Up Roll Out
I Hate Marijuana                                                                                                                  LegalLies
Marijuana Harms Families
Marijuana Issues in Tennessee
MarijuanaX
National Families in Action
The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
SAM Taskforce
Stop the Legalization of Marijuana
Texans ALARM

Vote No on 2 Nevada
Keep Arkansas Safe
Keeping Missouri Kids Safe

Safe Montana

Please sign the petition against T-Mobile for trying to normalize marijuana use.

Please start a group for your state to go against legalization if it doesn’t have one.     There are many other community, county and groups affiliated with CADCA. This list emphasizes groups that concentrate on marijuana prevention.   Drug Free America Foundation is national and it opposes all drugs.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana and Parents Opposed to Pot focus on marijuana.  National Families in Action writes the latest studies of marijuana in The Marijuana Report (see above). We must support each other, as well as other state groups.

Merry Jane claims many states have strong policymakers working to actively legalize and regulate cannabis.

We are sorry to have left out some groups, but if you want to see a group added please write [email protected]

T-Mobile Under Fire for Superbowl Ad

Boycott T-Mobile for its Superbowl Ads

See T-Mobile ad here. Sign the petition here.   (Originally published in The Marijuana Report, February 15 edition)

In December, a grandmother protested the marketing of leggings printed with marijuana leaves to young toddlers. Now a group of angry parents is taking aim at T-Mobile, a larger target they say is trying to normalize drug use by targeting the message to children.

During the broadcast of Super Bowl LI on February 5, T-Mobile aired an ad with lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and rap artist Snoop Dogg (real name Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr.) during which the two bantered, making several not-so-veiled humorous references to marijuana.

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog’s Potluck Dinner show on VH1 was used as the theme of a Superbowl ad for T-Mobile. It was seen by countless families with children, and parents see it as attempt to market marijuana — along with the cell phone use — to children.

The ad is meant to play off Stewart and Broadus’ VH1 reality show, “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party,” a show geared to millennials that some reviewers concede is nothing more than an effort to normalize the use of marijuana.

Parents are not having it

During the Super Bowl, a T-Mobile ad ran with such references as ‘pot,’ ‘can o bisque,’ ‘greenery,’ and ‘purple cushions’ [Purple Kush is a popular strain of marijuana]. How much more of an attempt to normalize this to youngsters can you get? The Super Bowl is something whole families watch. This was the worst place to air a commercial like this UNLESS the goal was to make drug use a joke and get kids to think marijuana is ‘no big deal,’ “explained a Missouri mom who has had several friends lose children to drug abuse, including marijuana addiction.

She has organized a petition to boycott T-Mobile, understanding that she faces an uphill battle against a society that increasingly believes marijuana is not harmful.

However, she has the support of drug policy experts who have been warning of the same for years.  Drug policy expert Kevin Sabet, co-founder and President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), explained, “Ads like this show exactly what the marijuana legalization movement is about—addiction for profit. Last year, tens of millions of pot lobby dollars bankrolled an initiative in California that would allow pot smoking ads to run on television.  Three months later, the same lobby promotes this ad during an event when millions of kids were watching.  It’s Big Tobacco all over again.”     (Originally published in The Marijuana Report, February 15 edition.)

See T-Mobile ad here. Sign the petition here.

Deaths in Butane Hash Oil Labs Rise, Along with Lawsuits

Tracking Deaths from Hash Oil Labs Exposes the Growing Danger

People use marijuana to make butane hash oil , also called honey oil.  Hash oil labs using marijuana have replaced meth labs as the most dangerous drug labs of our time.   They are blowing up people and homes, particularly in California and in the West.

By April, 2015, the California Alliance of Drug-Endangered Children had tracked 41 marijuana lab deaths in that state between 2011 and April, 2015.  Three children had died by that time and several more were injured.   More recent information on the deaths in California  aren’t available at this time.

In California, they call it “honey oil” to disguise its connection to marijuana.  When fires are reported on the news, reporters often don’t mention the connection to marijuana.

To the 41 deaths in California, we can add:

1 two-month-old baby who slept adjacent to a room in Colorado where BHO was made.

2 in Washington, including Nan Campbell who died as a result of the massive Bellevue explosion in November 2013.  An elderly man in Spokane whose respiratory problems resulted after a neighbor made BHO died after two months in the hospital.

1 grandmother in Minnesota whose grandson used her home to make BHO

2 in New York, including Michael Fahy.  Fahy was the fire  captain who perished while putting out the fire in a marijuana grow lab in the Bronx.   The other death in New York was 19-year-old Anthony Gambale from Brooklyn.     He rallied to survive, but eventually died.

1 man in Gresham, Oregon, who died June 14, 2013, six weeks after the explosion

1 college student in Radford, Virginia

1 man in Hawaii, January, 2014

1 man in Rhode Island, explosion, on July 31, 2015.   He died three months later.

Above and top, explosion in New York  on September 27, 2016. Fire Captain Michael Fahy died after fighting the blaze. Fire fighters claim drug lab fires are more difficult to put out than ordinary house fires, because of the way debris shoots and explodes. Photos WABC-TV, via AP

2 allegedly died after the Rio Dell fire on November 9, 2016.  The burns covered 90% of their bodies.   At least 22 hash oil explosions have occurred in California since the vote to legalize marijuana on November 8, 2016.

Legal, legitimate Labs also Explode, Resulting Lawsuits

Advocates will say these deaths will stop if it’s regulated and  allowed only in state-licensed dispensaries.  However, fires have occurred in licensed dispensaries in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico.    The lab that exploded in New Mexico was one the state’s largest marijuana companies.   One of the workers who suffered from extensive burns in the fire sued the dispensary.

A construction worker burned at the Oregon dispensary fire is now suing the medical marijuana owner.

Switching to propane won’t make it safer.   Propane caused the explosion at a legal dispensary/warehouse near Saugatuck, Michigan.

Michigan or Rhode Island could be the next state to legalize marijuana.  However,  Michigan has seen its share of hash oil explosions, most of them caused by medical marijuana patients.   The one in Grand Rapids occurred with a six-year-old child in the home.    Firefighters fighting this type of fire, such as the one in Muskegon, find them more dangerous than regular house fires.    Child abuse is always a concern at these labs, and two children were present during the recent fire in Niles Township, Michigan.

We believe the regulation of butane will be very difficult, just like all other regulation programs that try to regulate these labs:  https://www.facebook.com/lostcoastoutpost/videos.   In short, regulating marijuana dispensaries is a terrible task. It doesn’t work.

Calaveras County Fights Back Against Big WEEDs

Calaveras County made national news this week because its famed, 2,000 year old tree, which had been a tourist attraction since 1880, fell down.  Fortunately, Calaveras County also took action this week to keep out an invasive tree, the giant cannabis plants that grow like weeds.  Tourists won’t be going there for marijuana, and fortunately, many giant sequoias are still standing.  (Photos from the Calaveras Big Trees Association webpage)

Citizens Qualify an Initiative to Ban Marijuana Cultivation

Calaveras County will see California’s first ever citizen-initiated ordinance banning commercial marijuana activities decided soon by its Board of Supervisors or in a spring special election.   It’s one of the first big push-backs against Big Marijuana since the November 8 election in which the state legalized pot.

County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Rebecca Turner today certified the petition sections filed by proponents of the initiative to ban commercial marijuana cultivation included more than enough valid signatures to qualify it for a special election.  Sampling 500 of the more than 5,200 signatures submitted, the Elections Department found a validity rate of 87% which, applied to the total, would produce approximately 4,532 valid signatures, where the number needed for certification was only 3,143.

“We’re delighted with the results, but not surprised,” said Bill McManus, Chairman of The Committee to Ban Commercial Cultivation. “The high percentage of invalid signatures from the Measure D signature drive was not surprising due to their use of paid professional signature gatherers.  By contrast, our all-volunteer team was much more careful and deliberate in their efforts.”  “Nevertheless, we overshot the target by a wide margin,” he went on, “to send a strong message to our Board of Supervisors as to the will of the people in Calaveras County.”  Committee member David Tunno added, “We only took about half the amount of time available to gather signatures, or the number would have been much greater.”

CalaverasCounty
Photo from Citizens Against the Legalization of Marijuana

“Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM) congratulates The Committee to Ban Commercial Marijuana in Calaveras County for their successful initiative drive, and especially for being the first such success citizens’ campaign in the state of California.  As far as we know, they are also the first in the U.S.  We encourage the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors to enact their ordinance at the earliest possible date.”  Said Carla Lowe, Founder, Co-chair, Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, a statewide organization.

The Elections Department also notified the proponents that it will request a hearing on the matter before the Board of Supervisors at its regularly scheduled January 24 meeting.  At this writing, it is unknown whether it will be placed on the agenda for that meeting, but when it is, the Board will have the options of adopting the ordinance, directing the Elections Department to schedule it for a special election, or doing nothing, triggering a requirement for the Department to schedule the ordinance for a special election in the spring.

Proponents of the initiative and authors of the proposed ordinance were Bill McManus of the Calaveras Project and David Tunno, former County Planning Commissioner.  The ordinance bans all commercial marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, processing and delivery within unincorporated Calaveras County, as well as dispensaries, while providing an exception for qualified medical patients under specified conditions.  The complete ordinance and additional information is available on their website, ban commercial cultivation.  

This action will protect Calaveras County against the problems that plague Humboldt County and the Lost Coast.   For more information, contact:

Calaveras County,     Bill McManus      209 768 8549
So. California, Scott Chipman    619 990 7480                            
[email protected]                                                                                                            No. California,  Carla Lowe       916 708 4111   [email protected]

 

Gov. Inslee, Washington, Needs Huge Mental Health Budget Increase

Inslee Seeks $300 Million in New Funding for Mental Health

Governor Jay Inslee of Washington submitted a budget asking for $300 million to fund the state’s mental health system.   Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper asked his state to increase the funding for homelessness and for school counselors.

The first two states to legalize pot are grappling with a host of new public heath problems, including expanded homelessness.

Legalizing marijuana is costly and has many victims, including those who fall into the trap of mental illness.   One hospital in Olympia reported earlier this year that it cares for one or two new psychotic patients every day.  A spokesman blamed this rise on “dabbing.”

Three months ago in Washington, a Arcan Cetin, shot and killed five people at Cascades Mall.  He suffered from PTSD, other conditions and used marijuana among other things.  He had complied with court-ordered treatment, but the protocol was not working.

Documentation shows that he blamed marijuana for his problems.  Records warned of  “strong likelihood of similar future violations,” unless he was properly treated for mental health and substance abuse.  An addictions counselor gave that warning.  (Cetin is in the photo above – Brandy Shreve, AP)

Another victim of poor mental health delivery, Keaton Ferris, died over a year ago.  A funny and loving young man, Ferris died of dehydration in the Whidby Island jail.  Sad as the story goes, it seems as if his bipolar disorder was triggered by marijuana use.

Washington Police Shootings

Was the Tacoma shooter who shot and killed a police officer on November 30 a marijuana user? A SWAT team responded to a domestic violence call.  The suspect used his 6-year-old and 8-year-old as human shields.   Life is tough and setbacks occur, but people become so much more unhinged if they’re marijuana abusers.

In another incident only two weeks later, a man know for violent out breaks shot a policeman in Mt. Vernon, Washington.  The suspect is now in custody after several hours of standoff.

Washington is more enlightened than many states when it comes to the treatment of mental illness, but foolish about pot.  LegalizationDrugPreventionEducationcreates a problem and uses the revenue to solve problems it might not have otherwise  (These problems also expand when widespread pot use expands with decriminalization and medical marijuana.)

The Governor of Washington also wants to overhaul the state’s mental health system.   Gov. Inslee doesn’t say pot is an issue, but he probably knows pot is the issue.  His efforts are honest and sincere.  Other states considering change in marijuana laws also need a plan for the mental health care explosion.

https://www.facebook.com/WaStateGov/

Stop Living in Denial of the Marijuana – Mental Health Crisis

Wake Up, America, to the Looming Mental Health Crisis

by Lori Robinson, co-founder of Moms Strong    After losing my own kid, I caution parents not to live in denial of marijuana, as I did.  Your child will be exposed to marijuana and is likely to experiment with it.  It is my mission to prevent other young people from going down the same path my son did.

Just because something originates in nature doesn’t mean it’s safe.  Like some people die from a bee sting, a part of mother nature, some people die from the consequences of using marijuana, or they spiral out of control.

If a person who uses today’s highly potent marijuana goes into psychosis (or depression, panic attack, other psychiatric presentation), please get the proper treatment.  The mental health system needs to first address the drug effects and assess the need for addiction treatment.  Next, wait for the drug-induced mental illness to run its course.   Then educate about brain health.

Our California Problem

In California, it’s common to rope young marijuana users with psychotic symptoms into the label of a permanent, debilitating mental illness rather than give them addiction treatment.  When it comes to strong males like my son, they also flood them with powerful, unnecessary pharmaceutical drugs.  In the case of cannabis-induced psychosis, the anti-psychotics are often ineffective against the psychosis.

For some youth, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder may also be devastating.   After all, everyone else is using marijuana and it’s a sign of weakness not to be able to handle pot.   As reported recently in the Desert Sun, “Despite robust scientific research about the negative potential effects of marijuana use, young adults tend to underestimate the risks……Nearly two-thirds (60.5 percent) of young adults surveyed who use marijuana do not think it’s addictive, and just as many (60.8 percent) do not think marijuana can damage the brain.”

Our children and teens need to learn the true harms about today’s pot, especially to their, young, developing brains. The marijuana financiers should stop pretending they know about medicine. Medical marijuana practitioners are doing far more harm than good, as the one who gave pot to my friend Leah’s son, Brandon.

If marijuana is legalized nationally, the need for mental health treatment will explode.  Psychiatry is a tricky field with less success than other medical specialties such as heart disease or emergency medicine. The fallout will be huge.   Wake up, America. We are in uncharted waters.  Marijuana use is growing nationwide and your kid may be the next casualty.

How do We Know Who is Vulnerable?

We don’t know.  There’s no genetic test to discover who is susceptible to adverse mental health problems from pot.   Those who have fancy educations and six-figure incomes frequently brag about their ability to use without negative consequences.  (Their families may see it otherwise.)

This boasting shames people — particularly youth — into feeling they should be just as powerful.   Some people continue even when they know it’s bad for them.

As a child, I was stung by bees several times.  Each time my reaction got progressively worse. The last time it happened was at age 16; the doctor told me I could die if it happens again.  Why is marijuana use like a fatal bee sting that makes some people swell until they implode?

Stop the Denial

So many young  people develop adverse effects from using today’s high-strength pot.  The marijuana advocates are pushing it because there’s so much money to be made.  The don’t want potential users to become aware of these problems.  They preach that nationwide legalization is inevitable and foster denial.

Research around the globe proves that marijuana causes panic attacks, paranoia, severe anxiety and/or depression.  American hospitals often don’t consider marijuana a factor in the picture of mental health, and that’s a tragedy.  There’s an urgent need for psychiatry to train more addiction specialists.  If users quit after the first episode of psychosis or mental health disorder, they probably can avoid a permanent psychological problem.  However, these users must never go back to pot again.  It’s like avoiding the bee stings if someone who’s allergic doesn’t want a fatal reaction.

How many American families have lost a member to suicide, and now suspect it was undiagnosed bipolar disorder?   How many of these loved ones have been marijuana users, or former users?  Rashaan Salaam, the Heisman Trophy winner who killed himself last week, suffered from marijuana addiction which destroyed his career.

Maybe these families placed their denial in the wrong diagnosis.   Youth who use marijuana are 7x more likely to attempt suicide,  as reported in Lancet Psychiatry Journal in September 2014.  How many of these loved ones have been marijuana users, or former users?

NIDA Report Shows Use of Marijuana High, Feeding Future Drug Addiction

National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported today that drug abuse among teens is trending downward, except for marijuana.   The University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future Survey was completed for 2016.  It showed that six percent of high school seniors across the country are daily marijuana users.

Many of these young, habitual tokers, are potential addicts–if not yet addicted.  They may stick to marijuana which is extremely potent today–5x more potent than it was in 70s.  Or they may go onto other drugs, or slide into alcoholism as they turn the legal age to buy booze.  The six percent of seniors who are daily pot users is triple the rate of daily drinkers in 12th grade.  That figure is very troubling, and it is the same high rate from the previous year.

Teen abuse of other substances, including opioids and heroin, is down. However, adult substance abuse continues to rise astronomically.   The Centers for Disease Control released new statistics last week:  52,404 drug-related deaths in 2015, an 11% rise.  By comparison, 37,757 died in car crashes, an increase of 12%. Gun deaths, including homicides and suicides, totaled 36,252, a jump of 7%.     In 2014, there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths.  The rate of increase has risen rapidly in the last decade.

There’s the concern that these daily marijuana users will go onto other drugs, drugs that lead to overdose and are potentially lethal.    States with high rates of teen marijuana use in 2011 and 2012 ended up having the highest rates of opioid pill abuse two years later.  Here’s five reasons marijuana is a gateway drug.

Pain Pills, Cough Syrup and Other Drugs

The use of synthetic cannabinoids and ecstasy is lower, but still too high.  High school students are  using much fewer opioid pain pills.  Among 12th graders there’s been a 45 percent drop over the past five years. Only 2.9 percent of high school seniors reported past year misuse of the pain reliever Vicodin in 2016, compared to nearly 10 percent a decade ago.  The Drug Free American Foundation, CADCA and the pharmacies regularly sponsor “Take Back Your Drugs” days.  At these times, pain relievers from other family members are tossed out, with the hopes of preventing illicit use.

Fewer eighth graders are using marijuana, which is encouraging.   Parents Opposed to Pot believes it’s because new parent and community drug education efforts – since legalization — are discouraging early pot use.

One troubling note is that eighth graders had an increase in misuse of over-the-counter cough medicine.  This year, 2.6 percent of them have abused it, up from 1.6 percent in 2015.

Tobacco use and drinking are trending downward, but use of e-cigarettes has gone up.   Here’s the statistics.

What Child is This?

by Robert Charles, for Town Hall Magazine  

The Christmas carol is poignant – reminder of Christmas, and beyond.  “What child is this, who, laid to rest …” the carol begins.  “Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?” it continues.  The stanza ends, “Haste, haste ….”  Lovely, lilting, full of promise – like the birth of a child.  Here, a special child – but also every child.

In a season of joy, it is a message is joy.  But the mind wanders, also to our mortal world.  New numbers on drug addiction and drugged driving death, so many lost souls – mitigate the joy.   They caught me off guard this week. My brother, a high school teacher, shared with me the loss of another student, another fatal crash, as drugged driving numbers rise.  What is the season for heartbroken parents – but a season of loss?  Each year, upwards of 100,000 parents lose a child to drug abuse.

What child is this?  It is America’s child, and America’s childhood.  How is it that we have, collectively, forgotten to keep watch over those entrusted to our watch – especially from high office?  Last year, 47,055 Americans, most of them young, were lost to drug abuse – just statistics now.  Why?

In part, because so many Americans have heard a mixed message from their leaders – with devastating effects. Led to believe drugs are “recreation,” something not different from beer or wine, kids try and soon die.  Synthetic opioids, heroin, cocaine, high potency marijuana – and then a trip to the ER, or not even, on the way to a mortuary.  Numbers do not lie.

dark-side-of-cannabis-featured-image
The Dark Side of Marijuana Photoshop image taken from art of Edvard Munch

Drugged driving is now another epidemic.  Drivers and helpless passengers are all at risk, along with everyone on the road.  Near home, not long ago, several kids died in a terrible car crash.  They missed a bend and hit a tree.  The sister of a child known to my son was almost in that car – but courageously declined the ride.  She knew the driver was compromised.  That decision saved her life.  Unfortunately, the searing truth caught others off guard.  Drugged driving is death on wheels, period.  Drug legalization is the unabashed promoter of that death.  So, where are the shepherds?  Where are the outspoken leaders, who know this – but are silent?

What child is this, who starts with marijuana, soon is addicted, ends overdosing on opiates or as a roadside cross?  What child is this, who needed knowledge from someone they trust – but get misinformation?  What child is this, who is force-fed popular lies, that drug abuse is “recreation?”

And what child is this, “greeted by angels,” who was forsaken here – by knowing leaders for political advantage?  “Laid to rest” by parents’ inconsolable hands?  Where were leaders, a thoughtful president, governor, congressman, legislator, mayor?  How could we, in a blink, give up 50,000 souls – this year, again?  Silence is not just holy – it can also be complicit.  Permitting legal expansion of drug abuse, legalized money laundering, an insidious tax grab and a Federal blind eye – comes at the expense of young lives.   That is the truth.

Needed in this season of change are new national and community leaders, who are unafraid to say:   Do not compromise the future.  Do not risk everything for nothing.  Do not break faith with yourself, or those counting on you.

The mind wanders … from a Christmas carol to those not here to celebrate.  To parents, siblings, friends and teachers sadly forced to ask “what if…”  And bigger questions:  What if the legalization pabulum and knowing disinformation were stopped?  What if drugs that addict and kill were less available?  What if policy indifference turned to saving young lives, not putting them at risk?

Said Henry David Thoreau, every child is an “empire.”  But today, these empires are falling fast.  The risk inherent in our indifference, disinformation, disregard for truth, and treating death as recreation.  Addiction’s darkness comes on fast.  Life soon narrows, ambitions die, dependence rises, users are boxed in, relationships and functions degraded, nightmares start and then the awful, big question – who cares?

deathinthesickroom
Edvard Munch’s Death in the Sickroom, 1895, is  still relevant today with the number of families watching their children hopelessly addicted or dying. Top image: Munch’s The Day After

These days, few seem to – not the president, Congress, many state “leaders.”  They just go along.  Meantime, more families are drained and left alone – victims of widening drug abuse, drugged driving, drug-related crime, and life-changing addictions.  The Trump team has a chance to say:  Enough, experiment over.  That would help American families stop grieving, and save kids from this unparalleled dance with false information and societal indifference.  That would be leadership – and long overdue.  So, pull the Drug Czar back to Cabinet rank, put Federal resources and smart people on enforcing the law, and educate the country.

“What child is this?”  It is America’s child.  With new hope and real leadership – may we have no more compromises with evil, but truth spoken to power, and power to people.  Let us stand watch, shepherds for young America.  “Haste, haste …” in this and all seasons.  There is a resolution for the new year.

Robert Charles is a columnist for Town Hall Magazine.  He also wrote Return the Drug Czar to Cabinet.  Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement under George W. Bush, former Naval Intelligence Officer and litigator, who served in the Reagan and Bush 41 White Houses.  He wrote the book “Narcotics and Terrorism,” and writes widely on national security and law.

Marijuana Deaths: 5 Killed Instantly After Pot Became Legal

Can Other States Prevent Deaths Like those in Washington?

Washington – not Colorado – was the first state to legalize weed on December 5, 2012, exactly four years ago.    Within a few weeks, five people  died—probably only because marijuana was now legal. California and Massachusetts have not figured out how to measure  stoned drivers.  Will other states that now allow pot possession face a rapid rise of deaths too?

On the morning pot was legalized, two intruders broke into the Puyallup home of a large marijuana grower.  Robbery was the motive, of course.   The owner shot and killed the masked men immediately.    So much for the claim that legalization will “free up law enforcement for more serious crimes.”    A few weeks ago, there was a similar situation in Denver, when a homeowner shot and killed a 15-year-old stealing pot from his yard.

On December 17, 2012, Scotty Rowles struck and killed pedestrian Donald Collins in Vancouver, Washington.   Rowles was not speeding, but admitted to smoking a bowl of marijuana before driving.  He spent six months in jail and is now on probation.   (Punishments for stoned driving in Washington aren’t strong enough to discourage it.)

Tyler Martel’s accident on December 7, 2012 was more deadly.   Martel left his parents’ house at 10:30 p.m.  By 3:45 a.m., the police came to the parents’ home and said that he had died.  His girlfriend, his soon-to-be fiancé, had been airlifted to Harborview Hospital Center.   Stephanie Nicole Profitt underwent many surgeries and fought to regain her life.  Her struggle ended in death on January 19, 2013.

Don’t Substitute One Dangerous Addiction for Another

Stoned driving caused three of these deaths.   Marijuana greed and jealousy inspired the shooting when two men died.  Perhaps the worst news of all is that Tyler Martel, 27, who died instantly had survived and conquered Oxycodone addiction. He had gone through rehab, had a job and was building a new life.  At a party on that fateful night, he declined all invitations to drink.   But marijuana was now legal, and he smoked marijuana with his brother before he drove.  If the state hadn’t legalized marijuana, and otherwise endorsed its use, perhaps Tyler and Stephanie would be alive today.

When people suggest that substituting opiate pain pill abuse with marijuana, remember what happened to Tyler Martel and Stephanie Proffitt.   They were not the only victims.  Timothy Lang came to Profitt’s funeral in a wheelchair.    He was one of the other drivers, and is thankful to the emergency workers who saved life.

Alex Ashley poignantly describes Tyler Martel’s battle to regain his life and the legacy of the accident.

Martel’s mother Patrice is on a mission to warn students of impaired driving.   It is counter-intuitive to suggest that any addictive substance should substitute for another addictive substance.  It’s a case where someone tried it and we know the results.

Colorado gets more publicity than Washington because many anti-pot activists live in Colorado.  The Seattle press usually covers up the downside of pot.  Colorado opened commercial marijuana six months ahead of Washington, and we’ve heard more about deaths from edibles in Colorado.

However, Washington has a slightly higher rate of stoned driving deaths than Colorado.  A stoned driver killed Rosemary Tempel four months before the vote to legalize, but the Press and police failed to report it.

One year ago, 16-year-old boy Somalian immigrant Hamza Warsame — died immediately after smoking weed.  He jumped off a balcony and fell six stories to his death in Seattle.

A warning to Massachusetts, as state legislators discuss delaying marijuana.  Government’s job is to protect its people.   The black market still thrives in Washington and also causes violence.

So many tragic marijuana-related accidents involve children.

Mind-Body Solutions Offer Healing Without Medicine

Trauma Becomes Biology, But There’s Hope

How do we help children with difficult childhoods grow into adulthood without becoming drug users?  Is healing possible without using medicine?  Can our health system devise ways to treat chronic pain and illness without using marijuana or pharmaceutical drugs?

Those who grow up in difficult, traumatic situations – those whose bodies hold a painful past of abuse, shock or emotional pain – respond to opioid pain pills differently from the way non-traumatized people do.  They may be primed for opioid pill addiction more than others, according to Jon Daily of Recovery Happens, Sacramento. Furthermore, emotional trauma during childhood also leads to hypertension and a host of chronic illnesses.

Popular writer Monica Cassani agrees.   She describes on her website how Chronic illness is trauma embodied.    Her blog is called Beyond Meds

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia now recognize Adverse Childhood Experiences as part of public health.  Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs are considered contributing factors to depression and a host of chronic diseases.   Experts use 10 paradigms for testing childhood trauma.  A score of 4 or more ACEs makes a person 460 percent more likely to suffer from depression.  A score of 6 or more takes 20 years off life.  Adults with high ACE scores are susceptible to chronic diseases that are rare in those who do not have ACEs.

image
Childhood Disrupted and The Body Keeps the Score are two excellent books for understanding childhood trauma and its relationship to pain and illness.

The death of a parent, divorce, family drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse are among the events that can be counted as ACEs. These traumas are singled out because of their unexpected and unpredictable nature.  Severe bullying, excessive parental criticism are included, as well as living in a violent neighborhood.  Extreme poverty also creates stressful situations which can be compounded by abuse and the other problems.

Healing Chronic Disease Through Mind-Body Solutions

There’s good news.   Psychology,  Psychiatry and the medical field can lead the way for overcomimg both disease and emotional garbage. Understanding and applying the mind-body connection can work miracles without medicine.  Several notable scholars have led the way.  Francine Shapiro’s Getting Past Your Past and Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score provide excellent explanations and understanding.  Books by Daniel Siegel and Peter Levine offer therapeutic keys to healing.

Donna Jackson Nakazawa wrote one of the most straightforward explanations of healing ACEs in her new book.  Childhood Disrupted explains the causes of trauma in childhood and how to heal it.   In another book, The Last Best Cure, she describes her own healing from two debilitating auto-immune diseases.   (Nakazawa experienced the sudden traumatic death of her father when she was twelve.  While she outwardly coped, her body suffered deeply.) A science journalist, Nakazawa writes for the general public.

Part 2 will cover healing psychiatric problems through mind-body solutions, and Part 3 will summarize the growing problem of traumatized childrenPart 4 explains how we’re creating a new, larger generation of traumatized children.

Pope Francis I Calls Worldwide Summit to Address Drugs

“Drugs are a wound in society and a trap for many people – victims who’ve lost their freedom.”   These were the words of Pope Francis at the conference on drugs held today, November 24, in Vatican City.

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, there are so many things to be thankful for in our world — the joy that is possible without drug use.  Although the US leads the world with 56% percent of the world’s illicit drug users, other nations are falling into the same trap.  Substance users and abusers try to find a shortcut to the spirituality that takes years to achieve.   It doesn’t work, as Pope Francis recognizes.

“Pope Francis is a global leader against drug abuse, said Kevin Sabet who will speak at the conference entitled “Workshop on Narcotics: Problems and Solutions of this Global Issue.”  Dr. Kevin Sabet is President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). The Pontifical Academies of Science has organized the conference.

“This event underscores both Pope Francis’ staunch support of protecting young people worldwide through preventing drug use and his strong opposition to the legalization of drugs,” Sabet continued.   “The Pope has stated numerous times, in very unambiguous terms, that drug legalization is not only bad for kids, but that it fails to produce its desired effects.”

popefrancisdrugconference
Queen Silvia of Sweden is seated next to Pope Francis, as he address a conference on drugs November 24 in the Vatican

Sabet will address the Pontifical Academy on the subject of “The Social Impact of Drug Policy Change.” He will discuss early findings from marijuana legalization in the U.S. and other issues related to drug policy change worldwide. Other U.S. representatives include Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Dr. Nora Volkow, Dr. Robert DuPont, Dr. Jon Caulkins, and Dr. Bertha Madras. The event examines, among other topics, the prevention of substance abuse related to children and young people. It also includes a papal audience, which Dr. Sabet will attend.

 Other attendees include H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden and Mr. Yuri Fedotov, head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Drugs give rise to powerful delusions, in a world which can be difficult and challenging.  Escape from reality doesn’t make problems go away, but merely creates new ones.   A followup post contains excerpts from the small group audience.   Please read here.

 

Social Justice is a Pretext Legalizers Use to Get Support

Social Justice is a pretext, the handy catch phrase to get people to support the legalization of pot.  The idea doesn’t come from disadvantaged minorities.  “Marijuana legalization is the worst way forward to reforming drug policy for the minority community,” claims Will Jones, founder of Two is Enough D.C.

Jones, whose family has always been involved in the Civil Rights movement, is enraged by the social justice message. “If you aren’t a minority, maybe legalization does look ok because you’re not going to have the deluge of (pot) stores in your community,”  Liquor shops are on every block in his neighborhood.  Jones admonishes the marijuana industry for “cherry picking criminal justice issues to conveniently pick a statistic that helps them.”  Of the places that voted to legalize pot, only Washington DC has managed to stay free of commercial pot stores.

It was easy to cut through the illusion by watching Ethan Nadelmann at the Democratic National Convention last summer.  Nadelmann, director of Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), was bragging to his supporters about how profitable the marijuana industry is.  At the end of the video, when the cameras was on him, he added “and don’t forget social justice.”  It was an afterthought.  He must have been joking.

The Reality Where Pot is Legalized

In Denver, the pot businesses have located mainly in low-income minority neighborhoods, taking advantage of those with the least amount of political clout.  Buzz Feed reports that black people are being shut out of America’s weed boom.  Blacks own only about one percent of the 3,600 storefront marijuana dispensaries in the United States.  Hispanics may own even less. For the most part, whites alone have benefited from the huge profits in the weed industry.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey recently explained that crime shot up after legalization in Colorado.  In fact, the homicide rate was higher in 2015 than it had ever been.    (Marijuana is the drug most likely to trigger crime.)    Homelessness as a result of legalization has also skyrocketed.  Denver’s Mayor Michael Hancock blamed marijuana legalization on a violent rampage in the mall last summer.  

Where’s the Real Social Justice in a Mind-Destroying Drug?

We question the sincerity of those who promote “social justice” as a reason to legalize marijuana.   What is the “social justice” in promoting a substance that lowers your IQ, weakens memory and directly contributes to the mental illness as a causal factor?   Even without drug testing, using pot makes some people lazy and less likely to get a job or hold onto it.

CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) has always  encouraged communities to find youth ambassadors who are black or brown, because preventing drug use among minorities was a primary concern.  Impoverished youth–who are often Black or Hispanic – have the most to lose if they use drugs.  Youth who frequently use marijuana are 60 percent more likely to drop out of school and 7x more likely to attempt suicide.

A recent study out of the University of California, Davis, showed that marijuana users are much inclined to experience more downward mobility than their non-using peers.   Even compared to alcohol abusers, the hardcore marijuana users are less affluent than their parents.

social-justice2
Government duty is to protect citizens. There’s no social justice in promoting a dangerous drug, Those who profit from legalizing pot say it’s “social justice,” but minorities see it differently.

 

It’s unfortunate that blacks and Hispanics are arrested more frequently for pot than whites.  Complex social problems like police bias never have simplistic solutions.

Alternatives that don’t involve Legalization

Convincing people that hundreds of thousands of people are in prison for marijuana use is one of the false narratives of the legalization movement.  The Sacramento Bee recently investigated and couldn’t find a single low level marijuana offender in California prisons.

Those who believe in social justice, should look into policies to reduce drug-related crimes and its ugly bedfellow, drug addiction.      Even if the “war on drugs didn’t work,” it’s false to claim legalization and incarceration are the only options.  Those trying to legalize marijuana intentionally scramble the messages so the public confuses decriminalization with legalization.

At the time Chicago decriminalized pot, 87 percent of the time cases were dismissed for those arrested in Chicago for marijuana.

There are plenty of ways to revise and improve criminal justice without harming people, and drug use harms people.  Drug courts and treatment have been criminal justice options for more than 20 years.

Criminal justice experts agree that loosening drug possession laws would have little effect on the total numbers in prison.

The Clearest Motivation of the Marijuana Legalization Ballots

Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), said: “An exploitative new industry, reminiscent of Big Tobacco, has hoisted the banner of “Ending the War on Drugs” for an ulterior, but far more straightforward motive—making a lot of money at the expense of public health.   He explains that marijuana legalization ballots are written and advertised entirely for the benefit the industry’s bottom line.

Since legalization, the number of actual marijuana users has increased to 13% of people ages 12 and older.   Thirty percent of those users, or 6 million people have Cannabis Use Disorder.  The business model of increasing addiction and making money off of those who are addicted is working.

Legalization is a scheme of those in the top one percent to enhance their bottom lines.  Many who invested in the California legalization ballot actually hoped to make a whole lot more money from it.   A recent headline claimed that the marijuana industry is a 25 billion dollar opportunity.

Investors and politicians claim that legalization can end the black market.   Evidence from Colorado and Washington shows that cartels are emboldened by legalization and the black market still thrives.

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) promotes a falsehood that marijuana is safer than alcohol, another delusion.  Instead of encouraging less drug use,  MPP, DPA, NORML and the ACLU manipulate opinion.  Financial opportunists connected to these lobbies pretend pot is harmless and that arrest discrepancies will be solved by legalization.  This marijuana industry and drug promotion organizations are devious, not compassionate.

Marijuana Will be Held Accountable After Mixed Election Results

Anti-Pot Movement Starts New Project After More States Vote to Legalize

After spending more  than $20 million, the deep pocketed pro-marijuana investors prevailed in California.  They also won in Nevada and Massachusetts, with the votes much closer.   Arizona fended off the attempt to legalize marijuana.    Vermont elected a governor who said he is against marijuana legalization.  Several Oregon cities rejected marijuana sales.
In Colorado, the products with a high amount of THC (the psychoactive quality that brings the high) have been responsible for most of the hospitalizations and deaths.  However,  the marijuana businesses bought out an attempt to put a ballot that would cap the THC at 16%.   So far the marijuana industry has not been held accountable for its deceptive political and marketing tactics.

SAM Project Will Make Pot Accountable

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and its partners are spearheading a new initiative called the Marijuana Accountability Project (MAP). Our objective is to be a credible resource for the oversight of the recreational marijuana industry as it begins to take hold in states.   There will be more ballots.  SAM hopes that some states will defeat these ballot measures, but acknowledges that some are likely to pass. Regardless of outcome, SAM and the Marijuana Accountability Project will continue pushing back against the abusive practices of the marijuana industry in the states that have already legalized marijuana.

In their announcement SAM said:  “We cannot let another industry dead-set on hooking a new generation gain an unfettered foothold in society without a watchdog at their back. We intend to launch the initiative in late 2016 with a press conference in Washington, D.C., where we will outline our objectives, year one activities, and a new research report that shows the true cost of marijuana legalization on the health of states.

MAP will include the following activities in 2017:

Congressional Outreach: SAM will boost federal lobbying efforts to stop legalization on the federal level.
State Report Card Tracking Project: Evaluate the states with legal recreational marijuana across the following metrics: Public health (incidence rates of poisonings across age and demos), public safety (car crashes, ER visits), marketing (evaluate and compare based on other legal drugs), political influence (track lobbying and spending), and economic impact (promises made on funding, promises kept?)
Community Roundtables: We anticipate holding up to five community roundtables, open to the media, in select states in the first year. At these events, we will release the results of the tracking project, and hear from citizens who have been impacted by legalization and the industry as a whole. These roundtables will serve two purposes: show the real life impact of legalization, and promote MAP as a critical oversight voice.
Public Education/PSA Campaign: SAM will launch a media campaign called “Are We Sure?” that asks localities if they really want marijuana stores in their neighborhoods. The campaign will also be used in non-legalization states, and will educate the public on today’s high THC marijuana and its impacts.
Earned Media: Earned media will be a critical component to ensure the accountability messaging and approach is well understood in our target states, and pushes the agenda forward. Our tactics will include op-eds, rapid response, editorial board visits, press conferences, and reporter briefings.
Organization of Municipalities Concerned about Marijuana (OMCM): OMCM will consist of officials from localities that have implemented strict controls on marijuana, including those that have banned marijuana stores altogether, and officials from other jurisdictions interested in promoting public health-based marijuana laws. Through OMCM, these localities will share best practices, model ordinances, and other strategies.
SAM Legal Initiative: SAM will launch an initiative to hold marijuana businesses accountable to the law of the land, and research legal compliance issues.
SAM State Legislative Caucus: The SAM State Legislative Caucus will bring together like-minded state legislators who want to stop legalization and commercialization, and share best practices on marijuana policy.
Model laws: MAP will also develop copies of model state laws and local ordinances to control the marijuana industry, incorporating best practices from existing laws and input from scientific and legal experts.   MAP needs founding partners.

Kevin Sabet, President of SAM said that we can change the trajectory of marijuana legalization.  SAM released a statement at 3 a.m. : “Tonight’s results were disappointing overall, but given how we were outspent by 15 to 1, not wholly unsurprising,” said SAM President Kevin Sabet, who also served as a White House drug advisor. “There are several bright spots: Arizona resisted legalization and their campaign will be a blueprint for other states in the future. Vermont Governor-elect Phil Scott will be replacing the most pro-legalization governor in our history (Peter Shumlin), and a pushback is starting in Oregon.  No matter what happens in Maine, we will be in a strong position when the legislature meets. We will redouble our efforts with this new Congress. And we won’t abandon the legalized states, where much work remains to be done.”

For more information, contact [email protected].

Wall Street Journal Editorial on Marijuana

This editorial was originally published in the Wall Street Journal opinion pages, November 2, 2016.

A Brave New Weed

Marijuana is now legal in 25 states for medicinal purposes and in four for recreational use. Voters in another five have a chance on Nov. 8 to legalize the retail consumption of pot, but the evidence rolling in from these real-time experiments should give voters pause to consider the consequences.

In 2012 Colorado and Washington voters legalized recreational pot, followed by Alaska and Oregon two years later. Initiatives this year in California, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts would allow businesses to sell and market pot to adults age 21 and older.

Adults could possess up to one ounce (more in Maine) and grow six marijuana plants. Public consumption would remain prohibited, as would driving under the influence. Marijuana would be taxed at rates from 3.75% in Massachusetts to 15% in the western states, which would license and regulate retailers.

Marijuana is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which prohibits states from regulating possession, use, distribution and sale of narcotics. However, the Justice Department in 2013 announced it wouldn’t enforce the law in states that legalize pot. Justice also promised to monitor and document the outcomes, which it hasn’t done. But someone should, because evidence from Colorado and Washington compiled by the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana suggests that legalization isn’t achieving what supporters promised.

One problem is that legalization and celebrity glamorization have removed any social stigma from pot and it is now ubiquitous. Minors can get pot as easily a six pack. Since 2011 marijuana consumption among youth rose by 9.5% in Colorado and 3.2% in Washington even as it dropped 2.2% nationwide. The Denver Post reports that a “disproportionate share” of marijuana businesses are in low-income and minority communities. Many resemble candy stores with lollipops, gummy bears and brownies loaded with marijuana’s active ingredient known as THC.

The science of how THC affects young minds is still evolving. However, studies have shown that pot use during adolescence can shave off several IQ points and increase the risk for schizophrenic breaks. One in six kids who try the drug will become addicted, a higher rate than for alcohol. Pot today is six times more potent than 30 years ago, so it’s easier to get hooked and high.

Employers have also reported having a harder time finding workers who pass drug tests. Positive workplace drug tests for marijuana have increased 178% nationwide since 2012. The construction company GE Johnson says it is recruiting construction workers from other states because it can’t find enough in Colorado to pass a drug test.

Honest legalizers admitted that these social costs might increase but said they’d be offset by fewer arrests and lower law enforcement costs. Yet arrests of black and Hispanic youth in Colorado for pot-related

The share of pot-related traffic deaths has roughly doubled in Washington and increased by a third in Colorado since legalization, and in the Centennial State pot is now involved in more than one of five traffic fatalities. Calls to poison control for overdoses have jumped 108% in Colorado and 68% in Washington since 2012.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has said that “criminals are still selling on the black market,” in part because state taxes make legal marijuana pricier than on the street. Drug cartels have moved to grow marijuana in the states or have switched to trafficking in more profitable drugs like heroin.

One irony is that a Big Pot industry is developing even as tobacco smokers are increasingly ostracized. The Arcview Group projects that the pot market could triple over four years to $22 billion. Pot retailers aren’t supposed to market specifically to kids, though they can still advertise on the radio or TV during, say, a college football game. Tobacco companies have been prohibited from advertising on TV since 1971.

The legalization movement is backed by the likes of George Soros and Napster co-founder Sean Parker, and this year they are vastly outspending opponents. No wonder U.S. support for legalizing marijuana has increased to 57% from 32% a decade ago, according to the Pew Research Center.

We realize it’s déclassé to resist this cultural imperative, and maybe voters think the right to get high when you want is worth the social and health costs of millions of more stoners. Then again, since four states have volunteered to be guinea pigs, maybe other states should wait and see if these negative trends continue.

Thanks to the WSJ Editorial Board for warning U.S. voters about the downside of commercialization of a highly addictive drug.

Pueblo Fights to Get Rid of Marijuana Industry

60 Minutes Explores Pot in Pueblo

Colorado’s  marijuana legalization has wreaked havoc on Pueblo, and city will be featured on 60 Minutes on November 6th. (Date has since been changed to Oct. 30)  After nearly four years of legalized pot, many in the community are rebelling.  By initiating Propositions 200 and 300,  citizens of Pueblo  hope to regain a voice in their future.  A “yes” vote on both initiatives will shut down marijuana businesses in the city and Pueblo County.

Seventy percent of the counties in Colorado opted out of Amendment 64, which commercialized marijuana. The city of Pueblo banned retail marijuana, but the county of Pueblo licensed marijuana grows and retail stores.  In 2014, we reported on the efforts to ban retail expansion in Pueblo West.  Pueblo County commissioners promoted marijuana as an opportunity to fill empty factories and create jobs.  Acting against the wishes of most of the county’s 160,000 residents, commissioners decided to license marijuana businesses..

Because of intense problems, business leaders now strongly favor Proposition 200 and Proposition 300.  The Colorado Springs Gazette supports both propositions, because  “new data show pot legalization as an insidious policy failure.”   Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo has been fighting against the marijuana industry for two and half years.  See the Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo Safety Fact Sheet.

homelesscamppueblo
A homeless camp in Pueblo is overflowing now. Migrants from other states have come to Pueblo. Many newcomers have mental health and addiction issues, putting all health services at risk.

An influx of 15,000 migrants moved to Pueblo for easy access to the drug.  Some of the newcomers also hoped to find jobs in the pot industry.  Tent villages are housing newcomers who can’t afford or find homes. Pueblo has always taken care of its homeless, but it can no longer handle the huge number of people needing services.  Social services, soup kitchens and emergency rooms are stressed to the breaking point.  Approximately one-third of county residents, 67,000 are on Medicaid.

Doctors from Three Hospitals Hold Press Conference

The medical community recently held a press conference, announcing that  237 physicians signed a statement supporting “yes” votes on the propositions.  Physicians who spoke at the event detailed some of the health risks coming from marijuana use in the community.  Dr. Steven Simerville, a pediatrician and Medical Director of St. Mary-Corwin Hospital, reports that 7-10% of the babies born are testing positive for THC.  THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana. Dr. Simerville cited a dramatic increase in attempted suicides, a five-fold increase since legalization.  Every suicide attempt in the community, except one, involved THC.

Dr. Karen Randall an emergency medicine doctor affiliated with several of the Pueblo hospitals said that many of the newcomers to the area are coming to the emergency room with multiple and severe illnesses. Dr. Randall believes the Pueblo community could be on the verge of a public health disaster.  She explained that those living in tent camps are at risk for the same communicable diseases found in refugee camps:  flu, pertussis, cholera, tuberculosis. Randall, who previously worked in Detroit for a large city hospital as disaster coordinator, says she fears the Pueblo community health system is not equipped to deal with such an outbreak.

The black market is growing alongside the legal industry.  Sheriff’s office reports that foreign cartels from Laos, Argentina, Cuba and Russia are now operating in Pueblo. The cartels are buying or renting homes and setting up illegal grows. Law enforcement has busted sixty illegal grows in 2016, but there are 1500 other documented grows –also illegal.  Sheriff Kirk Taylor is also retooling his tracking methods to account for the increasing crimes associated with marijuana .  Currently Pueblo has the highest murder rate in the state, at 11.1 per 100,000.

Rural Areas, Crime, Gangs and High Teen Use of All Drugs Reported

“Those living in the rural areas are scared,” reports Paula McPheeters of the Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo. “The marijuana grows are despoiling the land and draining the water aquifers.  Squatters are growing marijuana and crime is increasing.” McPheeters says the community is being overwhelmed by outsiders moving in and taking over. Gang activity is increasing, drive by shootings, petty crime, auto theft are now big problems in a once peaceful community.

“Pueblo County now has 20 retail marijuana stores, compared to our 18 McDonalds, Starbucks and Walmart stores combined,” says McPheeters. The county took in 3.5 million in tax revenue from the marijuana industry, but McPheeters says, “The social costs to the community could easily be upwards of two times that amount.”

