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Mental Health

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 →

Drug Policy

Stop the marijuana madness

By Bill Deckard, letter to the editor, The Daily Herald

As our state lawmakers rush toward legalizing recreational marijuana before they go home in June, here are some things you should think about:

Marijuana is a dangerous drug. It impairs judgment, destroys ambition and ruins relationships. That’s why it has been illegal for all these years. Making it legal won’t change this. It will still be a dangerous drug that impairs judgment, destroys ambition and ruins relationships.

It is no accident that many states have already legalized “medical” marijuana. That has been a “part of the plan” from Day One: legalize medical marijuana first and then there will be less resistance to total legalization.

Big business is eager to get you hooked. Altria, the producer of Marlboro cigarettes, has already invested $2 billion in marijuana. They couldn’t kill us all with their cigarettes, so they’ll finish the job with marijuana.

The proposed law says you’ll be allowed to possess only an ounce of marijuana and grow only five plants at a time. How dumb do they think we are? Once marijuana becomes legal, it will inundate our world. You’ll have easy access to as much as you want.

Worst of all, we’ll all be complicit in destroying the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Dear legislators, please stop this madness.

Bill Deckard

Winfield

Appeared in The Daily Herald on May 13, 2019 https://www.dailyherald.com/discuss/20190513/stop-the-marijuana-madness

Testimonies

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 →

News Articles

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 →