Tag Archives: dabbing

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

Whoa Dude! New book on understanding weed

Think on these things before getting too deep into smoking Weed*    * Or what the science of marijuana is telling us about the harmful effects of marijuana for you, your friends, or your kids.

A book by Kevin G. Becker Ph.D. reviewed by Sally Schindel

 

It is a long title for a 222 page VERY readable book.

I have read dozens of books about marijuana – the drug and the industry, mental health harms caused by marijuana, substance use disorders and treatment and recovery.  Additionally, I’ve read books about the reasons so many feel commercializing and normalizing marijuana is acceptable public policy.

Many of the books left me feeling buried and over my head.

I’m not a scientist or medical professional. I’m a retired accountant/financial advisor and a Mom forever grieving the loss of my son Andy to marijuana-induced suicide.

I am insatiable about learning all I can find about marijuana risks and harms. Continue reading Whoa Dude! New book on understanding weed

The Devil’s Playbook MEETS Big Weed in 420 reveals

The cannabis industry follows the devil’s playbook on a daily basis in states that have legalized it.  After much trial and error,  Colorado may put caps on its pot industry.

Two New Exposés of Big Weed

On April 20, Kevin Sabet’s new book, Smokescreen, went on sale across the country.  The publisher picked a symbolic date, 420.    In 2018, Sabet began to hear from whistleblowers, including Colorado regulators forced by higher-ups to look away.  (Disclaimer: Sabet would not endorse the title of this blog, as we tend to be harder-edged than he is.)


Producer and Director Sean Morrow, a journalist with NOW THIS News covered Big Weed in his podcast recorded on April 20. Morrow typically looks at the funders of political, corporate, and lobbying interests, part of a series called “Who is.”  (Now This News brands itself as a progressive news source targeting millennials.) Continue reading The Devil’s Playbook MEETS Big Weed in 420 reveals

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.