The biggest concern to those seeking to pass the ballot initiatives is the increase in youth drug use. Thirty one percent of high school students are using marijuana, three times the national average. Tragically, 12% have tried methamphetamine or heroin.  The community has inadequate drug treatment facilities, so when teens get into trouble with addiction it is difficult to get them help.

A Cautionary Tale

Pueblo offers a cautionary tale against trying to resolve a government’s financial difficulties with tax revenue from marijuana. This relatively small city with a population of 120,000 is a former steel mill town which fell on hard times.  It ranks number two in the state for poverty.

The Pueblo experience warns public officials to listen to the people’s will before allowing predatory businesses.   It warns other communities what can happen to the youth when they’re surrounded by these businesses.

Pueblo may have some of the worst crime problems in Colorado, but it is not as bad as Eureka and Humboldt County, California.   Humboldt County’s murder rate is 18.7 per 100,000 people, and it reports 250 missing persons per year.

A Father’s Warning About Chris’ Short and Tragic Life

Guest testimony by an Arizona resident

Here’s one story.  As personal and painful as it is to relate, I write this account hoping that efforts to legalize the use of recreational marijuana will be defeated.

My second son, Chris, had an outstanding secondary school career. As the youngest student in a class of 315 students, he was the valedictorian. At spring honors day, he received the American

chris-photoHistory prize, the best peace essay, a state and national scholastic writing award, the best student in mathematics award, AP Calculus award for the highest score and the Student Leadership award. But he was no nerd. He was President of the Student Council and Co-captain of the wrestling team. He had a ton of friends and he loved to backpack, kayak and rock climb. My only worry about him was his lack of fear in tackling any physical challenge.

On a holiday break in his first year at Stanford, he came home and went out with some of his friends. About a half hour later, he came running back home in a state of absolute panic. This fearless kid was terrified and in a state I hardly recognized. He thought the woods were surrounded by FBI agents and that a high school football star was trying to rape him. It turned out that the kids who picked him up were smoking marijuana. Evidently, this was not Chris’ first time. With all his accomplishments, he always tried to be one of the boys and smoking weed was what they did. I felt a tremendous sense of guilt because I hadn’t thought that it was necessary to talk about drug use with my own boys.

That night was a marker for his steady mental decline which continued even after he ceased using marijuana. Within two years, he was exhibiting full-blown schizophrenia. In his first of six hospitalizations, the doctor told us that he had a severe case and we should expect his mental acuity and his social affect to decline. The positive news according to the doctor was that Chris was high functioning enough that the decline could be tolerated. He was wrong.

The next ten years were not pretty. This thoughtful, intelligent, winsome child became extremely paranoid and sometimes violent. He heard voices continually and his thoughts became completely disordered. Once a promising writer, his journals show a steady progression from cogent essays to paragraphs and sentences that don’t make sense to jumbles of meaningless word combinations. Hospitalizations and attempts to medicate him had no effect.

At the age of 28, perhaps in a moment of lucidity recognizing what had become of him, he took his life.  Although there will never be any proof that marijuana was the cause of his schizophrenia, I believe that the first panic episode I witnessed was a precursor and initiator of his illness. This is certainly consistent with the scientific studies which suggest the correlation between early marijuana use and schizophrenia.

Proposition 205 would imprint on young people that recreational marijuana use is without risk.  No wonder that so many social agencies, medical professionals, state officials and business groups oppose its passage.

I am sure that many people smoke marijuana on a limited basis with no apparent ill effects. However, there is ample scientific evidence that marijuana use by teenagers whose brains are in the developmental stage are at risk for psychotic events which may be long term.  There is also evidence that long-term use by adults can also lead to mental impairment issues. For anyone who is interested, I can share a bibliography of over 60 scientific articles addressing the risks that early marijuana use poses.

_________________________________________________________________

Editor’s Note:  It is a public health failure that we have not warned young people they are at risk for psychosis and other mental illnesses from marijuana. But as this author remarks, risks remain for those who start using marijuana as adults.  Our recent article summarizes the dangers of marijuana, and why it cannot be consumed safely by anyone.

From Flying Mustaches to Flying Car and What Next?

 This testimony is from a mother in California who spoke in front of the capital in Sacramento with Moms Strong on October 4, 2016.

Today’s pot can be far more dangerous than it used to be.  There is “weed” 300-800 times stronger than it used to be, “edible cookies and candy,” and honey oil or “dabs” sometimes called hash oil, which is up to 90% THC.

I learned all of this the hard way.  Thankfully, I’ve joined a group no parent would ever want to belong to called Moms Strong.  How does one become a member of this group?   You don’t want to know …It began 5 years ago with my gifted son who went off to college.   His elite state college on the central coast warned us of the dangers of alcohol but nothing about the dangers of drugs.

He was seeking a way to belong by joining a fraternity and a consulting club, tutored students and lived in a dorm with roommates.  He tried drinking, despite the warnings, but found he couldn’t handle it.

Friends in the dorm offered him pot and he thought it would be safer. That first hit took him down a long path into darkness.

He was able to obtain a medical marijuana card from a doctor over the phone–to treat insomnia. The doctors rarely suggest which type of THC product the patient should use.  Here in California, marijuana edibles, as well as weed and “dabs”  (butane hash oil) are delivered to medical marijuana cardholders via the Internet dispensaries.

By his 2nd year, there were early warning signs that things were not going well.  The changes were:

  • Falling off the Dean’s list
  • Disconnecting from close friends and family
  • Increasing fears, paranoia, insomnia and stress
  • Breaking the law by selling pot to friends
  • Fighting with roommates and quitting the frat
  • Decreased feelings of self-worth

During his 3rd year, he went from a casual to an addicted user.  From weed, he went to edibles and onto dabs which triggered psychosis within a few months. He noticed he couldn’t carry on a normal conversation or work math problems.  His college friend contacted me via FB reporting my son’s disturbing voice mail:

“Hey..I’m not sure if I want to live. I’m seeing flying mustaches. So call me if you think I should live.”

We brought him home, took him to our local ER where we hoped to get help for him.  The doctor thought he was having a 1st time schizophrenic outbreak, tested his blood and found “just pot” and placed him on a 72 hr. involuntary hold. It was the worst night of my life seeing my son so afraid and being powerless.

A psych expert sent him to a behavioral hospital to rule out bipolar mania.

At that hospital, the experience was a nightmare.  They had no knowledge of cannabis-induced psychosis, instead diagnosed him as bipolar and prescribed Lithium.  He forced to be among people trying to harm themselves or others.

That doctor suggested he take a leave from college and go into an outpatient therapy program.  Within 3 days, he started smoking pot again.  In a couple months, he stopped taking the Lithium as he hated how it made him feel. We were powerless over his drug use.

He returned to college for his fourth year, but then withdrew with failing grades.  Just a year and a half after his 1st psychotic break, he experienced symptoms for 3 days reported by this same friend:

  • Hearing voices, distrusting everyone (including his best friends)
  • Getting lost in his head and then suddenly saying “That’s what they want you to believe” or “They’re coming for me.”
  • Running from friends through traffic, scaring bystanders, with his friends trying to make sure he didn’t hurt himself or anyone else.

They waited for him to snap out of it, to no avail.  They took him to the Emergency Room where he got no help; they called me AGAIN.  We had 2 more ER visits which resulted in a medication to help the psychosis, advice on how to stop smoking pot.

My son just couldn’t kick smoking pot.  Within a few weeks, his rock bottom hit when he had a car accident, totaled the vehicle, and got a DUI. Thankfully he did not harm himself or others.

He called me begging for help to quit smoking pot.   We agreed he would go to a dual diagnosis drug rehab where he was first thought to be schizophrenic.   But after proper medication, he was diagnosed with cannabis-induced psychosis.

My son learned he has a sensitivity to THC.  He quit and is struggling to stay clean.  He takes medication to counteract the THC cravings from his three-year marijuana addiction.  He is still hoping to finish college and his future is still not set in stone.  He doesn’t see flying mustaches any longer, or any other hallucinating visions, but it sure was scary.  We are thankful that his whole life has not gone up in smoke.

Prop 64 will make it easier for anyone to try the “Russian Roulette” of today’s pot, without any warnings. Marijuana must be avoided,  especially  to those under age 25 — and maybe up to age 28 — because the brain is still developing, marijuana must be avoided.

Please vote No because of all the young minds that are at stake.

Marijuana is a Hard Drug, Dutch Doctor Compares to Heroin

A Growing Threat to Our Youth

There are several reasons that marijuana should no longer be called a soft drug, which is misleading. The cannabis of today is undeniably a hard drug.   Dr. Darryl Inaba, Director of an addictions recovery center in Medford, Oregon was recently interviewed on the science of marijuana addiction.  He said:

“As a clinician who has worked with those who experience medical, emotional and social problems from its use for the past 40 years, I am concerned about the life consequences that legalization will have on those who are vulnerable to developing problems from its use, especially youth users who are most at risk.

“Currently about 17% of those who are treated for substance-related and addictive disorders in the United States list marijuana as their primary and many list it as their secondary or tertiary drug of choice. It is, in fact, the substance most often listed by the 1.8 to 1.9 million treated for addiction each year in this country.  

“The majority of the clients I have treated for CUD during the past 40 years were self-referred, not criminally-referred into treatment.  They entered treatment because marijuana was causing severe dysfunction and disruption in their lives and they desperately wanted to stop despite the great ridicule they were getting from others calling them a ‘wussy’ who should go out and get a real addiction like heroin or meth before needing any help to stop.”

Those with Cannabis Abuse Disorder will not be able to stop without help.  Dr. Inaba goes on to explain the problem with stronger strains of marijuana today,  “dabs,” “spice” and edibles.

Expert finds it’s more dangerous than heroin

Dr. Martien Kooyman of the Netherlands  said the following about the truth of today’s pot:

“The cannabis grown and sold today is not same drug as was available in the 1970s. The average THC has increased to more than 15%. Cannabis issue can clearly lead to addiction. The damage to the brain from chronic use is worse compared with chronic use of heroin. Among the negative effects of long-term cannabis use in adolescence include neuro-psychological dysfunction, decline in IQ, short memory, among others.”

Dr. Kooyman vehemently stated that cannabis can no longer be labeled a ‘soft’ drug. There is no justification to have different laws for cannabis than other drugs (labeled as ‘hard’).

“The legalization of cannabis reinforces already existing opinion among youth that there are no risks in using cannabis.” Dr. Kooyman made these comments at a special session on cannabis at the World Federation Against Drugs meeting, held in Sweden, 2014.

Marijuana advocates insist it’s not as dangerous as heroin.   Existing studies on addiction are not accounting for the higher THC of today, over 16% in Colorado and average more than 20% in Washington.  In the old studies, the rate of addiction was 9% for adults and 17% for those who began as adolescents.   In essence, your chances of getting addicted to marijuana were roughly the same as the chances for getting addicted to alcohol.

These statistics need to be studied again, accounting for THC that is averages about 4x higher than previously.   Furthermore, “dabs” and “wax” are off the charts in THC, very potent and addictive.

Pew Research Poll Reflects Views on Pot Decriminalization

Pew Research released a new poll from late August and early September that shows 57% of American voters favor marijuana legalization.  Based on the question and the article, the poll probably means that 57% of the voters favor marijuana decriminalization.   Next time the poll should be more specific in its meaning.  The same day this poll was released, a headline from the Cape Cod News in Massachusetts read: Support Scarce for Legal Pot.   There could not be a bigger difference in meaning  between these headlines.  Why the difference?

Despite this poll, all 5 states with ballots for marijuana legalization this November poll at less than 57% in favor of legalization.  There is a disparity between the survey question and legalization in practice. Legalization creates a new industry expected to make a lot of money for investors.   It is the reason that Weed Maps, ArcView group  and Soros-funded groups contribute to the ballots.  There’s a big difference between legalization and decriminalization.  Did those conducting the survey explain what legalization means?

prop-64s-money-trail
Since the Sacramento Bee made this chart, at least $10 million more has been raised by  California’s Yes on 64 campaign. With the business Weed Maps, MJ Freeway and George Soros funding so much, it’s obviously a good business venture.  George Soros gave at least $4 million.

 

Legalization creates commercial marijuana stores regulated by the state .   Administering and implementing it is very difficult to do.   Pot sales are taxed at various levels and earn some money.  But as Colorado marijuana director, Andrew Freedman said, it’s not worth legalizing for the benefit of tax revenues.

When presented with facts, voters are skeptical of commercialization and don’t want more impaired drivers.  The cost of regulation is  high.   On October 1 in Colorado, new rules began.  and the packaging must make it more difficult for children to access. Gummy candies in the shape of animals are now forbidden. The number of hospitalizations and overdose deaths from marijuana edibles which make up nearly 50% of the market necessitated these changes.

Opting out of commercial pot is very tough, too.  Dealing with inconsiderate neighbors who grow a lot of pot plants is difficult.  In Colorado, city governments are often greedy for tax money while residents say no to pot.  When voters want to ban dispensaries, other forces such as the marijuana industry fight them.    It’s one of the reasons Colorado now has buyer’s remorse. map-of-colorado

Why Marijuana Decriminalization ?

Decriminalization means that marijuana is not treated as a crime but as a mistake; offenders are charged with a small fine, like a speeding ticket.   In legal terms, it’s the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony.  The marijuana lobbyists have successfully convinced Americans that large numbers of people go to jail for marijuana possession only.

The only people who go to jail for marijuana possession charges have committed other crimes and have plea bargained to get convicted of lesser charges.   Other crimes include drug dealing, transportation of drugs or possession of a large amount of drugs that indicates intent to sell.  Selling drugs is not a victimless crime.

Marijuana lobbyists omit information about drug courts which allows users an alternative and provides addiction treatment.

The reason that marijuana possession is a felony crime in some states is so that it can be used as evidence to convict when there are more serious crimes.  Drugs and drug paraphernalia become supporting evidence when other crimes may be harder to prove.

How are Minorities Really Affected by Drug Laws?

JudgeBurnett,Kathy,Ambrose2
Judge Arthur Burnett with other anti-marijuana activists who spoke out against legalization in Washington, DC,  in September, 2014

Minorities have the most to lose by using marijuana.  Daily or near daily use of marijuana by teens nearly doubles the risk of dropping out of high school.   Dropping out of high school makes future education and job prospects dim.  Furthermore, a study of long-term marijuana users in New Zealand over a 25-year period found an average 7-point drop in IQ by age 38.   People who complain that this study did not adjust for IQ differences as reflected by socio-economic class should realize that IQ differences resulting from socio-economic factors are in play seen before age 13, when participants first entered the study.

A recent study from UC Davis showed how chronic marijuana users faced more downward mobility than chronic alcohol users.  In the US, the disproportionate arrest of minorities may reflect concern about dropping out of school and what that means for the future. The higher conviction rate for minorities is probably a reflection of income disparity and poverty.  A disproportionate number of black and Hispanic drug dealers go to jail.   Minorities are less likely to be able to afford the legal fees that allow wealthy white drug dealers to get less time in jail or wiggle their way out of going to jail.  Justice reform should not be centered on legalizing drugs, but on giving minorities better legal representation.

Retired Judge Arthur Burnett, National Executive Director of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, says that  African-American communities already suffer from a liquor store on every corner. Black voters know commercial marijuana would prey on their communities at a much higher rate.  “Do we really want to substitute mass incapacitation for mass incarceration?” he asked.

There’s a strong misconception that people go to jail just for having a joint.   (The threat of jail is not the reason to tell kids not to use pot, but defense of your brain is!)   There’s also a misconception that inequities in the justice system would be solved by legalization.

Maybe next time Pew Research present the polls with a bunch of different options between decriminalization, allowing home grows only or commercialization.   Or Pew Research should a better job at explaining what they mean by legalization.

Is Marijuana a Safe Drug?

We all know individuals who have been able to use marijuana and be happy, successful and productive members of society. The precise proportion of users who fall into this category is not known, but what is clear is a substantial percentage of people cannot use marijuana with impunity. Unfortunately, you can’t tell ahead of time who that is going to be. There is no genetic test, no psychological profile, no family history screening that is reliable.

The question becomes not how many fatalities does use of marijuana cause, but can a young person use it occasionally, i.e. “responsibly,” like having a single beer once a month or once a week, and be sure that they’ll be O.K.? The answer is no, particularly in regards to psychotic outcomes. Some individuals experience acute psychosis after their first use.

1) Psychosis: hundreds of peer-reviewed, scientific articles show a correlation between marijuana use and psychotic outcomes such as schizophrenia, too numerous to list here. The question of whether marijuana is causal for psychosis has been answered in the affirmative by applying standard principles of causation used in pharmacological and epidemiological research:

  •  Dose response effect, so that heavier use of more potent product results in more users developing schizophrenia(Zammit et al., 2002; van Os et al., 2002; DiForti et al., 2009; DiForti et al., 2015)
  •  Administration of the active ingredient (∆9-THC) in the clinic under controlled conditions causes psychotic symptoms (D’Souza et al., 2004; Morrison et al., 2011; Bhattacharyya et al., 2011; Freeman et al., 2014).
  •  Self-medicating is not that likely, because many will try to quit to avoid the psychotic symptoms before they become too impaired (Fergusson et al., 2005), e.g. comedian Seth McFarlane; but for others it may be too late (as seen in The Other Side of Cannabis, Heartsgate Productions, 2015).
  •  Marijuana use generally comes before the psychosis, not vice-versa (Arseneault et al., 2002; Henquet et al., 2005; Kuepper et al., 2011).
  •  In users who have schizophrenia, the age of onset is earlier than for non-users, similar to the effect of carcinogens in causing an earlier onset of a suite of cancers (Veen et al., 2004; Barnes et al., 2006; Large et al., 2011)
  •  Of all recreational drugs, marijuana use is the most likely to result in chronic psychosis (Niemi-Pynttari et al., 2013).

What percentage experience a psychotic outcome? The low to moderate-strength marijuana available in the last century was shown to trigger single psychotic symptoms (paranoia, racing thoughts, delusions, hallucinations) in 12% to 15% of users (Thomas, 1996; Barkus et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2009). Of those with such “prodromal” symptoms, about 35% can be expected to develop full psychosis, i.e. a constellation of symptoms occurring at once (Cannon et al., 2008). For about half of these individuals, conversion to chronic schizophrenia spectrum disorder occurs irrespective of family history (Arendt et al., 2008; Niemi-Pynttari et al., 2013).

The result for low to moderate-strength marijuana was about a 2.5-fold increased risk of schizophrenia, but for the high strength product available today, the risk for schizophrenia is 5-fold compared to non-users (DiForti et al., 2015). That increase in risk translates into about one out of every twenty users if they don’t quit in time. Is this impact limited to adolescence? Given that the brain continues to develop in males through the late twenties (see figure on back), it seems unlikely that the risk for chronic psychosis is limited to adolescent users. Furthermore, administration of THC to adults in a clinical setting results in psychotic symptoms (D’Souza et al., 2004; Morrison et al., 2011. Bhattacharyya et al., 2011; Freeman et al., 2014).

Other Adverse Psychological Outcomes

2)  Risks for anxiety, panic, and depression are increased by marijuana use: Zuardi et al., 1982; Thomas, 1996; Patton et al., 2002; Dannon et al., 2004; Hayatbakhsh et al., 2007; Medina et al., 2007; Hasin et al., 2008; Zvolensky et al., 2010; Fairman and Anthony, 2012; Silins et al., 2014; Cougle et al., 2015; with some studies showing that correction for confounding variables lessens the association with anxiety and depression, while others report the effect remains. For a review see: Miller CL, The Impact of Marijuana on Mental Health in: Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana (Winters KC and Sabet K, eds), Oxford University Press, in press.

3)  Risk for suicidal ideation is increased on average 7-fold: Arendt et al., 2006; Silins et al., 2014; Kvitland et al., 2016 , even after correcting for a prior history of depression: Clarke et al., 2014.  In 2014 (the report specific for 2015 data is not yet available), the 2nd year after legalization of recreational use of marijuana, Colorado experienced the highest suicide rate in state history: “In 2014, there were 1,058 suicides among Colorado residents and the age-adjusted suicide rate was 19.4 per 100,000. This is the highest number of suicide deaths ever recorded in Colorado.” Office of Suicide Prevention Annual Report 2014-2015, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Particularly alarming, the Colorado media has reported sudden onset suicidal ideation or completed suicide in consumers of commercial edibles: Levi Thamba Pongi, Denver, 2014; Richard Kirk, Denver, 2014; Luke Goodman, Keystone, 2015, but also reported following the smoking of potent marijuana: Brant Clark, Boulder, 2007; Daniel Juarez, Brighton, 2012.  (Editor’s note: In Seattle, 16-year-old Hamza Warsame jumped six floors to his death after smoking marijuana in December, 2015.)   These responses can happen so quickly in individuals who were not previously suicidal that intervention may be impossible. 

4)  Lack of educational achievement and decreases in motivation – after covariate adjustment, the odds for marijuana users completing high school are reduced to about 0.37-fold that of controls (Silins et al., 2014); accounting for demographics and other factors, marijuana use adversely affected college academic outcomes, both directly and indirectly through poorer class attendance (Arria et al., 2015); decreases in motivation with marijuana use have been documented in clinical studies of humans (Bloomfield et al., 2014) and in animal models (Silveira et al., 2016).

5)  Negative impacts on IQ: up to an approx. 7 point drop in IQ from childhood scores by age 38 in marijuana users who have been abstinent for 24 hours prior to testing; but only an approx. 5 point drop in those abstinent for a week prior to testing (Meier MH et al., 2012); a subsequent study of twins by Jackson et al., 2016, yielded mixed results, with an average decline of 4 points in marijuana users by late adolescence, however restricting the comparison to the matched twins (thereby controlling for genetics and a myriad of environmental factors), the effect of marijuana largely disappeared. The limitation of this later study is that brain development is not complete by late adolescence, particularly the wiring of the all-important cortex is still ongoing through the late twenties (see Figure below). There is no controversy, however, about the negative, real-time impact of marijuana use during tests of cognition and memory: Curran HV et al., 2002; Ranganathan and D’Souza, 2006; Morrison et al., 2009; Solowj et al., 2010; Pavisian et al., 2014.

By  Christine Miller, Ph.D., for Moms Strong.  Dr. Miller also wrote Ten Myths Marijuana Advocates Want You to Believe.

See 10 Myths Marijuana Advocates Want You to Believe for complete information, footnotes and the bibliography

My Daughter Was Murdered for Weed

By Anonymous from Maryland     I support your organization and everything that you are doing.  Thank you for your work to protect children from the drugs and drug dealers.

My 17-year-old daughter was murdered, in a murder-for-hire scheme because someone thought she set up a drug robbery.  The killer was paid in marijuana because the killer had a fix.   He needed his weed.   The person robbed testified that the killer was paid in $400 cash and $200 of marijuana.

Testimony indicated that my daughter did not rob anyone.

(The murder took place in 2005; the murderer is up for parole next year.) 

We wonder why marijuana legalization advocates say: “Legalize to free police for more serious crimes.”    Note the following:                                             *Since marijuana was legalized in Colorado, prosecutors have noticed an increase in murders motivated by marijuana.                                                      *Humboldt County, California, principle pot-growing region of the USA, has a murder rate that far exceeds national averages.                                              *On the first day of legalization in Washington state in 2012, two people were murdered when they tried to steal a marijuana grow.                               *More recently, the murder of 8 family members in southern Ohio revealing a marijuana growing business.   

Massachusetts Group Donates Against Legal Pot, Promotes Healthy Drug Policy

Massachusetts Can Lead Nation in Healthy Drug Policy

A foundation dedicated to the health and well-being of people in central Massachusetts donated $100,000 to defeat commercial marijuana in Massachusetts this year.  The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts is the official opposition effort against Question 4, which would legalize recreational pot.

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts,  Worcester, formally voted to oppose Question 4 and to make a large contribution in opposition to the ballot.  Marijuana proponents  outspend anti-legalization campaigns by millions of dollars, so donations to the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts would be greatly appreciated. (Donate here)

The Health Foundation is concerned that allowing the billion-dollar commercial marijuana industry to promote and sell its products would negatively impact public health. Pot edibles which include highly potent products like candy, chocolates, cookies, and sodas would be allowed. These products are particularly attractive to kids and look like popular sweets.  They account for 50% of the sales in Colorado.

Question 4 sets no limits on the number of pot shops statewide. In Colorado, that has resulted in more pot shops than McDonalds and Starbucks combined.

“The leadership of the Health Foundation of Central MA is exemplary of what all organizations, groups, associations and residents need to do in order to keep the Commonwealth from being snowed by the marijuana industry who wrote the law that completely protects their big profit interests,” said Heidi Heilman of Massachusetts Prevention Alliance. “The law was written by the industry for the industry. If it passes it’ll be the tax-payers who’ll be burdened with the shovel-up costs from all the negative outcomes,” she concluded.

Most Massachusetts Politicians Join Forces to Oppose Question 4

gov-baker
Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.  Photo: The Boston Globe

The Commonwealth could lead the country into smart drug policy.  A strong bipartisan team of leaders is working to shut the door on promoting drug dependency and addiction for profit.

The Foundation joins a bi-partisan coalition of elected leaders as well as health care, public safety, business, anti-addiction, and child protection advocates who are opposing Question 4. Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Speaker Robert DeLeo, Attorney General Maura Healey, Sheriff Steve Tompkins, 120 legislators and many other elected leaders have come out in opposition to Question 4.

In fact, Governor Baker, Attorney General Healey, Mayor Walsh and Speaker DeLeo have been exemplary leaders in their ability to study all aspects of the issue, educate the voters and work across the aisle.  A group of legislators went to Colorado to study legalization and see if it legal pot could be implemented safely.

An interviewer recently asked Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts if she supports marijuana legalization.  Senator Warren did not give a “yes” or “no” answer.  She replied that marijuana is decriminalized in Massachusetts, putting the state in a difficult position.  She did not endorse Question 4, and probably knows that enacting it would be bad for the Commonwealth.  It’s clear from the video that Senator Warren does not think there’s enough regulation now.  She’s smarter than the legalizers who would love to trap her into supporting Question 4.  (Decriminalization of pot in 2008 resulted in a great increase of marijuana use, followed by a opiate and heroin crisis.)

A citizens group of 20 claimed that Question 4 doesn’t have a definitive standard for testing drivers and that it lacks transparency while leaving policy specifics unsettled until after the vote.

One of the state’s Congressional representatives, Rep. Stephen Lynch, just announced that he is against Question 4.    Lynch said that he has worked with recovering addicts, noting that “I haven’t met an addict who didn’t start with marijuana.”

Investigative Journalism Misses the Mark — for the Most Part

Lee Fang’s “investigative” article published in The Nation two years ago suggested that only those who lose profits are against legalizing marijuana. His predictions have turned out to be largely incorrect. The pharmaceutical industry–like the marijuana industry — spends money on lobbying and donating to politicians, but is not politically involved in the marijuana issue.  According to the Brookings Institution, “pharmaceutical companies have kept an arm’s-length distance from marijuana ballot initiatives.”

Fang’s investigation provides excellent insight into the marijuana industry — which suspects that everyone must have a profit motive.  Much of the giving to marijuana ballots comes directly from the pot industry.  Three of the largest donations to marijuana legalization in Massachusetts come from marijuana businesses, including one in Colorado looking to expand.

In Massachusetts, some of the groups that oppose Question 4 include:
· Massachusetts Hospital Association
· Massachusetts Medical Society
· Massachusetts Municipal Association                                                                               -Massachusetts School Nurses Association
· Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
· Associated Industries of Massachusetts
· Retailers Association of Massachusetts
· Association of School Superintendents
· Construction Industries of Massachusetts
· Action for Boston Community Development
· Association for Behavioral Healthcare
· National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) – Massachusetts
· Massachusetts Chiefs of Police
· Massachusetts Sheriffs Association
· all Massachusetts District Attorneys

The NAMI chapter in Maine will also be coming out against legalization in that state, a clear indication that marijuana is toxic for those diagnosed with mental illnesses.

Only in the instance of law enforcement have investigative journalists been correct in predicting opposition to legalization. Police unions oppose legalization, but The Nation article doesn’t probe the deeper reason for their opposition.

Looking for Evidence-Based Solutions

In explaining the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts,  President Jan Yost, Ed.D., said:  “The Foundation maintains that Massachusetts would be wise to wait for further evidence from research and other states’ experiences regarding the impact of the use of marijuana on health status, employee performance and public safety, before voting to allow recreational use. This position is consistent with the Foundation’s practice of advocating for public policy that is based on evidence.”

“In addition, the Foundation is concerned that sanctioning marijuana as a legal substance will likely normalize its use and create a commercial industry intent on spreading the use, like the tobacco industry.”   The Nation‘s 2014 article could have looked into why health organizations, hospitals, educators and doctors’ groups oppose marijuana legalization instead of promoting a preordained agenda set by financiers.

Health organizations have insights that a biased media does not have. Evidence-based solutions don’t support pot legalization.

Massachusetts is leading the country in wise drug polices. New England may be ahead of the rest of the country.  Vermont and Maine rejected legalization through their state legislators. These states realize that marijuana is not a solution to the opioid abuse that is rampant today.  Replacing one addiction with another addiction is a bad idea, and actually encourages multi-addiction, making recovery more difficult.   Please donate and vote against the addiction-for-profit industry in Massachusetts or in your state.

10 Reasons Not to Date a Stoner

Advice for Teens and College Students

It may seem like an old fashioned thought, but the one you date should be a suitable mate. Consider the type of person you want to marry before getting involved with a stoner. Doing this will save you from short term frustrations and long term unhappiness.

Ten Reasons NOT to Date a Stoner

 

1. Financially Unstable. The stoner lifestyle may not seem to interfere with your relationship until it begins to put a strain on your finances. When you are dating someone who begins to spend excessive time and money on marijuana, you may be left responsible for picking up the slack.

2.  Addiction Takes Priority. Despite the claims of many who say marijuana is not addictive, marijuana dependency exists. According to a study done by Samhsa.gov in 2012, over 1.5 million Americans under the age of 26 were found to be addicted to marijuana. There is no way of knowing whether your friend will become a full blown addict. But if it does become an addiction, it will dictate and often interfere with daily life due to the dependency.

3. Competing with a Drug. A relationship is more likely to collapse when an individual expresses a greater interest towards a substance than towards their partner. See one woman’s story: I Smoked Marijuana for Love

4. Guilt. You may experience feelings of decreased self-esteem and self-worth when you feel obligated to “accept” his or her addiction/lifestyle despite your own disapproval.

5. Fertility and Parenthood. Smoking marijuana has been linked with decreased sperm counts and chances for fertility, which could complicate a couple’s attempt to have a child. Furthermore, even if fertility is not compromised, do you really want to expose your children to a mind altering drug? See this fact sheet from Health Canada to learn about the many other risks involved with the use of marijuana, even for medical purposes.

6. Lack of energy. Relationships take work, and being friends with a stoner may not last when your partner’s motivation is decreased by his or her pot habit. Your boyfriend or girlfriend will make less effort and less desire to make you the priority.

7. Activists Like to Cause a Racket. If he or she is an activist… good luck. A majority of marijuana users are also “politically active and energized” according to Ed Gogek, and their “allegiance to the drug” consumes their social calendar and Facebook newsfeed. Even activists will admit to the excessive amount of time and energy they spend at social gatherings and meetings where they aspire to make noise and fight the battle for legalization.

8. Say Goodbye to the Simple Pleasures. If you are dating a frequent user it is likely that they will rarely be satisfied with the simple pleasures in life unless they are high. This may lead to a major disconnect between the two of you.

9. Fear of the Unknown. Perhaps the scariest part of dating a marijuana user is the fear of what may come next. Just because you begin dating someone who’s habit seems harmless, there is no way of knowing what it could evolve into, whether it be addiction, mental illness, depression, or in some cases the exploitation of other harmful drugs. Check out this story of a teen whose marijuana habit led him down a path towards heroin abuse.

10. Dealing with Mood Swings. There are highs and lows involved in any relationship, however it is important to realize that with a stoner, the literal highs will be high, but the lows may be extremely low. As with any other drug, there are withdrawal symptoms that accompany marijuana such as irritability, anger, aggression, and sometimes depressed mood.

No Easy Fix for Colorado Schools with Marijuana

August 23, 2016 — A letter from the Superintendent of Cherry Creek Schools, sent to families by email.  There’s no easy fix for the shortcomings in Colorado’s school financing system.

Since 2009, the state Legislature has taken liberties with the school funding formula mandated by the voter-approved Amendment 23, using the so-called “negative factor” to cut funding every year. The Legislature has relied on circuitous reasoning and intricate formulas to withhold crucial money from school districts across the state.

We’ve felt the impact of those cuts in the Cherry Creek School District. We’ve been underfunded by about $50 million annually. Since 2012, $380 million has been withheld from Cherry Creek. We’re facing a shortfall of more than $20 million for the 2017-2018 school year. These cuts have the potential to impact every facet of district operations, from recruiting new teachers to maintaining a reasonable class size.

It’s a crisis that’s tied to our fundamental priorities as Coloradans, one that won’t find an easy remedy from the state’s nascent marijuana industry. People keep asking me, ‘Where’s the pot money?’ The short answer is that the Cherry Creek School District hasn’t received any. The longer answer is about how the money actually is allocated.

The lead-up to the legalization of marijuana in 2012 brought plenty of rhetoric regarding the positive impact on public schools in Colorado. Voters were told that taxes on legal marijuana would prove to be a windfall for cash-strapped school districts; millions of dollars’ worth of education cuts from the state would be offset by new income from a new vice tax.

That’s not what happened. In the fiscal year 2014-15, for example, taxes from the sale of recreational marijuana in Colorado totaled $77.9 million, $66.1 million of which came from special sales and excise taxes.

For context, the state’s general fund is about $9.7 billion, and the total state budget is $26 billion. By state law, the first $40 million of the excise taxes from marijuana sales went toward capital improvements for poor and rural school districts, and the remainder went toward marijuana education, treatment and regulation and enforcement programs across the state.

The Cherry Creek School District saw none of that money, nor did most of the other large school districts in the Denver metro area.

Similarly, the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grants allotted for the 2016-17 year by the State Board of Education will have no impact on Cherry Creek Schools. Funding for projects in Aurora Public Schools, Adams 14 and Westminster all carry the contingent of matching funds from the school districts, and the vast majority of the 31 awarded grants will go to rural districts far outside of the metro area.

But to be eligible for the grants, those school districts must pass a local bond issue first, or already have matching capital funds available.

So far, the only thing that the legalization of marijuana has brought to our schools has been marijuana.

This isn’t a new story. Taxes on alcohol and tobacco haven’t fixed the state’s quandary when it comes to funding public education, nor have revenues from lotteries or casinos.

The reality is that any fix will have to come from a much more complex and overarching effort. To offer our students the resources they need to learn, we need a much more profound change at the state level, one that comes down to real and lasting change. It comes down to spelling out our collective priorities as Coloradans, to urging our elected representatives to do the hard work and make sure that students in Colorado receive the funding spelled out by a voter-approved constitutional amendment.

That effort is much more complex than any easy fixes offered by legal marijuana.   (Harry Bull, Ed.D. is Superintendent of Cherry Creek Schools) 

Adult Use of Marijuana Act is Wrong for California

Proposition 64 Allows Pot Edibles and Advertising

California’s Proposition 64 is called the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, or AUMA. Please tell your friends in California to vote NO ON 64 for good reasons.

1)It allows pot shops sell marijuana candy and soda, near where children live. According to the Latino Report the former mayor of Downey said, “These things look just like the candy that children love, and I’m not sure why the pot industry feels the need to market such kid-friendly stuff, unless it is taking a page from the tobacco industry’s handbook.”

Pot drinks showed up the backpacks of 5th graders at a Seattle school
Pot drinks showed up the backpacks of 5th graders at a Seattle school after legalization.

The marijuana lobbyists tell voters that “drug dealers don’t card but dispensaries do.”  That statement implies that children won’t take it from their parents, which is either very naive or deliberately deceptive. All evidence is contrary.

 

2) It fails to properly protect from stoned drivers: Proposition 64’s proponents refused to include a DUI standard for marijuana. This has become a real problem in states that have legalized pot like Washington, where the percentage of traffic deaths involving stoned drivers doubled in just one year post-legalization.

peyton.knowlton.gofundme
In Longmont, CO, a 20-year old driver under the influence of pot killed an 8-year-old girl riding her bike on May 20. She was coming back from school, accompanied by stepdad.

3) Stoned drivers and underage use packs a double whammy:  An under-aged marijuana user in Colorado recently killed an 8-year-old girl riding her bike.  In Washington, a 17-year-old driver killed three of his classmates while driving after he got stoned.  In the past four months, 17-year-old drivers killed bicyclists while driving stoned in three separate  fatal crashes.  Proposition 64 cannot make right the wrongs of marijuana legalization.

Marijuana Edibles available in Colorado often look like familiar candies.i
Marijuana Edibles  often look like familiar candies. Proposition 64 allows the industry to set safety standards and do the testing.

4) It puts the pot industry in charge of safety standards: Proposition 64  allows the pot lobby to set the  product safety and testing standard which  will be based on voluntary codes. That’s like putting Philip Morris in charge of tobacco regulation.

5) Increased homelessness/mental illness:  It will bring more people to the state for marijuana who may suffer from mental illness as a consequence of their drug use and end up homeless.*  California’s drug users already face the problem of homelessness.  At first glance, it seems that the West Coast has more homelessness because its warm weather attracts people. It may be that marijuana use —  most popular in the West — has caused the homelessness.

6) Proposition 64 doesn’t prohibit advertising.

7) It specifically allows convicted drug-dealing felons to get into the marijuana businesses.  (California’s current medical marijuana law does not allow these same felons to get into the business.)

The marijuana industry tells us that “Prohibition has failed.”  Legalization is a much bigger failure.  Let’s not be duped again.  Please donate to either No on 64,  to Citizens Against the Legalization of Marijuana (CALM).   If you want to help all states fight legalization, please support SAM Action, and its educational wing, Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

DrugPreventionEducation
We have failed miserably at educating why not to use drugs. It’s time for a big change in strategies, back to education in the schools.

In California, anyone who is 18 can get a medical marijuana card for the most dubious of reasons.  Some may argue that the by legalizing marijuana for adults only, the state will control its out-of-control drug dealing in the form medical pot dispensaries.  A state as big and diverse as California failed miserably with medical marijuana. What makes you think they can do any better.  Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom says  California doesn’t want to make the same mistakes as Colorado, Oregon and Washington.  Then don’t legalize pot at all.

Has the “Medical” in Marijuana Qualified Pot for Rescheduling?

Marijuana Lobby Depends on Selling a Lie to Pull off a Scam

If you tell a lie long enough, people start believing it’s the truth.   We found a  “medical” marijuana box  in the middle of the soaps and toiletries of a gift shop in a state where lobbyists have been trying to commercialize “medical” marijuana through the state legislature.   Marked “For Daily Use Only,” it gives the appearance of necessity, much like a pill box.  The marijuana industry is finding good ways to trick the public into believing marijuana is “medicinal,” just as the tobacco industry claimed cigarettes were healthy.  However, there are 450,000 marijuana-related hospitalizations in the US each year.*

This summer the head of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) said he would be making a decision about rescheduling marijuana which would mean a change from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2.   However, this past week a federal magistrate judge in New York rebuffed a challenge to federal laws which place marijuana among the most dangerous drugs.

inside lid
Under the lid of the “medical” marijuana box in a Shenandoah Valley, VA gift shop. Virginia has a limited medical marijuana program and doesn’t allow joints to be smoked as “medicine.”  There was a petition to fire the DEA Administrator for calling “medical” marijuana a joke, but who can claim this box is anything other than a joke?

It should be no surprise, as Judge Kimberly Mueller made a similar ruling against rescheduling in April, 2015. Her decision followed a Court ruling of January 2013, which followed many years of studying the issue, by the DEA, with input from the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Ruling of July 12 in New York

In his ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman said, “There can be no dispute that public opinion on whether marijuana has legitimate medical uses is changing in this country.”  But Feldman ruled that Charles and Alexander Green, two brothers accused of marijuana trafficking, had a to prove that current federal laws are “so arbitrary and irrational as to be unconstitutional.”

The Greens, who are from California, are accused of major roles in a marijuana trafficking operation that brought the drug into western New York. They have challenged how federal law classifies marijuana, in the same category as heroin. The category known as “Schedule 1” drugs suggests Congress and federal authorities consider it among the nation’s most dangerous illicit substances.

Marijuana, as a plant or a weed, is not medicinal.  Derivatives may have medical application, but those are derivatives of the plant not marijuana.   National Families in Action put a good explanation of the difference between marijuana and marijuana-based medicines.

Scam2
NORML always planned to use the medical idea as a scam to advance the cause of legalization.

It is possible that the DEA may reschedule cannabidiol, one of the cannabinoids in marijuana, which gives relief to some children with seizures.  Today’s high-THC marijuana has lower proportions of CBD than the marijuana of the 60s, 70s and 80s, which makes marijuana far more dangerous, on par with heroin.  (Any medicine derived from a plant does not go by the plant name, but the marijuana lobby tries to mislead the public into confusing the extract from the plant.)

Quotes by leaders of NORML reveal that medical marijuana was planned as a scam from the start.  On February 6, 1979, at Emory University, Keith Stroup said:  “We are trying to get marijuana reclassified medically.  If we do that, we’ll be using the issue as a red herring to give marijuana a good name.”  Richard Cowan and Ed Rosenthal followed up with statements saying that getting people to buy into the idea of medical marijuana and getting hundreds of thousands to do it will be the key to getting full legalization.

Watch the video.

*Information comes from checking the long DEA report that was available online until recently showed a growing number of hospital treatments for marijuana up until 2010. Obviously, it is more now.  Here is the summary available online.

Marijuana Lobby Plays Retribution and Slander to the Max

The Power and Deception of the Marijuana Lobby

Since the marijuana industry bought off ALL of the companies authorized to collect petition signatures in Colorado, it’s not surprising how deep corruption runs through that industry.   Some dirty  tactics have been going on for years.   (Please read Part 1 and Part 2 of exposing the deceptive tactics of the marijuana industry.)

In 2012, Oregon Attorney General candidate Dwight Holton was defeated in the Democratic primary, because he had inspired the wrath of the marijuana industry.   Only 25% of Oregon’s Democrats voted, but that success gave marijuana lobby the boost it needed to threaten anyone who would dare go against them.

Pro-pot groups also claimed that they defeated California Attorney General candidate Steve Cooley in 2010.  Cooley was no friend to medical marijuana violators in southern California.  He lost in a very close race that took weeks to count.

2012: “The Wrath of the Weed Vote”

The Oregon Attorney General’s race shows how vindictive the marijuana lobbyists really are.  Dwight Holton, former acting US Attorney for Oregon, was highly regarded as a prosecutor (pictured below). But he also prosecuted marijuana violations, while opponent Ellen Rosenblum promised to go lightly on “medical” marijuana, and even courted the marijuana businesses.  She won.  The biggest contributors to her campaign were Drug Policy Action and John Sperling, founder of University of Phoenix and a billionaire marijuana contributor.  Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement, a marijuana legalization group, spent more $53,000 in radio ads against Holton.  The political reason to oppose Holton was that he was a relative newcomer to the state of Oregon, but the true reason he lost was that the marijuana  forces came out to defeat him.

DwightHolton
Dwight Holton ran for Attorney General in Oregon, but lost because he faced “the wrath of the weed vote.:”  He is now CEO of Lines of Life, a non-profit committed to the prevention of suicide.

In fact, a headline earlier this year reminded politicians of Dwight Holton’s fate and warned that lists will be kept of those who support local marijuana bans in Oregon.  There’s much written about the corruption in the state’s marijuana businesses, both in the past and in the present.

Carmen Trutanich also “was one of a number of politicians to suffer the wrath of the weed vote” in the California primary on June 5, 2012.  In California, Los Angeles City Attorney Trutanich lost his bid for District Attorney because of his stance towards marijuana businesses, according to one of the marijuana blogs.

Since 2012, the marijuana lobby has promised backlash against politicians who aren’t with them.  By 2012, financiers such as Peter Lewis and George Soros were giving big donations to the legalization campaigns in Colorado and Washington.   This year Sean Parker has already given more than $2 million to the legalization effort in California.

Politicians who don’t support the marijuana industry’s agenda — using “medical” marijuana as a backdoor to full legalization — are accused of wanting people to die or wanting to send innocent people to jail. Those who are skeptical of the efficacy of “medical” marijuana are painted as individuals lacking compassion in well- orchestrated smear campaigns. In 2014, some politicians felt the backlash through dishonest television ads.  Using the word “compassion” helps initiatives pass, although in reality it’s about corruption and full of entirely different motives.

Bite
Will politicians stop calling out graft and corruption in the marijuana industry because they face slander and revenge from the pot lobby?

The Television Ads

In 2014, Americans for Safe Access, a “medical” marijuana lobbying group (funded by Soros?), ran television advertisements on  MSNBC in Maryland and South Florida.  They targeted two members of Congress who voted “no” to the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment in their districts, Republican Andy Harris of MD and Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz of FL. The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment was the first major victory for the heavily-funded marijuana lobby.*

The ad that ran against Rep. Wasserman Schultz alleged that the Congresswomen thinks it’s ok for medical marijuana users to go to federal prison. It flashed an image across the screen of an elderly man and his wife, who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a fatal neurological disease.  It is well understood in legal circles that “patients” who use  “medical” marijuana for their own illnesses have never gone to jail.

Has anyone ever investigated how much the marijuana lobby pays “patients” to advertise and go on TV on behalf of medical marijuana?

The ad in Maryland claimed that Rep. Harris’ vote would result in sending Maryland’s patients to prison.  A voice said: “Congressman Andy Harris thinks it’s OK for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison.” The ad was juxtaposed with the image of a 4-year-old boy who suffers from epilepsy and his mother.

Since that time, both Harris and Wasserman Schultz have made made some concessions in how they vote for medical marijuana.  The industry must be congratulating itself.  

We need more politicians who are brave and who stand up to this political corruption to protect the children.  The bravery of Steve Cooley, Dwight Holton, Carmen Trutanich, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Andy Harris, and Linda Newell in Colorado, is much appreciated.

*The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment prohibits funds to the Drug Enforcement Agency (FDA) to be used for “medical” marijuana in states that have authorized state “medical” marijuana programs.

Marijuana Moguls Succeed in Buying Off Colorado Ballot

Big Marijuana, Big Victory……..Temporarily

It’s Democracy at it’s worst when Big Marijuana buys off the process for gathering signatures in Colorado. Today, supporters of proposed initiative 139, a measure aimed to place reasonable controls on the sale of recreational marijuana in Colorado, announced that they will withdraw their initiative from potential consideration on the November 2016 general election ballot.

“I witnessed the buy off of the voting process this week, ” explained Jo McGuire, Five Minutes of Courage, Colorado Springs.

The marijuana industry has made it too expensive to move forward.  The Cannabist reported that marijuana businesses raised more than $300,000 within a few days.  The initiative would have capped the level of THC in marijuana at 16%.   Since marijuana was much weaker in the 1970s, 2-4% THC,  it’s hard to understand why 16% limit would anger the industry.   Amendment 139 was a health and safety plan to bring the number of emergency room hospitalizations down and possibly avoid at least some of the deaths caused by psychotic shooting sprees and other reactions to marijuana.   There is no money to be made in harm reduction, so supporters were not trying to make a profit.

“The Marijuana Moguls put a pile of campaign cash on the table and won. Our kids, and our communities are in crisis, for now,”  lamented Ron Castagno, a former Jefferson County high school principal one of the initiative’s designated representatives.

