Category Archives: California

Marijuana Legalization is Closely Linked to the Homelessness Crisis

There’s no question that marijuana and other drugs – in combination with mental illness or other disabling conditions – are essential contributors to chronic homelessness.”   Senator John Hickenlooper made that statement when he was governor of Colorado in 2017.

This is one of the results of the legalization of marijuana in Denver, and we’re going to have to deal with it.”  Mayor Michael Hancock was talking about a violent incident on 16th Street Mall.  He described the “urban travelers” who came to Denver following legalization.  That was seven years ago, and a new mayor will have to deal with the problem, a problem that now extends to more cities.

Photos of unhoused people living in squalid camps of Los Angeles (shown above), Portland and Seattle show up in our social media feeds.  They’re taking over the streets in San Francisco, Vancouver and Denver.  New York City, with its 1400 illegal pot shops, has a growing homeless population, too.

And although homelessness is a national problem, and substance abuse is not the only cause, the common factor that most of the worst-hit cities and states have is legalized marijuana. In some areas, it has reached crisis levels.  Even local leaders have declared a state of emergency to address the urgency of the situation.
Continue reading Marijuana Legalization is Closely Linked to the Homelessness Crisis

A beautiful voice, a beautiful light lost to this world

Krystal Kazmark’s sudden passing in a tragic, preventable car crash left an irreplaceable space in the hearts of her parents, Mary and Craig Kazmark, and her brother Kyle.  

Krystal performed an inspirational song of tribute to her classmates at the Palos Verdes High School graduation in 2013.  But, on July 25, 2020, the light went out instantly for this young lady who was so vibrant and full of life. She was a California girl. Continue reading A beautiful voice, a beautiful light lost to this world

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

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

So much homelessness is turning the tide of public opinion on drug policy

California Peace Coalition Forms

Concerned citizen groups rallied in Sacramento on August 16, 2021, They issued a press release as the California Peace Coalition, signaling a new alliance. A large and varied group of non-profits and individuals affected by the explosion of drugs united for this important cause.  They stand against drug dealers, bad policies and open drug markets, problems that fuel addiction, overdoses and California’s large homeless population.

Their objectives include ending the open drug markets. They wish to find workable solutions for the homelessness crisis and rehabilitation for addiction.  Many groups in the alliance were started by parents who lost children to addiction or drug poisoning deaths. Many of these families would prefer forced treatment for addiction over the policies that enable addiction.

Cities like San Francisco and Seattle make life easier for drug use, thus keeping people enslaved to their addictions.  Tom Wolf and many adults who survived and recovered from drug habits want to see a change.  That’s why they joined the coalition

Among the parents in the group are those whose children died of fentanyl, usually not knowing they were getting it.  Most of them object to letting drug dealers, who sell drugs and poison young people, off the hook.

A progressive changes his mind

On Substack a few weeks ago, Michael Shellenberger wrote his apology for progressive policies, “In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I worked with a group of friends and colleagues to advocate drug decriminalization, harm reduction, and criminal justice reform…. I fought for the treatment of drug addiction as a public health problem not a criminal justice one. And we demanded that housing be given to the homeless without regard for their own struggles with drugs.”

“Our intentions were good.” he said, but concluded, “Everything we thought about the drugs was wrong.”   https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-everything-we-thought-about-drugs

At the end of the article, he explained:

“Progressive advocates and policymakers alike blame the drug war, mass incarceration, and drug prohibition for the addiction and overdose crisis, even though the crisis resulted from liberalized attitudes and drug laws, first toward pharmaceutical opioids, and then toward all drugs”

In an article of August 26, Shellenberger proclaimed, “Finally the Media Are Starting to Tell the Truth About California, Drugs, & Homelessness[J1] ”  https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/finally-the-media-are-starting-to

He concludes that bad policy drives homelessness more than anything else. We may read more about this topic in his book coming out on October 12.

Homelessness is largely a matter of drug addiction and mental illness.  Since drug abuse often precedes mental illness, many people would not need mental health care if they hadn’t used drugs. Although poverty and the high price of housing contribute to California’s problems, the excessive homelessness did not appear until after marijuana became legal.  Many people don’t see homelessness as we do, but an upcoming recall election in California signals widespread dissatisfaction in the state.

Shellenberger wrote a book about San Francisco.  Harper Collins will release it next month.  Will the rest of the country wake up?