The move comes on the heels of a successful effort by the marijuana industry to stall the process and buy off signature gatherers to keep the initiative from moving forward.  After a two month delay, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously rejected the claims concocted by the marijuana industry.

In addition to Castagno, the other mover behind the ballot was Denver mother Ali Pruitt.   She said: “As disappointed as I am to shelve these critical public safety reforms for now, we simply couldn’t go toe-to-toe with the Marijuana Moguls who committed tens of millions to defeat our common-sense controls on the sale of recreational marijuana.”

Supporters who developed Amendment 139 are also announcing that a new coalition is forming to hold Big Marijuana accountable. “We are not done,” emphasized Sue Anderson of the Healthy Colorado Coalition.

“With the initiative option off the table for 2016, it’s time for our elected leaders to stand with men like Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and recognize the harm that legalized pot has had on our state, and more importantly, to end their excuses and rein in an out-of-control marijuana industry.”    Denver has been forced to pay a security firm $650,000 in addition to its police force to keep it’s streets and malls safe.

“The commercialized marijuana industry once again showed that they are willing to put their profits ahead of the safety of our children and our communities,”  Castagna concluded.

For more information, contact: [email protected] 720-931-3700

Coalition of Health Organizations Urges DNC to Reject Marijuana

Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a broad coalition of organizations working to prevent and treat substance abuse sent a letter today to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ahead of their decision on their party platform, including marijuana policy.  Former Representative Patrick Kennedy , Honorary Chair of SAM, who once chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, signed the letter.

Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR), the National Alliance of Alcohol and Drug Counselors (NAADAC), Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC), Phoenix House, CeDAR and The Hills Treatment Center represented the recovery community in urging politicians not to legalize drugs.

“The DNC should resist any calls to legalize drugs,” said Kevin Sabet, a former advisor to the Obama Administration and current President of SAM, a bipartisan organization dedicated to implementing science-based marijuana-policies. “The legalization of marijuana is about one thing: the creation of the next Big Tobacco.

The letter details how legalization has resulted in huge spikes in arrests of Colorado youth from communities of color-up 29 percent among Hispanics from 2012 (pre-legalization) to 2014 (post-legalization), and up 58 percent among Black youth in the same timeframe-while arrests of White children fell.  Additionally, there has been a doubling of the percentage of marijuana-related traffic fatalities in Washington in just one year after legalization (2013 to 2014). Emergency poison control calls related to marijuana from 2013 to 2014 in both Colorado and Washington rose, by 72 percent and 56 percent, respectively, and there has been a 15 percent average annual increase in drug and narcotics crime in Denver since 2014.

Worst5
Kevin Sabet was interviewed by Arizona radio host Seth Leibsohn on June 21, when he compared the health effects of marijuana to the worst of alcohol and tobacco combined. Arizona is another state targeted for legalization by the marijuana industry in 2016.

 

“The pot lobby has successfully fought off Colorado’s attempts to regulate advertising targeting children, rules restricting the use of pesticides, and rules to limit marijuana potency. This same lobby is now exporting these tactics to other states in November,” said Jeffrey Zinsmeister, Executive Vice President of SAM. “This assault on health and safety regulations is no less than a repeat of Big Tobacco’s tactics from t he 1960s and 1970s.  Parents Opposed to Pot is concerned that the Democratic Party’s platform (as worded) will protect marijuana businesses and their profits at the expense of children and teens.  Legalization policies in Colorado and Washington reveal that businesses can be quite unscrupulous in the way they advertise and locate.  For example, a medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado is currently operating next door to an “alternative” high school for students with special needs.

 

A draft of the platform could be interpreted by some as an endorsement of marijuana legalization and/or expansion.  The specific wording, as shown in the letter to the DNC Chair and platform committee, is vague.  (Although decriminalization and legalization are not the same thing, many people use these terms interchangeably.)

Parents Opposed to Pot wonders why marijuana, a major drug of abuse, would be promoted during the time of a drug epidemic.  Another section of the platform addressed the opioid drug abuse, but refused to deal with the gateway effects of marijuana and alcohol and to educate accordingly. US government statistics show that at least 66% who overdose began their illicit drug use with marijuana.

Kevin Sabet explains the marijuana industry, “Marketers cleverly package pot candies to make them attractive to kids, and pot shops do nothing to improve neighborhoods and communities. Moreover, there are other, more effective ways to address questions of racial justice and incarceration. So does the DNC want to be known for fostering the next tobacco industry, or will it stand with the scientific community, parents, and public health?”

 

Major anti-drug organizations stand in unity with SAM and against all drug abuse and addiction. Executive officers of the Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF), National Families in Action (NFIA), Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA, Community Alliances for Drug-Free Youth (CADFY), the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), National Association of Addiction Professionals co-signed the letter, as did Dr. Robert DuPont, Founding Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and President of the Institute of Behavior and Health

Dr. McKeganey Warned of the Marijuana – Mental Illness Link

PSA Warning Issued in 2005 was Ignored

Eleven years ago the ONDCP and SAMHSA held a press conference to inform of research that confirms what many families already knew–that marijuana use was a trigger for psychosis and mental illness.

The ONDCP is the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; SAMHSA is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Each agency has a crucial role in trying to ascertain usage and reduce demand for drugs.

Specifically, Dr. Neil McKehaney from the University of Glasgow came to the US and spoke at the national Press Club on May 5, 2005. The agencies went to great effort to share important information.  A video was recently found online.

Coverup of the Marijuana – Mental Illness  Risk

At this same Press Conference, a couple who had lost their 15-year-old son to suicide due to the mental health problems arising from marijuana use, spoke.  The Press covered the story, but did not use their considerable investigative skills to probe into what those parents and Dr. McKenagey were describing.  It is true that about one quarter of American high school students are depressed, which points to multiple problems of American culture, not just drugs. However, knowing how vulnerable teens are, and then not exposing the factors that could make their outcomes worse, is lamentable.

In addition to depression, anxiety and suicide, there are the risks of psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that arise from marijuana use.  Pot proponents love to state that anyone who has a psychotic reaction to pot already had the problem before they used it.  They tend to blame family members for not  wanting to admit  mental health problems, and argue that pot is used as a scapegoat.

Several studies have shown a link between marijuana and schizophrenia.  Explains pharmacologist Christine Miller, Ph.D:  “No one is destined to develop schizophrenia. With identical twins, one can develop the disease and the other one will do so only 50% of the time, illustrating the importance of environmental factors in the expression of the disease.  Marijuana is one of those environmental factors and it is one we can do something about.”

A Missed Opportunity

One person who worked in the office of ONDCP Director John Walters told Parents Opposed to Pot, “They accused us of being pot-crazy during a time when there was a methamphetamine crisis going on.  Marijuana is almost always the first drug introduced to young people and the evidence for the mental health risks were very strong by 2005.  Although pot was getting stronger as it is today, the warning was falling on deaf ears.  Members of Congress wanted us to focus on the meth crisis, but marijuana was a growing issue and we had a myriad of issues.”

This Public Service Announcement reached audiences in the Press, and some newspapers and magazines reported about it.  Since the Internet and search engines were not as they are  today,  few parents, children,  schools and mental health professionals took notice.   (Did the marijuana lobbying groups bully and try squelch the information?)

Lori Robinson, whose son suffered the mental health consequences of marijuana said:  “I will always deeply regret Shane not hearing this PSA .  Shane was a smart, gregarious and fun-loving young man who naively began using pot never knowing he was playing Russian roulette with his brain in ’05-’06 at the age of 19.   Dr McKeganey so clearly stated that the public views marijuana as harmless, not realizing the potency of THC was rising while the “antipsychotic” property of CBD was being bred out.  Sadly, despite both parents never used an illegal drug in our lives, our son assumed that since a few of his friend had smoked in high school, it was just a “harmless herb.”   Shane’s story is on the Moms Strong website.

Robinson added, “This video is absolutely current TODAY.  Let’s keep this video circulating & it WILL save young brains & families the destruction that lies ahead when marijuana hijacks your kid’s brain.

The research has expanded since that time and scientific evidence on each of the following outcomes from marijuana use is voluminous: marijuana & psychosis, marijuana & violence and marijuana & psychiatric disorders.

Lessons to be Learned

Lives could have been saved, and so many cases of depression, psychotic breakdowns and crimes could have been prevented – if the public had become more aware back in 2005.   Congress, the Press and most of all, the American psychiatric community was wrong to ignore the warnings that were issued with this PSA.

Let’s not continue to ignore  the evidence. Today in the US, mental health is worse than it’s ever been, and the promotion of drug usage may be a huge factor in this problem.  Harm reduction in preference to primary prevention strategies is practiced in many jurisdictions.  Drug overdose deaths have overtaken gun violence deaths and traffic fatalities in the USA — by far — under this strategy.

Today Dr. McKeganey is the Director of the Center for Substance Use Research in Glasgow.

Rep. Murphy’s Bill Shouldn’t Pass Without HIPAA Change

Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds became an early supporter of Rep. Tim Murphy’s Help Families in Mental Health Crisis Act precisely because it promised to give families access to important medical information.   Deeds had been unable to find a hospital bed for his son and to access his mental health records before the 24-year-old attacked him with a knife in 2013–and later killed himself.

The situation is all too frequent that families of adult children with mental health issues cannot help their children and are shut out of treatment programs. Privacy law leaves loved ones on the sidelines — with tragic results.  The HIPAA Privacy Rule, passed in 1996 to keep health care information private, has repeatedly been an obstacle to Mental Health Care and Substance Use Disorder Treatment.  We recommend that Congress not pass H.R.2646 because the Act doesn’t loosen the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules to provide for better family access to medical records.

The elephant in the room is that most Americans still don’t know what people throughout the world recognize —that marijuana use may be a trigger for their family member’s bipolar or schizophrenia diagnosis.

The version of the bill that goes before House vote this week authorizes for more study on how to give limited information to family without consent when a loved one is incapacitated.   In other words, it’s a bill that leaves out the most important part of the bill to many of its original supporters!

Rep Murphy
Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania is a psychologist

If your child is age 14 + and has a substance use issue or a psychiatric issue, parents may be prevented from knowing if there is any substance use or abuse.    How many parents / families would really use this information against their child?   Families are better equipped to be the judges of care than the government, or some impersonal hospital treatment center.

Since it’s likely that Congress will pass the CARA Act to prevent addiction overdose deaths, it’s time think holistically.  Could a reason there are more than 47,000 substance abuse deaths per year be that parents often don’t know when their children are using drugs, or that they have no idea when drug use begins?

HIPAA Privacy Law and Substance Abuse

Eddie Bernice Johnson
Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas

We laud Rep. Murphy, a psychologist in Congress, for taking action to improve mental health delivery  Having a practicing psychologist in Congress adds a knowledgeable human dimension to the problem.  The key co-sponsor of the bill is Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, a psychiatric nurse.   Both Representatives Murphy and Johnson repeatedly attempted to educate Congress and bring numerous families forward who were hampered by HIPAA Privacy Rule.

A whole new bill to reform the HIPAA Privacy Rule with regards to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder is called for at this time.

Aren’t parents who are trying to get children off drugs or into treatment trying to save their lives?  If a child or teen signs for parents or guardians to have this information, they can learn about substance use or diagnosis.   However, a child may refuse and hospitals/doctors are bound by HIPAA law not to tell.  Substance users often don’t see that they have a problem and don’t want to give up their use of drugs.   Denial is a part of addiction.

Practicing medicine is more art than science. Psychiatric treatment in the United States is imprecise, hit or miss and often determined by insurance companies.   The DSM Manual for Psychiatry is frequently revised.  Sometimes when a first episode of psychosis is triggered by marijuana, psychiatrists are quick to jump the gun and prescribe heavy anti-psychotics instead of getting the user off of marijuana.

Patients can refuse to take medications and they have the freedom to do that.   Anthony Hernandez supported Murphy’s bill because  his son Aaron killed the family dog and stabbed his mother at age 19.  Stronger mental health care laws forcing treatment would have protected the family.   It had been impossible for the Los Angeles family to force their son Aaron — who had begun using marijuana in middle school – into treatment.  As there were other family members with mental illness, no one knows for sure if Aaron could have avoided his condition (paranoid schizophrenia) by never touching marijuana and hallucinogens.  Certainly schizophrenia comes at a younger age to those who use marijuana and it makes the condition much more severe.

Decrease Substance Abuse to Decrease Mental Illness

The best way we can decrease mental health problems in this country is by decreasing substance abuse.  Again and again studies note that violence is associated with substance abuse more than psychiatric disability.  People who abuse substances are more likely to be violent, with or without a diagnosed mental disorder.

Parents Opposed to Pot believes that educating children in early elementary school about the organic brain changes that come with substance use and abuse will cut down violence and mental illness in the United States by 25-40%.   The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, almost 60% of the world’s drug users and nearly 25% of those incarcerated.  Yet people deny that our nation’s rate of incarceration reflects the fact that so many people commit crimes when they use drugs.

Psychiatric Illness Without Drug Abuse

As for patients with mental illnesses who do not abuse substances, passing HR 2646 without changing HIPAA would give unprecedented power to the psychiatric profession.  Congress should not allow it.  The USA Today article explaining the problem, suggests that the ACLU and NAACP, two organizations which are sympathetic to drug legalization, stand in opposition to changing HIPAA Rule.   If domestic violence groups also don’t allow openness about medical history, they also may be standing in the way of compassion offered by family members who would naturally care more about the patient than a psychiatric hospital.

Rep. Murphy said that under HIPAA, families are often treated “like the enemy,”  His original plan was to allow health providers to disclose a patient’s diagnosis, treatment plan, appointment schedule and medications to a “responsible caregiver,” if the patient has a serious mental illness, and if the information is needed to “protect the health, safety or welfare of the individual or general public.”  The bill did not allow providers to share psychotherapy notes.  It was meant to safeguard continuity of treatment, especially for those who would be gravely disabled in the absence of treatment.

H.R.2426 mandates a presidential appointee who is an assistant secretary for mental health and substance use disorders, a senior leadership position in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).   The current agency Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is an important agency which does a very important job.

On Marijuana Oils and Misleading Promises

Is the Marijuana Lobby Trying to Buy Your Legislature and Your Votes?

If marijuana has a medical application that can be proven, Merck and Pfizer will probably see the benefit of getting into the 4.2 billion dollar business.   Marijuana companies, like pharmaceutical companies,  contribute heavily to politicians and lobbying efforts.  Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, they don’t go through a rigorous testing and approval process.  The marijuana industry uses pesticides, even banned pesticides, but it promotes itself as organic and natural.

Medical marijuana “caregivers” have no accountability and liability, and their lobbyists know it.  We think it is wrong when the marijuana industry lobbyists give parents with very sick children false hope.

Marijuana lobbyists should not be seen as having pure and “compassionate” motives, as they pretend.*   The public has a right to know that CBD for epilepsy does not always work.

The Press should investigate how much the marijuana lobby spends to advertise and go on TV on behalf of passing “medical” marijuana laws.

Treating Cancer with Marijuana Oils?

A few of the children treated with an artisanal CBD (cannabidiol, the derivative of marijuana used for epilepsy) have died,  and some of the children treated with cannabis oil for cancer also died.

In Montana a few years ago, Cashy Hyde’s father was featured on TV, saying his son had been cured of cancer using cannabis oil.  Sadly,  the boy eventually died, sometime after the startling announcement that he had been cured.  The constant nurture and love from his parents probably helped to extend his life.

A man in Iowa who advocated for marijuana also died of cancer.   In Australia, a little girl whose father had been treating her neuroblastoma with cannabis oil died in May.   Receiving constant love, attention and kind wishes from others sent good vibes into the world, but no medical professional thought it had an effect on the cancer.

It is understandable why some parents with little hope for their child would prefer such oils over harsh chemotherapy.

We do not criticize the parents for trying alternative treatments. However, advocacy for these parents should not be used to further the agenda of legalization.

When reading about the remarkable claims advocates of medical marijuana propose, please remember the placebo effect.  We don’t know why placebos cure some people and not others.   It could be the power of belief, or the result of a person’s own immune system having the ability to fight the disease.

Parents Opposed to Pot objects to the tactics of marijuana lobbyists because:

  • They give partial truths, attempt to sway public opinion while hiding essential facts.
  • They engage in unfair defamation of character and advertising. Two years ago Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Andy Harris were targeted with cruel and slanderous attacks because of their votes regarding medical marijuana.  Rep. Wasserman Schultz recently voted to allow veterans to be allowed marijuana — although it makes PTSD worse.
  • They outpsend the opposition to marijuana legalization and target youth with their advocacy, while pretending to be grass roots.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana was founded after the vote to legalize in Washington and Colorado.
  • They intentionally use the term “medical marijuana” when they mean cannabidiol (CBD), which lacks the psychoactive qualities of regular marijuana.  The confusion justifies teens who “dab” with highly potent Butane Hash Oil BHO) because they believe it’s harmless and even medicinal.

(Read Part 1)

*The 1996 ballot in legalizing marijuana in California was called the Compassionate Use Act and people were led to believe it was only for terminally ill people with cancer and AIDS.   In reality, only 3-5% of the marijuana has been used for these conditions.

Right to Know if CBD for Epilepsy Doesn’t Always Work

Don’t  Mislead About CBD for Epilepsy

(First of 2 articles on deceptive practices of the marijuana lobby/industry) Doesn’t the public have a right to know that children a so called”life-saving” product doesn’t always work.?

CBD, a cannabinoid used for seizures that is derived from marijuana, doesn’t always save children’s lives.   The TRUTH is that help from CBD oils is sometimes temporary.   There’s definitely a “dark side” to this “miracle” cure.

Informing parents that children can die after using the non-pharmaceutical CBD is not suggesting that the CBD kills; it is merely suggesting that to call it “life-saving” is misleading.  Parents who have watched their children suffer much and are desperate for a cure should not be promised more than can be given.  What sounds too good to be true can be too good to be true.

A family in Arizona who was part of a lawsuit to get the extracts for their son saw a dramatic difference in the boy, an improvement in all levels of functioning.  Nonetheless, the poor boy died. The family still advocates for marijuana extracts.  They saw their son have a better life for a period of time before his death.

A girl who had been the poster child for medical marijuana recently died.  She no longer needed a wheelchair after moving from Connecticut to Maine for CBD.  (GW Pharmaceuticals Epidiolex is for Dravet Syndrome, which Cyndimae had, and for Lennox-Gestaut Syndrome).  It is estimated that 85% of patients with Dravet Syndrome survive to adulthood, although life expectancy is not well understood.

One child who moved to Colorado for the CBD medication got help, but still died.  The mother returned home alone.   The medical marijuana industry doesn’t tell you that sometimes these “miracle cures” don’t work.

Why are People, Legislators Shielded from the Whole Truth?

In March, 2016,  GW Pharmaceuticals announced results from the third phase of its trials of Epidiolex, a pharmacy grade cannabidiol derived from marijuana.   If approved by the FDA, it will be the first marijuana-derived medicine for seizures to get approval.  Trials are being conducted by the Epilepsy Center of New York University.

Recently parents came out in droves to lobby for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, spending the night at the state legislature.  Had these parents been told that children with seizures could have participated in the trials conducted at New York University?  At the time, GW was looking to recruit 150 more patients for the second part of the third phase of trials on Dravet Syndrome.

Medical marijuana campaigns don’t always supply the whole truth, especially when there’s much drama surrounding the presentation.  When Dr. Sanjay Gupta went on television with his special segments about marijuana, he publicly advocated for “medical” marijuana using the example of Charlotte’s Web, an artisanal CBD product from Colorado.  The televised documentaries were called Weed 1, Weed 2 and Weed 3.

At the end of Weed 3, it was mentioned that Vivian, the little girl whose family moved to Colorado for an extract of marijuana not available in New Jersey, was no longer being longer being helped as much as she had been previously.   Were people listening?

Why Support Artisanal CBD?

National Families in Action (NFIA) published the American Epilepsy Society’s statements against artisanal CBD.   NFIA has written about the advantages of having pharmacy-grade, FDA-approved medicine over artisanal products, which haven’t been tested for mold or pesticides and may not have the same exactitude in dosage.

Like the “Right to Know” campaign on GMOs, shouldn’t there be a Right to Know about CBD oil advocacy, or a “Right to Know about “medical” marijuana?

Parents  who are considering alternative treatments for devastating diseases or conditions have a right to know that some of the  experimental medicines that are aggressively promoted do not always save a child’s life.  These preparations should never be called “life-saving,” because no one can prove that phrase to be true.

“Medical” marijuana has succeeded in shielding itself from lawsuits in ways that pharmaceutical companies would never be able to do.

We will continue with articles on how the medical marijuana lobbyists mislead people and manipulate legislators.

Podcast: The Eddie Martinez Story

eddie-martinez
A Young Eddie Martinez.

Eddie-Martinez
Eddie Today.

 

One of Parents Opposed to Pot’s biggest fans in Facebook is an ex-convict who now shares his story. Eddie Martinez was a marijuana smoker at a very young age, which led to his joining a gang, dealing drugs and being in and out of prison for many years.

marijuana-testimony
Use of marijuana opens you up to taking just about any drug, in Eddie’s experience. “It all started with the pot,” he said.

Eddie tells his story today, in hopes of changing the minds of young people who think marijuana is cool. He also wants to encourage parents as they work to set a good example and teach their children the pitfalls of getting swept up in today’s pro-drug culture. His marijuana testimony is powerful and persuasive against going down the drug road.  Fortunately, he turned his life around.

For those who are casting a vote this year on the marijuana issue, we urge you to consider the impact on the poor, and communities of color. This immigrant’s story is an example of how drugs derail the American dream, leading to unthinkable outcomes after the drugs are introduced into his life.

This YouTube video podcast contains a slide show of Eddie’s personal photos.

If you have a testimony to share about how drugs have hurt you or your child, we encourage you to contact [email protected]. We are happy to  publish your story anonymously. In this case, Eddie was willing to use his full name.

Eddie-Martinez-Ex-Con
This is a meme Eddie helped us make when we first started PopPot.

Drugged and Stoned is a Deadly Combination

Marijuana Industry Taking Advantage of Opiate Problem to Entrap More People

Medical marijuana proponents have a nationwide effort to add opiate addiction to the list of conditions for medical marijuana.  They aren’t just saying medical marijuana is a replacement for opiates; they are now pitching it as a medical treatment for opiate addiction.  The marijuana industry’s savvy marketing campaign is bigger, trickier and even more devious than Big Tobacco and Big Pharma ever dreamed.   Yet many people who get addicted to opiates were already addicted to drugs via marijuana.

Mixing marijuana with other drugs is becoming so routine that “drugged and stoned” is a new normal.   Just because another person didn’t die  from doing  “dabs” and mixing it with Xanax doesn’t mean we shouldn’t warn our children of this dangerous practice.

The addiction-for-profit industry, i.e., the marijuana industry, is trying every tactic imaginable to promote drug usage.  The current propaganda that pretends marijuana is treatment to opiate abuse is EVIL.  We condemn those shameless promoters who encourage people to use marijuana based on the theory that it doesn’t cause toxic overdose deaths.   Recent deaths have put a dent into that theory, however.   In Seattle, Hamza Warsame jumped six stories to his death, after he the first time he tried marijuana in December, 2015.

Drugged and Stoned

Many marijuana driving fatalities are caused by drivers on a cocktail of drugs in addition to pot.  The driver that killed two and injured several others in Santa Cruz had marijuana and an unnamed prescription drug.  The driver responsible for a 3-car crash in Indiana had marijuana, Xanax and drug paraphernalia on him.

Demolished building in Philadelphia, July, 2013. Six died and 13 were injured in the accident. Photo: AP
Demolished building in Philadelphia, July, 2013. A crane operator was impaired from mixing marijuana with codeine. Six died and 13 were injured in the accident. Photo: AP

A crane operator in Philadelphia killed 6 people while high on marijuana and a codeine painkiller pill, in July 2013.  This accident highlights the inability to see accurate perception of depth when stoned.  The crane operator hit the wall of the Salvation Army thrift store next to the  building he was demolishing. He had no intention to harm people.  Operating any type of heavy machinery under the influence of drugs puts all of us in danger.

DianeSchuler
Diane Schuler

The worst car accident by a driver in recent memory was caused by a driver who used both marijuana and alcohol.  Driver Diane Schuler killed 8, including 5 children, in the Taconic State Parkway crash in New York on July 26, 2009.   It appears  that the driver was in pain.  Schuler, three of her nieces, her 2-year old daughter and three men in the oncoming minivan died.   Schuler used marijuana regularly to deal with insomnia.  (Insomnia is a condition promoted by medi-pot advocates.)

Marijuana lobbyists try to portray marijuana customers as single drug users.  Multi-substance addiction is the norm today.

Yes, Marijuana Kills and This Time it was a 16-Year-Old

There are echoes of Levy Thamba’s death in the story of a 16-year-old student in Seattle who jumped to his death after trying marijuana for the first time.  The Seattle Police Department ruled that the death of Hamza Warsame was an accident.   He had gone to the 6th floor apartment of an older classmate to work on a project.  After having marijuana, he became “frantic,” went out on the balcony and fell off the building.

Hamza Warsame’s death follows that of Levy Thamba (photo above), Luke Goodman and Justin Bondi, youths whose tragic deaths have been linked to marijuana.

Each of these deaths occurred after marijuana was legalized with commercial marijuana sales in Washington or Colorado.   Warsame was not old enough to legally purchase marijuana, but his classmate was 21 and had purchased it legally.   Last year CBS News Denver did a report on marijuana intoxication deaths which occurred before marijuana became legal in Colorado.

THC, not Anti-Islamic Hate Crime

The Seattle Police Department  announced on May 10 that the death of Warsame was the result of a fall that followed his first use of marijuana.   His death on Dec. 5 drew national attention and sparked speculation that he might have been the victim of an anti-Muslim hate crime.

HamzaWarsame
Hamza Warsame (Seattle Times- Warsame family)

The Seattle Police Department report has details of their  investigation, which came to the same conclusion as the King County Medical Examiner’s Office did in January.   The toxicology screen found “relatively high levels” of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the  psychoactive element of marijuana, in Warsame’s system.  In Washington, smoked forms of marijuana average more than 20% THC.

A native of Somalia, Warsame was an advanced high school student who was taking a college class at Seattle Central College.  Levy Thamba was an exchange student from  the Republic of Congo going to college in Wyoming.  In 2014, he jumped four stories after eating a marijuana cookie for the first time.  He was only 19, under the legal age for purchasing marijuana.

In the case of Warsame and Thamba, the reactions to marijuana were quick.   Bondi fell 150 feet to his death last year, and had used other drugs in addition to marijuana.  Goodman committed suicide a few days after ingesting marijuana edibles.

Wrongful Death Suit Against Marijuana Businesses

The parents and sister of Kristine Kirk (above photo, right) — whose husband shot her after eating marijuana candy — recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the the Kirk’s three children.    Kirk’s husband, Richard Kirk, killed his wife on April 14, 2014,  after becoming psychotic from marijuana candy.

The lawsuit claims that the company that made the marijuana edible and the store that sold the candy to Richard Kirk recklessly and purposefully failed to warn him about the bite-sized candy’s potency and side effects — including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors.   Kristine Kirk had called 911 for help, but it was too late.

(The pictures of Levy Thamba and Kristine Kirk are from CBS News.)

Legalizing Marijuana: a Real World Perspective

NOTHING good comes from legalizing marijuana

Legalizing marijuana is the hot topic today. The money hungry pot lobby is on one side, small non-profit organizations on the other. One side is endangering our children the other seeks to educate and protect. Amidst all this controversy are ordinary citizens with a real world perspectives. The following is by Randy Philbrick, father of two and Director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon. Continue reading Legalizing Marijuana: a Real World Perspective

Tax Revenue Claims Appear to be Hollow in Oregon

by Randy Philbrick, Director, SAM Oregon, Fighting Back Against Big Marijuana

“Oregon is reaping the reward with massive tax revenue ”

Yet another claim by legalizers that can’t be proven. Recreational sales started in October of last year, yet the tax only kicked in this past January. That’s three months of tax-free drug sales. In the first month of taxation, Oregon pulled in $3.5 million in tax revenue. In the February, the second month, it dropped to $3.3 for a two-month total of $6.8 million. I know what you’re thinking, “Man that’s great. That’s a lot of money”. Is it really!?  Yes, standing alone that amount seems like a lot of money. But when you put it next to the state’s operating budget of $60 billion , the measly $6.8 million now looks like our planet sitting next to Jupiter. If that trend stayed all year that would be $40 million for the year. Again, planet earth sitting next to Jupiter.

I can also tell you that trend won’t stay all year. As of this month, the tax on marijuana dropped from 25% to 17%. That’s a 32% reduction in the tax revenue. Continue reading Tax Revenue Claims Appear to be Hollow in Oregon

Letter to Prime Minister Addresses Second-Hand Marijuana Smoke

This testimony was submitted by SM in British Columbia.  Photo above is from the Facebook page of Sunset Beach Vancouver. It was from the  420 event in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on April 20, 2016.

Dear Prime Minister,

Proud to serve as Minister of Youth, I hope you will take my suggestions into consideration. I stopped going for walks by the beach with my kids because of the pot smell and second-hand exposure. At the moment we have law prohibiting smoking in the public areas. Once I asked a park ranger why he does not fine a pot consumer on the beach. He answered to me that this pot consumer does it for a medical reason. What does it matter if it is for a medical reason or not? I don’t want to be exposed to the second-hand smoke! It is also questionable who and how you can get permit for medical marijuana use.

Pot should be treated in public area the same way liquor consumption is, but even more strictly because of second-hand exposure. I want to point out the difference between smoking a pot cigarette versus cigarette and alcohol use. You can drive a car if you smoke cigarettes without any safety issue to the traffic, but not if you are under influence of the pot or alcohol.  Second-hand exposure to the pot smoke is far more dangerous than cigarette exposure because it has an influence on the brain. Young peoples brain under development is specially vulnerable to the pot second-hand pot exposure!

Vancouverparkboardon421
The Vancouver Park Board published this photo on April 21, 2016. It was one of many which were used to described the massive cleanup required the next day.  The photo from Vancouver on April 20, 2016 shows the serious mass of second-hand smoke.

How is the government is going to control selling of cookies or any other food product with pot in its ingredients? Are our kids going to be safe or can any pot candy manufacturer manipulate them? 

What about the smell?  What about second-hand smoke exposure?  What about impaired driving?  What if I have a neighbor who consumes pot and I can’t open my window? Pot users must be kept away from public.  If it’s medical, make it be used in designated clinics where they can consume with no influence and exposure to the public. This all needs to be regulated by law.

How much is it going to cost this government to care for a stoned generation? Are we going to be allowed to go to work stoned?

We took away cigarettes from our streets but now we allow pot. Pot needs to be regulated by a law far stricter than cigarettes, somewhere in between alcohol use and drug use. 

Where’s the consideration for the public safety?

Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Understand the State of the Research

Marijuana Doesn’t Need to be Rescheduled to do More Research

Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton criticize the Citizens United ruling without criticizing the millions and millions of dollars that George Soros, Peter Lewis and others have used to fund marijuana legalization.  It is a double standard.

A few days ago on Good Morning America, a representative of NORML asked Hillary Clinton if she would support legalizing marijuana.  She doesn’t support it, but she supports research and changing marijuana from a schedule I to schedule II classification.

Continue reading Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Understand the State of the Research

Marijuana Competes with High School in Colorado

Hello, my name is _______. _ I am 16 years old, live in Idaho Springs and attend Clear Creek High School. I am  here today to express my concern on the potency limit amendment.

In my town there are three dispensaries within about a 3-mile stretch.

With the legalization of marijuana it is becoming more accessible even to youth. While it is not legal for anyone under the age of 21, they are still getting it pretty easily. Parents and other supporters are willingly buying it illegally for children.

I have seen it all throughout my high school weekly if not daily. Kids come into school smelling like weed, you see them vaping, eating edibles or popping pills (marijuana pills).

Countless students have dropped out, been suspended or expelled because of it. My own friend has come to school high countless times.  Her motivation, GPA, and aspirations are dwindling at an alarming rate.  She is 17 years old and has now decided she no longer wants to go to college. We don’t hang out as much anymore because all she wants to do it get high. And I know for a fact her parents are buying it from retail stores.

Not only are kids getting bud, edibles, oils or pills. They are getting “dabs” or liquid THC.

I am a firm believer that children WILL be negatively affected by marijuana. It starts with one drug and then they want something stronger.

My own mother smoked it.  She was aloof and distant and soon moved onto other drugs. She gave my brother weed; he never finished high school and has been struggling since.  I haven’t talked to either of them in years.  It tore my family apart.

I am now a part of the Rock House, which is a youth outreach center for troubled teens or teens with troubled pasts. There I do a lot of community outreach and we see a lot of kids who come from troubled families. One member I was really close with got sent to foster care because his parents were abusing marijuana. I haven’t seen him in 2 years.

We cannot force the youth to stop, but with lowering the legal potency levels I believe we can help protect and prevent unwanted ‘accidents.’

(Read other recent articles about youth usage in Colorado, and the reports coming from Rocky Mountain HIDTA)

Blown Away by this New Drug Culture

We thank Nancy in Nevada for her testimony

My husband and I are 67 and 69. Last year we went to a Steely Dan concert and our neighbor (36 yrs old) gave us some marijuana and with a smile said “be careful.” We hadn’t smoked pot for 30 or more years and we thought “why not?” and we blew off his warning saying, “We know, we’ve smoked pot before.”

Off we went and with true teenage abandon we took two puffs each in our car in a casino parking garage. We looked at each other and agreed… we didn’t feel anything. A few minutes later we attempted to step out of our SUV and almost fell. It came on so fast and so strong. We had to navigate an elevator, walk through the casino, out to the street and two blocks to where the concert was being held. We were having to focus 100% on the act of walking.

The doors to the venue weren’t open and we stood up against the building, away from people just waiting to be able to get to our seats and ride it out. My husband wanted to slide down the wall and sit on the sidewalk but he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get up… Everything visual and auditory was exaggerated and distorted.

Potent Weed
A Washington Post chart is now outdated, as marijuana from Washington and Colorado routinely tests more than 20% THC. When it comes to edibles, BHO and wax, the THC can be 50-95%.  Top: Drug culture is celebrated at  420 Denver AP Photo is by Brennan Linsley

This new marijuana is waaaaaaay beyond simple medical use for pain. It lasted about six hours with the first three hours being at its strongest. There is no way we could have or would have driven the first three hours. Sit in a classroom and learn, impossible. Sit at the dinner table with your family and enjoy a conversation, impossible. This is not a couple of beers. This is not a couple of martinis. This is being drugged.

Nancy in NV

Bennett, William J.; White, Robert A. (2015-02-03). Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana Is Harming America (p. 18). Center Street. Kindle Edition.

Campaign for Compassion Leads Pennsylvania Legislature

Is CBD from Marijuana for Epilepsy Really About Compassion?

Parents Opposed to Pot supports every effort to find cures for children who suffer, but it’s unclear if Pennsylvania legislators who passed a medical marijuana bill on April 13 really understood the subject.   Dr. Michael Privitera, President of the Epilepsy Society urged legislators to vote “no” on SB-3, but the legislators voted to follow anecdotal evidence rather than the science.  (Portions of the letter are below.)

Cannabidiol
Compassion should lead to testing all medicines. GW Pharmaceuticals had 3rd phase trials for Epidiolex, a marijuana extract that could help for seizures.

The manipulations of the marijuana lobby are typical: give people false hope, play the “compassion” card to manipulate public opinion and shame people into adopting their view.  Because there is so much drama behind the people who advocate for marijuana use to treat epilepsy, many parents are expecting miraculous cures that are not always forthcoming.  The pro-marijuana advocates need to warn that any relief CBD oil gives for epilepsy is not necessarily permanent.

The Children Given Marijuana for Seizures who Died

(GW Pharmaceuticals Epidiolex is for Dravet Syndrome, and for Lennox-Gestaut Syndrome   The question is wheter or not a

A family in Arizona who was part of a lawsuit to get the extracts for their son saw a dramatic difference in the boy, an improvement in all levels of functioning.  Yet the poor boy died. The family still advocates for marijuana extracts.  We understand the view of the parents — they saw their son have a better life for a brief period before his death.

A girl who had been the poster child for medical marijuana recently died. She no longer needed a wheelchair after moving from Connecticut to Maine for CBD.   It is estimated that 85% of patients with Dravet Syndrome survive to adulthood, although life expectancy is not well understood.

At the end of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Weed 3, it was mentioned that Vivian, the little girl whose family moved to Colorado because to have extracts of marijuana not available in New Jersey, was no longer being helped as much as she had been at first.

We are sorry for the parents who must go through so much to help their children.   We would hope they can be assured of purity — free from mold, fungi and pesticides.

How Marijuana Passed in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania passed its bill on April 13 after legions of people worked tirelessly to emphasize that medical marijuana offers hope for epilepsy.  One of the moms who was part of the PA grass-roots movement, Campaign for Compassion, is Cara Salemme.  She has a 9-year-old son who has been suffering from seizures since age 5.  Salemme’s passion is understandable.  We hope that Salemme and other moms are not let down.

Lori Robinson, co-founder of Moms Strong said, “Apparently, only young kids who have disorders that break the heart can move mountains because parents whose kids are suffering egregious consequences from this plant really don’t garner any attention by legislatures.”  Compassionate Pennsylvanians should learn both sides of an issue.

So, MIchael Privitera MD, President of the American Epilepsy Society, who wrote a heartfelt letter on March 15, 2016, to Rep Matt Baker and the Pennsylvania Legislature, noting scientific studies and warning of the dangers of making law on such scant evidenceLegislators voted against Dr Privitera’s pleading of a “no” vote on SB-3. There are those kids  who develop the adverse condition like status epilepticus.  Here are excerpts from Dr. Privitera’s letter:

“Additionally, in 13% of cases reviewed seizures worsened with use of cannabis and in some patients there were significant adverse events. These are not the stories that you have likely heard in your public hearings or have read in popular press, but they are the reality of AES members who are practitioners at Children’s Hospital Colorado who have cared for the largest number of cases of children with epilepsy treated with cannabis in the U.S.

Unlike the product used in the GW Pharmaceutical study, the families and children moving to Colorado are receiving unregulated, highly variable artisanal preparations of cannabis oil prescribed, in most cases, by physicians with no training in pediatrics, neurology or epilepsy. As a result, the epilepsy specialists in Colorado have been at the bedside of children having severe dystonic reactions and other movement disorders, developmental regression, intractable vomiting and worsening seizures that can be so severe they have to put the child into a coma to get the seizures to stop.”    (GW Pharmaceuticals is a British Company)

The Dark Side of Marijuana and the Money

Rep Matt Baker
Rep Matt Baker is a legislator from Pennsylvania with compassion. Before serving in the House, he worked for a law firm where he specialized in serving people with disabilities, helping them obtain disability benefits before federal administrative law judges.

Rep. Matt Baker, Head of the House Health Committee had studied marijuana’s effects on various health conditions for a long period of time.  He expressed very reasonable concerns about the horrible side effects of marijuana and what can happen if medical marijuana is diverted to children and teens, as has happened in so many states.

(An 18-year-old in Washington state who had been given medical marijuana for a digestive issue experienced numerous psychotic symptoms which killed him in September of last year. Washington state has experienced an uptick in psychotic patients since legalizing marijuana.  The boy in Pennsylvania who recently died had a combination of marijuana wax and Xanax in his body which contributed to cardiac arrest.  He had a prescription for Xanax but not the marijuana wax.  His marijuana use probably preceded the anxiety, since marijuana is known to cause anxiety.)

Lori Robinson stated: “Now that we have medicinal marijuana in 24 states, why is it that the federal government not demanding disclosure of marijuana’s adverse effects on mental health, particularly for those ages 25 and under?”   Recently, Arizona’s governor signed a law stating that medical marijuana dispensaries must post prominent signs warning pregnant and breastfeeding women not to use.

She added, “I wish I believed this was more about compassion, but I don’t.   More likely it’s about the money.”

It should be noted that the marijuana industry donates heavily to state legislators with the hope of getting state-by-state medical marijuana in advance of legalization, using Colorado as a model.  If there is a silver lining in Pennsylvania’s program, it is that smoked forms of marijuana are banned.  However, this program will allow for vaporized marijuana, and it foolishly added PTSD and autism to allowed conditions that may be treated with marijuana.

We believe that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who supports marijuana legalization, is disingenuous when he criticizes the Koch Brothers and Wall Street bankers while not calling out the fact that George Soros and Peter Lewis have given millions and millions of dollars for the legalization of marijuana.  The marijuana lobby also donates to Congress.

 

Moms Strong Unite to Protect Children from Marijuana

“If Shane had known that marijuana could lead to any mental disorder, I know he never would have tried it,”  opined Lori Robinson, co-founder of the website Moms Strong.   “Even though my husband and I are from California and had never used drugs, California voted to legalize medical marijuana in 1996 when Shane was 10.  He grew up in a state that legitimizes marijuana use, way beyond the severe disabling health conditions for which people had voted 20 years ago. Continue reading Moms Strong Unite to Protect Children from Marijuana

Smoking Marijuana is Dangerous During Pregnancy

Marijuana and Pregnancy: What Are The Risks?

by Pamela McColl, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Canada

As some women consider using marijuana to treat pregnancy issues such as morning sickness, they are left wondering about the effects of marijuana on themselves and their baby while pregnant. In this piece, author Pamela McColl shares a few reasons why marijuana use during pregnancy may have detrimental effects on the child, and why it should be avoided during this critical time. Continue reading Smoking Marijuana is Dangerous During Pregnancy

Rescheduling Marijuana and other Parts of the CARERs Act

by Randy Philbrick, Director, Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon Marijuana is a Schedule I drug because it lacks any scientific evidence supporting its medicinal value. The pro pot lobby is trying to get Congress to pass the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERs Act). Here is a summary of the proposed CARERs Act: Continue reading Rescheduling Marijuana and other Parts of the CARERs Act

Drug Policies Should Prevent the Start of Drug Use

Sven-Olov Carlsson gave an opening address at the 5th Annual World Federation of Drugs Conference in Vienna on March 12-13. His speech challenged  ideas about drug policy that are popular at this time.   “The goal in helping a loved one with a substance use problem is not to reduce their use. It is to stop drug use,” he said.

Anyone who believes that a “Harm Reduction” emphasis (instead of drug prevention) needs to take a close look at the current heroin epidemic and ask if we are really saving lives. Today some countries  favor harm reduction policies over drug prevention.  These policies fail to acknowledge the difficulty of treatment and that harm reduction only prevents immediate death.   More lives will be saved when we stop the drug use, and prevent the initiation into drug usage.

While it is important that the Senate passed the  CARA Act and that the House will now take up their version of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, we are sorry that Congress is not addressing youth marijuana use as a gateway to opiate abuse which in turn leads to heroin abuse.

In his opening address Carlsson said that a successful drug policy makes it clear that drug use is unacceptable. The future of an improved drug policy is not to legalize intoxicating drugs of abuse, including marijuana.  (The United States is demonstrating that legalization does not work.)

In the US, funding for D.A.R.E. has been drastically reduced, with most schools no longer using the D.A.R.E. program. Since some of the states have legalized medical marijuana it has become controversial to be anti-pot, and D.A.R.E. responded by cutting marijuana out of its standard curriculum.  It’s time to replace that program with a more effective anti-drug prevention education in schools–geared at the state of affairs today.

The US should listen to Carlsson, President of the World Federation of Drugs.   In his speech, he proclaimed:  “It is in the development of a balanced, restrictive drug policy that prevents drug use, and that intervenes with drug users to provide them with a path to life-long recovery.

“Instead of legalizing drugs, an enlightened drug policy can harness the criminal justice system to thwart drug markets, facilitate entry into treatment and restrict incarceration to egregious offenders.”   In other words, a public heath approach and a criminal justice approach should not be considered as opposites.

Read Carlsson’s entire address:  Drug Policy Should Prevent Initiation of Drug Use

Carlsson is from Sweden which has a drug policy based on prevention and treatment.  It has only 5% of youth drug users in contrast to 22% in the USA.   Socialist policy depends on low drug use and keeping marijuana illegal, something that Bernie Sanders’ followers don’t understand.   (Sanders may understand, but he wants young voters on his side. )

The Tide is Changing — Marijuana Industry Exposed

Colorado Fights Against Industry

People are learning about the deception used by the Marijuana Industry to sell voters and the public on medical marijuana and marijuana legalization. People are learning about the harms caused by marijuana and a reckless Marijuana Industry.

marijuana-cigarettes
Marijuana industry exposed — it follows the playbook of the tobacco industry. Residents are now rejecting it Colorado.

People are learning that the Marijuana Industry, like the Tobacco Industry, has deep pockets so they can create the illusion of widespread support — which does not actually exist (except by those who are looking to make $$$).

Take a look at what happened over the last few weeks in Colorado. More people are rejecting the commercialization and legalization by the Marijuana Industry.

• The Colorado Springs City Council voted to ban marijuana clubs 3/9/16. The Council saw through the Marijuana Industry smokescreen as they attempted to portray marijuana clubs as medical sites for people with PTSD. (The Marijuana Industry does not hesitate to exploit many people and issues.) Below is a link to a 2-minute promotional video for one of the marijuana clubs (no mention of its “medical” practices). View the video

• Cannabis Cup kicked out of Colorado. High Times Magazine’s Cannabis Cup, a marijuana celebration event, has been rejected by Colorado communities. Adams County Commissioners did not approve their application to hold the event again in their community citing safety concerns. High Times thought they could find a home in Pueblo County but withdrew their application after local pushback, including from the Pueblo County Sheriff.  Many in law enforcement voiced their opposition and concerns.

• Marijuana events bill dies in committee. A bill to allow marijuana events across the state died in a state legislative committee.

This is all very interesting, especially after Rolling Stone Magazine called 2015 a year for the mainstreaming of marijuana.

Big Marijuana, Big Loss in Maine

Not Enough Signatures for Fall Ballot

An initiative to legalize marijuana in Maine failed to make the 2016 ballot today, after over 40,000 signatures legalization proponents submitted in favor of the proposal were invalidated due to irregularities.  This left legalizers well short of the 61,123 signatures needed to put the initiative to a vote this fall.

Almost half of the signatures submitted (47,686 of 99,229) were declared invalid.  More specifically, Maine election officials found that, among other irregularities:
  • Over 31,000 signatures were invalid because the signatures of petition circulators swearing that they witnessed signature collection did not match their signatures on file. (Indeed, one circulator was listed as the public notary on an incredible 5,099 petitions containing 26,779 signatures.)
  • Another 13,525 signatures were invalidated because they did not belong to a registered voter in the municipality where they were submitted.

Portland-Head-Lighthouse
Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine

“This is a huge sigh of relief for Mainers and our public health community, especially in a period where we are facing a serious and growing opiate crisis,” stated SAM Maine Director, Scott M. Gagnon.  “The last thing we needed amidst an addiction crisis is increased access and availability to drugs.  We are pleased that the Big Marijuana agenda will not be allowed to disrupt our efforts to protect and improve the health of Mainers and Maine communities.”  Gagnon has written about how the marijuana industry is trying to cash in on the heroin epidemic.
Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of SAM added, “This represents a victory for public health over industry profits.  Despite pouring money into Maine, it appears that the pot industry was unable to get enough real people to sign their petition.  The fact that almost a full 50% of the signatures were invalidated casts a cloud over the entire legalization movement in the state.”

Marijuana lobbyists and industry groups have also tried to legalize marijuana by going through the state legislature multiple times. These efforts failed, also.

I Am a Marijuana Addict

My name is Jen and I am a Marijuana addict. I have been sober for three years and one month.

Marijuana addiction is a very controversial topic and I often avoid discussing it with others. I know I’m an addict but it can be extremely discouraging when I hear people say things like “It’s physically impossible to be addicted to such and such.” I know they are wrong but it still hurts my feelings and makes me question myself at times. Getting sober is the most amazing thing I have ever done and I need to surround myself with people who appreciate this achievement for what it is, rather than piss all over it and make me feel like a joke.

There needs to be more support and better support that is just geared to marijuana addiction. In the beginning of my sobriety, I tried going to Marijuana Anonymous meetings in Phoenix but they are not very good here. There are usually just a few people — half of them are court ordered and the other half are teenagers that were dragged in by their parents. Needless to say, I did not find these meetings very helpful and eventually stopped going.

I’ve also tried Narcotics Anonymous and often felt ostracized because I have never been addicted to “harder” drugs, thus could not relate to others in the program. I got the most help from Alcoholics Anonymous because the stories were so similar to my own. However, people often shunned me away because “The only requirement for AA is to have desire to stop ***drinking***.” Many people in AA welcomed me with open arms. Others rejected me ruthlessly and went out of their way to make me feel not welcomed. Some would even interrupt others speaking, announcing “You’re only supposed to talk about alcohol!! Do not talk about other drugs!” Finding support for my addiction hasn’t been easy.

Marijuana Legislation Defeated in Multiple States

Last week a House bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol was soundly defeated in the state of New Hampshire.  Opponents questioned the wisdom of making another addictive drug legal during a time of drug overdoses and deaths.

The New Mexico legislature also killed a marijuana legalization measure on February 14.

Last week in Wyoming, a bill to decriminalize marijuana was soundly defeated.    It was the third year in a row that marijuana advocates tried to to pass a decriminalization bill which would have lessened the fine for pot possession.

Furthermore, an attempt get legalization of recreational use marijuana on the Wyoming ballot  failed.   “The group fell far short of the roughly 25,600 signatures from registered voters needed to get on November’s ballot.”   The Wyoming Senate Judiciary panel issued a favorable recommendation for a bill to make marijuana edibles illegal.  (Levi Thamba Pongi , a foreign exchange student at college in Wyoming, became psychotic and committed suicide after eating a marijuana cookie in Colorado in March, 2014.)

In Montana, a petition to put legalization of recreational marijuana on the November ballot is counterbalanced by the Safe Montana petition to keep recreational marijuana illegal.

Marijuana lobbyists and policy groups are making strong efforts to legalize or decriminalize marijuana in western and northeastern states.  Vermont, a bill to legalize marijuana has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

Vermont gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman issued a statement critical of the governor and legislature for acting too quickly.  Six Vermont physician groups come out in opposition to legalizing marijuana for recreational use in their state.  The state’s health department wrote a scathing attack against legalization.

An state considering legalization needs to recognized the continuous onslaught of problems in the schools of Colorado.  Last week, 9 students were negatively affected by marijuana edibles that had gotten into a Colorado High School. ( Maine, the state next to New Hampshire had already rejected a bill to legalize marijuana by a vote of 2 to 1, last summer. )

If Justin Trudeau pushes the legalization effort in Canada, he will into trouble with international treaties, and possibly in the province government of Quebec.  The Finance Minister of Quebec warned that it will be hard to push them to sell marijuana.

GAO Critiques Justice Department for Allowing Failed Pot Experiment

Government Accountability Office Takes on DOJ for Failure

Today the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending the Department of Justice (DOJ) implement a specific plan for documenting the effects of marijuana legalization.
The report, which Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) requested, states that DOJ has not “documented their monitoring process or provided specificity about key aspects of it[.]”  This lack of specificity includes missing information about “potential limitations of the data [DOJ officials] report using and how they will use the data to identify states that are not effectively protecting federal enforcement priorities.”

Continue reading GAO Critiques Justice Department for Allowing Failed Pot Experiment

Children of Stoner Parents Fall, More Likely to Fail

(Read Part 1, in this series about the older children of pot-using parents, Custody issues, and Part 2, children in fires and BHO explosions. )

Teen Who Ate Mom’s Pot Fell Off Balcony; Boy Drowned in Canada

On April 14 in Fort Collins, Colorado, a 19-year-old fell off the 3rd floor balcony after ingesting a marijuana edible his mother had given him.    Austin Essig survived the fall, but what about his mom’s judgment?    

It is not clear who gave or sold marijuana to Haven Dubois, a 14-year-old boy in Saskatchewan who drowned, but his mother wishes that police had investigated more thoroughly. There were other teens with him, but did the police even try to get the bottom of the issue?    “It’s so easy for them to brush it aside. It’s just another dead Indian to them.”   Pamela McColl of SAM Canada would like to see those who provide marijuana to teens who suffer harm held accountable, the same way those who give drinks to young people are held responsible for fatal accidents.  (McColl is the editor of On Marijuana which contains important essays by international specialists such as Mary Brett of the United Kingdom.) Continue reading Children of Stoner Parents Fall, More Likely to Fail

Updates on the Marijuana Psychosis Link

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Rutgers University have issued a correction to their original report that teen marijuana use had no effect on the development of a psychotic order by age 36.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Washington, the first state to legalize marijuana, reports 1-2 new cases of admissions for marijuana-induced psychosis each day.

The full length version of their published correction, which can be purchased for ~$11 online, reveals that in fact their data showed a trend towards a 2.5-fold greater prevalence of psychotic disorders in the marijuana users, a trend which reached significance in a “one-tailed” statistical test.  Such a test is generally deemed appropriate if abundant prior studies have shown the same degree and direction of effect, as is the case here. Continue reading Updates on the Marijuana Psychosis Link

Governor Shumlin’s Address Has Key Misunderstandings

by Randy Philbrick, Smart Approaches to Marijuana Oregon, originally published on the website.    Gov. Shumlin’s State of the State address was January 7, 2016.  This story is unrelated to our previous critique of the Vermont state legislature.

Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont gave a very good State of the State speech. He talked about how he plans to help create more jobs, help bring Vermont a greener environment and get more kids to college. Then his speech took a dramatic turn down a very steep embankment to its death.

Governor Shumlin addressed the opiate addiction problem as all other states are having. He said that we need to fix this problem, as we should.  His speech was good and then…..BAM, Marijuana legalization. The Governor talked about Continue reading Governor Shumlin’s Address Has Key Misunderstandings

Vermont Legislators Ignore the Evidence About Marijuana

Vermont legislators are expected to take up legislation to legalize pot this month, but they should examine the evidence and stop looking at dollar signs.  Marijuana causes car accidents and is known as a trigger for mental health problems and psychosis.

On August 7,  2015, Jody Herring of Barre killed four people.   It was the worst recent case of violence in our nation’s second least populous state.  Herring had mental health issues and a drug problem,  with marijuana the substance most evident in her history.  (Lancet Psychiatry Journal published February 16 2015 study  that 1/4 of incidences of first-time psychosis in London over 6 years were triggered by  marijuana use. Herring had been using for a long time.)

At least 3 others who died in Vermont this past year — Richard Tom, Joseph Marshall, Lance Magoon — were in crashes involving stoned drivers.   In 2014, one third of all traffic fatalities Continue reading Vermont Legislators Ignore the Evidence About Marijuana

Colorado’s Pot Greed and My Son’s Psychiatric Hospital Surprise

Marijuana Keeps Psychiatric Hospitals in Colorado Busy

(Excerpts edited from a letter written by a Colorado resident to the state’s marijuana regulatory board. If you are a Colorado resident with a similar story, please write [email protected] and we will get you into a group of parents who are dealing with similar, urgent problems.)

When Colorado’s Amendment 64 passed, my son and his friends celebrated it. They wrote 4/20 all over their bodies and clothes.  He was only 12, and now he’s 15.  I was familiar with the problems with smoking marijuana and educated my son about it. However I was not prepared to deal with a near-death experience due to him smoking marijuana.

My husband and I were not aware that my son started smoking marijuana and eating THC-laced edibles when he was in 8th grade. He had his first suicide attempt in January 2014 over a break up with a girl. My husband and I thought he was just broken-hearted. He started spiraling down a dark path of mental Continue reading Colorado’s Pot Greed and My Son’s Psychiatric Hospital Surprise

THC Increases Neural Noise in Brain Similar to Schizophrenia

Brain Fibers, Left and Right Side Brain Communication Subject of Two Studies

A study published in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry attempts to understand how the THC in marijuana creates psychosis-like effects, similar to those in schizophrenia.  A different study,  published in Europe,  looked into the brain fibers of those who use high-potency marijuana and how they differ from non-users, specifically addressing how the two sides of the brain communicate.  The authors concluded that “frequent use of high-potency cannabis is associated with disturbed callosal microstructural organization in individuals with and without psychosis.”

The American study, announced in a medical bulletin of December 3, reports that ∆9-THC increases random neural activity, termed neural noise, in the brains of healthy human subjects. The findings suggest that increased neural noise may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis. Continue reading THC Increases Neural Noise in Brain Similar to Schizophrenia

BHO Fires, Other Dangers for Older Children of Stoner Parents

(Read Part1 of this series on older children with pot-using parents. Upload our fact sheet about children’s death related to marijuana use.)

Infants and toddlers are vulnerable to negligence and abuse by marijuana-using parents. How are older children vulnerable?  In Gresham, Oregon on September 25, a mother suffering from anxiety who used marijuana several times a day, shot and killed her 17-year-old son.  The recently-divorced mom was losing her home, had quit her job and was suffering from anxiety. The stress of her situation is understandable, but marijuana is the wrong way to cope with stress.  It ultimately increases anxiety and can lead to psychosis, too.

BHO Fires are a Threat to Children

Another big problem is butane hash oil fires. Two years ago in Medford, Oregon, a 12-year old girl jumped out of the second story window and sustained several broken bones Continue reading BHO Fires, Other Dangers for Older Children of Stoner Parents

Can Stoner Parents be Good Parents? Keep Custody?

Are the older children of stoner parents in danger of abuse and neglect like the younger ones?  Last year in Minnesota, a nine-year-old girl walked to the police station and told police about her parents who were growing, smoking and selling marijuana. She said the smell of the smoke was making her sick.

In Tennessee, a 15-year-old boy lived in fear of violent father. He confided in a friend’s family that he was afraid to go home. The friend’s mom told police, who went to investigate child abuse. They accidentally found a whole lot more, discovering a huge, indoor marijuana grow. Marijuana activists claim that stoners are calm and non-violent. The evidence suggests otherwise. Continue reading Can Stoner Parents be Good Parents? Keep Custody?

Marijuana Defeat in Ohio Bursts the Myth that Legal Pot is Inevitable

Marijuana activists have been using the term “inevitable” to discourage Parents Opposed to Pot and other groups from fighting against legalization.   We are energized by the defeat of Issue 3, an effort to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in Ohio.  In a sweeping victory, 64.1 percent of Ohioans voted against the measure and 35.9 percent of the voters favored it.  The margin of victory is nearly 2 to 1, and those opposed to legalization may have been outspent by a margin of 8 to 1 or more. Continue reading Marijuana Defeat in Ohio Bursts the Myth that Legal Pot is Inevitable

Let’s Reconsider Drug Policy and Concentrate on Education

defenseofourbrains
A man in Sweden wears a t-shirt with a phrase coined by Dr. Bertha Madras. Sweden’s drug policy has produced low youth drug usage.

The current drug overdoes epidemic is related to getting rid of in-school drug education and introducing “medical” marijuana followed by legalization  It’s goes against all reason to legalize and commercialize a drug of abuse  (marijuana) at a time that we have a drug epidemic.  Preventing drug use is not a “War on Drugs! It is Defense of our Brains,” according to Dr. Bertha Madras of Harvard University.

The current heroin epidemic offers a chance to revise drug policies, particularly in terms of prevention. Since our entertainment industry, media and society idealize drugs, a first step would be a national drug education program in Continue reading Let’s Reconsider Drug Policy and Concentrate on Education

Dead Babies, Toddlers, Pot Parents and Violent Acts, Part 5

(Part 1 shows child justice failures in Court. Part 2 of this series is about neglected children who died in fires. Part 3 covers children who die in hot cars and in drownings. Part 4 explains parents who are addicted or psychotic from marijuana. Part 5 shows how children die through violence related to potPart 6 presents a solution. Read a previous article,Three Children Die in Colorado.)

Tenisha Fearon
Tenisha Fearon, mother of Junilah Lawrence. The mother threw her baby out a 6th floor window in the Bronx on October 15, 2015.  Photo from Facebook

Yesterday afternoon in the Bronx, a 27-year-old mom threw her six-month-old baby girl out a sixth floor window.  Onlookers tried to stop her, but Tenisha Fearon was screaming ‘we’re all going to die’ as she dangled the baby and told cops the ‘devil is in her.’   She was having a psychotic break, but Tenisha was generally known as a loving mother.  A Facebook photo holds a clue as to why she snapped — the marijuana leaf on her hat.  Only a marijuana user — most likely a heavy user — would advertise the pot leaf on their clothing.  Pot advocates argue that marijuana doesn’t cause psychosis, but we find too much evidence it does.  A woman who killed her 17-year-old son in Oregon on September 24 used pot several times a day and was paranoid. Continue reading Dead Babies, Toddlers, Pot Parents and Violent Acts, Part 5

Hot Cars, Pools, Pot, More Victims of Child Neglect: Part 3

(Part 1 shows child justice failures in Court. Part 2 of this series is about neglected children who died in fires. Part 3 covers children who die in hot cars and in drownings. Part 4 explains parents who are addicted or psychotic from marijuana. Part 5 shows how children die through violence related to potPart 6 presents a solution. Read a previous article,Three Children Die in Colorado.)

The marijuana lobby tells us they advocate for “responsible use of marijuana.” The impairment and forgetfulness of these parents proves that “responsible use” doesn’t work with parenting.  See our updated fact sheet about 53 children who have died from parents’ pot use since November 2012.

Deaths in Hot Cars

The death of Tyler and William Jensen, two years  and four years, was particularly sad. The boys died from being left in a hot car while their mom smoked pot. They were Colorado’s first child neglect victims of a parent’s pot use after the successful vote to legalize in 2012. It’s interesting that Heather Jensen’s lawyer defended her by claiming low IQ accounted for her lack of judgment. A long-term study indicates that frequent, early pot use leads to a significant drop in IQ over time. She was 24 at the time. Heather Jensen’s activity suggests addiction, coming from chronic use at a young age. Continue reading Hot Cars, Pools, Pot, More Victims of Child Neglect: Part 3

Marijuana is Connected to Psychosis and Schizophrenia

11717A study from the University of Pittsburgh which denies the mental health hazards of marijuana is surprising, since there are many other scientific studies pointing to a causal or trigger relationship between marijuana use and psychosis potentially developing into schizophrenia. The Pittsburgh study is limited by its small size; reliance on self-reporting and lack of diversity.  In fact, the sample size of 408 was 55% African American and included virtually no Hispanics or Asians.  It began in 1987, when the THC in marijuana was lower.  Read Dr. Christine Miller’s article on Marijuana Myths.

Research in the UK[i] reveals than one in four serious mental disorders are a result of “skunk” (i.e. high THC pot) including Continue reading Marijuana is Connected to Psychosis and Schizophrenia

SAM Joins Forces with NAADAC

Kevin Sabet,Smart Approaches to Marijuana Hold Key to Solving Addiction Crisis

Most of the young people who overdose from drugs began their illicit drug usage with marijuana, according to government statistics which have quoted it at 71%.  Parents Opposed to Pot receives anecdotal evidence suggesting this pattern over and over.  Some teens develop marijuana addiction, but marijuana is also a gateway drug for many other people who become addicted to cocaine, heroin, opiates and other drugs.

Facing our nation’s growth in drug addiction, NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, and SAM, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, announced a new strategic partnership on August 25.   SAM, an alliance of organizations and individuals Continue reading SAM Joins Forces with NAADAC

TV Anchor in Car Accident Promotes Responsible Pot

Generational Divides Among Marijuana Users

Imagine getting into a fender bender with the company car and calling yourself an example of “responsible drinking.”  Cyd Maurer had a fender bender while working for a TV Station in Eugene, Oregon.  Her company called for drug testing. After it was found that she had THC metabolites,  the 25-year-old was fired. She has put out video claiming that she is an example of “responsible marijuana use.” Isn’t it ironic? In other words, getting into an accident in the company car is not a problem for her employer.   Continue reading TV Anchor in Car Accident Promotes Responsible Pot

Coloradans Now Oppose Marijuana Legalization

Today there’s news out of Denver that is a negative for the marijuana industry.

SmithJohnson Research, a polling firm who has worked with Democrats and Republicans, today released a poll finding that a majority (51%) of likely Coloradan voters would oppose Amendment 64 today.  About quarter of voters thought the Amendment had done a good job at regulation, but most voters did not think so.   Supporters of Amendment 64 had promised that legalizing marijuana would keep it from children and teens and that hasn’t happened. Continue reading Coloradans Now Oppose Marijuana Legalization

Help Save My Son — for Himself and Others

My son suffers from schizophrenia and marijuana addiction. He has become severely depressed and psychotic smoking marijuana, and talks of ending his life. He has been hospitalized 6 times since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana.  He was not hospitalized the year before the legalization of marijuana.

How could Colorado legalize marijuana without any consideration for the mental heath community?  Amendment 64 is a travesty. I need help. I am so afraid for my son who just leaves his home and is in a state of confusion. He gets so paranoid and believes everyone is out to kill him. It has only been two weeks since his last hospital stay, in which he refused substance abuse treatment.  He wants to drive high while being psychotic and talking to his voices.

He is a veteran and receives his treatment through the Veterans Administration. He has a case manager and I have been trying to have his psych doctor sign a paper from the department of motor vehicles that would pull his license to drive. I don’t want him to kill himself or someone else. He has already had several accidents and now has a careless driving ticket. The police have even told me not to let him drive, but how can I do that when he is actively psychotic?

My neighbors wrote a letter for the doctor who’s had this paperwork from the DMV for two months and still refuses to sign the papers. My son almost hit our neighbor’s car head on. as he was driving down the wrong side of the road, and he almost backed into them.   Does he have to kill himself or someone before this doctor will take any action?  He keeps telling me the VA has to call their legal team.   They don’t make the call, and its so frustrating.

He won’t listen to his doctor’s advice or to anyone. Every day is so very challenging and stressful, and it has been very devastating to my family.   (The author lives in Adams County, Colorado)

Can You Smell a Skunk in the Stinky Claims for Marijuana?

Most marijuana today is skunk, not the weaker strains of the Woodstock era. It is so potent that a study from London showed that one quarter of new psychosis patients over a seven year period was triggered after using marijuana.

Skunk is very different from the less potent marijuana of the 1970s. In fact, it is not even comparable to the pot of 15 or 20 years ago.  Reports from around the country now reveal a  story of mass addiction to marijuana, with only skunk strains available.  Some users go onto other drugs, but others stay fixated on  marijuana — dabbing and vaping for the quick fix.   Some of these teens and young adults are going into psychosis and /or committing suicide. Continue reading Can You Smell a Skunk in the Stinky Claims for Marijuana?

15 Deaths in Crashes, Fires, Shootings Caused by Pot

For the state of Washington, we’ve tracked 15 deaths in which marijuana was a direct causal factor, since marijuana possession became legal.  In 3 more deaths,  it’s likely that pot was a contributing cause.  Here’s the tally beginning December, 5, 2012:

3 teens killed in crash by student driver high on marijuana                         5 pedestrian deaths in Vancouver, WA                                                                   5 deaths in a school shooting including the gunman                                     2 neighbors died after hash oil explosions                                                            2 shooting deaths for robbing a marijuana grow.                                               1 motorcyclist killed by a stoned driver

“THE world is watching Washington’s historic experiment with marijuana legalization, and we’re screwing it up.” claimed a recent editorial in the Seattle Times.    Continue reading 15 Deaths in Crashes, Fires, Shootings Caused by Pot

Stuck in the Cycle of Addiction

(Editor’s note: An anonymous testimony highlights that the harms from using marijuana outweigh any harms caused by criminal justice system, at least 80% of the time. We’d be wiser providing youth with the evidence as to why never to use–not because they could lose a scholarship or go to jail, but because of the harms to their brain, and the addiction.)
My son has always been very popular and has a vast assortment of friends. He has an above average IQ. Girls consider him very good looking. He is very secure in himself and outgoing and has never changed any of that throughout this whole ordeal. He is almost 19 and has never had a “steady” girlfriend, but many girls.  My son began experimenting with drugs — I believe it was around age 15. He was into baseball (because I was) and played Continue reading Stuck in the Cycle of Addiction

Pot Industry Uses Deceptive Ads, Targets Kids

By February 16, a mural on the side of Wellstone, a Colorado Springs medical marijuana “pharmacy” had been taken down.   A figure resembling the popular Cookie Monster of Sesame Street fame had been painted on the building two weeks earlier.  Many children were attracted to the popular children’s TV character carrying a plate of cookies, as well as a huge ice cream cone painted along the building’s exterior. There had been a local uproar over the picture and its appropriateness for a medical marijuana dispensary.

Perhaps the producers of Sesame Street objected.  Whatever Continue reading Pot Industry Uses Deceptive Ads, Targets Kids

Goliath Fails to Topple David in Oregon

American politics is full of bullies, but nowhere are the bullies more apparent than in the groups trying to legalize marijuana.  In Oregon, the marijuana financiers, including George Soros’ Drug Policy Action, donated $9,273,848 towards Measure 91, the successful marijuana legalization ballot which won by a large margin in 2014. The opposition raised only $179,672 .  A similar ballot failed in the state two years earlier, when the financial backers of marijuana  gave their money to ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington, instead of Oregon. Continue reading Goliath Fails to Topple David in Oregon

Twenty Children, Twenty Deaths Tied to Marijuana

At least 20 small children have died nationwide because of their parents’ or caretaker’s marijuana usage, since Colorado and Washington voted to legalize pot.    It began in November 2012,  just over two years ago, and it continues to happen in 2015.  Four of those deaths occurred in Colorado, three in California.

It’s high time that a parents’ marijuana usage becomes part of the national discussion of child custody and visitation. It’s hard to understand why Doreen Reyes of Palmetto Bay, FL, had to allow her son, 4-year old Javon Dade, Jr., overnight visitation to the father who used marijuana, cocaine, had several drug arrests and kept pit bulls.  The last time Javon spent the night with him was  in August, the time that he died.

Children’s deaths — involving parents whose marijuana use interfered with parenting — have occurred in every corner of the country—from Vermont to Florida, from Michigan to Texas, from Oregon to Arizona, from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma. The more pot promoters say that marijuana is harmless and justify their growing industry, the more neglected and abused children there will be; some will suffer and die — unnecessarily.

Marijuana users—if addicted– have a tendency to lose a sense of time and be neglectful parents, or in some cases, abusive. Unfortunately, in many cases, both parents are drug abusers.   Many medical marijuana “patients” prefer to convert pot into hash oil.  When these “patients” use butane or other flammables, they should not be given custody and should only be allowed supervised visitation.  Too many fires have resulted in children treated for burns.

Children who died in Fires, Hot Cars

Levi Welton, Kyheir and Dyheir Arthur, Andre Sosa-Martinez and Lileigh Kellenears died in fires.  Levi Welton died in a fire while his parents used pot with friends in another room.  Sosa-Martinez’s mother was also home when he died, but she was too stoned to notice sooner, or to react. In the other three deaths by fire, the parents had left the children home alone while the parents toked.

In Phoenix, a father smoked pot and forgot about time, as his three-month old son died in a hot car.   In El Cajon, CA, last summer, a child died because a couple left their 4-month child, while the mother smoked pot with her brother nearby.  In Kansas, it was a 10-month old baby girl who died in a foster father’s care while he bought marijuana, watched Game of Thrones and left her in the car.

Jamison Gray, Tyler and William Jensen, Kadylak Poe Jones and Giovanni Soto died in overheated cars.  With the passage of time and their parents’ marijuana usage, they were forgotten.

Jase Colby, Gabriela Guerrera, Natalye Price and Andrew Prior died because they were victims of physical abuse….and their parents were marijuana users. Kamari Taylor died because of his mom’s violent boyfriend, who left the child alone as he went out to sell pot. Paxton Stokes’ death is a little more mysterious, but it was probably the marijuana-using mom’s boyfriend who abused him.

Last year in California, 16-month old Harley Bradford and 33-month old Jason Bradford died by drowning while their stoned mother slept and ignored them. She was staying at the home of a friend who had a marijuana grow and hash oil lab. Although the boy tried to wake her, she ignored her son for many hours only to find both children had gone outside and drowned in a swimming pool. The saddest part is that relatives were going to take over custody of the children the next day.

In Vermont, the mother of Saunder Coltrane River Gilruth, smothered him to death while he slept. She admitted to smoking pot and drinking the previous night.  The mother smoked pot daily during her pregnancy, and her physician knew it.  The infant was only 27 days old, and was at risk because of his very low birth weight.  When alcohol or other drugs add to a parent’s impairment, it doesn’t minimize the danger of today’s high-strength pot.

These cases do not include the many children who have been put in harm’s way while their parents made butane hash oil, and caused explosions. Since November of 2012, at least two dozen children have been in homes, apartments or hotels where BHO fires occurred, in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California and Montana.  A tremendous amount of luck, and quick emergency services, have allowed these children to survive.

While the Press reports on the glamor of those in the marijuana business, young people and young parents have the wrong impression of marijuana’s risks. While everyone acknowledges that heavy drinking or 2nd-hand tobacco smoke are a risks for children, pot users are treated as celebrities. Thanks to Maureen Dowd’s expose in the NY Times, people have been warned to keep marijuana edibles from children.

However, where is the justice for these 20 children who died?

The Children Who Survive

Not all child abuse cases involving marijuana end in death.   One  recent case of child brutality involved a marijuana-addicted mom in Arizona.  The mom has been arrested, and the little girl survives.  In Florida, a man threw a crying 11-month old baby who suffered terrible injuries but is still alive.   Another mother and her boyfriend in Florida smoked pot all morning and ignored the pleas of her 3-year old who was locked outside until a neighbor found him.  The arrested mother claimed, “Marijuana should be legal anyways.”

In family courts, judges need to consider the extreme impairment that many marijuana users have – no matter how much they love their children. There should be requirements for drug testing, addiction treatment and follow-up which figure into custody orders.  Child Protective Services (CHS) and Departments of Children and Family Services (DCFS) are in difficult situations.

The simplest way to cut down child abuse/neglect is not to legalize marijuana, legitimize its use and call it harmless.  Our young people need better education about the harms of marijuana before they become parents.   We also need to provide plenty of ways to get addiction treatment for the parents who need it.

As a nation, we are turning a blind eye to the damage marijuana users may present to their children. We need to recognize the poor judgment and the warped sense of time that marijuana users have.  When marijuana use has been combined with fires and hot cars, children die.  See Child Abuse, Part 1 (neglect) and Part 2 (violence).

Harm Reduction vs. Legalization – The Myths and Politics

by Robert Weiner, originally published in the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Weekly last October:  Last week, the Harm Reduction Coalition held its conference in Baltimore. Marijuana legalization is not one of its issues, which are mainly access to clean needles and syringes, overdose prevention with naloxone, HIV and hepatitis C, and the rights of drug users. Keynote speaker Michael Botticelli, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), supports naloxone and medication-assisted treatment. He is a clear harm reduction advocate, but not an advocate of marijuana legalization.

But harm reduction sometimes gets confused with marijuana legalization. I had the privilege of speaking to the “Politics” class at American University in nearby Washington, D.C. on October 20, a few days before the conference was to begin. I was invited to discuss the movement toward drug legalization. I also covered some “harm reduction” assertions as well.

Unfortunately, because the legalization movement is sweeping across America, my counterpoints were very well-received — I say “unfortunately” because we are being overcome by the tidal wave of the movement. Here is some of what I said to Assistant Professor Rick Semiatin’s “Washington Semester” class of juniors and seniors from 200 colleges and universities across the United States.

I’m a “liberal” on most things, but on the drug issue, I know the harm that is done by car crashes, DUIs, date rape and the impact of flooding already overcrowded emergency rooms — and that includes from marijuana, which most “legalizers” claim they want to separate from “harder” drugs. I was the one who wrote then-Congressman Ed Koch’s testimony on his bill in the 1970s to legalize marijuana, and sat with him at the table as he told Congress that drugs are personal and harmless, and that we should stop crowding our prisons. But both Ed and I learned and changed our positions, he as mayor of New York City and me as I learned more and more as spokesman for the House Narcotics Committee and then the White House ONDCP.

I told the students that the election is being overwhelmed by the issue because my own party, the Democrats, don’t want to touch it. They are afraid their candidates will lose a big chunk of the youth and liberal base who support legalization/decriminalization in the legislatures and state referenda. Like laetrile in the 1970s (which was legalized in more than 20 states and was supposed to cure cancer but turned out to be useless apricot pits that simply deferred real and needed treatment), “medical” marijuana is backed up only anecdotally and never is compared to an “n” of other treatment modalities that would be prescribed by doctors. There is truth to former drug czar Barry McCaffrey’s joke that a shot of gin also takes away your pain. Having said that, no one wants to deny a truly sick or dying patient who wants to get high the opportunity to feel better, even if it’s a placebo effect. It’s not the truly “medical” cases anyone wants to stop; it’s what law enforcement tells us are the 90+ % (and as many as 99 %) non-sick people who also come in to the clinics feigning illness with a makeshift letter just to get drugs.addiction equality

Harms of marijuana

The evidence on harm in the legalizing states is rolling in. You have to scrounge for the reports, but they say, “youth marijuana use increased by nearly 11 % since medical marijuana became legal in 2009,” “traffic fatalities involving drivers testing positive for marijuana have increased by 100 percent between 2007 and 2012” and “toxicology reports with positive marijuana results for driving under the influence have increased 16 % from 2011 to 2013.” In addition, Colorado Public Radio reported, “Denver Emergency Room Doctor Seeing More Patients for Marijuana Edibles.” The United Nations reported, “Marijuana-related Health Problems on Rise in US,” with a 12 % rise last year in marijuana usage by teens.

But for the most part, the legalization referenda are speeding ahead. The most-cited ones, in Oregon and D.C., show legalization 11 and 20 points up, respectively, with just days before the election, and the legalization advocates say they are counting on “young voter turnout.” Since Democrats count on that demographic as well, you can understand the silence.

Even though Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley told me personally two weeks ago that “I’m concerned about legalization” because of car crashes, emergency room upticks, the horrible message to kids (how legalization disarms parents from the moral high ground on the message), and the like, politicians in the state are silent on the issue.

Of course, the legalizers say the drug war is a “failure.” But the students I addressed did open their eyes when I said that because of the efforts of parents, teachers, coaches and religious and business leaders, and a strong foreign policy (Plan Colombia) and domestic enforcement efforts, drug use has declined almost 50 % in the last three decades, and cocaine use — the disproportionate driver of crime — is down 70 %. If any other social problem, such as literacy, hunger or poverty, or health problem, such as cancer, diabetes and heart attacks, improved 50–70 %, would we call it a failure?DOJMarijuana

Drug Courts Work

To these quite smart college juniors and seniors, I pointed out that medically assisted treatment — including methadone, buprenorphine and Vivitrol — is in fact harm reduction. It’s valid because people can function, work and pay taxes. But if we’re talking about heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to addicts, that’s pure nonsense that destroys their lives. If we are talking about marijuana, I still oppose it because it jams hospital emergency rooms with car crashes and treatment centers with patients. Legalization or decriminalization would simply increase availability and use. When I debate the Ethan Nadelmanns of the world on radio or Bill Maher or Crossfire, they invariably say, “That’s true but…” I cut in and say, “You can’t say ‘but’ to more availability and use — that’s the point. Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

I do concede we need to stop prison overcrowding but point out that’s why Attorney General Janet Reno and ONDCP Director McCaffrey supported creating drug courts, for treatment instead of prison for nonviolent drug offenders. There were eight drug courts when we started in 1996. Drug courts rose to 1,000 under Clinton-Reno-McCaffrey, and now are near 3,000.

Science, not politics, should guide U.S. drug policy.  Bob Weiner is former spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the House Narcotics Committee and the House Government Operations Committee. He now heads up a public affairs and issues strategies group in Washington, D.C., Robert Weiner Associates, and is founder and president of Solutions for Change, a foundation supporting young journalists to write op-eds informing the public on issues in major newspapers. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Marijuana Policy Must Protect Youth

By Roger Morgan, Founder/Chairman Take Back America Campaign America has gone from leading 92 countries in the fight against narcotics to a rogue nation with a federal government that has largely abandoned its responsibility to enforce drug laws. Marijuana, the enemy within, is rightly classified a Schedule I drug because it has no accepted medical use and has the potential for harm. Isolated components of the plant, like CBD, do appear to have medicinal value, but the marijuana being sold today as medicine has been bio engineered to be high in THC, the psychoactive ingredient, and void of CBD, because 98% of the “patients” just want to get high.

In 1979 by Keith Stroup, founder of NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws), announced at Emory University that the term “medical marijuana” would be used as a red herring to give pot a good name as a first step toward full legalization. It has been a long, patient plan, but obviously working thanks to the help of a few billionaires, with George Soros at the helm. Owing to a propaganda campaign financed by Soros, and now deceased Peter Lewis (former Chairman of Progressive Insurance) and John Sperling (founder of Phoenix University), Californians approved Prop 215 in 1996 to provide “medical marijuana” out of compassion for the chronically ill. In reality it had nothing to do with compassion, but was simply the first step in the long journey to legalize pot, with no concern for the social consequences for mankind.

Public Health and Safety is the first and most important priority of governments at all levels. Unfortunately, when the federal government fails to enforce the law, the burden falls to the States. When the States fail, the burden falls on local communities, which is exactly what has happened in California. In spite of the fact that the State collects between $58 and $105 million a year taxing marijuana, the money goes into the general fund leaving local government with burden of mental illness, suicides, declining academic achievement, more welfare, traffic deaths and crime. As an example, 54% of arrestees in the Sacramento area test positive for marijuana, 80% for all drugs. But crime isn’t the only problem.children

Marijuana is s fat soluble toxin that stays in the body and brain longer than any other drug. Unlike water soluble alcohol where one ounce is excreted from the body in 12 hours, half the THC from pot remains in the body and brain for a month, compounding with each additional joint. It weakens the immune system, increases the chance of cardiac arrest, leads to respiratory problems and cancer, and causes more DNA damage than even heroin based on studies done over 30 years ago, when the THC content was only 1/2 to 2%. Today the THC content averages 15%, goes as high as 37% in smoked form, and up to 90% as wax (BHO). It doesn’t kill by overdose, but almost all of the 114 Americans who die every day from drug overdose started their drug journey with pot.

Marijuana’s biggest impact is on the brain, which isn’t fully developed until age 25. Until it is, particularly during adolescence, marijuana can cause irreversible brain damage and subsequent loss of IQ by as much as 8 points. Pot is a causal factor in suicidal depression; psychosis including schizophrenia and paranoia; psychotic episodes leading to violent acts; impaired cognition, learning and memory; double the risk of traffic accidents and death; addiction; and causes death or physical deformities to a fetus. Unfortunately, the majority of consumers are 25 and under, peaking at age 19 or 20.PiedPiper(8)

California is targeted for outright legalization in 2016, financed again by Soros and out-of-state billionaires. America is already on a trajectory for 1/4th to 1/3rd of its young people and their offspring to incur permanent brain damage. Since the burden of public health and safety now rests with local government and private citizens, we must lock arms and do all possible to protect our youth, or neither they nor we have a future as a nation
__________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ….
ROGER MORGAN Chairman/Founder, Take Back America Campaign, 20 year anti-drug activist dealing with drug prevention at the local, state and national level. (www.tbac.us). Formerly Chairman and Executive Director of the Coalition for A Drug-Free California. Owner/CEO of Steelheart International LLC, engaged in international business development and has been an entrepreneur and businessman in California for 35 years. Formerly, he was Vice President of Volvo of America and General Manager of Volvo Penta of America; and engaged in sales, marketing and dealer administration with Caterpillar Tractor Company and Caterpillar Overseas. He is a graduate of Washburn High School in Minneapolis (1956), Colorado College (1963) and The Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Management (1964). He was Founding Chairman of the Coronado SAFE Foundation in 1997, a non-profit dealing with drug prevention; prior Board Member of the San Diego Prevention Coalition; member of the National Coalition for Student Drug Testing; and Special Advisor to the Golden Rule Society in Coronado. His passion for drug prevention stems from two step-children who became drug addicted at age 12 and 14 roughly 32 years ago, and two nephews who died from drug related causes. Morgan has authored two books, published on Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble, relating to marijuana and drug prevention. He is a frequent speaker and has written hundreds of articles on drugs and drug prevention.

The Medical Marijuana Hoax, Part 3: The Strategy

“We are trying to get marijuana reclassified medically.  If we do that, we’ll be using the issue as a red herring to give marijuana a good name.”  Keith Stroup, Emory University,  February 6, 1979

Stroup is founder of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law).  Thirty – five years later,  Stroup and his followers think his plan is  working.   Social media has helped the marijuana movement, which markets itself to teens and young adults, for votes and for new marijuana users.

TODAY, promoters claims marijuana holds the cure for nearly everything, including ebola.  Despite its intensive genetic alteration of the marijuana plant over the last 20 years — to make it more potent — advocates call it an herb. They don’t take responsibility for the damage pot does to the environment, or for the psychosis and mental health problems it causes in some people.   See The Medical Marijuana Hoax, Part 2: Mental Illness.

Parents Opposed to Pot believes the decision of January, 2013, by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, to keep marijuana a Schedule I drug (high potential for abuse), is correct.  Marijuana is a dangerous drug because of its perceived harmlessness,  and its cult-like following.   Americans would be wise to look into what happened when marijuana was rescheduled in Great Britain.

Marijuana can cause psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction and psychosis.   In January, 2014, Dan Linn of NORML Illinois said that there has always been the cannabis and schizophrenia connection.  If NORML has known this link, how in good conscience can they push for legalization?   A typical reader may compare it to the tobacco industry, fast-food restaurants, etc.  However, marijuana-induced mental disorders can appear within a shorter period time, as opposed to other unhealthy choices that take years off the end of life.   Not everyone is susceptible to problems with marijuana and not everyone will use in excess, but the industry preaches that marijuana is harmless and non-addictive .

How They’re Pushing the Medical Marijuana Hoax

Reading the “weed blogs” gives insight into the mind of the “Pot Lobby.”   First comes decriminalization, followed by medical marijuana, followed by full legalization.  Californians voted on Proposition 215 and approved medical marijuana in 1996, because huge campaign donations funded that ballot.  The roll of money to legalize has been nonstop ever since, with billionaires such as George Soros funding the movement. Oregon and Washington had ballot initiatives for medical marijuana in 1998.  Alaska, Maine and Colorado came shortly afterwards.    Pot policy makers are going for a checkerboard pattern of states, so  that states without it will be forced to join their neighbors.

Medical marijuana businesses depend on catchy names while guaranteeing no consistency in their product.  One strain had no buyers until it changed it name to Chocolope.  This lack of consistency is a huge red flag.  As the Los Angeles Times article further explains, “Chemist Jeff Raber examined 1,500 samples of marijuana in California and found little genetic cohesion between varieties of the same name.”

Medical marijuana has always been the cover for a plan to bring full-scale legalization. The marijuana industry plays the “compassion” game to gain sympathy supporters and gradually get public acceptance, slandering members of Congress who disagree. (See The Medical Marijuana Hoax, Part 1: Do Patients Go to Jail?)  Once the industry markets itself to potential patients, many of these so-called patients get “hooked.”   The industry’s tactic of getting more people addicted has succeeded by introducing the potent strains of marijuana, and by targeting the young.

If they succeed in getting enough people high, it is easier to control their minds.   For a year or two, the pot industry has been telling us that legalization is “inevitable.” — another manipulative tactic.  The plan is that states without medical marijuana will face extreme political pressure to join their neighbors.

Medical marijuana advocates now count 23 states as having some form of medical marijuana.   However, Florida, the 4th most populous state in the country, recently rejected a medical marijuana ballot which needed 60% of the votes to pass.   Marijuana lobbyists are active in every state, and they believe full legalization is right around the corner.Weedmaster2_0003

A Cure for Everything

In early 2011, the .  At first, marijuana was promoted as an aid for cancer and AIDs treatment, because the THC in marijuana can help nausea and stimulate appetite of cancer victims.  At this time, not more than 5% medical marijuana patients actually have cancer or AIDS, as a political site fact – checker  published.   Today, the common condition those who seek medical marijuana is “pain,”  a sign the industry is trying to nurture dependence, and not cure people.  (A shot of whiskey also cures “pain.”) If those who use marijuana for “pain” treatment, sought a chiropractor instead, their treatments could be for a limited time.

Marijuana has been promoted from its status, as the cure for nausea in cancer patients, to being the cure for cancer, as marijuana advocates claim today.  The biggest argument against marijuana as a cancer cure is that pharmaceutical companies from around the world would be marketing it, if it were truly a viable cure.  The claim that marijuana cures cancer is reminiscent of the laetrile controversy  30 years ago, explained in a recent article by Robert Weiner in AlcoholismDrugAbuseWeekly.

Treating Epilepsy, Seizures, Etc.

Regardless of safety or efficacy, it is understandable how parents may want to try an alternative to the  strong cancer-fighting and epilepsy drugs.   However, we do not support any treatment for children that has THC which can alter brain chemistry.   We ask that marijuana providers provide warnings, (See our article of the Medical Marijuana Risks for children), as pharmaceutical companies are required to do.

No qualifications are needed to be a “ganjapreneur,” in today’s “green rush.”  How can we continue to allow self-proclaimed wizards of pot to hold all the cards, without warning about the side effects?  Regulation of medical marijuana has been very difficult in the West, due to the objection of the industry.  Oregon finally implemented regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries this year, but faced industry opposition.  When Washingtonians voted for pot legalization in 2012, there was a consensus that medical marijuana was not being regulated and perhaps the limits of I-502 could  bring commercial marijuana under some regulation.

Since we published our story on Medical Marijuana and PTSD,  a new story has come out about how marijuana makes PTSD symptoms worse.   A ploy of the medical marijuana industry has been using is to convince people that marijuana is the only medicine for their ailments.  They try to find people who are “chronically ill.”

The road to HELL is paved with good intentions” explains the path of medical marijuana.  One former medical marijuana patient wrote to PopPot, explaining that after two years of using medical marijuana for an auto-immune disease, it brought on psychosis.  How can the Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Policy Alliance, NORML, Americans for Safe Access and United for Care not see that it is ethically wrong to promote something which such strong and horrific side effects—particularly in the mental health arena?   We already have a mental health crisis in the US.  Why add to it?

The vast majority of ordinary citizens who don’t use marijuana also don’t take the time to figure out the deception.

Pedestrian Deaths Soar in Vancouver with Legal Pot

A driver was stoned when he hit 7-year old Cadence Boyer on Halloween in Vancouver, Washington. She died two days later. The car had jumped the curb when it crashed into the trick-or-treaters. The little girl’s mother and her 6-year old friend were also hospitalized, but survived. The friend’s mother ended up in intensive care and was in critical condition. It wasn’t a fun way to spend Halloween, and for Cadence there will be no more Halloweens.

The driver, 47-year old Duane C. Abbot told police that he smokes two to three grams of marijuana a day, and that he had smoked about a few hours before the crash.  Where is MADD Continue reading Pedestrian Deaths Soar in Vancouver with Legal Pot

Washington’s Marijuana Policies Still Chaotic

THE world is watching Washington’s historic experiment with marijuana legalization, and we’re screwing it up.”  claimed a recent editorial in the Seattle Times.    “The experiment is undermined by a much larger, wildly unregulated medical-marijuana market.”   The state’s failures shouldn’t be an excuse for inaction in Seattle, the paper said.

The state’s major newspaper is clearly disillusioned with marijuana in Washington, even though it supported Initiative-502 back in 2012.  The editorial implied that the medical and recreational regulation should be integrated, calling the legislature’s failure to do so “abysmal.”  At last,  Seattle’s mayor issued a plan to regulate medical marijuana, but it probably doesn’t have much teeth. Continue reading Washington’s Marijuana Policies Still Chaotic

Young Man Says Marijuana Led to Heroin Use in High School

Heroin

Chris’s Story –Audio Recording

Listen to this compelling 11 minute testimony from a bright teenager whose marijuana use led him to indulge in stronger drugs.

How can drug proponents say marijuana is not a gateway drug when in almost every case of heroin use we find a history where marijuana led to heroin?

Recording by ExactingEditor.com

68 Treated in Northern California for BHO Burns

Since 2011, at least 68 people were treated for burns caused by butane hash oil fires and explosions, at northern California burn centers, including Shriners Hospital for Children, Sacramento, and at the UC Davis Regional Burn Center.

Usually those making BHO suffer the most, but several times it has happened at homes with children. The most recent baby who was badly burned in a hash oil (BHO) explosion was a 19-month old boy at a student housing complex in Montana.  The law has not kept up with the problem, as parents who engage in this deadly practice still have custody and visitation rights.  Children are threatened by neighbors who do it, too.

Butane hash oil (BHO) production is a marijuana extraction process which has exploded in popularity over the past three years. The victim had burns covering 28% of the body, according to Dr. David Greenhalgh, reporting to the Sacramento Bee in August.  A past president of the American Burn Association, he called hash oil burns an “epidemic.”  Greenhalgh’s research in wound care, skin grafts and reconstruction make him a leading national figure in the burn field.

Thanks to quick emergency response and to the quality of emergency medical treatment available in the United States,  it appears that all of the children have survived.  However, we have raised a group of young adults who are so accustomed to hearing “marijuana is safe” that they have no notion of the need to protect children from the dangers pot involves.

armhashoilburn
Photo, originally published in Oregonian, provided by Legacy Emanuel Burn Center. Top photo, Sacramento County Attorney’s office, fire in Arden-Arcade, CA, 2013

Those who make BHO and cause the explosions–31 in Colorado, this year, 20 in San Diego County within a year, 6 in Riverside County, 6 in San Bernardino County, 6 near Portland, OR and 7 in the Puget Sound—have been extraordinarily lucky.  Of those who died from hash oil explosions, at least one was in California, one in Oregon and one in Hawaii.  Two of the deaths were neighbors who were affected by the fires.  In Spokane, WA, a neighbor with respiratory problems died two months after the fire in January, while in Bellevue, WA, it was a former mayor of the city who died from a broken pelvis(see previous articles on this topic)

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

Hash oil explosions increase with legal marijuana, as has happened up and down the west coast, including four explosions in late November, one each in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.  There is a question as to how much lax enforcement of marijuana laws in parts of Washington, Oregon and California have allowed the practices to continue.

Fires while in the Care of Neglectful Parents

At least 2 children died by fire this year when neglectful parents smoked marijuana.  BHO is not the only way marijuana users threaten children by fire, because pot-smoking parents can be “out of it” and consumed by addiction.   Two-year-old Levi Welton of Sterling, Colorado, was left alone with his four-year-old brother with matches while his parents smoked marijuana with friends in another room.  (The parents and his brother survived.) In Oregon, during the last week of October, a mother was high on marijuana as a fire consumed her four-year old son.   Neighbors reported her too stoned to be aware and to show any emotion when her son died.

It also happened last year in a state without a legal marijuana program. In Pennsylvania woman pled guilty to leaving her 3-year-old twins to die in a fire while she left the house to see whether her marijuana had been stolen by her 15-year-old daughter.  Police say the boys turned on a burner on a grease-covered stove, sparking flames that soon engulfed the house.

The cost of an addiction is putting the substance ahead of the loved ones.   About 1 in 6 who begin using marijuana under age 18 become addicted, although marijuana promoters claim it is not addictive.

Oregon recently enacted a law forbidding daycare employees and operators from using medical marijuana.  Let’s hope other states follow suit, and that, in family courts, states do not give custody and visitation rights to marijuana-using parents, especially those making BHO.

As California Gov Jerry Brown has said, the world is too dangerous a place for Americans not be alert by using pot.  This concept applies to parenthood.  Parenthood is too large a responsibility for us not to protect our children. We need not expose small children to the manufacture of BHO or put them in the care of parents who prioritize marijuana over their children.  However, when neighbors make hash oil, parents may have no warnings.

Our tolerance for marijuana has  taught a new generation of young adults that marijuana is safe.  Making BHO is mainly done in western states, but the explosions have happened in Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Florida, Chicago, Michigan, Virginia, Houston.  It will spread east if we don’t watch out.  No longer should anyone say, “safer than alcohol” or “it’s just pot.” We have sent the wrong message, and need to replace it with a message that parenting and pot use do not mix.

Legalization Doesn’t End Drug Wars

The cause of drug violence in Mexico, Central America  and South America is NOT the  US government, as the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), ACLU, NORML and Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) want us to think. Their argument that the violence of drug gangs and cartels is caused by US policy shows a lack of understanding of the nature of drugs.

If it’s not naivete, it’s probably outright deception to say government can tax marijuana and take profits away from criminals, and the pro-legalization forces probably realize it, too.  In fact, there’s plenty of evidence which  traces the US  heroin crisis, to Mexican cartels moving into poppies instead weed.

Marijuana businesses are incorporating with slick marketing campaigns.  Businesses run by MBAs, like Privateer Holdings, go forward, without a word from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FDA, the Treasury Department, or any other governmental agency that is constitutionally mandated to uphold federal laws.  It could be only a short time before big tobacco companies get into the market, too.

We’re being misled by Ethan Nadelmann, Keith Stroup, Mason Tvert and others who, along with their billionaire benefactors and a complicit media, have turned a dangerous psychotropic drug into a cause célèbre.  The marijuana industry pretends that the US government is to blame for the greedy violent wars between drug cartels, and that legions of people are in jail for drug possession alone.

Benicio del Toro in the 2012 film Savages. Top: Johnny Depp starred in Blow, played George Jung who -- now in jail -- brought the Columbian cocaine trade to the US
Benicio del Toro in the 2012 film Savages. Top: Johnny Depp starred in Blow, played George Jung who — now in jail — brought the Columbian cocaine trade to the US

Some state governments and/or voters  have surrendered to the drug culture because they’ve been misled.

 When Drug Wars Occur

Drug wars happen when growers and cartels compete to have the strongest, most potent strains of marijuana.   Drug wars go out of control when gangs and cartels fight for greater share of the obscene profits.  Competition for the stronger, “better” strains of marijuana — meaning high-THC — is a reason that marijuana is so much stronger today, quicker to cause psychosis and quicker to get our children hooked on it and other drugs.

We can see the violence that comes with the competition in the drug trade in the book and movie, Savages of 2012, with Benicio del Toro.  An earlier movie  Blow, in which Johnny Depp played notorious drug dealer George Jung, tries to illicit sympathy for the criminal who was instrumental in bringing the Columbian cocaine trade to the USA.  It is clear that greed and adventure motivated Jung, without concern about the harmful consequences to others.

Marijuana plants have undergone a huge genetic alteration over the last 20 years to get a higher THC content.   American cannabis plants have been interbred with the plants native to central Asia, where it is believed that the high THC content protected the plants from the sun. THC is the ingredient in marijuana which produces a high, now often as high as 20%, compared to an average around 1-3% in the 1970s.

Marijuana advocates who say “drug wars don’t work,”  play into current anti-government sentiments.  They say those who don’t agree with marijuana must be taking money from the drug-making companies, the police unions, alcohol industry, the prison or prison guard industry.  Otherwise, how could anyone not believe in their psychotropic drug that has been manipulated — to become stronger and to work medical miracles, as they claim? Now it’s revealed that the alcohol industry doesn’t care, and big pharmaceuticals aren’t fight it. In their twisted logic, marijuana financiers say the US has created cartel violence in Mexico. Violence of course has many causes including poverty.

childrendrugdeals
Photo courtesy of http://killthedemand.com/mm.html

Most marijuana is grown in the US now.  So Mexican cartels have moved into the heroin trade, and they have strong demand in the US.  There’s also evidence that cartels have moved out of Colorado into Central America, and are causing our heroin epidemic today.

Drug Policy – Violence Theory

The drug policy – violence theory also demonstrates a poor understanding of the nature of humanity.  Gangs and cartels are money-making paths that bring profits quickly.  Anyone can be lured into the profit motive without fully thinking of the harm, particularly when a person is young and risky behaviors make it seem exciting.  There is a certain “high” that comes from evading the law.

Criminal businesses will be always be attractive to both the rich and the poor.  Some cartel leaders are well-educated and even rich.  If it were only about income inequality, many would get out of the drug trade sooner.  We need to foster opportunities for the poor, so they don’t see drug dealing as the only route out of poverty.  Regardless of circumstances, the dealers, gangs and cartels are hungry for power.  They wouldn’t lose power over people, if pot became legal! They would branch out to other crimes such as human trafficking, and to stronger drugs.

Photo courtesy of http://killthedemand.com/mm.html
Photo courtesy of http://killthedemand.com/mm.html

Anyone who believe drug wars totally failed should explain:  Why  don’t we hear about Medillín Cartel any longer?  We should be happy that cocaine and crack are less prevalent in the US.

Those who criticize the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) need to realize that the child abuse that comes with drug usage is much greater than mistakes made by the DEA.

Hash Oil Explosions Continue in California

At least five hash oil explosions have erupted in California over the past month while residents were using butane to extract “honey” oil from marijuana.  The worst fire occurred in Walnut Creek on Halloween, when a 4-unit apartment building went up in flames.  The entire street was affected, and a total of 12 apartment units were uninhabitable after the fire was put out.

On Tuesday, two men and one woman were arrested in Arroyo Grande, after detectives served a search warrant for a home with a butane honey oil conversion lab.  A 10-month old baby was found sleeping on a mattress surrounded by marijuana, pipes and broken glass.   There was also a 12-year old and a 15-year old in the home.

The most recent hash oil fire happened Wednesday night in Muscoy, San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles.  One man died and another man and a woman are in critical condition. It was the 6th event involving a marijuana lab in that county this year.   The LA Times reported 20 hash oil explosions happened in San Diego County within one 14-month period of 2013-2014.

In truth, hash oil labs have replaced meth labs as the most dangerous drug manufacturing process in the US during this decade.  The worst hash oil explosion occurred a year ago in Bellevue, WA.

Making BHO is becoming increasingly popular because VAPE PENs are now available.  Tiny, potent “dabs” are put in the vape pens and go undetected because they don’t leave a smell or emit smoke.   While marijuana today typical has 10-18% THC, the psychoactive element to bring the high, hash oil has up to 50-80% potency for a quicker, more lasting high.

“Honey,” “wax”, “dabs,” “budder,” “BHO,” “710,” “earwax,” and “shatter” are common terms for this trendy way to use marijuana.   Makers follow online instructions, some shown on videos.   Butane is the most popular way to make it, but not the only flammable product used.

nbcbayareaimage
Firefighters attempt to put out an fire caused by butane hash oil at a Walnut Creek, CA, home on October 31, 2014. Photo by Jodi Hernandez, from NBC Bay area News. Photo above, an NBC image also is by James Bogulawski.

Two men burned in Ukiah from a hash oil explosion on November 4. They had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital.  The butane ignited when one of the men lit a cigarette, in the shed behind the house. Another hash oil explosion caused an estimated $100,000 to a home in Visalia, near Fresno, a week earlier.

Those who keep advocating for marijuana legalization need to consider the cost of public services for the explosions which mainly occur in California,  Washington, Oregon and Colorado.

If we have legalization, we need to think about protecting the children, and if parents who endanger their children with drug usage should lose custody and visitation rights in divorce proceedings.  If marijuana is legalized, explosions wouldn’t stop, as the pot promoters like to tell us.

Hash oil explosions happen less frequently on the east coast, and in other parts of the country.  However, a hash oil blast in Missoula, Montana, happened in a university housing complex, where a student’s boyfriend was making BHO and endangering her toddler.  The man, woman and child had to be treated for injuries. Also in October, a 20-year old boy started a fire in his parents’ house in Jackson, Michigan.  He was a medical marijuana cardholder.

We need to ask why many “medical marijuana patients” are so addicted that they ask for these quick highs.  Could it be that medical marijuana providers are encouraging addiction to keep them permanently incapacitated?  The man in Missoula had been burned previously, yet he continued to make hash oil, illegally.  We need to recognize how addictive this marijuana extract is!

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

The Unraveling, Part 3: Temporary Mental Instability vs Bipolar I

(Read Part 1 and Part 2.  Permission required for reprinting) After Ryan’s death, I remembered reading many years ago in a magazine  about Margaret Trudeau, then wife of the Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. She was in her 20s, partied with socialites, and also suffered psychotic breaks.  Each time she referenced her use of marijuana as the trigger for those episodes.  I’ve since read current articles, and she continues to share. For her, marijuana led her into “madness.”  It was much later that she was diagnosed with  bipolar disorder.  It’s hard for me to accept her son, Justin Trudeau, wanting to have the same position his father held.  He’s a proponent of pot, despite knowing his mother’s mental health was so affected by marijuana. It speaks volumes on how great the opposition to promoting the truth about this drug!

Ryan was not helped to understand why his brain lost touch with reality under the influence of THC–this is the “elephant in the room.” The fact that hospitals don’t consider marijuana a factor in the picture of mental health is a tragedy. We need every researcher, past and present, across the globe, who understands the truth about what pot does to young brains to stand up in solidarity.

The experience of Great Britain was that it decriminalized marijuana, saw a spike in mental illness as a result of loosening the law, and then tightened their laws again. Canada has website on the cannabis-psychosis-schizophrenia link. The US, on the other hand, is not noticing its problem, or influenced by the marijuana financiers, is refusing to see that so many young people who are addicted to it are also  having psychiatric problems. I believe the psychiatry community has failed to connect the dots, ignoring the facts of today’s cannabis – so much stronger than when they were in school, or even 10 years ago.

The Lancet Journal of Psychiatry’s recent article points to a sevenfold risk of suicide for teens who use marijuana.

The second break happened 18 months after the first one, but this time I pre-arranged for Ryan to receive drug rehabilitation at a different hospital. The hospital in Pasadena gave the ‘green light’ for rehab. We paid $12,500 up front and Ryan’s PPO would insure the rest. His uncle and grandfather came, too, for support. Less than 24 hours after admittance, the staff coerced Ryan to their locked unit, where he was warehoused for 13 days with anti-psychotics exceeding the FDA limits.

The staff asked us several times: “Could Ryan have dropped acid? He doesn’t seem like our bipolar patients.” Once again his toxicology report came up positive (+) for THC. Again, in 2011, just like 2009, no one believed marijuana could cause this effect.
By now, we realized that our son’s drug problem was with weed and that he had relapsed with weed, but he never got a shot at the drug rehab for which we had already paid.

Ryan was “dumped” from their unit on the 13th day. The insurance refused to pay for it, perhaps after reading the notes of how much worse Ryan had become inside the hospital unit.  Why are insurance companies allowed to have so much influence on a patient’s treatment when they don’t have expertise?  He was drugged mercilessly into just a state of stupor. It was an endless nightmare for our son and for his family.

Ryan was taken off the last anti-psychotic at the first follow-up visit with the same psychiatrist because he appeared normal, compared to his state during hospitalization. However, he was still actively psychotic at that one week follow up. (I had stopped Haldol when he came home, as I was horrified my son had been receiving Haldol round-the-clock. Of course, at 6’4”, Ryan was intimidating. He had never become violent, but he tried to escape several times, realizing he had been tricked from the open unit into the locked unit.)

Coming Home Again

Ryan was hit with a personal betrayal at the same time–which just leveled him. Yet, with love and support of our family, he emerged once again from psychosis 10 weeks later. It came within the same time frame as the first episode, probably not a coincidence. This time it happened without medications, and I am suspicious that the medicines didn’t really affect his state of mind coming off psychosis after the first episode.

Ryan stayed with the Ivy League psychiatrist after coming out of psychosis for several visits. He drove all the way to his office in Pasadena, then had to wait up to 1 1/2 hours, as he piled in patients for the 15-minute check-in. I always hoped Ryan would invite me to go with him, but he didn’t. On the last visit, Ryan came home and announced “Mom, I’m not going back to see him because he never takes his head out of the computer, and doesn’t even look at me.”

After my son died, I subpoenaed his records only to find many days of nursing notes documenting: “Please call my mom she’ll know how to help me.” “I can’t stay in here like the last time, you don’t know what happened to me there.” But no one called me or told me despite my calling twice a day and visits every night.

During the 2nd hospitalization, I believe the massive anti-psychotics administered threw him into full-blown psychosis, as compared to the mild state of psychosis at the time he entered to get drug rehab. Drugging a young person into such a state of stupor, and then stopping medication upon discharge, surely that plays havoc on the young brain – already under siege from the effects of THC.

There are families whose kids died from drug overdoses, but began their drug usage with pot. There are those who have children hopelessly addicted to marijuana and there are those of us whose children die from the consequences of marijuana usage. All of us are stymied by a cover-up of the marijuana-mental illness link, and the fact that mental health treatment doesn’t adequately connect with substance abuse and addiction treatment.  Follow our posts by email to receive part 4 and part 5, to be published in December.

The Unraveling, Part 2: Denial, Denial, Even as Dog has Seizure

(Part 2 of 4, an anonymous testimony submitted by a reader.  Part 1)   For a person who had never shown the slightest mental instability and then goes into an altered reality—literally overnight–disregarding a drug classified as “hallucinogenic” as a trigger is outrageous. Mental health treatments fail when the root cause(s) are ignored. The culprit was the mind-altering chemical in marijuana, THC, which today’s pot has been genetically modified to produce in outrageously high amounts.

Psychiatry has morphed over the last 30 years, placing medical management (prescribing pharmaceutical drugs), ahead of getting to the bottom of things. The best way to minimize an encounter with the psychiatric system is to never use mind-altering substances including marijuana, and all its derivatives, as well as brain stimulants like Adderall, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics.

When I kept questioning the rush to diagnosis my son and the failure to recognize the THC connection, even my work colleagues (pharmacists, physicians, and nurses) would say: “This is about the right age when they break.” Or “Just accept what your son has — a mental illness.”

The out-patient psychiatrist was even worse.  He charged $250/session and took no insurance. At the only family session after Ryan was released, I questioned why would they diagnose him with bipolar depression since it has a high familial link? This doctor refused to answer me but eventually mumbled in response, “environmental,” which may mean he knew that THC can alter young brains.  (Bipolar 1 is the term used today, distinguished from Bipolar 2, if the mania is longer or more severe and/or the person has a manic episode before having depression.)

Nothing made any sense to me, and the nightmare continued. My daughter-in-law’s family was immersed in the belief of mental illness. “My whole family has bipolar problems,” her mother stated. No big deal, his wife said, though Ryan came back to normal after 10 weeks. My husband and I went to several psychiatric doctors trying to find a more reasonable physician who would look at the whole picture, but all followed the same philosophy. I even challenged them with the American Psychiatric Association’s classification system which qualified a bipolar I diagnosis as inaccurate when illicit substances are in evidence. (At the time, the DSM IV manual was the classification guide for psychiatry.) Mothers like me read everything and know when a diagnosis doesn’t hold. Denial was going on, but I don’t think the “experts” understood who was in denial.

No one ever suggested Ryan had addiction or dependence on pot or any drugs. I asked several times, as my thinking was that anyone who had basically had a brain break should go for rehab/counseling. These ‘experts’ reassured us,” Ryan is just a recreational user.” I kept researching and showed my son and his wife the volumes of research about the marijuana-psychosis link. I told them, “If Ryan ever goes near any mind-altering substance again, it could trigger schizophrenia.” At the time, I was unfamiliar with the “skunk” strains of pot, and didn’t know most of their friends were using it.

In mental health programs, if there is presence of THC or other drugs in the toxicology report, please give the patient the education to help them understand addiction and how the brain works. The attending physician should be certified for Addictions Treatment.  I’ve read there should be at least a six-month wait to fully evaluate a person’s mental health function after stopping the substance, but it didn’t happen for Ryan.

Back to Normal? How Long?

My son’s wife dutifully gave Ryan his medicine — not that I believe any of them helped him come out of psychosis faster). Ryan gained 55 lbs. in 5 months, leaving stretch marks all over his statuesque physique. Our son had gained so much weight, complained of “brain fog” and once out of psychosis weaned himself off the meds. In total, he spent five months on the anti-psychotics.

I never believed my own kid would ever go near another mind-altering substance again. Neither my husband nor I had ever touched an illicit substance in our lives. Sadly, parents who think they raised their kids sensibly, spent quality time with them and modeled a healthy lifestyle, can be woefully unaware of “today’s culture.” The drug is everywhere; one in six teens who use marijuana become addicted to it.

We found out later that some close friends were using pot so Ryan was persuaded to start using “recreationally” at age 19.  About that time, he began dating the girl he married, also a user, but not someone I’d expect to be into pot.

Sad for me, when I met individually with Ryan’s five close friends, each called him “best friend,” because he gave everything of himself to his friends. Some “fessed up” to using marijuana with Ryan. One said, “But he never did the really bad drugs like I’ve done.”

Ryan’s dog had seizures about a month before our son’s second “episode” of psychosis.  Long story short–I helped my daughter-in-law get their dog to the family vet. She told the veterinarian their dog had eaten snail bait, but he disagreed. I had no knowledge my son had returned to pot, and his wife didn’t share that fact. Indeed, now I realize that their dog had found their bag of pot. The vet told us it was not epilepsy, as I thought. He was unsure if he would be able to save this dog. Following an expensive intravenous (IV) hydration, the dog survived.

After Ryan experienced his next breakdown, he confessed, “Jodie had eaten pot before his seizures began.” Later, the vet assured me “Pot doesn’t cause seizure, but makes dogs lethargic, sleepy.” Several months ago, a Colorado veterinarian wrote an article in the LA Times about the escalating number of dogs having seizures from contact with pot edibles. I marched the article to our vet, grabbed his arm and implored him to educate himself and spread this information to his colleagues.

If our family vet had recognized the symptoms of today’s pot which causes seizures, and if I had been sharp enough to have asked the vet to do a drug screen, we could have made a difference.  But, we didn’t realize that Ryan had gone back to using pot, thinking he had beaten the addiction.  (Parts 3 and Parts 4 will follow.  Part 5, to be published in December, will explain how the author has helped others with her knowledge.)

The Unraveling of Ryan, Part 1: First Episode

(Here’s the first of a 5-part series. Names are changed, but details are true. Permission required for reprinting)  No family should lose a child because of this ubiquitous falsehood that pot is benign. It’s not a level playing field for us, because of the marijuana financiers and the pot “evangelists” who try to silence us.

I’m no longer intimidated by anyone who dares to tell me marijuana is a “soft” drug. Kids today comment that it’s not even a “drug.” Recently a pot user told my younger son, “Your brother must have had a weak brain if pot made him go crazy.” When talking of drug policy, we need to consider that this drug has irreversible, insidious mental health challenges and changes for some young people.

On a single night our first-born son went from his normal self — a gregarious, accomplished young man with a healthy mind, so loved by friends and family—to someone me and my husband of 30 years couldn’t comprehend. Ryan had just turned 23, and had been married for two months. I blame the strong strains of marijuana around in 2009 and 2011 when he suffered two psychotic ”episodes,” 18 months apart. He tested positive for THC – the part which produces the high of marijuana — on his toxicology reports.

“That young man in there is an alien. Please find my Ryan, the real Ryan, not that imposter,” I told the psych hospital we finally got our son to, early in the morning. I have worked in health care for more than 30 years, but to see my own flesh and blood sounding and thinking like someone whose brain is unraveling, is way too much pain. The consequences for a young man whose mind spins out of orbit only gets worse inside locked walls of a hospital.

Truly, someone should be following a young person in his/her first episode of psychosis. I swear it would scare some kids into never touching weed again. Despite me, his mom, waving the science research about the “cannabis-psychosis” link to the staff at the locked psych unit, they denied the association. Heavy doses of psychiatric drugs were administered to my bright star–a 6’4″ handsome kid.

The First Episode: a Long Night

“I know you don’t think I use drugs but I’ve been using marijuana but it’s harmless, just an herb,” Ryan said to me and his dad from the back of our car, as he was losing reality.  Ed and I were so frightened, so overwhelmed, so helpless and clueless about how and where to get help.

To backtrack, the police took our son to another hospital in the middle of the night, as his bride called 911 and was so frightened at his strange, bizarre behavior.  But my son was a law-abiding citizen, had never been in trouble with the law and went peacefully with the police. The police took him to a central processing center in Ventura, CA, only to find there were no psychiatric doctors on duty. The young psych technician didn’t feel he was a danger to self or others and so was calling a taxi when we, Ryan’s parents, appeared in the middle of the night to find our son.

Ryan agreed to go with us, but he was hallucinating and tried to jump out of our car as we traveled on the 101 freeway at 2:00 a.m. Our son kept asking us if we saw the same bombed out buildings (in the middle of the night).  He said that he had to save Obama. I swear it was like my son was having a nervous breakdown, a more accurate description than the psychiatric label he was assigned once we found a psychiatric hospital several hours later to “help” our son.  We hadn’t even had our son two minutes inside the door when this woman already had diagnosed our son with a severe mental illness. She didn’t know a thing about him or our family lineage, which has no history of any severe mental illness.

I assumed she was just an obnoxious hospital aide, but sadly this locked psychiatric unit was close to the old movie, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ryan was instantly labeled, warehoused with massive anti-psychotics (powerful drugs, supposedly to clear up disordered thinking) for 10 days. He got so much worse the longer he was kept locked away. The side effects of the drugs included muscle rigidity, drooling and slurred speech with a cotton mouth.

My son had his “band of brothers,” the five groomsmen who stood beside him just two months earlier. They came to visit along with countless friends and family. The toughest one of them, walked outside after seeing Ryan, kicked a trash can with such force that it flew in the air, and broke down crying.

On the 10th day he went home to his wife, who was overwhelmed, understandably. I would like to say this story has a happy ending, but it does not. One of the pastors who presided over Ryan’s memorial 33 months ago recently said he was proud of my “missionary work.” But, really, any parent who loses their adult “child” to the consequences of cannabis “skunk” would vow to end the cover-up of marijuana’s true harm.  Read Part 2. Part 3 explores temporary psychosis vs. bipolar 1.  Part 4.  For information on skunk and today’s stronger marijuana, read Antonio Maria Costa’s article.

Bellevue’s Massive Fire One Year Later

Exactly one year ago today a hash oil explosion in Bellevue destroyed 10  apartment units just outside of Seattle.  Three men  started the fire at 6:20 a.m. while using butane to extract the hash oil from marijuana.  One hundred police and fire fighters were called to battle the fire which lasted several hours and injured seven.

Nan Campbell, former mayor of Bellevue died in the fire after suffering from a broken pelvis. Other residents ended up with broken bones, after jumping out of 2nd and 3rd story windows.  Originally it was thought that the injuries were not life-threatening.

Residents who were interviewed lost all their belongings.  There were $1,500,000 in damages to the building and about 1/3 of that in personal possessions.  The one shining light at the end was that a woman who thought her cat was gone later found the pet under the rubble.  After investigation and with the aid of federal agents, three men were charged on July 22, 2014.

It has been said that marijuana legalization privatizes profits while the public pays all the costs.

Home processing of BHO from marijuana is not legal.  However, when police had come to investigate the two men living in the apartment on October 17, they showed their medical marijuana cards and denied making butane hash oil.  One of those charged was visiting the complex.   At least 5 other explosions occurred in the Seattle area this year.

A hash oil explosion at a Bellevue apartment complex in November 2013 ultimately led to the death of the city's former mayor and injured several others. Photo: Courtesy U.S. District Court Of Western Washington
A hash oil explosion at a Bellevue apartment complex in November 2013 ultimately led to the death of the city’s former mayor and injured several others.
Photo:  U.S. District Court Of Western Washington

This year 31 home explosions triggered by making the marijuana concentrate, BHO, occurred in Colorado by the beginning of May. Butane is a highly volatile solvent and a flammable gas at room temperature. Without proper ventilation it can easily go off like a bomb with ball of fire, blowing out windows, and doing damage to a house, condo or apartment and putting innocent neighbors at risk. This is particularly of concern to multilevel housing units like motels, condos and apartment buildings.  Twice children in Colorado were trapped on the 2nd level and had to be rescued.

The first hash oil explosion in Colorado happened in 2012.  There  were 11 explosions in 2013.   With legalization these incidence increase.

Legalization increases desire to get high, and get the faster high, but at what expense to the rest of us?

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

10 Myths Marijuana Advocates want you to Believe

by Dr. Christine Miller, Ph.D.
Myth #1. It is rare for marijuana users to experience psychotic symptoms like paranoia.
In fact, about 15% of all users and a much higher percentage of heavy users will experience psychotic symptoms.1 Half of those individuals will become chronically schizophrenic if they don’t stop using.2 Fortunately, some do stop using because psychosis is not pleasant and they wisely recognize that pot caused their problems.
Myth #2. Marijuana-induced psychosis must be due to other contaminating drugs.
Clinical studies under controlled laboratory conditions have shown that administering the pure, active ingredient of pot, ∆9-THC, elicits psychotic symptoms in normal volunteers.3  In addition, epidemiological research of nearly 19,000 drug abusing Finnish subjects showed that it was not LSD, amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, PCP or opiates that most consistently led to a diagnosis of long term schizophrenia, it was marijuana.4 Thus, if you lace your LSD with marijuana, you are more likely to go psychotic.
Myth #3. If marijuana is associated with the development of chronic psychosis (schizophrenia), it is only because the patients are self-medicating. Correlation does not equal causation.
Actually, four studies have been carried out in Europe to ask the question which comes first, the marijuana use or the schizophrenia. The research was designed to follow thousands of young teen subjects through a course of several years of their lives, and to ask if those who were showing symptoms of psychosis at study onset were more likely to begin smoking pot, or were those who were normal but began smoking pot during the course of the study more likely to become psychotic. Three of the studies5 convincingly showed that the evidence for marijuana triggering schizophrenia was strong, whereas the evidence for self-medication was weak. The fourth concluded that both were happening — marijuana was triggering psychosis and psychotic individuals were self-medicating.6
Myth #4. Those who become schizophrenic from marijuana use were destined to become so anyway because of their genes.
The truth of the matter is that no one is destined to become schizophrenic. Even in the case where one member of an identical pair of twins has schizophrenia, only about half the time does the other twin become schizophrenic as well.7  Thus, there is ample room for environmental factors like marijuana to make a difference between leading a normal life and not.
Myth #5. Studies showing links between marijuana and psychotic disorders like schizophrenia are “cherry picked” to exclude negative studies.
A very large review of all relevant published papers was conducted by a group of researchers from around the world and published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet. No attempt was made to exclude results that were negative. The results they obtained by merging all the studies was that marijuana use approximately doubles the risk for schizophrenia.8 Later research has shown that the risk goes up to 6-fold if the use is heavy or if the pot is strong 9 (similar to the strength of marijuana that is coming out of Colorado now).
Myth #6. Marijuana makes you mellow and less aggressive.
This is certainly not the case for the 15% who experience psychotic symptoms and the subgroup who then go on to develop a chronic psychosis. These individuals are up to 9-times more likely to commit serious acts of violence than people whose schizophrenia has nothing to do with drug use.10 Just a few of the very recent high profile cases here on the East Coast include January’s Columbia Mall shooter Darion Aguilar and “multiverse”-ranting Vladimir Baptiste, who drove a truck through a Towson, MD TV station in May. Somewhat less violent cases include White House episodes: Oscar Ortega, charged with shooting at the White House, ex-Navy Seal employee David Gil Wilkerson charged with threatening the life of the President and most recently, fence jumper Dominic Adesanya who is charged with attacking the White House guard dogs this October. In the Rocky Mountain region, soccer dad Richard Kirk became psychotic after his first use of marijuana edibles for his back pain, and while hallucinating that the world was going to end, shot his wife to death as his children listened through a closed door.On the West Coast, the mentally ill marijuana user Aaron Ybarra shot one student dead and wounded two others on the campus of Seattle Pacific University. In Ottawa this past week, rifleman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was originally thought to have terrorist ties after he killed a young guard at the Capitol, but instead his friends paint a picture of psychosis and law enforcement records reveal more than one arrest for marijuana possession. All of these individuals exhibited psychotic symptoms prior to their acts and their mental illness could be traced to their marijuana habit in my opinion.
Myth #7. Marijuana is good for the symptoms of PTSD and by keeping this drug from our veterans, we are depriving them of an important alternative treatment.
Veterans Affairs Administration studies have shown that those with PTSD who smoke marijuana make significantly less progress in overcoming their condition.11  PTSD victims are already more vulnerable to psychosis and it comes as no surprise that clinicians have witnessed psychotic breaks in PTSD patients who begin marijuana12 because of the abundant literature showing an association between marijuana use and the subsequent development of psychosis. While the symptoms that afflict PTSD patients (anxiety, depression, panic) may be temporarily relieved while the subjects are “high”, these very same symptoms are exacerbated in the long run.13  Even in the context of polydrug use, it is the degree of marijuana use that correlates most significantly with anxiety and depression.14
Myth #8. Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and will reduce alcohol consumption, so we’ll end up with safer roadways.
In terms of mental health, marijuana is more dangerous on all counts (depression, anxiety, panic, psychosis, mania). As far as our roadways go, marijuana all by itself impairs driving. Whether it is better or the same as alcohol in that regard is still a matter of debate. What is known is that users all too frequently do both, and this combination is particularly hazardous. The interaction between the two drugs is synergistic,15 not additive.  So you end up with someone who is wildly impaired.
Myth #9. Laws don’t make a difference to rates of marijuana use
Some of the best data available on youth use in regards to laws comes from Europe, where they have a wide range of marijuana laws between the countries. The European organization ESPAD has studied youth use (15 to 16 year olds) across different countries every four years. The two most recent ESPAD reports (2007 and 2011) show that countries with legalization or defacto legalization (The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain) have on average a 3-fold higher rate of youth use than countries in which it has remained illegal. In our country, differences in decriminalization laws have existed between states for several years. If you break out the states with lenient decriminalization laws that also submit data to the CDC to track youth use (CO, AK, MA, ME), their rate of youth use (9-12th grade) is significantly higher (~25% higher) than states that have strict decriminalization codes and report to the CDC. Lenient codes include a low civil fine with no increase in penalties for repeat offenders, no requirement for drug education, no requirement for drug treatment, and no community service. Outright legalization and dedicated recreational pot shops in this country has not been around long enough for the effect on youth use to be determined.
Myth #10. The Drug War on marijuana is too expensive.
It is hard to put a price on the damage done to someone’s life if they develop a chronic psychosis like schizophrenia or psychotic bipolar disorder. But if economics must be considered, the cost of just schizophrenia alone to our country is approximately $64 billion per year, accounting for treatment, housing and lost productivity.16 If all adults were exchange their glass of wine or two over the weekend for a joint or two, our rate of schizophrenia would be expected to double. That $64 billion per year would pay for the drug war on marijuana and much more.
Brief Bio for the author:   Dr. Christine L. Miller obtained her B.S. degree in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. For over twenty years she has researched the molecular neuroscience of schizophrenia, ten of those years at Johns Hopkins University.  She is semi-retired, conducting occasional biomedical consulting on medical cases and an active volunteer for SAM-Maryland (Smart Approaches to Marijuana).
Citations:

  1. Thomas H. A community survey of adverse effects of cannabis use. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1996 Nov;42(3):201-7. Smith MJ, Thirthalli J, Abdallah AB, Murray RM, Cottler LB. Prevalence of psychotic symptoms in substance users: a comparison across substances. Compr Psychiatry. 2009 May-Jun;50(3):245-50. Barkus EJ, Stirling J, Hopkins RS, Lewis S. Psychopathology. Cannabis-induced psychosis-like experiences are associated with high schizotypy 2006;39(4):175-8……………..
  2. Arendt M, Mortensen PB, Rosenberg R, Pedersen CB, Waltoft BL. Familial predisposition for psychiatric disorder: comparison of subjects treated for cannabis-induced psychosis and schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(11):1269-74. Niemi-Pynttäri JA, Sund R, Putkonen H, Vorma H, Wahlbeck K, Pirkola SP. Substance-induced psychoses converting into schizophrenia: a register-based study of 18,478 Finnish inpatient cases. J Clin Psychiatry. 2013 74(1):e94-9……………..
  3. D’Souza DC, Perry E, MacDougall L, Ammerman Y, Cooper T, Wu YT, Braley G, Gueorguieva R, Krystal JH. The psychotomimetic effects of intravenous delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004 Aug;29(8):1558-72. Morrison PD, Nottage J, Stone JM, Bhattacharyya S, Tunstall N, Brenneisen R, Holt D, Wilson D, Sumich A, McGuire P, Murray RM, Kapur S, Ffytche DH. Disruption of frontal θ coherence by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol is associated with positive psychotic symptoms. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011;;36(4):827-36. Bhattacharyya S, Crippa JA, Allen P, Martin-Santos R, Borgwardt S, Fusar-Poli P, Rubia K, Kambeitz J, O’Carroll C, Seal ML, Giampietro V, Brammer M, Zuardi AW, Atakan Z, McGuire PK. Induction of psychosis by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol reflects modulation of prefrontal and striatal function during attentional salience processing. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012 Jan;69(1):27-36…………….
  4. Niemi-Pynttäri JA, Sund R, Putkonen H, Vorma H, Wahlbeck K, Pirkola SP. Substance-induced psychoses converting into schizophrenia: a register-based study of 18,478 Finnish inpatient cases. J Clin Psychiatry. 2013 74(1):e94-9………………
  5. Arseneault L, Cannon M, Poulton R, Murray R, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, 2002, Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study.BMJ. 2002 Nov 23;325(7374):1212-3. Henquet C, Krabbendam L, Spauwen J, et al. Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people. BMJ. 2005;330:11–15. Kuepper R, van Os J, Lieb R, Wittchen HU, Höfler M, Henquet C. Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study.BMJ. 2011 Mar 1;342: d738…………….
  6. Griffith-Lendering MF, Wigman JT, Prince van Leeuwen A, Huijbregts SC, Huizink AC, Ormel J, Verhulst FC, van Os J, Swaab H, Vollebergh WA. Cannabis use and vulnerability for psychosis in early adolescence–a TRAILS study. Addiction. 2013 Apr;108(4):733-40……………..
  7. Gottesman, I.I., Shields, J.,1967. A polygenic theory of schizophrenia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 58,199-205……………
  8. Moore TH, Zammit S, Lingford-Hughes A, et al. Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review. Lancet. 2007;370:319–328…..…
  9. Zammit S, Allebeck P, Andreasson S, Lundberg I, Lewis G, 2002, Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study. BMJ. 2002 Nov 23;325(7374):1199. DiForti M, Morgan C, Dazzan P, Pariante C, Mondelli V, Marques TR, Handley R, Luzi S, Russo M, Paparelli A, Butt A, Stilo SA, Wiffen B, Powell J, Murray RM. High-potency cannabis and the risk of psychosis. Br J Psychiatry. 2009,195(6):488-91..………
  10. Fazel S, Långström N, Hjern A, Grann M, Lichtenstein P. Schizophrenia, substance abuse, and violent crime. JAMA. 2009 May 20;301(19):2016-23. Harris AW, Large MM, Redoblado-Hodge A, Nielssen O, Anderson J, Brennan J. Clinical and cognitive associations with aggression in the first episode of psychosis. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2010 Jan;44(1):85-93..……
  11. Bonn-Miller, Marcel O.; Boden, Matthew Tyler; Vujanovic, Anka A.; Drescher, Kent D. : Prospective investigation of the impact of cannabis use disorders on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among veterans in residential treatment. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Vol 5(2), Mar 2013, 193-200……….
  12. Pierre JM. Psychosis associated with medical marijuana: risk vs. benefits of medicinal cannabis use. Am J Psychiatry. 2010 May;167(5):598-9. ………
  13. Kuepper R, van Os J, Lieb R, Wittchen HU, Höfler M, Henquet C. Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study.BMJ. 2011 Mar 1;342: d738. Moore TH, Zammit S, Lingford-Hughes A, et al. Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review. Lancet. 2007;370:319–328. Zuardi AW, Shirakawa I, Finkelfarb E, Karniol IG. Action of cannabidiol on the anxiety and other effects produced by delta 9-THC in normal subjects. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1982;76(3):245-50. Patton GC, Coffey C, Carlin JB, Degenhardt L, Lynskey M, Hall W. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. BMJ. 2002;325(7374):1195-8. Hayatbakhsh MR, Najman JM, Jamrozik K, Mamun AA, Alati R, Bor W. Cannabis and anxiety and depression in young adults: a large prospective study.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007;46(3):408-17. Hasin DS, Keyes KM, Alderson D, Wang S, Aharonovich E, Grant BF. Cannabis withdrawal in the United States: results from NESARC. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(9):1354-63. Buckner JD, Leen-Feldner EW, Zvolensky MJ, Schmidt NB. The interactive effect of anxiety sensitivity and frequency of marijuana use in terms of anxious responding to bodily sensations among youth. Psychiatry Res. 2009;166(2-3):238-46. Zvolensky MJ, Cougle JR, Johnson KA, Bonn-Miller MO, Bernstein A. Marijuana use and panic psychopathology among a representative sample of adults. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Apr;18(2):129-34…………….
  14. Medina KL, Shear PK. Anxiety, depression, and behavioral symptoms of executive dysfunction in ecstasy users: contributions of polydrug use. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 Mar 16;87(2-3):303-11………
  15. Ramaekers JG, Robbe HW, O’Hanlon JF. Marijuana, alcohol and actual driving performance. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2000 Oct;15(7):551-558.
    O’Kane CJ, Tutt DC, Bauer LA. Cannabis and driving: a new perspective. Emerg Med (Fremantle). 2002 Sep;14(3):296-303. Biecheler MB, Peytavin JF; Sam Group, Facy F, Martineau H. SAM survey on “drugs and fatal accidents”: search of substances consumed and comparison between drivers involved under the influence of alcohol or cannabis. Traffic Inj Prev. 2008 Mar;9(1):11-21………
  16. Wu EQ, Birnbaum HG, Shi L, Ball DE, Kessler RC, Moulis M, Aggarwal J. The economic burden of schizophrenia in the United States in 2002. J Clin Psychiatry. 2005 Sep;66(9):1122-9.

Seven Amazing Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now

(Edited commentary from two of our followers who insisted we share both sides of the issue.)             

Dear Friend — The reasons for the rest of America to follow the states of Washington and Colorado, and to legalize marijuana, are overwhelming. Even if you’re not with the program yet, read on and then … FORWARD this MESSAGE!

(7)TAX and REGULATE To enable cities, counties and states to siphon all that revenue from the criminals, enough marijuana users will be happy to pay twice the street price to eliminate the underground market.  During that stretch, fire departments will get new trucks hospital emergency teams will get overtime pay to deal with amateur chemists making butane hash oil in hotels, homes and apartments buildings.  Forget the surge in tax money for  mental health and addiction treatment.

(6) DISCOURAGE TEEN USE. Never mind that teen use of marijuana plunged by 33% from 1980 to 1992. We still say the War on Drugs is responsible for making our youth want to light up, and try pot brownies. Obviously, when you tell kids to avoid something, they go after it. Therefore, the best way to discourage teen use of pot is to have competition. The street price will drop by 50% and we can let Phillip Morris put marijuana cigarettes and snacks in convenience stores. When marijuana is all over the place, kids won’t want it. Only mature adults will want it and maturity is automatic when a person turns 21.

(5) GET TOUGH WITH DRUG LORDS. When 20 million of my fellow stokers, jokers and midnight tokers can get their marijuana legally, the cartels are likely to shift into something respectable. Those guys will soon be up against an economic wall. Nobody understands ADDICTION better than some of this country’s great corporations, especially the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol.

We need Big Business to take charge, enhance the potency of the plant, nail down the distribution system, and build good vending machines. Mom & Pop growers can’t do that.  Let Phillip Morris and Miracle Gro show the way. The answer to Big Booze and Big Cigs is … jeez, what would it be called? Maybe … BIG DOPE.

(4) SAFER ROADS Marijuana users don’t drive fast and get angry like those drunks. If anything, they have to be more careful when they’re baked.  Besides, the Marijuana Policy Project tells us that Marijuana is SAFER than Alcohol.  In October 2012, Joseph Beer crashed his new sports car into a tree on a Long Island highway. Four of his friends died, his own injuries were minor, and he got 5 to 15 years. Court testimony found Joe to be a chronic marijuana smoker, and wired with weed during this wild ride. Okay, bad break for Beer’s friends. What can anyone conclude from a single accident? –It’s not safe to drive at 100 miles per hour. (Of course the weed has nothing to do with that, since that makes you drive slowly.)

(3) POLICE FREE FOR SERIOUS CRIMES. Making marijuana cheaper, common, and not such a big deal will free up law enforcement officials to concentrate on real crime. Marijuana will be in all 50 states, in every city, with home delivery like happens with pizza, and vending machines close to schools, and candy sellers walking up and down the bleachers during ball games, and snacks with kiddish labels — all of this will also guarantee that the cops have “more serious problems” to address!

(2) REDUCE CRIME BY REMOVING LABELS  Things that have been criminal for decades can become legal. After pot-use becomes a street-corner norm, we can carry that lesson over to neighborhood speed limits, shoplifting, insider trading, and software piracy. There will still be burglaries but so what, we’ll have our freedom. When enough people DO IT, the law should just say SCREW IT, except for

(1) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, and we will save police for domestic abuse cases.
Doing away with criminality of marijuana, our police forces can focus on domestic violence, child abuse and pedophilia, since those guys are bad anyways, and it has nothing to do with drugs. Their addictions are sex, bullying and fighting.  With those guys locked locked up, the rest of us will be totally free and dancing in the streets. It’ll be 420 every day and that’s our America!

Yours for a Healthy America,
NORMA  L. NOSTRUMS and NORM  L. SAFER

Medical Marijuana Hoax: Do Patients Go to Jail?

“I know of no patient-only person sent to federal prison for use of marijuana,”  said Law Professor Douglas Berman, a specialist in marijuana law at Ohio State University.

Even before states started legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use, the federal government didn’t throw defendants in prison simply for using marijuana Vanderbilt University Law Professor Robert Mikos explained.  He added, that’s because prosecutors are focused on suppliers and distributors. This information is from an in-depth analysis of Politifact Florida, reports of the Tampa Bay Times and the  Miami Herald.

The Compassion Card and the Hoax

Why do marijuana advocates constantly play the compassion card?  Or pretend we don’t care about children with epilepsy or cancer?

How is it medicine if they give it names like Purple Poison, White Widow, Body Buzz, Lemon Skunk?  Why is it that only 2-5% of the medical marijuana patients are terminally ill with cancer or AIDs, the conditions that may benefit from the nausea and appetite stimulation of medical marijuana with its THC?

Why is it that so many patients have chronic conditions and “need their medicine” continuously.  Is the industry trying to make them  hypochondriacs, or are the marijuana providers (“caregivers”) nurturing dependence?  Most medicine is supposed to cure a person and get them to the place where the medicine is not needed.  Our view is that more precautions are needed for medical marijuana.

Fraudulent Practices

Once medical marijuana passes in a state, fraud is encouraged.  For example in Michigan a doctor wrote medical marijuana prescriptions for more than 60 so-called people he never saw as patients.  He made $16000 in cash, but the medical marijuana providers reaped more than $1.3 million in profits over 2 years.

Also, in Michigan (not one of the hotbeds of marijuana), 20-year old so-called patient recently started an explosion at his parents’ house, from trying to extract hash oil from marijuana.    We need to ask ourselves why so many people who are so young are so disabled?

Recently, the Deputy Attorney General James Cole said that California needs to start regulating it’s medical marijuana or the federal government will do it.  Legalizing marijuana doesn’t solve unregulated medical marijuana, as Washington proves.

More than two years ago signs like this one in Pompano Beach were put up in Florida, in anticipation of Amendment 2, to be voted on today, November 4
More than two years ago signs like this one in Pompano Beach were put up in Florida, in anticipation of Amendment 2, to be voted on today, November 4

Americans for Safe Access

A few months ago Americans for Safe Access sponsored some television ads suggesting that cancer patients go to prison.  They specifically targeted members of Congress who did not vote in their favor.  Representative Andrew Harris, one of the Representatives attacked in an add, explained in front of Congress that medicine was  more precise than prescribing “two joints a day,” or “a brownie here, a biscuit there.”   “This is not medicine,” Harris said.

“This would be like me as a physician saying, ‘you know, I think you need some penicillin. Go chew on some mold.’   Of course I wouldn’t do that. I write for 250 mg of penicillin, [every] 6 hours, times 10 days. I don’t write, ‘chew on a mold a couple of times a day.'”

Rep. John Fleming, another doctor who formerly worked in a chemical dependency program and has published a book about addiction, spoke, warning of what marijuana does to the brain development of young people.  Recent medical studies and reports only clarify this message, making the warning stronger.

In Colorado all that its necessary to be a caregiver is that they are over age 21.  Compare that to the training of a pharmacist, nurse practitioner and physicians.

We condemn the way Americans for Safe Access, United for Care and other lobbyists have been essentially dishonest about medical marijuana.  They imply that having a different opinion shows a lack of compassion.  We also blame them and other groups for not explaining that cannabidial oil which helps for seizure is a component of marijuana and not marijuana.   We ask them to stop posturing for one thing when they really want something else.   (Read Part 2 of the Medical Marijuana Hoax: Mental Health)

 

Why I Now Hate Pot!

I Hate Pot

I Missed Quality Time with My Father

I wish my Dad’s relationship with me was closer than it was to…. Guess What? Pot!!!! That’s right, Pot didn’t help anybody but himself. It didn’t take long to realize the selfish behavior left no real quality place for me in his life. I would have loved more time with my Dad. I would have loved to spend more time with my Dad, rather than him searching for his next high.

TearsThe loneliness and despair of a child without a high functioning parent have left long term effects on me and my surrounding new relationships.

When your Dad asks you if your boyfriends have any pot for him? Really Dad, Wow that’s crazy boundary crossing and inappropriate regard for my place in this world. My place where I smoked pot and hated it and it has outcast me ever since. When I go to parties I hear the whispers, “she doesn’t do this” and off the crowd goes to experience their high.

Guess what, I found new friends and although not perfect I feel accepted for Hating POT!

This is a true testimony by a mom who wishes to remain anonymous.

Tiedc Uses Rap Video to Bring Message

Tiedc2014 put out this video to warn parents and children of the the danger of marijuana edibles.

After ingesting marijuana edibles, 12 Colorado children have ended up in emergency rooms this year, several in urgent care. Colorado still has not come up with appropriate regulations to safeguard against more emergencies. The edibles have also ended up in other states, including packages that arrived in Maryland last week.

When the governor of New York finally decided he would allow medical marijuana, he would not allow it to be smoked. Now capitalists are trying to get into the lucrative edibles market in NY. Maybe put greed aside for a change and stop trying to market things with colors and cartoons that appeal to children.

Stop BHO Blow-ups and Fires

Fires and explosions from butane hash oil (BHO) production sent 17 people to a Portland burn unit in a 16-month span, according the Oregonian in a series of reports in May. The BHO-explosions caused numerous injuries, extensive property damage and at least one death in Oregon.   A few of those in the burn unit had come from the state of Washington.

Let’s not repeat the chaos that Washington and Colorado have had since legalization.   Because of the expense of buying marijuana concentrate at a dispensary or pot shop, potheads are using homemade recipes off the Internet to manufacture hash oil at home (remember meth labs?), to be used for dabbing and vaping.   Law enforcement tried in vain to get marijuana concentrates banned in California.

Once marijuana advocates get what they want, it will be very difficult to stop marijuana in any form, including the “bomb”, BHO.

Marijuana possession has been allowed since December 5, 2012. The most horrific case involving BHO hash oil, was a year ago, in Bellevue, Washington near Seattle. All ten units of an apartment building were destroyed and residents jumped from 2nd and 3rd story windows, sustaining many broken bones. The explosion and fire caused $1.5 million in damage and the loss of $500,000 in belongings.  A total of 7 people were hospitalized, and a former town mayor, who lived in the building, died from her injuries. The young man who started the fire wasn’t even on the lease, he was staying with friends.Dopeisthebomb

Colorado legalized marijuana as of January 1 of this year.  By May, 31 home explosions occurred in Colorado. The incidents were triggered by those attempting to make homemade Butane Hash Oil, a marijuana concentrate. Butane is a highly volatile solvent and a flammable gas at room temperature. Without proper ventilation it can easily go off like a bomb with ball of fire, blowing out windows, and doing damage to a house, condo or apartment and putting innocent neighbors at risk. This is particularly of concern to multilevel housing units like motels, condos and apartment buildings.  A child was trapped in an apartment above one of these explosions in Colorado.

The first hash oil explosion in Colorado happened in 2012.  There  was one in 2012, 11 explosions in 2013.   We get the picture.  Legalization increases desire to get high, and get the faster high, but at what expense to the rest of us?

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

 

Does Accepting Teen Pot Use Increase Violence?

The shootings last week in Marysville, Washington, forces into question: What triggers school violence?  Jaylen Fryberg, who shot himself and five others, was a popular, 15-year old Homecoming Prince.  Last December at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, an 18-year old with few signs of mental illness, shot a fellow student and tried to shoot a teacher.  One died at Arapahoe HS, while three died this past week, plus the shooters.

Teachers and mental health professionals are supposed to be able to spot a troubled youth.  These teen boys defied that category.  Jaylen Fryberg, was upset over a break-up and invited friends to eat lunch with him, knowing he would shoot them.  Karl Pierson was upset with a teacher who kicked him off the debate team, and so decided to shoot people. To seek revenge and kill oneself after a disappointment is not normal.   These youth came from the states that had legalized marijuana.  Marijuana needs to be added to our discussion of what causes mass violence, along with violence in the media, access to guns, violent video games, etc.  (Since this article was written, the Twitter feed of Jaylen Fryberg showed him to be quite a marijuana user.  His ex-girlfriend said it made his stupid.)

From the esteemed Lancet Psychiatry Journal, we know that teens who use marijuana are 7x more likely to attempt suicide.  Marijuana blunts feelings.  Both Jaylen and Karl lacked empathy for themselves and others.   Did these boys use marijuana? How much? How long?  Legalizing pot normalizes it; states that have long-term medical marijuana programs have higher usage of  all drugs.   Those who support legalization proposals are promoting a system that legitimizes it.  When pot is normal (or tobacco or booze) for adults, teen usage rises.

Mass shooters James Holmes and Jared Loughner  were known to be marijuana users — and not moderate in their use.  Marijuana averages 13% THC today, opposed to 1-3% in the 1970s and 80s.   Did marijuana feed their psychosis and the psychopathology of Fryberg, Pierson, Columbine killers and others?  Using marijuana increases the  chances for psychotic episodes, anxiety, aggression, schizophrenia, among other problems.

Karl Pierson, an 18-year old shot his classmates at Arapahoe High School in Colorado on Dec. 13, 2013
Karl Pierson, an 18-year old killed a classmate at Arapahoe HS in Colorado on Dec. 13, 2013. Does his diary, now under discussion, reveal marijuana usage?

In all fairness, two of the worst mass shooters in the US, the perpetrators of the Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech massacres, appear to have never used marijuana.  They were more logical in their planning and succeeded in killing more people, unfortunately.

Modern Reefer “Madness”

For every claim of a brilliant mind that used marijuana, without negative effect,  there’s another person who was harmed by using it.  The people described below indicate that marijuana has strong adverse reactions for some individuals, and for society.

1) On September 26, Brian Howard started a fire at the air traffic controllers station in Aurora, IL, holding up commercial planes for days. He was high, and admitted to having smoked marijuana right before the incident.

2)  Amanda Bynes’ mother said she hasn’t been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, as rumored, and blamed the weird behavior on heavy marijuana use.  Amanda alleged her father had committed child and sexual abuse, but recanted.

3) Kevin Ward, Jr., was tragically hit by race car driver Tony Stewart on August 8, 2014, after he got out of his car to confront an oncoming driver on the track.  He eventually died. It’s perplexing that he would get out of his car considering the situation, but autopsy results show he had marijuana intoxication.

4) Marijuana probably affected the mental states of Megan Huntsman and Erika Murray–two neglectful mothers who let their babies die in their homes.   Other drugs may be involved, too.

5) According to the father of Jodi Arias, accused of the bizarre behavior and the murder of her boyfriend, she has never been the same since she started to grow marijuana at age 14.

6) Johar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston bombers, was supposedly easy- going and smoked a lot of pot.   Since the Boston Marathon bombing, his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev has since been linked to a triple murder on Sept. 11, 2011.  The victims had their throats slashed and were covered in marijuana.

7) In  2012, James Holmes shot and killed 12, and wounded 58, in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater.   Though he probably had not been sane for a number of years, a neighbor reported that he was frequently seen outside by the apartment building smoking pot.

8) On May 26, 2012, Rudy Eugene was caught on tape eating another man in Miami for 18 minutes before police arrived.  When police couldn’t stop him, he was shot.  Eugene died while the disfigured man survived. Toxicology reports showed that marijuana was the only drug in Eugene’s body when he gnawed the man.

9) Casey Anthony was amazingly detached from her actions and from her daughter’s death.  According to a friend of Casey Anthony, she smoked a lot of marijuana, but he was unaware if she used other drugs.

Amanda Knox is far more emotional today.  Did marijuana blunt her emotions in Perugia back in 2007?   Photo: The Guardian
Amanda Knox is far more emotional today. Did marijuana blunt her emotions in Perugia back in 2007? Photo: The Guardian

10) Amanda Knox, when confronted by police the day after Meredith Kercher’s brutal murder.  A regular pot smoker at the time, she admitted to smoking marijuana the night of the murder.  Her blunted emotional reaction to the bloody incident during police questioning was very strange.  (THC stays in the body up to a month, it doesn’t pass like alcohol.)  Without judging Knox to be guilty, we can certainly understand why Knox’s non-reaction to her roommates’ bloody death would lead Italian police to think she was guilty.  She is also from Washington, a state that worships marijuana usage at a festival each year.  One may conclude that Knox was excessively immature and out of touch, but then what was she doing in a foreign country?

A recent  shooter in Washington, Aaron Ybarra , had also “dabbled” in marijuana, although alcohol also played into his demons.  These shooting seem frequent in western states.  We need to see the correlation between the most unexpected school shootings and having medical marijuana in a state.   Why do states without medical marijuana come up in the news less frequently?

The list could go on, but this page represents a warning against validating marijuana.   It’s ungrounded to think legalization would make marijuana less appealing to those under age 21, or regulate underage usage.  Knox, Ward, Anthony,Johar Tsarnaev or Arias were under age 21 during the incidents, or when they started using marijuana. It’s likely that every individual mentioned above began use while while in adolescence.

This “experiment” in legalization is an opportunity for us to step up the warnings and increase funding for drug education and prevention.  It’s time to stop saying that marijuana isn’t harmful, or that it’s safer than alcohol.  Most of these examples are Caucasians, but there’s also a Native American, one black and one Hispanic.  Crazy, pot-influenced behaviors and psychosis don’t discriminate.  They affect male and female, though the males are more likely to be shooters.

Civil Rights, Drug Wars, Policy, Washington, DC

(Part 2 , see Part 1 – Our first article is about why African-Americans are less supportive of legalization than outsider groups who are trying to impose it on Washington, DC and elsewhere.)

Discussion of marijuana legalization centers mainly on personal freedom, flaws in the criminal justice system, and a theory that government can regulate it and take profits away from cartels and criminals.  There is no evidence that it is possible to regulate marijuana, and black markets persist in Washington and Colorado.  Since the regulation theory has largely been disproven by the two states and by studies, this article concentrates on criminal justice.

Can anyone truly believe legalizing marijuana would end racial discrimination in America? (Recent evidence in Denver and Seattle after the legalization of marijuana in Seattle suggests that racial discrepancies in arrests don’t end.)  However, these disparities are the main reasons people cite for supporting legalization of pot in Washington, DC.

Taking on the ACLU Positions

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L Lanier addressed the racial divide in arrests in the Washington Post.  Some of her comments specifically responded to a American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report.

Washington, DC, Police Chief Cathy Lanier
Washington, DC, Police Chief Cathy Lanier

“The ACLU also appears not to understand our city very well,” she wrote. “It is, indeed, a sad fact that blacks represent a disproportionate number of arrestees in the District; the proportions are similar for marijuana arrests, for other narcotics and all arrests.  But this is a complex issue that cannot be boiled down to an allegation that MPD (Metropolitan Police) selectively enforces the law against our black communities.”

Lanier points out that police in certain neighborhoods received a higher volume of calls from residents complaining about drugs, and that 59% of the police officers are black, a proportion higher than the city’s population.  Blacks are arrested more for marijuana because they tend to smoke it in public among groups, unlike whites who more often smoke in the privacy of their residence or clubs.

Cathy Lanier is the most popular citywide public figure in Washington, DC, with an approval rating over 70%.

Drug Policy in General

Chief Lanier emphasized that the police department in Washington, DC, is strongly committed to supporting youth.  The goal is to prevent youths from ending up in the criminal justice system for a minor transgression. Since she has been in the police department for 24 years and chief of police for seven, she has first-hand knowledge which the ACLU lacks.  She realizes that where there is already criminal activity, trying to put the marijuana under regulations may mean that criminals would branch out to other forms of crime and selling other drugs.

Much of the country agrees with rehabilitating drug addicts and drug abusers, rather than punishment.  While states vary, the drug treatment model is becoming more prevalent.   Transforming our drug policy rather than adopting complete tolerance and normalization of drugs  is a wiser policy.  The answer is not legalization.

We need a non-partisan national discussion, that considers all sides of the issue.  Mandatory minimum sentences don’t accomplish the goals desired when they were established. Three strikes laws should be abolished.  Prisons-for-profit aren’t allowed in most of the country, but they could also be banned.

“War on Drugs” Rhetoric

The idea that the “war on drugs” is a war on black and Hispanic communities is too simplistic to explain a situation.   The ACLU, which has had an important stake in legalization efforts in Maine and Washington (2 states with low African-American and Hispanic populations), uses this arguments to press legalization of drugs.

Wealthy white drug dealers can probably afford more expensive lawyers than minority drug dealers, a different matter.  Black males have been disproportionately jailed for violating drug laws.  Michelle Alexander, who wrote The New Jim Crow, supports legalization of all drugs.  However, she is now lamenting that legalization has benefited the white males who are now making all the profits.

The cause of racial problems of the United States and drug violence in Central America shouldn’t be seen as one-dimensional issues.  The argument that the violence of drug gangs and cartels is caused by US policy shows a lack of understanding of the nature of drugs.

The drug policy – violence theory also demonstrates a poor understanding of the nature of humanity.  Gangs and cartels are money-making paths that bring profits quickly.  Anyone can be lured into the profit motive without fully thinking of the harm, particularly when a person is young and risky behaviors make it seem exciting.  There is a certain “high” that comes from evading the law.

Criminal businesses will be always be attractive to both the rich and the poor.  Some cartel leaders are well-educated and even rich.  If it were only about income inequality, many would get out of the drug trade sooner.  We need to foster opportunities for the poor, so they don’t see drug dealing as a route out of poverty.  Regardless of circumstances, they’re hungry for power and wouldn’t lose power over people, if pot became legal. They would branch out to other crimes such as human trafficking, and to other drugs.

Benicio del Toro in the 2012 film Savages
Benicio del Toro in the 2012 film Savages

 When Drug Wars Occur

Drug wars happen when growers and cartels compete to have the strongest, most potent strains of marijuana.   High-THC plants bring higher profits, but the marijuana industry pretends that government is to blame for the greedy, violent wars between drug cartels.

We can see the violence that comes with the competition in the drug trade in the book and movie, Savages of 2012, with Benicio del Toro.  An earlier movie  Blow, in which Johnny Depp played notorious drug dealer George Jung, tries to illicit sympathy for the criminal who was instrumental in bringing the Columbian cocaine trade to the USA.  It is clear that greed and adventure motivated Jung, without concern about the harmful consequences to others.

Marijuana advocates who say “drug wars don’t work,”  play into current anti-government sentiments.  They say those who don’t agree with marijuana must be taking money from the drug-making companies, the police unions, alcohol industry, the prison or prison guard industry.  Otherwise, how could anyone not believe in their psychotropic drug that has been manipulated — to become stronger and to work medical miracles, as they claim? In their twisted logic, they say the US has created cartel violence in Mexico. Violence of course has many causes including poverty.   On the other hand, there is evidence that cartels have moved out of Colorado into Central America, and are causing our heroin epidemic today.

Washington’s Marijuana Program is a Train Wreck

Colorado Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado admitted his state was “reckless” to legalize marijuana, but the public hears less about the train wreck in Washington state.   The big lesson in Washington is that an unregulated medical marijuana system doesn’t suddenly get regulated — after marijuana is legalized for recreational use.

DUIDs for marijuana have increased significantly and that the hopes tax revenue haven’t been met.  There’s another aspect of the marijuana program in Washington…… wreckless destruction!   The “explosion of Washington’s marijuana industry has some police busier than ever,” read a headline back in June. Continue reading Washington’s Marijuana Program is a Train Wreck

Extreme Marijuana–Dabbing and Vaping Dangers

Part 2 of 2

Parents beware, the marijuana culture is promoting extreme highs that can get your kids hurt. Vaping and dabbing are new ways to get high that are extremely sudden, dangerous and eliminate the telltale odor, making marijuana use harder to detect.

Drugs like marijuana are addictive and once a teen gets swept up into the drug subculture, over-use and abuse of drugs is likely. The search for the next big ‘high’ and the impaired judgment caused by drug use is leading some teens to go too far.

Check out this TV News Story about this issue.

Marijuana Becomes Extreme ‘Sport’

Several “weed blogs” and numerous online videos promote the popularity of dabbing.

Dabbing is inhaling the potent vapors from concentrated marijuana oil which is up to 80% THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana. In comparison, a pot cigarette contains up to 18% THC. The intense high from concentrated pot oil can literally knock you unconscious. According to an account of a NORML event in California, one person nearly cracked their skull on the sidewalk and another experienced marijuana smoker broke her two front teeth when she passed out cold after ‘dabbing’.

Honey Oil, photo from the Humboldt Sentinel
Honey Oil, photo from the Humboldt Sentinel

Another grave danger lies in the process of making homemade concentrated ‘hash’ oil. Concentrated marijuana oil is also known as Butane Hash Oil (BHO). It is made by firing up the marijuana plant material with butane, a highly flammable and toxic solvent. This intense burn releases the THC and other compounds out of the plant and concentrates them. The butane then needs to be removed by further heating the concentrate. Adding heat to a highly flammable substance is dangerous business. Any remaining butane becomes a gas at room temperature and easily ignites, even with a small spark of static electricity.

Home Chemistry is Explosive

There have been 31 butane hash oil home explosions in Colorado just during the first 9 months of 2014. California has had an even higher number; numerous have happened on Oregon and Washington, too.  Amateur oil makers are now burn victims and properties were destroyed and neighbors put at risk of harm. See PopPot’s recent article, Hash Oil Explosions Rise this Year.

This more potent form of marijuana, BHO, can be added to food.  Or it is smoked in a variety of ways.  Hash oil bong (called an oil rig) or e-cigarette vaporizer (a technique called vaping) are among the two most popular devices used to smoke BHO.

In dabbing a tiny piece of potent hash oil is put into a small compartment of pipe, vaporizer of pen. Photo: Oregonlive
In dabbing a tiny piece of potent hash oil is put into a small compartment of pipe, vaporizer of pen. Photo: Oregonlive

  The Hidden High

Unlike smoking marijuana, which gives off a noticeable, pungent odor, vaping hash oil is odorless and discrete and can go unnoticed. This means that like an e-cigarette smoker, a marijuana smoker can ‘vape’ in public places, work or even school without fear of consequences or reprisal. This makes vaping marijuana concentrate very appealing to addicts. It means those most likely to abuse the drug and become dependent on it can become more reckless about the use of the drug, thereby risking an overdose, and posing a danger to others.

Even pot culture observers are warning about the risks of vaping and dabbing.  Vaping is growing in popularity, because it allows legal marijuana to be smoked in illegal places, such as ball games, malls, theatres, schools. There is also the risk of not getting all the butane out of the finished product. According to Mother Jones magazine, “When BHO is improperly made, it can be tainted with toxins.”

A hash oil lab that was raided by police in Glendale, CA. Photo: Glendale Police.
A hash oil lab that was raided by police in Glendale, CA. Photo: Glendale Police.

The two main arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana are: 1) that it is not harmful and 2) that it is impossible to overdose.  With dabbing and vaping, we know differently.

For more on this topic read the San Francisco Weekly article, Thanks to “Dabbing,” It Is Possible to Overdose on Marijuana.

See Part 1 What is Dabbing, and Why Should Parents Worry

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

What is “Dabbing” and Why Parents Need to Worry

Part 1 of 2 (Part 2: Extreme Marijuana–Dabbing and Vaping)

“Dabbing” is a way to get the quickest, long-lasting high with a single inhale.  In fact, a single puff from a pipe or vaping pen can give the effect of smoking many joints.  Unfortunately for parents, the new vaping pens make it extremely difficult to see, smell or detect.

“Dabbing is to marijuana, as crack is to cocaine,” is a way it’s been explained.   No one should ever try it, because the psychosis can be immediate, and, as a habit, it is nearly impossible to get unhooked.

Why, should parents worry?  Because the pens go undetected and, secondly, because children are getting into pot at younger ages. Wheat Ridge, Colorado,  is the site of Three Kings Dab Supply, a club where users bring their own dabs and party.  According to a mom in Wheat Ridge,  “Since legalization, marijuana has become a problem in the middle schools and has shown up in the elementary schools twice.”

Marijuana users suggest that kids use dabs, precisely because it can go undetected.  Dabbing is actually more popular with the young users than with middle-aged adults, who often find it too strong.

How Dabs are Made

Dabbers take a tiny bit of butane hash oil, BHO  — hardened or buttery, and quickly light it up in a small compartment.  BHO is to marijuana, as crack is to cocaine.

Users have extracted the THC (the component in the marijuana plant that causes a high) from the plant to get maximum strength, usually using butane gas in some type of glass tube.    When it first comes out it is an oil, but the oil becomes waxy or buttery before hardening into the bits.  Hardened, it can be broken into tiny bits and give a high that last all day.

Butane has oil, a highly potent distillation of marijuana, is so potent that a single hit can last more than a day. (Photo: ABC News)
Butane has oil, a highly potent distillation of marijuana, is so potent that a single hit can last more than a day. (Photo: ABC News)  Photo above: Humboldt Sentinel

There are many nicknames for butane hash oil: “Wax,” “Honey oil,” “earwax,” “dabs” “shatter” and more.   It could be smoked, vaped or infused into the edibles.   Vaping is a concern, since the vape pens,  meant for tobacco, are adapted to be used with concentrates or dabs of marijuana.  It is  a way that teens may be using marijuana without detection.

Dabbing is Growing in Popularity Especially Among Teens

In short, hash oil offers a quick and lasting high for users.   A single hit can last more than a day.   By making it, it costs a user about 50% less than it would by buying it from a licensed dispensary or maker.

One may think that experienced, middle-aged users would be most likely to dab.  On the contrary, it is often the teens who go for the quick high, as well as the ease of use.

Dabbing packs such a wallop, it has been known to cause blackouts. Even  insiders warn that injury and death are possible.

Police in California would like to see marijuana concentrates banned.

See part 2 of this article, Extreme Marijuana-Dangers of Dabbing and Vaping.

 

Wheat Ridge Pushes Back Against Marijuana Grow

(Above, 420 party in Denver, 2013, AP photo/Brennan Linsley. This is the 4th in a series on Retail pot battles.) In Colorado where marijuana is legal for both recreational and medical use — a result of the vote two years ago — communities are fighting to push back against the pot businesses.  As Coloradans try to gain control of their neighborhoods from an invasive marijuana industry, voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, DC — where legalizing marijuana is on the ballot now — have a chance to learn a lesson.

A decision to legalize marijuana should not be taken lightly.   A decision to allow medical marijuana, as in Florida and Guam at the moment, is often an open door to the quasi-legalization of pot.

Battles are heated in Jefferson County, just west of Denver.  The city of Lakewood is currently voting on 2A, a ballot to ban marijuana.   Already Denver has more marijuana shops than Starbucks.

In the city of Wheat Ridge, just north of Lakewood and to the west of Denver, the community is standing together to keep pot out of their neighborhoods.  Residents may attend a city council meeting of Monday, October 27, and speak out about the proposed 10,000-square-foot marijuana grow, and about overall concerns regarding retail marijuana.

CentralColoradodispensaries map, shows where it is banned.
Colorado dispensaries map, shows where it is banned. Chart: Project SAM

The community is demanding a say in the creation of a 10,000- square-foot grow house and dispensary. The public is also calling to end to activities of a local head shop, Three Kings Dab Supply.

“Wheat Ridge jumped the gun with bringing in recreational marijuana. They didn’t look at the big picture,” says Jennifer Shepherd.   She added, “I, the mother of 2 young boys, have a recreational and medical dispensary next to our neighborhood playground.”  At this time there are five dispensaries or retail stores  in the city.

The city council voted to legalize the sale of recreational marijuana October of last year. District 1 Councilman Bud Starker, who voted to legalize recreational pot, says the people of Colorado did approve Amendment 64. “I think the (city) legislation that was introduced seems to balance the two interests — the will of the people and safeguarding the public,” Starker said.

There’s been a shocking trend of municipal ruling bodies who shut out public input into decisions regarding marijuana businesses throughout Colorado communities. Are they over-anxious and greedy for tax revenue? Many Coloradans didn’t realize their vote on Amendment 64 would be interpreted as a vote for recreational shops in their towns.

Jennifer Yates, a member of Parents for a Healthy Colorado, says, “There was rumor of a proposed 10,000-square-foot store, grow and MIPS (Marijuana-Infused Products) operation to be built 300 feet from my house. This site is in the walking path of a middle school.”

“Our city council and officials kept saying there is no application for this site, but I found a pre-application [after searching for the address]. I presented it to council Monday night and they finally admitted that this information is correct. It’s just frustrating that our elected leaders seemed to be dodging and dismissing what was really about to happen on that property.”   It turns out the proposed site will not be for a MIP.

Is the Money for Education?

Hundreds of Wheat Ridge community members joined together, rallying and appearing at the City Council meeting, filling overflow rooms and hallways, on September 22, 2014.

Wheat Ridge city council meeting, September 22.  Photo, courtesy of Healthy Colorado Kids.
Wheat Ridge city council meeting, September 22. Photo: Parents for a Healthy Colorado.

Pro-marijuana supporters stress that revenue taxes will go towards education.

“As far as taxes go, as an educator I don’t want drug money,” said former Lakewood High School Principal Ron Castagna. “It’s not worth it; I’ve watched kids die over this stuff.” The parents and educators of Wheat Ridge seem to think that banning the dispensaries, as many called their city council to do, would be a far greater advantage to their children.

Three Kings Dab Supply

A head shop in Wheat Ridge, Three Kings Dab Supply, is also a recent topic of controversy in the neighborhood. The shop sells bongs, pipes, and other smoking devices, as well as offers space to glassblowers to practice their craft. It promotes a space in which pot smokers can come and “bring your own dab.”

Three Kings Dab Supply in Wheat Ridge, CO, is where people bring their own "dabs."  Photo: News Channel 9
Three Kings Dab Supply in Wheat Ridge, CO, is advertised as a place where clubbers bring their own “dabs.”         Photo: News Channel 9

Complaints began when a neighbor who shares the driveway with Three Kings’ parking lot became frustrated with the amount of cars in the parking lot. Jennifer Yates, who drives past the supply shop several times a week to take her daughter to gymnastics, commented on Three Kings Dab Supply, “I noticed that most times there are only 2-4 cars in the lot, but on Friday nights, there were 15-20 cars.”

It will continue to be an on-going concern, because those who go to the club can party on the property, in a backyard, where noise and smoke can invade the neighborhood.  While the business does not distribute marijuana and may seem a lovely artistic gathering place, it is a concern for parents and their children.

Oregon: Debate Shows Flaws in Measure 91

Measure 91 would tax and regulate marijuana in Oregon.   A problem — acknowledged by both No on 91 and Yes on 91 in last’s night “Great Pot Debate” at Portland State University — is that the measure doesn’t allow cities to tax.  To test the  theory that a “weed” can be taxed and regulated, those who crafted 91 wanted taxes to be lower than in Washington and in Oregon.

Problems with the marijuana edibles in Colorado were discussed. Today Dr. Ron Schwerzler admitted he was wrong about 5 children dying from the edibles.  He may have confused facts about the edibles with three toddlers who died from neglect while parents smoked weed.  Added to the two adults who died, there are 5 non-traffic fatalities in Colorado caused directly or indirectly by marijuana. (So far 13 children have been hospitalized for ingesting edibles, 7 of them in IC Units.)   Dr. Schwertzler was correct, however, in asserting that you don’t treat one addiction with another addictive substance.

No one who was debating had the faintest idea how edibles would be regulated in Oregon.    The debate was live streamed October 21 and will repeat on  KATU TV station, Sunday, October 26, 9 a.m.

Measure 91 could set up turf battles between cities and the state over the right to tax.  In last night’s debate, Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis, suggested that it’s not the people, state, or the cities who would benefit, but lawyers who would fight for all sides.   Marquis sounded critical of the state’s aversion to a sales tax. Oregon has no sales tax and Washington, home of Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, doesn’t have a state income tax.  So instead of looking for easy solutions to raise revenues, both states have posed the idea of legalizing marijuana and using the tax for drug prevention education and other services.  Thus far, marijuana businesses have resisted regulations in Colorado.

Joshua Marquis
Photo of Clatsop County DA,  Joshua “Josh” Marquis                   Photo: Courtesy of Doug Crouch Photography.

Oregon’s law would allow individual possession of marijuana that is much more than either Colorado or Washington.

Oregon decriminalized marijuana in 1973.  There are about 2,000 + arrests per year for marijuana, but only 70 or so  currently in jail for marijuana violations alone.  Marquis pointed out that the crimes they committed, such as distributing or selling to children,  would still be illegal if Measure 91 passes.

Portland Pre-empts Marijuana Taxes

Last Wednesday Portland city council voted to for a 10% sales tax on recreational marijuana — to be applied if Amendment 91 passes. Votes are counted on November 4.   This action highlights one of the many flaws in Measure 91, which prohibits cities from taxing pot.  Cities like Portland would like a slice of the marijuana pie, since they will need a lot of money to regulate the industry.

Many cities — Hillsboro, Beaverton, Forest Grove– have passed a tax on marijuana, or are considering the action,  in advance of November 4.   Although Measure 91 gives the state  sole authority to tax marijuana, attorneys for some Oregon cities argue that municipal pot taxes will be grandfathered if passed before the election.  Supporters of Measure 91 argue otherwise.

 

Photo on top is DA Joshua "Josh" Marquis of Clatsop County. Photo: Courtesy of Doug Crouch Photography.  Oregon is known for hiking, biking, Mt. Hood and Multnomah Falls. Why change.  P
Oregon is known for hiking, biking, Mt. Hood and Multnomah Falls. Why change ?

A few local leaders think the pre-emptive taxes are a way to justify the marijuana businesses in cities without residents’ approval.   If this happens, Oregon will have the same political battles that have plagued Colorado and Washington.

While Oregon is counting on enacting a lower rate than Colorado and  Washington, estimates vary as to how much money can be collected.  A Portland firm, hired by the sponsors of Measure 91, estimated first-year taxes for the state to be 38.5 million.  A committee made up of state  economists estimated the figure to be about $9.3 million the first year.

Supporters of recreational marijuana propose that by creating a commercialized industry, marijuana can be taxed and regulated.  When governments introduce vice to raise revenues, they risk doing harm to significant numbers of the population.

Back to the Debate

In questions after the debate, supporters of Measure 91 objected to being “criminals,” as they consider themselves under current law, despite the fact Oregon decriminalized marijuana in 1973.  Inge Fryklund, a former prosecutor, argued that legalizing pot can keep marijuana away from children through regulation.  Her debate partner for Yes on 91 was Richard Harris.

No one discussed the possibility of an increase in explosions caused by hash oil extraction, already a problem in Oregon.  This problem increased threefold in Colorado by May of this year.

During the debate,  the idea that legalizing and regulating pot could take profits away from cartels and put them out of business was mentioned.   However, a Washington Post article earlier this year traced the business of cartels leaving Colorado to Central America, where they have introduced poppy cultivation.  There was general acknowledgement that Washington and Colorado still have black markets.   Why does Oregon think it could be different?

(Here’s our first story about Oregon’s Measure 91.)

Marijuana, GMO Lobbyists Pour Money into Oregon

(Second in a series on Oregon) Measure 91 to tax and regulate marijuana is not so much a vote about legalizing marijuana as it is a vote to commercialize it.   Oregon decriminalized marijuana in 1973!

“Commercialization’s goal is to privatize profit and socialize the costs,” explained one of our members in Colorado.

“Marijuana legalization rakes in another $800,000 from big out-of-state donors” was the headline in today’s Oregonian.  The money will fund a $2.3 million advertising campaign.

As of October 17, the out-of-state PACs and donors have given over $4 million — 24 x the amount Vote No on 91 has raised.  Yes on 91 asks Oregonians to expand its pot industry and allow recreational pot shops. — quite a stretch for the only coastal state that doesn’t commercialize its beaches.  (Medical marijuana sellers who recruit so-called patients along Venice beach in California wouldn’t find it as easy in Oregon.)

No on 91 is led by conviction, not money.  As the Register-Guard reports, almost all of its money is from in-state, and there’s a large group of volunteers.  Oregon residents and voters tend to be independent and less corporate, so they may not follow the pack.

Moms Against 91 held a press conference in  on Friday, October 17, in Oswego Lake
Moms Against 91 held a press conference in on Friday, October 17, in Lake Oswego, OR

Big Money Pushes Legalization Ballot; Monsanto Gives to GMO Opposition

Vote No on 91 has received most of its $168,200 from in-state sources.  (Oregon has another ballot issue that is also being watched nationwide, Measure 92, which would require labels on genetically-modified (GMO) foods.  Wealthy donors and corporate interests from both sides of that issue have donated millions.   Most recently, Monsanto gave 2.5 million in opposition to Measure 92.   Oregon Right to Know, in favor of Measure 92, has raised over $5.4 million, while the opposition has raised $15 million.  Dr. Mercola, Ben & Gerry’s Ice Cream are amongst the supporters. )

Unlike the GMO issue, the forces against marijuana legalization have no corporate donors.   Marijuana legalization advocates often claim that pharmaceutical companies fuel the opposition to legalization.  It’s a false notion, because the opposition comes from the public, the prevention community and parents.

Most of the money to fund marijuana originates in the deep pockets of hedge fund billionaire George Soros, donor of Drug Policy Action, and the family of Progressive Insurance founder, Peter Lewis.  Mr. Lewis died in November, but his children have continued the donations. They aren’t Oregon residents.

From Ballotpedia the Top 5 contributors:

Donor Amount
Drug Policy Action $1,350,000
New Approach PAC $950,000
New Approach Oregon $700,000
Drug Policy Action Fund for Oregon $240,000
Philip Harvey $150,000

While Oregon’s 2 gubernatorial candidates, Gov. John Kitzenhaber and Dennis Richardson , support GMO labels, they adamantly oppose Measure 91.  Gov. Kitzenhaber is a physician.

Thinking people of Oregon, please think deeply about this issue.

Civil Rights and Drug Policy in Washington, DC

African-Americans in Washington, DC, do not embrace marijuana legalization as readily as whites in DC — by a difference of 18 percentage points. Judge Arthur Burnett, National Executive Director of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, observes that opposition among  blacks to legalization stems from experience.  African-American communities already suffer from a liquor store on every corner, and black voters know commercial marijuana would prey on their communities at a much higher rate.  “Do we really want to substitute mass incapacitation for mass incarceration?” Judge Burnett asks.   He spoke along with others opponents to legalization at a Press Conference in Washington sponsored by Two. Is. Enough. D.C. (TieDC).

Judge Arthur Burnett, Executive Director of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc., former senior judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Judge Arthur Burnett, Executive Director of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc., former senior judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Vanita Gupta is the nominee to head the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. According to a recent article, Gupta, a former ACLU lawyer, endorses the complete legalization of marijuana in every state, with taxation and regulation.  No DC official is more popular in Washington than Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who contends the ACLU doesn’t understand the city (to be discussed in another article).   Washington residents should vote No on Ballot 71 to legalize marijuana and reject the posturing of outside groups.

Gupta has an impressive resume, but the 39-year old would not be where she is today if she lived by the drug policies she allegedly endorses. Had Gupta partaken in pot culture as a teen, she would not have been accepted into Yale University.  If she had spent young adulthood frequently using marijuana, she wouldn’t have become a successful attorney.

Does she understand the nature of addiction?  Does she understand why every minority group voted against marijuana legalization in California?  We cannot have a national discussion of policy without including a discussion of drug abuse and addiction.

Vanita Gupta
Vanita Gupta, nominated to head the Civil Rights Division in in Department of Justice

Our education about the nature of addiction and what drugs actually do—at all our schools, and at every level–should be top priority.  Here is evidence that was recently published in “Press the President,” which featured National Families in Action’s review of the science that underlies drug abuse and addiction.

Five Unavoidable Statistics

1. Availability drives use. The more available a given drug is, the more people use that drug. The most effective prevention strategy is to keep availability to a minimum.

2. 137 million Americans use alcohol regularly; 67 million use tobacco; 20 million use marijuana.

3. The alcohol industry spent $3.5 billion in 2011 to market and advertise its products; the tobacco industry spent $8.4 billion. A commercial marijuana industry will do the same.

4. Age limits don’t prevent underage use: five of ten new smokers every year are under age 18, eight of ten new drinkers are under age 21. Age limits won’t stop underage marijuana use in legalization states.

5. About half of Colorado’s medical marijuana dispensaries in 2011 were located in one city, Denver. That year, marijuana use among Denver’s middle-school students was double that of middle-school students in the rest of the state; marijuana use among Denver’s high school students was 25 percent higher.

Shocking Facts for Drug Policy-Makers

– It’s not your daddy’s weed. The marijuana of the 60s and 70s contained 2-3 percent THC. Today’s marijuana contains 15 percent THC on average. Marijuana extracts such as Butane Hash Oil contain from 75 to 100 percent THC.

– Colorado pot shops are selling candies, cookies, and soft drinks infused with marijuana. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are showing up at emergency rooms because they ate them and overdosed. Some have required intensive care to recover.

– Marijuana is not harmless. A just-published review of 20 years of marijuana research worldwide finds that marijuana can impair adolescents’ intellectual development and ability to perform in school. Use that begins before age 18 can result in an average IQ drop of 8 points, enough to place a person of average intelligence in the bottom third of the IQ scale.

– Using marijuana before driving doubles the risk of having a crash.

– One in six teenagers who use marijuana regularly will become addicted; so will one in ten adults.

– Marijuana use doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.

Another View — Judge Arthur Burnett

Vanita Gupta has said “The war on drugs has been a war on communities of color.”   There’s a lot she could learn from Judge Arthur Burnett. He spent 31 years as a judge in the District. He doesn’t think legalization would keep young black men out of jail, Marijuana would be more readily available, leading more young people to harder drugs.  Scratch the surface of most homicides and rape cases, and the perpetrators were high on drugs, including marijuana. Marijuana introduces people to a culture where they get drawn into other drugs, though it might not be a gateway for everyone who tries it.

Gupta’s passion for racial fairness is admirable, but she doesn’t seem to have drug culture experience.  Drug use brings pain and misery to the users and families of users.  Gupta needs to understand the limited hope for children who begin drug use at an early age. Being a racial minority it hard enough, but why add another strike against minority youth by advocating a program that would increase their drug usage?

Coloradans Tricked into Voting for This?

Yesterday, October 20, the Colorado health department proposed a ban of most forms of edible marijuana in the state’s pot shops.  The plan was scrapped after four hours of debate.   (Pictures of some of some edibles  are in earlier blog postings.)

Coloradans now admit they weren’t expecting the problem with edibles and marijuana stores, when they voted to approve Amendment 64.   They were promised it could “be regulated.”  Thanks to the Marijuana Policy Project, voters were tricked into a commercial program they no longer want, which governor called “reckless.”

CanYouSpotthePotBy early May of this year, nine children were treated at the Colorado Children’s Hospital in Aurora for ingesting marijuana. Seven of these children were in intensive care.   By August, at least three more children had been in emergency treatment for marijuana at the same hospital.    Dr. George Wang, head of emergency services at Colorado Children’s Hospital, discussed in a on Colorado Public Radio interview how marijuana poisonings have increased exponentially in the last few years.

Even adults have been tricked by the edibles, as Dr. Richard Zane, head of the emergency services at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver explained.  At a county fair in Denver this summer, three people sought emergency treatment after they ate marijuana edibles, by mistake.   Two adults died directly from ingestion of the edibles, one in March, and one in April.

Following the deaths,  H.B. 14-1366 was signed in May 2014.   The bill mandates that the department of revenue, on or before January 1, 2016, adopt rules requiring edible retail marijuana products to be shaped, stamped, colored, or otherwise marked with a standard symbol indicating that it contains marijuana and is not for consumption by children.  Currently marijuana infused edibles must have packaging that meet requirements similar to the federal “Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970.”

As one dispensary owner admitted, the edibles makers  just take common candies and spray hash oil on them.

“Marijuana is being sprayed, injected, and infused into almost anything imaginable — candies, cookies, sodas, salad dressing, pasta sauce, ramen noodles, and more — and yet our children and teenagers as well as parents, school officials, and community members have no way of knowing which products contain pot and which don’t.”  Diane Carlson, representing Smart Colorado,  was speaking at a committee meeting in September.  Smart Colorado formed in early 2013, after passage of Amendment 64, to assure that the newly legalized marijuana would stay out of the hands of children.

 

Notable Quotes

“I passed out so many times from anxiety attacks from pot.”   ———–Peter Frampton, in an interview with Alec Baldwin, 2014

“Marijuana is not dangerous because it is illegal.   It’s illegal because it is dangerous. ”                                                                                     —————–Ray Massicotte, Sheriff of southern Ontario, 2002

“With marijuana…………I just want kids to know, because there’s this sentiment that you can’t get addicted to it, and it’s not true.”                      ———————Lady Gaga,  2013

Elizabeth Dias asked the Dalai Lama if he had ever used marijuana, He answered:  “Never. These kinds of substances are generally considered poison, very bad……The ability to judge reality is something very unique.  Or brain is something very special.  So if that is damaged, that’s awful.                                                                                                       ——————-interview Time Magazine,  February 19, 2014

“We are trying to get marijuana reclassified medically.  If we do that, we’ll be using the issue as a red herring to give marijuana a good name.”

——————-Keith Stroup, Emory University,  February 6, 1979

“There’s no medical (marijuana), oh come on, this is one of the great hoaxes of all time.”

————–former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in radio interview with John Grambling, May, 2013

“If there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation? The world’s pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together.”                                                   ————————California Governor Jerry Brown to David Gregory in Meet the Press, March 2, 2014

 

Pueblo West: The Right to Ban Retail Expansion

(Part 2 on the battle to keep retail marijuana out of communities.)  Colorado has become the butt of the jokes from late night talk show hosts.  Some have gone so as to call it the vacation destination of “stoners” across America.

In the past, Colorado had been known mainly for its sporting activities and natural beauty.  “I think that [health and wellness] is a better thing for us to promote. It seems a little hypocritical, regardless of what side of the argument you want to take. There’s a lot of evidence out there that this [marijuana] may not be the greatest thing for you,” Tim Haas told me as we discussed Colorado tourism.

Haas is struggling with the problem in Manitou Springs, as our last article detailed.  Isn’t growing up to be a healthy, high functioning human being the message worth promoting to young children of Colorado?    It’s time to let Colorado communities — rather than marijuana businesses that are expanding throughout the state — to decide what is best for their individual communities.

South to Pueblo West

An hour’s drive south of Manitou Springs,  the Pueblo West Metropolitan District is fighting a similar battle.  The community of Pueblo West has been struggling with the growing number of businesses selling, growing, cultivating, or producing marijuana-infused products. The metropolitan district is already credited to having 6 recreational dispensaries, with, what seems, a new rush of marijuana licenses on the way.

When medicinal and then recreational marijuana were legalized in Pueblo County, the county created a land use code that limited stores to property zoned for specific retail uses. The result was the zoning protected Pueblo City, with limited zoning, and Pueblo West, with far more retail zoning, became the place to open shop.

“The result is businesses looking for spaces found a lot more zoned in Pueblo West than a lot of other places in the county,” Commissioner Sal Pace said. “It was an unintended consequence.” Pueblo West doesn’t want the stores, but the community of about 35,000 is stuck with them.  That’s what the resolution ended with, that acknowledgement.

While unintended, it’s nonetheless a consequence.  In the minutes of a Pueblo West Metropolitan District meeting on July 8, 2014, Sheriff Kirk Taylor for Pueblo County is recorded as saying, that he “does not think the citizens of this community have weighed in on the issue. There have been over 100 municipalities and counties that have opted out [of marijuana retailers in their areas]. The community of Pueblo County never got an opportunity to opt out. Three commissioners decided it was good for us and they started giving out licenses, and in his opinion this is wrong.”   In other words Pueblo West doesn’t want the stores it has, but the city is stuck with them.

Buyers in Pueblo West, Colo., line up on Jan. 1, 2014 to legally buy marijuana after it was approved for recreational use. (Source: AP Photo/John Wark)
Buyers in Pueblo West, Colo., line up to legally buy marijuana on Jan. 1, 2014, the day the first  recreational marijuana stores opened. (Source: AP Photo/John Wark)

Pueblo for Positive Impact (PfPI) Founder and Leader, Paula McPheeters, has been working diligently to make sure someone is standing up and speaking out for the community.  “What we want is control of our own destiny for economic development and or the future.  And we know there is way more to Pueblo West than just the marijuana industry,” said McPheeters.

Later in July, the Pueblo West Metropolitan Board finally heard its constituents and voted in favor 5-0 of a new resolution asking that the county not permit any new licensing of any additional marijuana-related facilities or operations. The resolution was passed shortly after being edited to remove a moratorium on pot shops. So while the community would still like to see the shops go somewhere else, they are still protected by the local Metropolitan Board.

The County Commissioner’s Board is beginning to feel the heat, as well, now that the local Metropolitan Board is being called to accurately represent Pueblo West’s desire to end the addition of any more pot shops in its community.  Also putting on the pressure at the County Commissioner’s Board meetings are those representing the big business behind the marijuana industry, leaving many community members wondering who their local legislators are really listening to—the people who live in their communities and voted them in, or the profiteers looking to attract pot smokers.

These Coloradans aren’t arguing whether or not they think that pot should or should not be legal, it’s about community members deciding what’s best for them and their families.

Colorado used to be the state of the Olympic Committee, one of the healthiest populations in America, known for its hiking and skiing, and its beautiful landscapes. Communities that don’t want to be a part of the pot  community and this new stereotype have the right to do so.  Coloradans are now fighting for their right to not raise their children surrounded by pot shops and marijuana grows.

Retail Marijuana Battles for the Heart of Colorado

(Part 1 on the battle to keep retail marijuana out of communities.)  Colorado’s image as a healthy place to escape smoke and pollution is under attack at its core.  Denver is not the only place where marijuana businesses are threatening the state’s image as place to pursue healthy activities.

Since its establishment in 1872, visitors have been flocking to Manitou Springs for the fresh mountain air, for rigorous hiking and for its healing waters. Manitou Springs is a darling community, founded upon the quest for healthiness, and community. It is seated at the base of Pikes Peak, just outside of Colorado Springs. Tourists may stop at several different natural springs of carbonated drinking water, each toting a distinct mineral content.

The city is also a great  destination for families. The Manitou Springs Penny Arcade and unique shops entertain the town’s guests before and after their exploration of Pikes Peak and the famous Incline. The historic center is on the National Register of Historic Places. Historical buildings are colorfully painted and restored, and the homes that perch upon the mountainside are unique to this area.  Manitou Cliff Dwelling is about five miles away.

Behind this lovely foreground is a community going to battle against the big business of marijuana. Since the approval of Amendment 64 in Colorado, legalizing marijuana, Manitou Springs has seen several medicinal marijuana dispensaries open their doors.  On August 1, 2014, Maggie’s Farm opened its doors as the first recreational marijuana retailer in their community.

Manitou Springs, CO, in 1902. From the Public Domain. Photo source: Wikipedia
Manitou Springs, CO, in 1902. From the Public Domain. Photo source: Wikipedia

Under Section 5(f), Regulation of Marijuana, Amendment 64 states:

A LOCALITY MAY PROHIBIT THE OPERATION OF MARIJUANA CULTIVATION FACILITIES, MARIJUANA PRODUCT MANUFACTURING FACILITIES, MARIJUANA TESTING FACILITIES, OR RETAIL MARIJUANA STORES THROUGH THE ENACTMENT OF AN ORDINANCE OR THROUGH AN INITIATED OR REFERRED MEASURE; PROVIDED, ANY INITIATED OR REFERRED MEASURE TO PROHIBIT THE OPERATION OF MARIJUANA CULTIVATION FACILITIES, MARIJUANA PRODUCT MANUFACTURING FACILITIES, MARIJUANA TESTING FACILITIES, OR RETAIL MARIJUANA STORES MUST APPEAR ON A GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT DURING AN EVEN NUMBERED YEAR.

Many communities are saying that they were not asked to vote on having marijuana retailers in their community. They disagree with those who claim that when a majority of voters in community supported Amendment 64, it signaled agreement to have marijuana retailers in that community.  Had residents known this would be the interpretation, many say they would have voted differently.

The group, No Retail Marijuana in Manitou Springs (NRMMS) came to life after the Manitou Springs City Council decided on January 21st to permit retail sale of marijuana, despite the majority of residents’ objections. It didn’t take long after the vote for local marijuana businesses to take action. The construction of Maggie’s Farm, a recreational marijuana retailer found in multiple Colorado cities, began in Manitou in May and opened its doors on August 1st. Another dispensary, Reserve 1, distributing medicinal marijuana, received a license to sell the drug for recreational use.  It  is currently looking for a larger space to expand its operation.

Many community members have voiced opposition to the City Council’s decision. Tim Haas, Treasurer of NRMMS and local business owner, says that one of the major concerns of allowing marijuana retailers in Manitou Springs is the large number of pot smokers from neighboring communities that will flock to Manitou for their recreational fix. Colorado Springs with a population just under 432,000 is but a mere 15-minute drive away from Manitou. In July 2013, Colorado Springs’ City Council voted to ban recreational marijuana stores with a narrow vote of 5-4, meaning Manitou Springs is now a close and convenient source of marijuana for those without a prescription.

It’s not only a question of increasing road traffic, but also people traffic. Manitou Springs’ population of homeless seems to have risen in the last few years. The anecdotal evidence is the appearance of an increasing number of young people gathering on the corner, sometimes smoking pot openly. It alters the feeling of the friendly town. Though many of the young and old homeless and panhandlers who congregate at the circle on Manitou Ave. are harmless, the question of safety may cross their minds of tourists who come to the area. Since the passing of Amendment 64, the Colorado cities of Denver and Colorado Springs have reported a large influx of homeless youth; many stating they are in Colorado for the weed, and it seems safe to say that Manitou may see the same ripple effect.

With some of these negative side effects becoming apparent, Haas, as a parent, is concerned.  He has chosen for his children to attend the Manitou Springs’ schools, coming in from a neighboring town.

Manitou Ave. in the Historic district of Manitou Springs  (Source: Michael Brands for The New York Times)
Manitou Ave. Historic district of Manitou Springs (Source: Michael Brands/The New York Times)

What might happen if parents begin to perceive Manitou Springs as a center for recreational marijuana? A large percentage of Manitou’s High schoolers are “choiced” in, meaning that if parents change their minds based on the reality, or purely their own perception, of what is going on in Manitou, the local schools could lose money. Just losing 20% of the students would be enough financial cause for the schools to have to cut teachers and the other students would be left to face the consequences.

NRMMS created the petition to ban retail marijuana shops from the Manitou Springs community shortly after the City Council’s vote. The group gathered 593 signatures, 465 being certified, almost double the required number of 275 certified signatures — 15 percent of the number of voters in the last general election (1,833). The question will appear on the November 4th ballot allowing voters to decide if the current ordinance should be upheld, or overturned, banning retail marijuana establishments in the city of Manitou Springs.    At least two groups are working together to ban the marijuana shops in Manitou Springs,  Don’t Let Manitou Go to Pot and People Against Retail Marijuana in Manitou Springs.

Resident voters will receive their ballots by mail on October 16. They should be returned no later than November 4. Voters who did not participate in the last election may need to update their voter status and request a ballot. For more information or to check your voter status in Manitou Springs, please visit the Manitou Springs City website. Voters wishing to ban the stores should vote YES on the marijuana retail ballot question. The Colorado Springs Gazette endorses a Yes vote on 2G.  Former Mayor Marcy Morrison recently wrote this opinion piece in the Gazette.

Hash Oil Explosions Rise with Legal Pot

Another consequence of changing a public policy to benefit the 6- 7% of adults who use marijuana is the slew of hash oil explosions which have occurred this year.  Making BHO, butane hash oil is a relatively easy, but dangerous, process.

Did anyone figure ambulances, fire fighters and emergency medical care into the cost of legalizing marijuana?  Voters in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, DC, and two cities, Lewiston and South Portland, Maine, need to think of possible consequences before legalizing another dangerous drug.  States considering medical marijuana also need to factor in the legality of making BHO, and the cost for public services when the fires occur.

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock called a meeting last week to pass an ordinance that would restrict unlicensed  amateurs using flammables to process marijuana.  There have been 8 blasts in the   city of Denver this year, and 31 in the state.  After an objection was voiced at the meeting on September 15, the discussion was tabled.

Congress made a huge mistake, when on May 30, the House of Representatives voted not to allow Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) funds to be used to investigate federal violations in states with medical marijuana.

Like passing child protection laws, or keeping the marijuana businesses out of communities, it seems impossible to pass any restrictions which might stop marijuana consumption, commerce or expansion in Colorado.  (Marijuana has caused three non-traffic deaths in Colorado this year: one incidence of child neglect in January and two deaths from potent edibles, in March and April.)

Firefighters putting out a hash oil explosion in Jefferson County, Colorado
Firefighters putting out a hash oil explosion in Jefferson County, Colorado.  Photo: CBS Denver

The marijuana industry told voters marijuana is “safer than alcohol,” but the social and public service costs must be staggering by now.  The fires and explosions are increasing, because extracting hash oil from marijuana has become more popular.  The promised tax revenues from marijuana are much lower than was projected, and black markets still thrive.

Seared Skin and Burn Centers

“Hash Oil’s Trail of Seared Skin and Annihilated Homes”  reports of one death in Hawaii early this year and one death in Oregon last year. “March Madness” was a term used to describe the numerous hash oil blasts that took place during one month this year.   Five explosions happened in Colorado during one week in April.

Butane hash oil must be made in an open or well-ventilated area.  If the butane sparks something else, explosions can occur.  What makes it dangerous is that butane is highly flammable, sensitive to heaters, pilot lights, electric cords, a cigarette or the slightest spark of a match.

Of the 31 hash oil explosions that had occurred in Colorado by early May this year,  21 involved injuries and 10 of those suffered from major burns requiring extensive treatment.  In the previous year, there were 11 such explosions in the state, with 11 people treated for burns.  According to an official of the state’s burn center, at University of Colorado’s burn unit, the first explosion occurred in 2012. Most victims are males in their 20s and 30s.

A hash oil explosion.  Photo: ABC7 News Denver
A hash oil explosion. Photo: ABC7 News Denver

A  request to search the records of Oregon’s only burn center over a 16- month period showed that 17 people were treated for butane hash oil burns, including two residents of southwest Washington.  A 12-year old girl sustained broken bones after jumping from the 2nd floor, to escape a Medford, Oregon, hash oil fire last November.

In California, during a 14- month period from 2013 to early 2014, 27 people were treated for hash oil burns in one Northern California burn unit, 17 in southern California centers.  In California, it’s legal for medical marijuana patients to use or buy the hash oil, but illegal for amateurs to make it.  We have written previously of the children endangered by theses blasts. 

Fortunately, no one has died in Colorado from BHO-explosions, though some people have sustained horrible burns.

As far as state law goes, making the hash oil in a home is perfectly legal in Colorado, as reported on ABC7 News.  Charges of arson or child endangerment can be filed, however, when there is property damage, others are put in danger, or children are nearby.

Homes, Apartments and Property Damage

hashoilexplosionSeattle
A hash oil explosion at a Bellevue apartment complex fire caused one death to a former mayor and $1.5 million in damages.  Photo above and below: US District Court of Western Washington

Federal District Attorneys in Washington, California and Oregon have been excessively slow in response to the explosions, despite the extensive damage to property, deaths and injuries to others.  The explosions began 2-3 years ago on the West Coast, but it is only in the last few months that the Department of Justice appears to have decided that action is necessary.

Last weekend the Los Angelos Times reported 20 butane hash oil explosions in San Diego County, alone, within the year. There was $1.2 million of damage to an apartment building in San Diego last January.  The explosions have occurred from New England to Florida, and from to British Columbia to Arizona.

In May, the Oregonian ran a series of online articles about BHO (butane hash oil), detailing the hows and whys of making it, and the explosions.  It has only become popular in the last 3 years.

The hash oil explosion in a Bellevue apartment complex resulted in severe injuries to those who had to jump
The fire at Bellevue apartment complex resulted in severe injuries to those who had to jump, and one woman who died. Three men have been charged for the incident of Nov. 5, 2013.

On July 22, 2014, the US attorney in western Washington filed charges against seven people, mainly for “endangering human life while manufacturing controlled substances.”  The individuals caused fires or explosions in Seattle, Puyallup, Kirkland and Bellevue.  The Bellevue fire caused a massive explosion to an apartment complex, $1.5 million in damages, and killed a former mayor of Bellevue.   During this occurrence, two women experienced multiple fractures, having jumped from second- and third-floor windows to escape flames.

One of those facing federal charges in Puyallup, Washington, was making the hash oil for a marijuana edibles. He’s the owner of an edibles’ company, “Capn Cosmics.”  Additionally, he’s  charged with endangering the life of a 14-month old child.

The District Attorney in Washington asserts that the actions are illegal, because they cause harm to others and to property, although in the past officials found issues of legality hazy in Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

tigard-car-fire
A California many has been indicted for starting the BHO blast in a Tigard, Oregon, parking lot on July 29. Photo: KoinTV

On July 29 in Tigard, Oregon, a parking lot explosion injured one and destroyed or damaged five motor vehicles.  A grand jury indicted a California man for knowingly and intentionally creating a substantial risk of harm to human life in connection materials exploded, and for manufacturing marijuana.  It’s thought to be the first time the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon has filed charges in connection with a hash oil explosion.

State regulations in California and Colorado haven’t stopped the explosions.  California doesn’t allow medi-pot patients to produce BHO, while Oregon and Washington’s medical pot programs don’t regulate BHO.  Colorado and Washington require BHO to be tested for residual butane before being placed on dispensary shelves.

Why is Hash Oil Popular?

Marijuana users are looking for the quicker, faster high—even though they think marijuana is not addictive.  Yet, there are great psychological risks, too, and some users have had psychotic episodes from using this potent substance.

For sellers, it’s an easy way to make large profits.   However, making it at home is so much cheaper, and it’s gaining popularity.

There are plenty of YouTube videos and other online instructions for amateurs to follow.  Makers begin by putting cannabis leaves and flowers in an extraction tube, like a pipe.  They then put the colorless, odorless butane in that small area to extract the THC quickly, letting it fall through a small filter on bottom.  Spraying with butane is called blasting the marijuana, which pulls the THC right out of it.

Problems are most likely to occur indoors or when there is not good ventilation.

makingbutanehash
A butane hash “chef” packs a pipe with marijuana trimmings that will be used to make butane hash. (Photo: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

The solvent or butane must be flushed out.  It can be boiled off in a hot water bath, which is why some home producers use hot baths or double boilers. Many commercial enterprises have the butane pumped out with a vacuum vacuum chamber to lower butane’s boiling point, pulling butane from the oil.

The result is a hash oil which looks like honey.  It’s like the crack cocaine of marijuana.  The THC content can be  70 to 85 percent, while the average joint may be 20 to 25 percent THC.  After cooling, the oil hardens and is broken into bits.  Sometimes the explosions occur in the cooling process, as when the refrigerator door blew off in Manitou Springs.

Butane has oil, a highly potent distillation of marijuana, is so potent that a single hit can last more than a day.  (Photo: ABC News)
Butane has oil, distillation of marijuana, is so potent that a single hit can last more than a day. (Photo: ABC News)

There are many nicknames for butane hash oil: “Wax,” “Honey oil,” “earwax,” “dabs” “shatter” and more.   It could be smoked, vaped or infused into the edibles.   Vaping is a concern, since the vape pens are the e-cigarettes of marijuana.  It is  a way that teens may be using marijuana without detection.

In short, hash oil offers a quick and lasting high for users.   A single hit can last more than a day.   By making it, it costs a user about 50% less than it would by buying it from a licensed dispensary or maker.

TIEDC Speaks Out Against Marijuana in Washington

“Mass incapacitation of blacks instead of mass incarceration.”  Judge Arthur Burnett, National Executive Director of National African American Drug Policy Coalition, was describing how he views marijuana legalization, at a meeting this summer which pre-dated the formation of Two is Enough D.C.

Two Is Enough D.C.  (TIED.C.) officially registered September 23 as the No on 71 campaign — signaling the opposition to legalizing marijuana in Washington, DC.    TIED.C. announced its formation on Wednesday, September 17, with former Congressman Patrick Kennedy giving an introductory speech.  The group urges the votersTIE-DCLogo4-reworkWhite of Washington, DC,  not to approve Initiative 71 on November 4, 2014.

The grass-roots campaign is another example of David vs. Goliath.  Initiative 71 has received more than $200,000.  David Bronner, a Californian, jump-started the campaign to legalize marijuana in the District of Columbia.   After the campaign gathered more 57,000 signatures, DC Board of Elections approved the Initiative in August.  Though Initiative 71 concerns private possession and usage, the city council would be able to commercialize marijuana.  City council currently is considering a bill to tax and regulate marijuana.   However, in the states that have legalized it, the black market remains and taxes have been far below expectations.

“We have seen the negative impact of tobacco and alcohol on our youth, families and communities,” Will Jones III, founder of Tiedc,  said. Companies that produce these two legal drugs have disproportionately targeted and affected communities of color.  “With the costs in health care, education, accidents, lost productivity and law enforcement as a result of substance use, Washington, DC cannot afford a third legal drug. Thus, we declare that ‘Two is enough’ and urge our fellow citizens to do the same by voting NO on Initiative 71.

Judge Burnett spoke at the Press Conference, along with Will Jones, representing the millennial generation.  They were joined by other community representatives who gave forceful speeches:  Dorothy Armstead, retired schoolteacher;   Dr. William B. Lawson, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University; Pastor Ronald L. Demery of Bible Way Church in Washington, DC., a local civil rights leader;  Kathy Henderson, Realtor, parent, and elected representative for ANC 5D05;  Ambrose Lane, Founder of Ward 7 Health Alliance Network and President and CEO of Washington East Development Alliance (WEDA) and founder of ;  and Andre Murphy, who is in the process of making a film, with Bernard Howard, who spoke of his struggle to overcome addiction.

Rep. Kennedy, Bernard Howard and Andre Murphy
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Bernard Howard and Andre Murphy

The speakers agreed that legalizing marijuana will mean more youth access to it, more drug addiction and the problems that go with it.  Increased use at younger ages also means more school dropouts and fewer children who are able to complete schooling and get jobs.  Under the initiative, the city council could allow commercialization which would then open the door to dangerous edibles, known to trick children and others with appealing packages.

Health and Biology

“Even if you don’t smoke marijuana now, you will be smoking it.”   Kathy Henderson said at a community planning meeting opposed to legalization.

“Since decriminalization, marijuana smoke is everywhere.  People smoke on their porches and you can’t get away from it.”    Currently the maximum fine for smoking marijuana is $25 and police do not bother to ticket.  This de-facto legalization of marijuana in the nation’s capital means that it carries a fine less than the $75 charged for littering and less than the $50 for under-age tobacco smoking.

Ms. Henderson, who received her undergraduate training in Biology, understands the dangers of marijuana from a health and public safety perspective, as well as from the perspective of a parent.   Other speakers have seen it all.

Will,Kennedy,Dr.Lawson
Tiedc organizer Will Jones, Rep. Patrick Kennedy and Dr. William Lawson, Chair of Psychiatry at Howard University

Dr. Lawson, in addition to his position at Howard University, is President of the DC Chapter of Mental Health America, past President of the Washington Psychiatric Society, past President of the Black Psychiatrists of America.  He received the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill’s Exemplary Psychiatrist Award and the Multicultural Workplace Award from the Veterans Administration for the advancement of diversity and multicultural understanding.  Twice Dr. Lawson was named  one of America’s Leading Black Doctors by Black Enterprise Magazine.  He is an author of over 170 publications.

Speakers’ Vast Public Policy Expertise

Other speakers at the Press Conference are experts in public policy and community organizing.  Representative Patrick Kennedy, son of former Senator Ted Kennedy and nephew of President Kennedy, served 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.   He is known as the author and lead sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.   The dramatic legislation provides millions of Americans who were previously denied care with access to mental health treatment.  He is a co-founder of Project SAM, which supports an alternative policy for marijuana, neither legalization or incarceration.  As a mental health advocate, Kennedy stands strongly against marijuana legalization.  He says it increases “permissiveness for a drug that directly contributes to mental illness.”

Judge Burnett, in addition to being National Executive Director of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, Inc., was senior judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  He was appointed the first African-American United States Magistrate in the United States, was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, was a Chair of the National Bar Association Juvenile Justice Task Force and a Chair of its Juvenile Justice Committee.    Judge Burnett has about 40 years of experience as a judge and recalls some of the worst cases of domestic violence and child abuse that arose from drug use and alcohol.

Ambrose Lane is also a policy specialist, and a community organizer.  Among his many community leadership positions, he has been Director of DC Circle of Hope Violence Prevention City-Wide Project and the Founder, Principal organizer of DC Youth Advisory Council (DCYAC). 

Pastor Demery organized a “no ticket” Gospel concert in June of this year, with hopes to increase public awareness of the dangers of policies that increase marijuana access and the resulting risk of “naive” initiation into life-long drug use and addiction.   Last September he hosted a Conference:  No Access, No Use.

Will Jones, Kathy Henderson, Ambrose Lane
Former Congressman Kennedy, Will Jones, Kathy Henderson, Ambrose Lane and distinguished Judge Arthur Burnett

Other Issues

The disparities in the criminal justice and larger issues of racism in the United States were brought up by some of the speakers.  “However, drug arrests are only one factor in the larger issues of racism and disparities in the criminal justice system.  It is wrong to think that legalizing marijuana would make a dent in these larger problems,” Will Jones concluded.   Attorney General Eric Holder announced a downward trend in the rate of incarceration in federal prisons, following the release of non-violent drug offenders.

Though some voters may think Initiative 71 only covers private possession, with an individuals allowed two ounces or to grow up to six plants.  The city council at any time could vote to allow commercial sales of marijuana.

A recent problem is BHO explosions. It would be difficult to stop and control the making of BHO, butane hash oil.   The fire departments,  hospital emergency rooms and ambulances of Colorado, California and Washington have become overburdened with a rash of butane hash oil explosions, and this activity would be totally legitimate if Initiative 71 passes.  Despite eight explosions in Denver and 31 in Colorado this year, the city of Denver has had difficulty passing laws to change the situation.

Violence, Anger, Explosions: Children in Danger

(Part two of Marijuana and Child Neglect/Abuse. Last week we published an article about neglect; this week we cover violence, anger and explosions.)   A 15-year old boy living in fear of his violent father was afraid to go home and confided in a friend’s family.  The friend’s mom told police, who went to investigate the child abuse. They found out more, accidentally discovering an illegal, indoor marijuana grow.  Yet marijuana activists tell us they are calm and non-violent.

Butane hash oil explosions are another way children surrounded by marijuana face grave danger.  In Medford, Oregon, a 12-year old girl suffered many broken bones when she had to jump from the 2nd floor of the apartment building to escape the flames.

After three children died in Colorado because of parental neglect while parents smoked pot followed by a string of hash oil explosions with children at home, it should have been easy to pass child protection laws in Colorado.  On April 27, 2014, an 8-month old baby had be rescued from the 2nd floor of a burning townhouse in Littleton, after a father and his girlfriend sparked a fire by burning hash oil.   The neighbor whose adjoining townhouse was damaged rescued their 4-year old.  Just 10 days earlier, on the 17th of April, a couple in Colorado Springs endangered their 3 children, the oldest a 7-year old, using fire to make dabs from hash oil.

Since the Alliance for Drug Endangered Children began in the 1990s, there are fewer meth lab explosions.  Instead, the promotion and legalization of marijuana has created one of its most dangerous by-products: hash oil explosions fueled by butane gas.   In short, it’s called BHO.

Hash Oil Explosions

As of early May, Colorado had experienced 31 hash oil explosions in 2014, 10 of them involving serious burns.  The  Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (CoDEC) has been taking steps protect children from the drug-using parents, but two child-protection bills failed to pass.

On April 1, 2014, state Senators Linda Newell and Andy Kerr introduced two Senate bills to strengthen protections for children whose parents’ drug usage, manufacture or cultivation put them in danger.   Unfortunately, an associate of the Drug Policy Alliance had written a letter to the Denver Post implying it was unfair to marijuana users.

The bills HB 177 and 178 were voted down at the beginning of May. The outcome was undermined by interests of the marijuana industry, marijuana users and politics.   When the city of Denver met September 16 to restrict unqualified individuals from making hash oil — the marijuana activists again objected.

After Failure to Pass Child Protection Bills

In mid-May, a Manitou Springs, Colorado, couple cooled the hash oil in the refrigerator.   The refrigerator door blew off and landed on the woman’s three-year old child.  Multiple charges of arson and child endangerment have been leveled against each of the parents in Colorado who put the lives of their children in danger.  They are indeed lucky that none of the children burned or died in the fires.

Making hash oil at home is perfectly legal in Colorado.   However, the state of Colorado should be blamed for putting the marijuana users’ freedom and the “good name” or reputation of marijuana ahead of the children.  The evidence is that the legalization of marijuana has put more children in harm’s way.

 Huge Problem in Other States, in West

Hash oil explosions are frequent in other states, too, particularly on the west coast.  On August 25, a man living in Santa Rosa, California, had an explosion and burned badly.  While he did not have children, the family next door with 5 children were put in the line of danger. Today, the LA Times reports of 20 hash oil explosions within the last year in San Diego County, California.  One of the 4 groups currently under investigation involved a child put in danger, and the offending party has been charged with child endangerment.

A recent hash oil explosion in San Diego
A recent hash oil explosion in San Diego

In May, the Oregonian reported that nine major hash oil blasts had occurred in Oregon since 2011, four of them in homes or hotel rooms where children, including a newborn, were present. In one case, a 12-year-old girl suffered multiple broken bones after leaping from the second floor of an apartment building rocked by a butane hash oil (BHO) explosion.

Last year a 10-day old and one-year old baby and two women suffered injuries from a hash oil explosion in Forest Grove, Oregon, the site of another extensive fire from making hash oil in January, 2014.    Two months ago, on July 22,  it was announced that the District Attorney in Seattle filed charges against seven who caused explosions in the state of Washington.

Anger Management

Marijuana users like to claim they don’t get mad and violent, like the cocaine addicts and some alcoholics routinely do.  If their marijuana usage leads to explosions, selfishness, abandonment, or narcissistic rage and anger, they fall into the same violent category as other substance abusers.

A case of violent child abuse erupted in Tampa, Florida in June. Christopher Finlayson, who babysat an 11-month old girl, tried to amuse her by tossing the child into the air.  He tripped and dropped the child face-first onto the floor. When the child continued to cry, Finlayson went into a moment of rage and he “lost it.” The baby was totally unresponsive when the mother returned home.  She took her to the hospital and authorities were called. The man admitted he had smoked a “blunt and a half” of marijuana the previous day and was unable to sleep the night before the incident.

Just a few days ago when police in Nevada went to investigate a case a suspected child abuse, they discovered a fetus in the freezer, with a gun and marijuana in the bassinet. This year authorities in Utah discovered that Megan Huntsman, heavy marijuana user, had buried 6 of her children over several years.

In July, four adults in south Modesto, California, pleaded no contest to severely beating a 7-week old girl. The child had several broken ribs, a lacerated liver and spleen and swelling on her brain. When authorities investigated the home 3 were used for growing marijuana for sale. They parents were charged with two counts of child cruelty, illegally growing with intent for sale, stealing electricity and damaging power lines.

According to a recent article “chronic [marijuana] users exhibit blunted emotional reaction to threat stimuli, which may also decrease the likelihood of aggressive behavior.”  This study is one of many articles  or studies using data while trying to promote marijuana usage.  The study didn’t show what happens when one partner does marijuana while the other does not, sometimes a problem in abusive marriages.   It also did not track child abuse.

From the website, Marijuana Makes You Violent
From the website, Marijuana Makes You Violent

Why is marijuana likely to make some people violent, if using can cause a “blunted emotional reaction to threat?”  The nature of a psychologically addictive substance is that a person needs it to feel ok and to feel normal.   Take it away and there can be panic which results in anger.  Leah Allen tells the story of how her cool, chronically high father abused her mother.  Furthermore, disagreeing with the marijuana bloggers gets them so riled and angry.

What About DEA mistakes?

The tragedies of children lost to parents’ marijuana usage, and other drug usage, are larger than the widely-publicized mistakes made by the Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA.  No teacher, parent, police agency, politician or worker of any sort is free from making mistakes.  This summer a story spread about a failed raid which resulted in a grenade hitting a 20-month old child.  It’s regretful that there was an injustice suffered by this child for that mistake.  However,  this baby and his parents will have their justice with law.   There will be no justice for the marijuana – endangered children, as long as the marijuana community holds all the cards.

It’s a tragedy that because “Drug Wars Don’t Work,” Americans have legitimized a very dangerous drug.  It’s a tragedy that the current anti-government trend spreading in American political circles also leads to more chaos and more abused children.

Based on the fire, anger, rage and explosions, we cannot continue this marijuana experiment if we are to have a saner, safer society.

Negligent Parents Let Three Children Die in Colorado

(Part one of two articles on Marijuana and Child Abuse/Neglect)

On November 27, 2012, three weeks after Coloradans voted to legalize marijuana, Heather Jensen, 24, kept her two-year old and four-year old sons in the car seats of an SUV, while she smoked marijuana and had sex in her boyfriend’s truck. She left the ignition on and turned the heater up so the boys wouldn’t freeze. When she returned 90 minutes later, the younger boy wasn’t breathing. The older boy died in the hospital a week later. Jensen had lost her husband, Eric, in a car accident six weeks earlier.   She has been sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.

Another Child Dies from Neglect

On January 13, 2014, two-year old Levi Welton died in a fire.  He and his four-year old brother had been left in a room alone, where the fire started.  Little Levi went into the closet to escape the flames. The parents, aged 27 and 33, were smoking pot in another room with friends.  They survived, along with the older son.  Julia and Christopher Welton have been charged with negligent child abuse causing death.   Logan County officials had investigated the parents previously for neglect.  Both boys had tested positive for THC, although the mother insisted she did not smoke pot around her sons.  A family friend who took custody of the surviving boy told a reporter that the county should have done more to take the children out of the home prior to the fire.

Two year old Levi Welton hid from the fire in a closet, while his parents smoked pot, in Sterling, CO.
Two-year old Levi Welton hid from the fire in a closet, while his parents smoked pot, in Sterling, CO. His four-year old brother survived.

Three children died in Colorado within 14 months, while the parents’ indulged in a marijuana.   The Colorado Alliance for Drug-Endangered Children (CoDEC, affiliated with national DEC) has been working for stronger child protection laws. On April 1, 2014, Senators Linda Newell and Andy Kerr introduced two Senate bills to strengthen protections for children whose parents’ drug usage, manufacture or cultivation put them in danger.

The bills didn’t pass.  Newell believes the bills were misconstrued by critics and that the outcome was undermined by interests of the pot industry and politics. Drug Policy Alliance had written a letter to the Denver Post suggesting it was unfair to marijuana users.

Marijuana and Child Neglect

“Don’t blame marijuana, blame the state.” some marijuana activists exclaim. Others say, “Bad parents will be bad parents, and marijuana has nothing to do with it.”

Parents Opposed to Pot blames the aggressive advocacy to legitimize marijuana for killing these three children. Those who praise cannabis refuse to see the irresponsible behaviors and outright neglect could have anything to do with marijuana. No one defends alcohol in the same way.  These parents loved their children.  With addiction, the object of addiction becomes more important than loved ones.  We need to stop minimizing these incidents, because they’re also happening in states without legalized marijuana.

On May 22, in Lakeland, Florida, an abandoned three-year old knocked on the door of his mother’s house for an hour, crying, before the neighbors discovered him. The mother and her boyfriend had been smoking pot and doing whip-its all morning and then went into the bedroom to nap.  Neither one of them had been supervising the boy who had gotten outside other times, even though they lived on a busy street. They told deputies that “marijuana should be legal anyways” and gave that as the reason they smoke pot all the time.

Tyler and William Jensen were happy-go-lucky boys before their death at ages 2 and 4. Negligence and impaired judgment from marijuana is to blame
Tyler and William Jensen were happy-go-lucky boys before their death at ages 2 and 4. Negligence and impaired judgment from marijuana is to blame. Photo original from Facebook.

At least one of the children who died in a hot car this summer was a victim of a marijuana. On July 24, Seth Jackson, the foster father, went to see his marijuana dealer in Wichita and left the 10-month girl in the sweltering heat while he got high. He came out two hours later, and she was dead. He and his partner had been foster parents previously, without known issues.

Why Marijuana and Parenting Don’t Mix

Each situation outlined above — including the ones which resulted in the three Colorado children who died — demonstrate how it’s typical for pot smokers to not realize the lapse of time. Marijuana smoking distorts the sense of time and space, and harms short-term memory.  Ideally, parents would never leave an infant or toddler for any period of time.  Sober parents, with normal functioning, would rush back to their children before the heat or cold could do harm.

It’s possible to sympathize with Heather Jensen for losing her husband, but her coping mechanisms are unacceptable.  The three parents living in Colorado – a state with medical marijuana since 2000 – may have been using marijuana as their crutch to escape the challenges and pains of life.  If a recreational user also starts using pot for anxiety, the anxiety is likely to become worse than it ever may have been had the user not started.  Lady Gaga explains the vicious cycle in her video.

Furthermore, those who begin using any addictive substance  before age 21 are more likely to become addicted. These people may have grown up to be decent parents had they not begun using marijuana. Though many people begin drugs because they come from tough or abusive situations, it’s not necessarily the case.  Where marijuana is legal or when people learn to use pot (or alcohol or prescription drugs) to medicate problems, they don’t learn healthy ways to get through the troubled times.

Another factor that could play into the impaired judgment of Seth Jackson, Heather Jensen, Julia Welton and Christopher Welton was the length of time they had been using marijuana. They ranged in age from 24 to 33. If they had begun smoking marijuana as teens, the part of the brain that deals with executive function could have become very impaired. The bad judgment, escapism and laziness could continue even when they aren’t smoking pot. Consistent pot smoking from teenage years into adulthood can prevent the normal process of growing into maturity.  Recent studies give evidence to these changes in the brain structure.

Last year a 24- year old mother in Centralia, WA, let her 22-month old son smoke from a bong, as friends laughed.
Last year a 24-year old mother in Centralia, WA, let her toddler son smoke from a bong, as friends laughed and encouraged it. A cell phone photo surfaced and she was arrested.

Pregnancy, Breast Feeding and Daycare

The use of marijuana is inappropriate because of the constant alertness needed for child care.  Plus, it messes with short-term memory. Users don’t always realize they’re impaired.

Tobacco smoking leads to health concerns and addiction, but it doesn’t impair the mind. Second hand smoke is bad for children, and many smoking parents make an effort not to do it with children around.  Many women quit when they become pregnant. Today there are moms who insist on smoking marijuana while pregnant, and even when they’re breast feeding.

The neighbor of a home daycare provider in Oregon reported she had seen the owner’s daughter outside smoking with a bong in front of the children.  Both the owner and her daughter were  medical marijuana cardholders.  The state investigated.  In August,  a state board told owners of four Oregon home-based day care centers will have to give up their medical marijuana cards or lose their licenses to care for children.

We know marijuana often brings about impaired judgment, forgetfulness and carelessness.   One 19-year old Arizona mother, who had smoked marijuana, drove off with her infant in a car seat, on the roof of the car.  Casey Anthony was a big party girl, but according to one of her friends, marijuana was her drug of choice. Without casting guilt on Amanda Knox, certainly heavy use of marijuana as a teen stunted her maturity and ability to function as a rational 19-year old in Italy.

It is estimated that 80% of all child abuse, neglect and endangerment is caused by by marijuana, alcohol or drugs. The problems of marijuana have specific relevance to judgment of time, memory and alertness.  They are not quite the same as with other substances.  Many tragedies can be avoided IF WE DON’T NORMALIZE MARIJUANA and make it legitimate for adults.

Marijuana Moms of Beverly Hills made big news last year when they declared that cannabis made them better moms, because it cut down on their anxiety. It’s a publicity stunt set up to promote the industry and bring Cheryl Shuman, the founder, fame.  If you have children and love them, or if you care for children, please don’t indulge and don’t spread the baloney that marijuana is safer than alcohol.  (Part two of this series is here.)

The Pot Piper Leads, Children, Teens Follow

“I’ve seen far more examples of propaganda and unfair marketing practices than I have of reasoned arguments. Worst of all, this kind of marketing targets kids, teenagers, and college students. If we want to make progress in substance use issues, we will need facts and reason, not ploys to grab the attention of our nation’s youth.”  Wharton School of Business student research analyst Theodore Caputi,  recently wrote in an article,  Is Pro-Marijuana Pro-Propaganda?  He’d like to hear more true debate without hype.

Social Media Uses Kids, Teens, Young Adults

How did the push for marijuana legalization come about so rapidly?  The answer lies in a social media campaign by a rich  pro-marijuana lobby aimed at changing opinion.  The Pied Piper has become the Pot Piper.  Young people use social media much more than middle-aged adults and senior citizens.  The largest pro-marijuana Twitter site sends out  an average of 11 pro-marijuana messages per day, according to a study by Washington University psychiatry professor, Patricia Cavazo-Rehg.  Cavazo-Rehg also found that the tweeters targeted Black and Hispanic youth disproportionately, much more frequently than Caucasians.

While Twitter and Facebook have been growing so much over the last decade, the federal government’s funding for substance abuse education and prevention programs has been reduced by 48% during the same time period.  It doesn’t help that a national merchant, Urban Outfitters, has continuously made clothing to glorify marijuana, pill abuse, drinking and now depression.

Surveys of teens indicate they would use more frequently, if marijuana is legalized.  Marijuana lobbyists say they do not advocate for  usage under age 21.  There’s never been a marijuana legalization initiative that would allow users under age 21.  Yet, while NORML and the Marijuana Policy Project “officially” declare it’s not for children, they’ve targeted the youth who wouldn’t be allowed usage under their laws.

Studies show that children and teens have gained the false perception that pot is harmless; this change of perception began in 2005 and grew stronger after 2009,  corresponding to the growth in social media  over that time.

 As the perceived risk in marijuana goes down, teen usage goes up, according to recently-published findings from 2013.  Only Adderall, an ADHD medication, is also trending upward, and it’s being used by those without a prescription.  Cigarette smoking is going down, as is adult smoking, and alcohol use is declining among teens.

Souce: National Institute of Drug Addiction and Abuse, released Dec. 2013
Souce: National Institute of Drug Abuse, released Dec. 2013

Marijuana usage by children and teens has steadily grown along with the push to legalize marijuana and/or expand medical marijuana into more states.  College students use more than ever, probably reflecting this trend, also.

According to the 2013 Monitoring the Future Survey findings, five-year trends show a significant increase in current marijuana use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders.  For example, from 2008 to 2013, reported past-month use increased from 5.8% to 7.0% among 8th graders, from 13.8% to 18.0% among 10th graders, and from 19.4 % to 22.7% among 12th graders surveyed.  Alarmingly, the survey noted that this trend coincides with a decrease in the perceived risk of harm of marijuana use among the same group of students. The annual Monitoring the Future study surveys 6th, 8th 10th and 12th grade students for daily marijuana use, past month use and lifetime use.PiedPiper(13)

Of the top 23 states for teen marijuana usage, 21 of them were in states that had legalized medical marijuana.

How ironic legalization advocates would use ideas like building schools or funding early childhood education by legalizing and taxing a bad habit and dangerous substance like marijuana.   As Washington and Colorado are learning, their states suddenly need to spend money to offset a new problem set of problems.  Taxpayers have to pay for the unnecessary hash oil explosions that have gotten out of hand this year.

Colorado found it necessary to fund public service announcements to warn against stoned driving and against marijuana usage by those under age 21.  The state has decided to spend $2 million on the “Don’t be a Lab Rat” campaign.

Create a Problem to Solve a Problem

Legalizing marijuana to collect taxes and fund drug prevention is the way to create a problem — or make a problem worse — in order to solve the problem. Taxes collected from Washington’s legalization program are supposed to go fund drug prevention programs.   Already taxes in Colorado run far behind what was expected.

States that have had recent problems with pill addiction, cocaine and  heroin, had greater percentages of marijuana usage in youth, in 2010-2011.  They tend to have higher alcohol usage, too.  When asked,  Barbara Cimiglio, deputy commissioner for substance abuse in Vermont’s health department linked the heroin epidemic in Vermont to higher youth usage of marijuana.   “I think what drives this up tends to be the higher use of marijuana, and if you look at the states [with high illicit drug use], they tend to be the states that have decriminalized or have more favorable attitudes toward use of marijuana,” she said.

Marijuana use in the young often creates a-motivational syndrome and apathy, in addition to and apart from the affects of addiction.  It becomes more challenging for many students to keep their educational options open, get jobs and achieve their goals.

There is a connection to regular marijuana usage, gaps in college education and dropping out of high school, which often hinders future success.  “Chronic/heavy marijuana users are twice as likely to experience gaps in college enrollment as minimal users, ” according to  Dr. Robert DuPont, Director of the Institute for Behavior and Health,  in Rockville, MD.

Researchers at Northwestern University recently published their studies indicating the changes on specific parts of the brain, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has written about some of those findings.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry  warns about  marijuana and young minds:  “Marijuana’s deleterious effects on adolescent brain development, cognition, and social functioning may have immediate and long-term implications, including increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, sexual victimization, academic failure, lasting decline in intelligence measures, psychopathology, addiction, and psychosocial and occupational impairment.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell should speak out against the growing usage of marijuana at younger ages. The current spike in middle school and high school students using marijuana means that the time is now!

 

Out-of-State Money Funds Marijuana in Oregon

Congressman Earl Blumenauer isn’t voicing objections to the $1.5 million of out-of-state money to finance Measure 91,  the ballot to legalize marijuana in Oregon.   However, he supports a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling of 2010, which prevents limits on campaign contributions from corporations and associations.   Like so many politicians, his inconsistency is puzzling.  It can only be understood if we imagine that he’s under the thumb of the marijuana industry.

Instead of complaining  of the out-of-state billionaires, the Congressman from Portland takes on the small-time public servants and volunteers.  These are people who would have presented the latest educational information on marijuana and other drugs,  to the smaller towns and cities in Oregon.  If Blumenauer had adequately looked into the studies of youth marijuana usage and other illicit drug usage of his state, he would have known that drug education is needed.   07_nonmedical use pain relievers past yearOregon ranks very high in all illicit drug usage, compared to other states.  (These maps were published late last year, using statistics from 2010-11)   Regarding the current heroin epidemic, and deaths from overdose,  it’s wise to ask why all alcohol and drug prevention programs get 48% less in federal funds than they received 10 years ago!

The money in question was $15,000.  A non-profit prevention group that receives federal funds was going to use the money to put on a summit in Madras, Oregon, followed by a tour.

Voters should have much more of an issue with more than $1.5 million — 100 x the amount provided for the summit —  that outsiders have spent to legalize marijuana in their state.

Rep. Blumenauer has called for a federal investigation into whether taxpayer dollars are being improperly spent on marijuana education events that he said appear to be aimed at influencing voters to oppose the November ballot measure that would legalize the drug.    Kevin Sabet of Project SAM was to be a speaker at 12 localities around the state, just as he had been educating in Oregon years before.  At this time, the program has now been reduced substantially, although a district attorney has been raising funds. This particular summit is a continuation of educational events that takes place every two years in that community and has been going on for over a decade.  Oregon does not have a state-sponsored program of drug education that provides education to the counties.  Local prevention coordinators must do that job.

Blumenauer had taken aim at Mandi Puckett who left her job at Best Care Treatment Services in Madras, to become coordinator of Vote No on 91-Oregon campaign.  Puckett explained in a Press Release on Friday: “My job was to help apply for State and Federal grants and work with the local coalition to use that money to educate people about the dangers of using addictive substances.”  Prevention education efforts, like the Madras Summit, are often a required component of grant applications.  The educational summit in Madras, followed by the tour of Oregon cities was planned between Fall of 2012 to Spring of 2014,  before Measure 91 was on the ballot. There were various stages for approval of the tour, before the state granted final approval in writing from the Oregon Health Authority.  “Later, when it was announced the measure would be on the November ballot, we took extra steps to include in our work plan and advise presenters to not speak about the ballot measure. Our goal was to educate, not lobby,” said Puckett.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., talks with reporters September 5 about a series of marijuana education events. (Jeff Mapes/The Oregonian)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., talks with reporters September 5 about a series of marijuana education events. (Jeff Mapes/The Oregonian)

So as it appears, prevention coordinators were required in their “federally-approved work plans” to educate about alcohol and drugs, including marijuana.  The state, via Oregon Health Authority, was involved in that process and granted approval for the Summit and the tour, which was in planning long before Measure 91 was on the ballot.  Then in August, when advocates in favor of Measure 91 learned of the approved educational events, is when the problem occurred.  According to documents provided by the Oregonian, representatives of Measure 91 and a member of Congress, who is a supporter of Measure 91, lodged false accusations against prevention educators funded to do the very work they were approved to do.

Not Tiny Grants, but Big-time Marijuana Money from the PACs

As one of Congress’ leading advocates for the marijuana industry, Blumenauer isn’t questioning the use of huge donors with no connection to his Congressional district or state.  New Approach Oregon, the group sponsoring Measure 91, plans to spend $2.3 on television ads, while the opposition has no money to advertise.  Here’s the group’s financial status:

PAC Amount raised Amount spent
New Approach Oregon 2014 $599,455.82 $599,455.82
New Approach Oregon $950,168.16 $912,890.50
Drug Policy Action of Oregon $0.00 $0.00
Total $1,549,623.98 $1,512,346.32

Private, out-of-funds state funds donated earlier this year are:                            Peter Lewis & his family                      $350,000                                       George Soros                                              $160,000

Soros is connected to the Drug Policy Action PAC.  Because not all donors to PACs are made public, it is a bit difficult to sort the information.  None of the big donors appears to be from Oregon.

According to Ballotpedia, as of July 30, 2014, the No on 91 group had zero money, but Measure 91 had received more than $1.5 million.   The top 5 contributors were:

New Approach PAC $250,000
Drug Policy Action $200,000
Drug Policy Action Fund for Oregon $150,000
Philip Harvey $100,000
Henry van Ameringen $100,000

 

Soros lives in New York.  Peter Lewis was a Florida resident when he died in November, and his sons have continued to contribute to the campaign.   Philip Harvey is from Washington, DC, and Henry van Ameringen lives in New York.  They serve on the New Approach Oregon Committee, along with Cari Tuna, wife of a Facebook co-founder.

How Marijuana Money Controlled the Oregon Election in 2012

In Oregon, the marijuana lobby succeeded in determining the outcome of the 2012 race for Attorney General.   The winning candidate in the Democratic primary for Attorney General had received the largest portion of her campaign money from marijuana industry supporters.  These donations came from: Drug Policy Action committee,  $80,000; Arizona resident John Sperling, $70,000, and Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement, which spent $53,000 on radio ads.  (The largest non-marijuana donation was $25,000)  There were to be no Republican candidates running in the primary or general election.  Since it was a ballot by mail and only 25% of the Democrats voted,  marijuana advocates got out their vote.

Other voters were led to think the main issue was that the opponent, interim US Attorney General Dwight Holton, had not been a resident of Oregon very long.   In reality, Holton had taken a tough stance on drugs, allowing some federal raids on marijuana producers in violation of law.  He had called the state’s medical marijuana program a “train wreck.”   Medical marijuana came to Oregon after a ballot vote in 1998, but it didn’t come under state regulations until this year.

Winner Ellen Rosenbaum had promised not to prosecute medical marijuana.  John Sperling, also a big marijuana donor, was the founder of the University of Phoenix.  At the time, Oregon’s Justice department was part of a multi-state investigation into his school and other for-profit universities.  Only 25% of the Democrats voted, so it is clear that radio commercials sponsored by pro-pot groups, in addition to Rosenblum’s campaign ads, got out the “weed vote.”   Rosenblum won by 64% to 36%, and the marijuana groups  bragged about their victory.

Two years ago the big out-of-state donors financed marijuana legalization campaigns in Washington and Colorado, but they did not donate to Measure 80,  Oregon’s failed legalization initiative of November 2012.   However, by June 2012, BIG MARIJUANA had already funded and controlled the race for Attorney General that year, which promised that medical marijuana in the state would — relatively speaking — continue unregulated.

 Key Components of Measure 91

This year’s initiative,  Measure 91, would place marijuana regulation under the state liquor board.  The premises of Measure 91 are that legalization would 1) Eliminate 12,800 arrests (The number of marijuana arrests was actually around 2700, politifact.com found.   2) Regulation would do a better job at keeping it away from children (only with good prevention education!) and 3) It would eliminate drug cartels and give profits to the state instead of criminals (highly speculative, with no concrete evidence).

New Approach Oregon hired ECONorthwest, a Portland firm,  to estimate the potential tax revenues of a legalized marijuana industry, if this measure is approved. The estimate of $38.5 million for the first year was to be based on a Colorado’s figures, from the viewpoint of cost/benefit analysis.  Currently, Colorado is taking in much lower taxes than they originally planned.

Although the tax rate would be lower than Colorado’s tax, the experience in Colorado and Washington shows that black markets don’t end with legalization.  Marijuana has been decriminalized in Oregon since 1973, and medical marijuana was approved in 1998. The Oregon Medical Association does not recommend marijuana for medical reasons, or otherwise.  After 15 years, Oregon only began regulating medical marijuana this year, after passage of House Bill 3460.

Why BIG MARIJUANA won in Colorado

The Marijuana industry targeted Colorado for legalization because its largest city, Denver, is in the center of the state.  The Denver – Colorado Springs television market is the only place in the state with a sizable population.   Television ads could target the Denver region, while other parts of the state  were less likely to know marijuana was on the ballot. The Marijuana Industry may have hoped the same thing could happen in Oregon this year.  Possibly they took issue with Madras summit because voters in outlying areas would be getting more factual information about marijuana.  As in Colorado, voting in Oregon is done by mail in the weeks leading up to the election date.

Oregon compares well to Colorado, because both states have a high number of pain pill abusers and other drug abusers.  States with medical marijuana tend to have higher percentages abuse, dependence and teen marijuana usage.  It’s not clear if the difference reflects medical marijuana or the low perception of risk from using pot.  An exception is Maine, which has had medical marijuana since 1998, but its percentage  of youth marijuana use and all drug  use is significantly lower than in nearby states and it can be attributed to good prevention education programs and staff.

States that have high amount of illicit drug usage tend be the states where the highest percentage of teens begin using marijuana at a young age, Oregon included. There’s good reason to believe the Summit in Madras and the entire 12-city tour is very much needed

We ask Representative Blumenauer and other politicians to stop pandering to the marijuana industry and caving to their lobbyists.

Drug Policy Reform

By  Robert L. DuPont, MD,President, Institute of Behavior and Health, a  501(c)3 non-profit organization working to reduce illegal drug use through the power of good ideas.

Often overlooked in discussions of drug policy today is the nature of the drug problem. The global drug problem can be traced to the innate nature of the human brain. The mammalian brain is extremely vulnerable to chemicals that stimulate brain reward. These chemicals are drugs of abuse. They produce far more intense brain reward than any natural reward, even sex and food. The repeated use of drugs of abuse leads to addiction. In its definition of addiction, the American Society of Addiction Medicine notes that it is “characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional emotional response.”

Addiction is a chronic, often fatal, illness that typically begins in adolescence. The earlier an individual uses drugs of abuse, including alcohol and marijuana, the more likely it is that the person will develop a substance use disorder later in life. The best way to prevent addiction is to prevent the use of these substances. As a 13-year-old said to me years ago, “I don’t want to try cigarettes because I might like them.”

Modern Drug Use Epidemic

While the biology of addiction has not changed for millions of years, over the past half century drug use has changed dramatically. In the modern drug abuse epidemic, whole populations are exposed to a mind-bending array of drugs of abuse by powerful routes of administration. This has never happened before in human history.

Marijuana, the most widely used illegal drug, has been transformed in the time since the peak of its use in the United States in 1978. The potency of marijuana, as measured by the level of THC (the primary active cannabinoid in marijuana), has tripled over this time. New modes of marijuana consumption have increased the potency of marijuana delivery. For example, butane hash oil contains dramatically higher levels of THC, with concentrations up to 90 percent.

The addiction landscape also has changed as a result of the non-medical use of legal prescription drugs. Eighty percent of the global opioid supply is consumed by Americans who constitute less than five percent of the world’s population. With widespread medical use of opioid analgesics has come an epidemic of opiate dependence. The number of drug overdose deaths in the US has surpassed highway fatalities. The widespread use of prescription drugs has led to changes in the demographics of heroin use and subsequent heroin overdoses. Forty years ago heroin addiction was mostly confined to young inner-city men who often were involved in criminal activities. The new demography of heroin is the result of the demography of those that use pain medications non-medically. An estimated half of young heroin users previously abused prescription opioids prior to their heroin use. Heroin addiction has reached all parts of the country, especially small towns and rural areas, and is no longer limited to minority, male or lower income populations.

The drug epidemic continues to evolve in complex ways even as the public attitudes toward the use of drugs are shifting. Attitudes today are far more permissive toward the “recreational” use of drugs, especially marijuana. National polls indicate that a growing majority of Americans now favor legalization of marijuana for “recreational” use by adults.

Well-Funded Lobby Pushes for Marijuana Normalization

The well-funded lobby promoting the normalization of the use of marijuana (and other drugs) is based on the erroneous premise that marijuana is not only safe but also beneficial. (Ed. note: Three billionaires have spent an estimated $200,000,000 to legalize marijuana.) In contrast to this view, the science is clear that marijuana use is a serious threat to health, safety and productivity. As the negative impact of legal marijuana in the states of Colorado and Washington – and in the states that permit “medical” marijuana – is more widely understood, attitudes toward permissive drug use will shift once again.

The US, and the entire world, is at a crossroads in drug policy today with two oppositional perspectives on the future of drug policy. On the one hand is the vision on which current global drug policy was established in the first decades of the 20th century with the US in the lead which separates medical use from non-medical use of drugs with abuse potential. Under this framework, the goal of drug policy is to limit the use of drugs of abuse to medical uses only. Drugs of abuse are provided only through the process of physicians’ prescriptions and dispensed at pharmacies in a closed system and only for the treatment of diseases. The use of drugs of abuse outside of this very limited medical practice and their sale is illegal, punishable by the criminal law.

This well-established formulation of drug policy now is threatened by an alternative vision that treats drugs of abuse the way alcohol and tobacco are treated: through regulated production and sale to adults for legal use for any purpose. The campaign for this alternative drug policy begins with the legalization of marijuana but the stakes are far greater because it applies to all drugs of abuse and because there are enormous potential profits to be earned in this new marketplace. This move erases the sharp line between legal and illegal drugs. Erasing this line frustrates prevention and it opens the floodgates to widespread drug use.

Addiction Goes Up When Percent Usage Increases

When considering the potential public health impact of the legalization of drugs of abuse, including marijuana, it is helpful to consider the rates of use of the two legal drugs. Among Americans age 12 and older, 52 percent used alcohol and 27 percent used tobacco in the past month whereas 9 percent used any illegal drug. Only 7 percent of Americans used marijuana. Treating marijuana – to say nothing of other drugs of abuse – the way alcohol and tobacco are treated most certainly will increase availability and with it dramatically increase the level of marijuana use to a level that is similar to the use of the two currently legal drugs.

Is increased marijuana use and subsequent proportional increases in marijuana addiction in the interest of the nation’s public health? I don’t think so. The use of alcohol and tobacco are the two leading causes of preventable illness and death in the United States. Adding a third legal drug will add to the devastation that these legal drugs already generate.

NFIAAmericaondrugs
Usage can only go up if legalized.      Graphic Source: National Families in Action

What is the better answer for the future of drug policy, if it is not the legalization and regulation of drugs of abuse? The future of an effective drug policy lies in finding ways to reduce the use of drugs of abuse that are compatible with modern values and laws. This search for better ways to reduce illegal drug use is the focus and the agenda of the Institute for Behavior and Heath, Inc. (www.ibhinc.org). There are many good new ideas for drug policy, all based on the recognition of the vulnerability of the brain to the excessive, unnatural stimulation of brain reward mechanism by drugs of abuse which leads to addiction for millions of people and the resulting devastation suffered by these individuals, their families and their communities.

Rather than embrace drug legalization, we must develop innovative policies and programs that reduce the use of drugs of abuse and we must provide assistance, including quality treatment that achieves long-term recovery, to those with substance use disorders.

Robert L. DuPont, M.D.
President, Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.
Former Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (1973-1978)
Former White House Drug Chief (1973-1977)

(Editor’s Note–Original article, “The Changing State of Drug Policy,” is reprinted with permission from the Institute of Behavior and Health website, where footnotes align exactly with text.  It publishes several excellent articles about the influence of drug policy on addiction, drugged driving,etc.)

 


American Society of Addiction Medicine. (2011). Public Policy Statement: Definition of Addiction. Chevy Chase, MD: American Society of Addiction Medicine. Available: http://www.asam.org/advocacy/find-a-policy-statement/view-policy-statement/public-policy-statements/2011/12/15/the-definition-of-addiction
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2010). Drugs, Brains and Behavior: The Science of Addiction. NIH Pub No. 10-5606. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. Available: http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/sciofaddiction.pdf
Drug Enforcement Administration. (2014). The Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana Abuse. Washington, DC: Drug Enforcement Administration Demand Reduction Section, US Department of Justice. Available: http://www.justice.gov/dea/docs/dangers-consequences-marijuana-abuse.pdf
Manchikanti, L., Fellows, B., Ailinani, H., & Pampati, V. (2010). Therapeutic use, abuse, and nonmedical use of opioids: a ten-year perspective. Pain Physician, 13(5), 401-435. Available: http://www.painphysicianjournal.com/2010/september/2010;13;401-435.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Prescription Drug Overdose in the United States: Fact Sheet. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/overdose/facts.html
Kuehn, B. M. (2014). Driven by prescription drug abuse, heroin use increases among suburban and rural whites. JAMA, 312(2), 118-119.
Johnson, K. (2014, April 17). Heroin is a growing threat across USA, police say. USA Today. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/16/heroin-overdose-addiction-threat/7785549/
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2013, April). Heroin. DrugFacts. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. Available: http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/drugfacts_heroin_final_0.pdf
Cicero, T. J., Ellis, M. S., Surratt, H. L., & Kurtz, S. P. (2014). The changing face of heroin use in the United States: a retrospective analysis of the past 50 years. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(7), 821-826.
Pew Research Center. (2014, April 2). America’s New Drug Policy Landscape. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Available: http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/04-02-14%20Drug%20Policy%20Release.pdf
Volkow, N.D., Baler, R.D., Compton, W.M., & Weiss, S.R.B. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. The New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23), 2219-2227.
Richter, K. P., & Levy, S. (2014, June 11). Big marijuana—lessons from big tobacco [Perspective]. The New England Journal of Medicine. Available: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1406074
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2013). Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-46, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4795. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.


Established in 1978, the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. (IBH) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working to reduce illegal drug use through the power of good ideas. IBH websites include: www.ibhinc.org, www.StopDruggedDriving.org, www.PreventTeenDrugUse.org, and www.PreventionNotPunishment.org.

Marijuana Treats Look Like Familiar Sweets

pot headsIn the first 5 months of this year,  nine children had been treated at the Colorado Children’s Hospital in Aurora for ingesting marijuana.  Seven of these children were in intensive care.    By August, at least 3 more children had been in emergency treatment for marijuana at the same hospital.

The first stores for recreational marijuana opened in January, 2014.  Marijuana overdoses in children began October, 2009, when medical marijuana suddenly exploded in Colorado.  There were no such incidences recorded between 2005 and 2009, according to Dr. George Wang, head of emergency services at Colorado Children’s Hospital.  He explained the problem in a Colorado Public Radio interview last year.   Colorado’s medical marijuana was approved by voters in 2000, but the expansion of medical marijuana in 2009 caused the new problem.  The pace doubled this year, as a commercialized marijuana industry started selling new products.  “Legalizing creates greater promotion…. and also legitimizes the drug,” according to Bob Doyle, who was featured in a video we shared.firecrackers

In response to two deaths from edible marijuana, the governor signed legislation to regulate marijuana in May.  The laws will go into effect in 2016.  Edible pot will require child-proofing, as is required for pharmaceutical and over-the-the-counter medicine.

Despite labels, many of the children who have been hospitalized were too young to read.    A TV investigation showed that most children can’t tell the difference between the “adult candies” and those that are only for children.  Previously,  we published pictures of commercial pot candies available in Colorado, and in California.  Here’s an additional sampling.

pot drinksEven when parents try to keep it away from them, children go for sweets.  Cartoon-like characters and bright colors will always attract children.   It’s logical that school-age  children could be so attracted to the packaging that they would not bother to read.

Both the manufacturing of marijuana sweets and the packaging make them so appealing.  Edible pot processors make products that closely imitate familiar products, like Cap’N Crunch cereal and Pop Tarts. One company’s Pot-tarts are hard to distinguish from Kellogg’s Pot-tarts.poptarts

The Hershey Co. has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against TinctureBelle, a Colorado marijuana edibles company, claiming it makes four pot-infused candies that too closely resemble iconic products of the chocolate maker.

The specific lollipopsproducts which mimic the look of Hershey’s candies are: Ganja Joy, like Almond Joy; Hasheath, which looks like Heath Bars; Hashees which resemble Reese’s peanut cups, and Dabby Patty, made to look like York peppermint patties.  The company’s website says its products “diabetic safe and delicious” and helpful with a variety of issues, including pain, headaches and insomnia.

Hershey says the products are packaged in a way that will confuse consumers, including children. The lawsuit alleges that TinctureBelle “creates a genuine safety risk with regard to consumers” who may inadvertently eat them thinking they are ordinary chocolate candy.   Other pot candies that look like Kit Kats, Milky Ways, Nestle’s Crunch and Butterfingers.  Will other candy companies like Nestles or Mars file a lawsuits, also?

pot candies

“Not so Fast”

This 4-1/2-minute video by Heather Sells of CBN News, Clearing the Smoke: The Real Costs of Legal Pot, exposes what legalizing means for the children of Colorado.

 

Twice as many 8th graders in Denver use pot than elsewhere in the country. Tax revenue is less than expected.  Wake up Americans to the hidden costs of marijuana legalization.  It is a great video to show if your politicians are promoting legalization.

Here’s the web article, published with the video in April 2014.

Myths About Marijuana

This Video comes from the Concordance Blog and is dated 2012.

This video deals exclusively with the documented negative health consequences of recreational cannabis use.

I used data from over 140 papers in the process of preparing this video. I’ve done my best to document sources. Below are some key papers for reference.

1. CANNABIS USE AND RISK OF LUNG CANCER: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY
Eur Respir J. 2008 February; 31(2): 280–286.

2. Possible role of marijuana smoking as a carcinogen in the development of lung cancer at a young age.
J Psychoactive Drugs. 1994 Jul-Sep;26(3):285-8.

3. Associations between duration of illicit drug use and health conditions: results from the 2005-2007 national surveys on drug use and health.
Ann Epidemiol. 2010 Apr;20(4):289-97.

4. Cannabis and road crashes: a survey of recent French studies.
Ann Pharm Fr. 2006 May;64(3):192-6.

5. Drugs in fatally injured young male drivers.
Public Health Rep. 1985 Jan–Feb; 100(1): 19–25.

6. Dose related risk of motor vehicle crashes after cannabis use.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2004 Feb 7;73(2):109-19.

7. Developing limits for driving under cannabis.
Addiction. 2007 Dec;102(12):1910-7.

8. The effect of cannabis compared to alcohol on driving.
Am J Addict. 2009; 18(3): 185–193.

9. If cannabis caused schizophrenia–how many cannabis users may need to be prevented in order to prevent one case of schizophrenia? England and Wales calculations.
Addiction. 2009 Nov;104(11):1856-61.

10. Cannabis and suicide: longitudinal study.
Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Dec;195(6):492-7.

11. Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder.
World Psychiatry. 2008;7(2):68-71.

12. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction.
Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Mar 15;57(6):594-608.

13. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use.
Lancet. 2009 Oct 17;374(9698):1383-91.

14. General and oral health implications of cannabis use.
Aust Dent J. 2005 Jun;50(2):70-4.

15. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use.
Lancet. 2009 Oct 17;374(9698):1383-91.

16. Adverse effects of cannabis on health: an update of the literature since 1996.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Aug;28(5):849-63.

17. Evaluating the drug use “gateway” theory using cross-national data: consistency and associations of the order of initiation of drug use among participants in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2010 Apr 1;108(1-2):84-97.

18. Does marijuana use serve as a gateway to cigarette use for high-risk African-American youth?
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2008;34(6):782-91.

There are another dozen or so papers I would like to include here, but will not for the sake of brevity.
Category:
Education
Tags:
marijuana pot cannabis legalization health effects safety impairment science biology medicine c0nc0rdance
License:
Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

Category

Science & Technology
License

Standard YouTube License

Blindsided by Pot

I experimented and tried pot 4x in my teens. It may have been fun at the time, but I got flashbacks that came unexpectedly. It didn’t happen to those I smoked with; experienced tokers told me the flashbacks were only a part of harder drugs. I was blindsided.

Now I’ve read enough to know pot stays in the body much longer than alcohol and that flashbacks from pot are real.  Some people said the marijuana that gave me flashbacks was spiked with something else.  They were wrong.  I’m glad that very bad early experience with pot prevented me from trying any other drugs.  It scared me enough not to continue.

Flashing forward to the next generation — my daughter was picked up in high school at a Target with kids who had pot on them, but she didn’t have pot on her.  She was very stoic while the others were acting silly.  Was it an act?  It’s hard to know.  The police just went to the parents’ homes and talked to them.  There weren’t any arrests, just a slap on the wrist.

Expectations Slammed

In college, this daughter came home her junior year at winter break in a deep depression, what used to be called a “nervous breakdown.”  Emergency treatment, testing, counseling and good therapy set her back on the right track. Only later did she tell me that she had been smoking tons of pot and it had made her depressed.  She blamed it on “bad weed,” but now acknowledges that weed is really bad for her. Marijuana holds so many false promises.

Some of you who read this will say she probably had an underlying bipolar condition. That’s never been suggested by the professionals, but it had been diagnosed for a friend’s niece who ended up in a psychiatric hospital at age 19. Two or three years later, the friend said she is not bipolar, but she had taken LSD.   I am sorry for these kids and their parents who go through trauma, anguish and hospitalization simply because they experimented too much with drugs and had not been warned properly.

The issue with pot went differently for a second daughter, the child who was always very sensible and responsible, the one you would never expect to try it. She recently explained to me about her pot use.   At age 15, she had been told, “You have to try it, you just have to do it.” The pressure was extreme, although she had declared 2-3 years earlier that she would never be a person who could be influenced by social pressure. (The lesson is that a drug problem can happen to anyone.)

Blindsided by the Gateway Effect

In college, she became addicted to amphetamines. Students who take ADHD medications freely share it and sell it to others. Before college she gave me a scare by having gotten into some of my pills after I had surgery.  Doctors were over-prescribing at that time and they should have taken particular precaution in homes where there are teens.   It all clicked when I recently read the Yale University study that showed marijuana is a gateway drug for females ages 18-25 who become opiate abusers.  As for the gateway theory, some deny it.  It makes sense that, once someone takes the initial risk with pot, their brains are primed for more risk.

So we’re 3 different people from the same family, and we had 3 different types of bad responses to marijuana.  As a teen I was impressed while hearing someone from Alcoholics Anonymous speak to our group. Drugs were big the 70s, but he said alcohol was more acceptable and society should be more concerned about kids using alcohol than drugs for that reason. He was right at the time, but that statement is no longer true. The marijuana lobbyists and pill pushers are trying to make everything else as mainstream as alcohol.

To all the pro-pot lobbyists who say those of us who don’t support marijuana legalization must favor pill abuse: You are wrong! Pill abuse is very serious, but marijuana is not the solution. So please stop pushing it on us and our kids. Please stop saying pot is not addictive. A friend from my generation who spent years being stoned before getting addiction treatment laments, “I wish they hadn’t told me it’s not addictive.”

Final Tragedy from Pot

My brother’s college roommate was less lucky. He was a championship swimmer at an Ivy League school.  Like so many people who were straight in high school, he let loose in college, only to find that marijuana really got a grip on him. He became very addicted to marijuana, but didn’t do other drugs. Eventually he dropped off the swim team and flunked out of school. In those days parents were told to practice tough love and zero tolerance with drugs. They did not pay for him to continue to indulge and he worked as a janitor for the school, to keep close to his friends. He slipped into a deep depression and killed himself. To this day my brother lives with the fact that he didn’t stop him, because he didn’t know it would end that way. Tough love is not a good policy. If you’re a parent, it is better to let those addicted know that you will do anything to save them.

Again and again I hear that the children who end up in treatment for multiple drugs always began with pot. I can’t see why we need more tragedies to learn the scope of the damage marijuana can cause.  Don’t be blindsided.

(The author submitted this story anonymously.)

Marijuana: What Parents Need to Know Today

Today’s Reality

For more information, download this brochure from Narconon.  Even if you smoked pot 20+ years ago without harm, today’s situation is different.  We want our children to avoid marijuana because they care about the risks in marijuana itself.  Here’s the facts for raising your children today:

* Marijuana has been modified since 1994. The THC, which gives the high, is 3-10x stronger in the plants of today.  If a child begins using today’s pot , it’s like to learning to drink with grain alcohol, instead of beeror wine.  Also, youth today frequently use the potent “dabs” “wax” and “budder.”  These are extractions can have 40-80% THC.

* Marijuana is addictive, contrary to a popular myth, particularly with today’s stronger strains of pot.

* In states with medical marijuana, teen usage is much higher than in other states, and many teens who use pot get it from some marijuana cardholders.

* Those who begin in adolescence or their teens, have an addiction rate of 17 percent, as opposed to 9 percent for those who begin using marijuana as an adult.

*Emergency Department hospitalizations from marijuana rose from 281,000 to 455,000 between 2004 and 2011, making it 2nd amongst the illegal drugs causing ER treatment.

* Individuals responses to marijuana can be vary greatly, and the potential for paranoia and psychotic reactions are real side effects, omitted in the pot propaganda.

* Marijuana is fat soluble and stays in the body for weeks, which is why some people have flashbacks.

* The  brain, which is 1/3 fat, isn’t fully developed until age 25 or later, and until it is, marijuana can cause irreversible damage.

* Marijuana is not as widely used as alcohol,  6-7% of the adult population, vs.  66% who drink, one reason the comparison doesn’t work.

* Marijuana usage causes traffic deaths and it is not safe to combine with driving.

* More teens seek substance abuse treatment for pot than any other legal or illegal substance.

* Marijuana is a gateway drug,  because nearly every young person who develops a drug addiction begins with marijuana.  Early pot users such as Robert Downey, Jr. (age 9), and Cameron Douglas  (age 13), prove that the stranglehold of drug addiction lasts for years.

* A multi-year study out of New Zealand, tracking marijuana users and through their mid-30s showed IQs decrease an 6-8 percentage points over time.  Again, we point to the medical studies summarized on this webpage.

* In a recent study, schizophrenics who have used marijuana had an onset of the disease 2-1/2 years earlier than those who did not use marijuana.

* Marijuana can trigger psychotic symptoms and/or mental illness, and cognitive decline in youth, more quickly than alcohol, while tobacco does not.

* Since marijuana usage increases the odds of developing a mental illness, expansion of pot will expand mental health treatment needs.

* Efforts to legalize for age 21+  hide the motivation to attract young users and build big profits.  Legal pot mean more young users.

* Marijuana usage is associated with greater risk for testicular cancer in males.

* With universal health care, all of us will pay for the increase in medical care for those needing help from pot abuse.

* The number of pot-related hospitalizations in Colorado accelerated in 2009 and went out of control in the the first half of 2014.

* Existing mental health issues, such as ADHD, anxiety and depression, greatly increase the use of drugs for self-medication.

Mental Health, Physical Health Alike

“We cannot promote a comprehensive system of mental health treatment and marijuana legalization, which increases permissiveness for a drug that directly contributes to mental illness,”  states former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who fought tirelessly on behalf of parity for mental health treatment. Kennedy and policy expert Kevin Sabet promote  Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

* The National Alliance for Mental Illness lists four illegal drugs which cause psychosis: cannabis, LSD, methamphetamine and heroin and two classes of legal drugs, amphetamines and steroids. Pharmaceutical drugs are sold with warnings, while marijuana isn’t.

Sharon Levy, Chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on substance abuse, said “We’re losing the public health battle” and policy is being made by legalization advocates who might be misinformed about marijuana’s dangers.”

 

Medical Marijuana Risks

Editor’s Note: There is much misunderstanding about “medical” marijuana.  National Families in Action explains when a controlled substance becomes medicine. NFIA has also published some helpful leaflet on the difference between marijuana and “medical” marijuana.   

It’s hard to protect kids when the names of medical marijuana dispensaries are so enticing.  The stores using “health,” “wellness,” “medicinal” and “candy” in their titles make pot very alluring.  Imagine if a liquor store, tobacco store, or pharmacies did the same.  (See our investigation into medi-pot dispensaries.)

In states with medical marijuana, 12-17 year-old teens use marijuana to a much greater degree than in states without medical marijuana.  States that voted down medical marijuana, Arkansas and South Dakota, have some of the lowest rates of youth marijuana usage. Before legalization in Colorado, a study showed that more than half the teen users surveyed said they had obtained pot from a medical marijuana ‘patient’.

Parents Opposed to Pot calls on those who support medical marijuana to address how to prevent substance abuse and secondary sales to children. The best laws have been adopted by state legislatures, as in New York and New Jersey.  Whenever there have been statewide votes, as in California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, the records for protecting children are poor.

Teen usage has been going up since 1996, when medical marijuana was voted upon in the 1st state, California.  Additionally, the teen perceptions of the risks in using marijuana have been going steadily downward since the 1991. Certain states with medical marijuana, especially  Vermont, Oregon and Colorado, also have some of the highest usage of opiate pills, cocaine and alcohol in children and adults.  It looks like marijuana is the gateway drug, when comparing state statistics for marijuana usage with all other drug usage.  Vermont has been having a heroin problem this year, and Oregon has had problems with pill abuse over the past several years.Marijuanausebystate

Testing and Approval of Drugs

As Americans have learned to expect easy, medicinal solutions to complex problems, the prescription drug and medical marijuana industries have grown.

While it is completely understandable that somebody that is sick, or the family of a patient, will want to use any means necessary to ease the pain and to cure, we would hope that there would be the correct information out there necessary to make a sound decision about the pros and cons of use.

Pharmaceutical drugs must undergo rigorous testing by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before approval.  During these tests, placebos can work almost as well as the drugs being tested.  Approved pharmaceutical drugs must warn of any and all potential side effects.

On the other hand, marijuana is recommended without warnings, and providers often do not need to prove their qualifications. Claims of cures by medical marijuana are promoted without testing.  The marijuana plant holds 480 chemical components.  If one component holds curative properties, another component could work against that property or have negative side effects.

Even if marijuana helps Multiple Sclerosis (MS), it also increases the brain fog in MS in patients.  Why aren’t we discussing side effects when we talk medical marijuana?   According to former Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Project SAM, the Institute of Medicine has concluded that if there is a future for marijuana as medicine, it lies in isolated components.

Epidiolex, a derivative of CBD in liquid form, is available to children with epilepsy in 10 states.  It  is being fast-tracked for FDA-approval, along with Sativex for Multiple Sclerosis.  Sativex, a derivative of marijuana will be used for as a tongue spray.  Both products were developed by GW Pharmaceuticals of Great Britain.

Conventional and Alternative Medicine

Getting a dog has been shown to be a very good solution for those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress-Syndrome (PTSD).   Both yoga and dogs can bring back connectivity, open up energy and free blocked emotions.  Quite the opposite could occur with use of marijuana.  It may bring relief by numbing feelings even more, but it is known to harm memory and may not allow PTSD survivors a recovery back to their prior state of functioning.

There are problems with conventional treatments for cancer, but there are also problems with alternative treatments for cancer. The marijuana lobby has yet to explain why marijuana is often not the drug of choice for cancer patients in medical marijuana states.   Is it because there are better drugs out there?  Marinol, a synthetic marijuana, has been available to address the nausea and vomiting from cancer treatments and AIDs.

In Montana a few years ago, Cashy Hyde’s father claimed to have cured his son of cancer using cannabis oil.  Sadly,  the boy eventually died, after dramatic announcements that he had been cured.  The constant nurture and love from his parents probably helped to extend his life.  Any parent may have tried the same thing, maybe preferring it over harsh chemotherapy treatments.

When reading about the remarkable claims advocates of medical marijuana propose, please remember the placebo effect.  We don’t know why placebos cure some people and not others.   It could be the power of belief, or the result of a person’s own immune system having the ability to fight the disease.

Diet change can treat many of the autoimmune diseases which medical marijuana advocates list as conditions to be treated with marijuana: Crohn’s Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis.  Medical marijuana treatments address the symptoms of disease, rather than the underlying causes.  Diet and environmental changes can bring us closer to addressing the root causes of autism, autoimmune disease and epilepsy.

The ketogenic diet is a very successful means of controlling Dravet’s Syndrome and other types of epilepsy in children, a fact not discussed by those advancing medical marijuana.

Sometimes psychiatric medications are blamed for the actions of disturbed mass killers, such as Adam Lanza.   However,  James Holmes, Jared Loughner and Johar Tsarnaev were heavy marijuana users.  Even the recent Santa Barbara killer, Elliot Rodger, had made a video about using marijuana every day.

We do not know the extent to which marijuana or pharmaceutical drugs contribute to teen violence.  While the pharmaceutical industry has flaws, at least rigorous testing is required.  The government has the ability to take a drug off the market.

Where’s the Expertise?

In this day and age, when people want miracles and pharmaceutical drugs can fall short of expectations, the marijuana industry looks for potential openings.

All claims of marvelous, miraculous cures need to be viewed with skepticism, whether considering pharmaceutical medicine or marijuana as medicine.

The push to reschedule marijuana from a schedule I to schedule II drug comes from Rick Doblin, the same person who wanted the FDA to approve MDMA (Ecstasy) as medicine.  Doblin holds a  PhD in Political Science.  He doesn’t have the credentials you’d expect from someone making medical judgments.

The designation of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning “high probability of abuse,”  was upheld by the Federal Appeals Court for the DC Circuit, on January 22, 2013.  Three pot advocacy groups had appealed a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruling of July 8, 2011, a ruling backed up by evidence by the Department of Health and Human Services.   Previous reviews were in 1972 and 1986.  Pot has become more potent since that time.  There were 455,000 hospital emergency room visits for marijuana in 2011, a reason the FDA  and Health and Human Services are reluctant to change.

The decision-making should come from the health and medical professions, using their expertise, not from political advocates.

Most doctors don’t agree with medical marijuana, but some see isolated components of the plant most helpful . The Pro-Con website lists 105 double-blind studies, and the conclusions from these studies are inconclusive: 40% suggest it can be helpful, 30% find no possible medical usage and 30% find it neither favorable or unfavorable.

If your state has a referendum, study the details.  How does it protect children and prevent profiteering in the secondary markets?

The Real Reason Pot is Illegal is Not Simple

Some supporters of legalized marijuana say the opposition has a financial incentive.   Should we assume those who support marijuana legalization are only inspired by the idea of making money from it?  “Where Commerce Meets Revolution” was the title of the Cannabis Industry Association’s meeting in Denver June 24-25.

Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, blames drug laws for the incarceration of too many black men.  However, now she is blaming the middle-aged white men who stand to make all the money off of marijuana legalization.  (George Soros’ Open Society Foundations funded Alexander’s book. )   The marijuana industry which started as a hippie, outsider, counterculture idea is now a dream of the gray-suited businessmen.

On Sunday, July 6 The Nation printed an article entitled “The Real Reason Pot is Still Illegal,” which suggested that the national prevention and treatment groups want marijuana illegal simply because they are taking corporate donations and entering into partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.  (Soros’ Open Society Foundation also funds The Nation in part.  Since Soros believes in marijuana legalization, one wonders if groups who take his money are expected to advocate for his views.)

It is amazing that a journalist would analyze a story from only one perspective and not realize that all issues are multi-dimensional.   Previously, the same author, Lee Fang, had written an article about the money given to oppose marijuana legalization in Colorado, suggesting that most of it had come from a donor who was involved with a rehabilitation group which was operating more than 20 years ago.   The New York Times or Washington Post would not use 20-year old stories to discuss current issues.

CADCA Responds

The chairman of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA )sent a letter to its members to address the slanderous article.  In his words:

“The author compares prescription drugs, particularly opioid pain medications, and marijuana, suggesting that pharmaceutical companies are supporting our work because the medicalization of pot represents a threat to their bottom line. The author also suggests that CADCA is not doing enough to battle opioid abuse, because we receive some funding from pharmaceutical companies. In fact, just the opposite is the case – our funding from the industry allows us to help offset the costs of our two major training events and to develop a number of products and initiatives designed to prevent and reduce medicine abuse. In total, support from the over-the-counter and pharmaceutical medicine industries combined is less than 7 percent of CADCA’s revenue. CADCA believes that the industry has a responsibility to help address and mitigate the complex issues surrounding our nation’s tragic prescription drug abuse crisis.

However, CADCA’s positions are not influenced by any outside organization. CADCA takes its direction from our Board of Directors, our Coalition Advisory Committee, and our membership base. Each group has asked CADCA to provide community leaders with tools to address both medicine abuse and marijuana.

We believe prescription drug abuse is a major epidemic, a point for which we have been sounding the alarm since 2001. More than a decade ago, CADCA published its first prescription drug abuse prevention toolkit to help community leaders address this problem. Every October, we ask our coalitions and partners to join us in a solutions-oriented national dialogue about OTC and Rx drug abuse through National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month.

In the Nation article, the reporter makes a bizarre leap, attempting to connect resources received from pharmaceutical companies to our efforts to reduce youth marijuana use. CADCA believes that the U.S. “experiment” with medical and retail marijuana is a grave concern, particularly in that these efforts will increase youth marijuana use, which is damaging to the adolescent brain. The fact is CADCA receives no outside funding to do our marijuana-related policy work.

The reporter conveniently failed to mention the extensive prescription drug abuse training CADCA provides or the significant policy work we do. Omitted from the article is mention of the times CADCA has testified at Congressional hearings about ways to comprehensively prevent prescription drug diversion, abuse and addiction, as well as the various instances CADCA has supported legislation aimed at reducing medicine abuse.

The title of this article alone tells you where the real agenda lies. Sadly, we know many of you have faced the same kind of attacks at the local level. We stand by our positions and our prevention work on both fronts. In this instance, we take this article as a badge of honor that what we are doing is right and is having an impact.”

Poppot’s Position

Since an epidemic of prescription pain pill abuse in the 21st century came from over-prescribing these medications, it is correct to address the problem and work on prevention.  CADCA, which works in communities, provides many ways to address the abuse of opioid pills.  We applaud the pharmaceutical industry for addressing pain-pill abuse, a problem that is an outgrowth of their business.  We don’t deny they want to make money, too.  We believe they have been more responsible than the marijuana industry.

Parents Opposed to Pot warns against becoming a culture of pain, and a culture of escapism, which can be caused by both marijuana and too many pain pills.

Parents Opposed to Pot believes that a legalized marijuana industry would prey on the most vulnerable–children, teens and minorities –while adding to the problem of addiction today.

Marijuana Vs. Alcohol

The marijuana lobbyists want to “mainstream” marijuana and call for its regulation to be like alcohol.  Let’s make it equal to alcohol, they say.   Why are they asking for addiction equality?

When they compare its illegal status to alcohol, they don’t mention that Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935, the year after a 13-year Prohibition era ended.  When the marijuana community decries the nationwide prohibition of marijuana in 1937, they forget to mention that it happened much earlier, state-by-state, 1911 in MA, 1913 in CA, 1914 in NY, etc.

These same marijuana lobbyists keep suggesting that people who drink too much booze or take pain pills should switch to marijuana.   As much as addiction is hard to overcome, the suggestion of substituting one addiction or bad habit for another can just get you back to square one.

Why are we making a second vice, pot, totally legit for those 21 and over while keeping it illegal for those under 21? The minimum age for alcohol purchase is 21, yet the US already has a problem with underage drinking. Why duplicate this problem with marijuana?

The only obvious reason is that there is a business and a marijuana industry that wants to make profits.  Like with alcohol and tobacco, 80% of those profits will come from those who are addicted or over-indulgent.  The growing industry wants and needs to get young users to keep a steady stream of buyers; the younger they start, the greater likelihood of getting hooked.

An experiment with lowering the beer and wine age to 18 in much of the US in the 1970s did not work.  The national law needed to be changed back to age 21.  Elsewhere teens do not go to the extremes that are common to American culture.  We simply are not a modest or temperate culture, like the Netherlands.

The sales pitch of the marijuana lobby:

“Wouldn’t you rather have your teenage son driving stoned, rather than drunk?”  Both practices are very dangerous, and even more dangerous when stoned and drunk at the same time.

“I support legalization so marijuana can be on equal footing with alcohol.”   Pot users don’t have addiction equality yet, but statistics and studies show that 9% of marijuana users will be come addicted (approximately same rate as drinkers) and that rate jumps to 17% if they begin before age 17.

“No one has ever died from marijuana.”  The advocates claimed in the campaign for legalization in Colorado and Washington.  There have since been 2 deaths in Colorado this year directly attributed edible marijuana and many child-abuse deaths caused by the parents’ usage of marijuana.

Simplistic soundbites don’t tell the whole story.   Marijuana is not safer than alcohol, but it is used less frequently by Americans than pot.   Leah Allen’s account of growing up with a marijuana-addicted father is similar to what it would be like having a chronic alcoholic dad: negligent, irresponsible, violent to the mom and prone to anger when he could not have it.

Pot users could be 7% of adult Americans, vs. at about 66% who drink.  They’re asking us to change a law for the 7%, and Parents Opposed to Pot disagrees.  More people die from alcohol because it is and has been a larger part in society.

We’re better at recognizing who might be  susceptible to alcoholism.  We have little idea who is most at risk for mental illness and other negative effects from marijuana.   Certain teens haven’t thought about it, either.  Tobacco cannot affect brain function, memory and mental health the same way marijuana can.

The risk for mental illness caused by marijuana alone is too great not to be noticed.

 

Marijuana Puts Education, Kids Futures at Risk

Heather Mizeur naively campaigned for the governorship of Maryland by supporting universal pre-Kindergarten and paying for it by legalizing marijuana.  Her support came from NORML and the marijuana industry.

What good does earlier education do for child welfare when you introduce a whole set of new problems?

Look at what is going on in Colorado and Washington, and the unusual types of child endangerment that have gone on with legalization.   Many very young children have gotten into marijuana edibles which look like cookies and candy.

“Encouraging marijuana commercialism and consumption to fund and support education are two inconsistent goals,” explained Diane Carlson, a co-founder of Bravetracks, a non-profit devoted to encouraging youth activity, employment and engagement in Colorado.  “Even before Coloradans voted in 2012 to legalize marijuana, Denver, where marijuana was first commercialized, had some of the highest youth use rates in the nation,” she said.

“The THC content of marijuana is extremely potent with levels reaching 20% and above in Colorado, due to competition in the industry.  Highly potent pot has become incredibly commercialized here and yet our kids have been told it’s benign. Increased access and use is a huge issue for Colorado teens who have no idea how such highly potent products can impact their health and their futures,” according to Carlson.

Since legalization, the pot problem only seems to be getting worse. “Disturbingly, Colorado kids will suck on lollipops, chew on gummy bears, or munch on granola bars without anyone knowing highly potent marijuana is being consumed. They have ‘vaped’ on pens, asthma inhalers or highlighters loaded with a concentrated form of THC that can go undetected in class.”

One high-school teacher in Denver, who wishes to remain anonymous, exclaimed, “Our job is so difficult and there are so many challenges to educating kids well in the best circumstances.  She added, “So why did the state add this other layer of challenge to our jobs and make it harder for our students to achieve success?”

Marijuana Money

“Where Commerce Meets Revolution” is how the Marijuana Policy Project (MMP) describes the Cannabis Business Summit held yesterday and today in Denver.  This title leaves no doubt that the MMP and other pot advocacy groups are about the money.

Amendment 64 passed in Colorado despite warnings of the teachers’ union and a persuasive letter from teacher Christina Blair to the Huffington Post.  It is probably because big money paid for the win in Colorado, with most of that money coming from the industry’s out-of-state lobbying groups.

One year later, by December 2013,  school administrators and law enforcement noticed the changes that came into the schools.  Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has warned the governors of other states not to follow Colorado’s example.

Revolutionary ideas grab attention, but Heather Mizeur didn’t win her primary.  She only promoted an idea which was heard all over the nation’s capital region.

Most likely the children who heard Mizeur’s TV commercials about marijuana will end up believing marijuana is completely harmless and could indeed be tied to education.

The pot industry regularly promotes it as a way to fund education.   It is an ironic that they would suggest a solution that only makes a problem worse.

Beware that many local candidates and representatives in Congress are taking money from the marijuana industry.   We need to watch out for the fallout from this “green rush.”  It could be worse than the mess left by the mortgage industry.

Marijuana and Teens

With the push to legalize and expansion of medical marijuana, children and teens have gained an erroneous perception that pot is harmless, studies show.  Surveys of teens indicate use would definitely go up, if marijuana is legalized.

According to David G. Evans, executive director of the Drug Free Schools Coalition,  “Studies indicate that usage will increase to levels near between those of tobacco and alcohol users.”   The annual survey show that all teen marijuana use, and daily marijuana use, have consistently gone up over the last five years.  As a nation and for our individual children, we need to be concerned.

There is a connection to regular marijuana usage, gaps in college education and dropping out of high school, which often hinders future success.  “Chronic/heavy marijuana users are twice as likely to experience gaps in college enrollment as minimal users, ” according to  Dr. Robert DuPont, Director of the Institute for Behavior and Health,  in Rockville, MD.

Marijuana use in the young often creates a-motivational syndrome and apathy, in addition to and apart from the affects of addiction.  It is not a way of saying “yes to life, yes to love, yes to opportunity and yes to education,” as recommended by the Pope Francis in a recent address at the International Drug Enforcement Conference in Rome.

Dr. DuPont and Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University, wrote an article to suggest that changing policy necessitates a large, multi-year study using technology that has developed over the past 2 decades.  The study would aim to understand more about the effects of marijuana on the adolescent brain.  Researchers at Northwestern University recently published their studies indicating the changes on specific parts of the brain, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has written about some of those findings.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry gives  a warning about  marijuana and young minds:  “Marijuana’s deleterious effects on adolescent brain development, cognition, and social functioning may have immediate and long-term implications, including increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, sexual victimization, academic failure, lasting decline in intelligence measures, psychopathology, addiction, and psychosocial and occupational impairment.”

 

Pot Industry Uses Deceptive Ads Without Protecting Kids

The medical marijuana industry doesn’t assure that expansion into more states will not include marketing marijuana products to children.

The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment,  which passed in the House of Representatives last week, may be considered in the Senate.  The provision takes away the Department of Justice’s ability to prosecute medical marijuana distributors who endanger others.  If a similar amendment passes in the Senate, it could cripple the government’s ability to investigate in states with thriving medical marijuana industries.

Abuses by the medical pot industry have been rampant, particularly in western states.  Potent edibles come without warnings; businesses have located close to schools and day care centers, and pot has been diverted to other states.

The use of seductive names has promoted the allure of pot – making it a symbol of wellness, rather than coming with the typical warnings needed for tobacco, alcohol, other drugs and pharmaceuticals.

Furthermore, the marijuana industry and their public relations campaign have misled voters by suggesting that CBD, one treatment for children with epilepsy, is the same as the medical marijuana used for stimulating appetite in cancer or AIDs patients, or for generalized pain.
Let’s cast a healthy doubt on any products whose promoters believe it to be a “wonder drug” or “elixir of the gods.”   Medical marijuana has expanded exponentially since 2009.  It’s available in 22 states, up from 13 states at the end of 2009.   A current medical publication summarized the problems coming with rapid medical marijuana expansion.

Pharmaceutical products require rigorous testing and similar standards have not been in place for the marijuana drug industry.  Most people only want medical marijuana available in pharmacies rather than through upstart ganja-preneurs, or the tobacco industry, according to surveys.

Pressure from an industry group, Americans for Safe Access, has resulted in a deceptive campaign which suggests that innocent citizens go to jail and that opposition to medi-pot industry’s expansion represents a lack of compassion.

The Television Ads

The well-funded lobby effort, “Vote Medical Marijuana,” is running 30-second TV spots on MSNBC in Maryland and South Florida, the homes of two of the members who voted “no” to the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment— Republican Andy Harris and Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  Over the past two years, the marijuana lobby has consistently threatened politicians who don’t vote with them.

Rep. Wasserman Schultz, who represents Miami, Florida, is keenly aware of the determination of the illegal drug traders in that region.  A 30-second ad against her alleges that Wasserman Schultz wants medical marijuana users to go to federal prison, while 88 percent of Floridians support legalizing access. The same man’s voice asks whether Wasserman Schultz is “out of touch” with Florida, and an image flashes across the screen of an elderly man and his wife, who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a fatal neurological disease.

(A  personal injury lawyer in Orlando, John Morgan, is funding a medical marijuana ballot vote in Florida, using $4 million of his own money to finance the initiative in November, 2014.)
We need to be aware that Americans for Safe Access is manipulating us and our children with deceptive suggestions.  The ad in Maryland claims that Rep. Harris’ vote on May 30th will result in sending Maryland’s patients to prison.  A voice says,  “Congressman Andy Harris thinks it’s OK for medical marijuana patients to go to federal prison, even though Maryland passed a medical marijuana bill in April. ” and then shows the image of a 4-year-old boy who suffers from epilepsy and his mother.

Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America explains the problem and suggests a solution to assure that the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment is not considered in the Senate.    There’s  a simple form to notify your Senator of opposition.

Edible Pot Tricks Children

In Colorado and California, marijuana entrepreneurs have used deceptive packaging which is enticing to youngsters.  Many candies look like children’s favorites, such Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Gummy Bears.  At least nine incidences of marijuana poisoning in children have occurred in Colorado this year.  The problem of pot candy is expanding to other states, as the word is out and a “ganja-preneurial” spirit spreads.

There’s a huge business behind pushing cookies, candies and edible forms of marijuana, considered to be safer than smoked or vaporized pot, but these products take longer to have an effect and often lead people to ingest larger amounts to get their “high.” Continue reading Edible Pot Tricks Children

Let’s Not Support More Addiction

Thanks to the banning of cigarettes in public places, fewer US teens smoke cigarettes, which is safer for all of us.  Now that we don’t have as much second-hand tobacco smoke, why should we put up with second-hand marijuana smoke?  It’s probably because we’re bamboozled by propagandists who worship pot as if it’s a god, and evangelize as if it’s a religion.

Let’s Not Support Another Addictive Substance

Let’s not add one more addictive, dangerous substance to the drugs that are already legal.   We have many legal addictive substances — alcohol, tobacco, Ambien, Xanax, Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin, Adderall.  More options only add to addiction rather than substitute for other choices.   The majority of teens who are in substance abuse treatment use marijuana more frequently than alcohol, other drugs and addictive substances. Continue reading Let’s Not Support More Addiction

A Look Inside Colorado’s Pot Industry

By Ben Cort, Board Member, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM); Director of Business Development/CeDAR at the University of Colorado Hospital. The original article is from CADCA’s  website.

Last month I was honored to speak at CADCA’s National Leadership Forum about marijuana legalization in my home state of Colorado. I wish I could say that I was caught off guard by the reaction I received but I wasn’t. It’s the same everywhere. When people hear what is going on, when they see the pictures and advertisements, the reactions are inevitable; shock, outrage, anger, even fear.

I live in Colorado, work inside of substance abuse treatment, am in recovery myself and I have three young children in public school, that’s my platform.

Make no mistake about it, we did not just legalize weed in Colorado we christened the commercialization and industrialization of the marijuana industry in Colorado.  We welcomed in a new industry that knowingly promotes an addictive and harmful substance SO THAT PEOPLE COULD MAKE MONEY. The business of business is to make money and when there is money to be made people will signup no matter how messed up the means are.  Let’s take a quick look at how the money is and will be made inside of this industry.

As of this writing there are 47 stores in Colorado that can sell recreational weed, there are about another 300 in the queue. Already the competition is fierce and the marketing wars are heating up, imagine what will come next. Right now we have everything from free T-shirts with your weed purchase and take-out orders to home delivery and a $1 joint when you show your ski pass for the day. For these businesses to continue making the huge money they are making they will need to do two things: 1) engage new users, 2) convert current users to more frequent users.

To differentiate themselves from the competition they will offer the most amount of THC they can for the lowest price possible, sound like some potential for trouble? Our weed in Colorado is so strong (20-30 percent THC in its smoked form) that we have a strain called “green crack.” We also have a full range of edibles and concentrates, these businesses are diversifying and engaging with new (and younger) customers through new products.

Our concentrates, which are advertised aggressively, are 80-90 percent THC, and are often smoked on a super-heated needle and puts the smoker on their back with one hit.  Our edibles come in gummies, fruit sodas, suckers, candy and yummy looking baked goods that are so potent that a single pot brownie in Colorado comes with a warning that it has to be cut into fourths before consuming.

I’m guessing the 2-year-old child who ended up in the ER a few miles from my house last month didn’t read the label on the weed cookie she found before eating it.

A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man from the mistakes of others. Consider that old saying and the plight of Colorado when considering legalization in your home state.

Three people were shot at Denver’s first 420 celebration after legalization in 2013, and chaos followed. This year more police took precaution. Photo: Joe Amon/ The Denver Post
Three people were shot at Denver’s first 420 celebration after legalization in 2013, and chaos followed. This year more police took precaution. Photo: Joe Amon/ The Denver Post

Legalized Marijuana: A Lesson in Failure

Supporters of pot reform promised legalization would “regulate” it and keep profits away from cartels.  It was “inventive” to think a “weed” could be regulated. In practice, the lure of without much worry about devious marketing practices, kids’ perceptions and the consequences of child abuse. It was national news when 4th graders bought and sold marijuana at a Greeley, CO, school, on two separate occasions  during the week of April 21, 2014.  Both children had taken the marijuana products from grandparents.

The “trickle-down” effect that comes when pot is promoted for its money-making potential, and the increased usage, have been tragic for children in Colorado and in Washington.  A two-year old died Continue reading Legalized Marijuana: A Lesson in Failure

Bursting the Bubble of Marijuana Hype