Category Archives: Drug Policy

SF Shooter was a Drug Offender, Marijuana Charges Dropped

July 7, 2015 Leave a comment

Blame Change in Drug Policy, not Immigration Policy, for SF Shooting

Francisco Sanchez, who shot and killed Kate Steinle on July 1 in San Francisco, was a 7-time convicted felon. Four of those convictions were for drug charges. San Francisco’s safe haven law for illegal immigrants is being blamed for this tragic death on Pier 14. However, Sanchez’s status as a drug offender for selling marijuana is what should have kept him in jail.

At the urging of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Californians voted in favor for Proposition 47 in 2014, designed to reduce penalties for criminals, particularly drug criminals. Ironically, Proposition 47 was called The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. Americans need to wake up to misleading names crafted by clever politicians. The deceptive name covered up the intent of the law. The ACLU, The Open Society Policy Center, Drug Policy Alliance and individual donors spent over $10,000,000 to pass Proposition 47. Continue reading SF Shooter was a Drug Offender, Marijuana Charges Dropped →

Drug Policy, Reviews

Dr. Hill on The World’s Most Popular Weed

June 28, 2015 Leave a comment

By Sally Schindel, Treasurer, Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy

Dr. Kevin P. Hill’s book, Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth About the World’s Most Popular Weed covers a vast amount of ground in 206 pages. The Harvard—McLean Hospital physician sets out to explain three big myths: that marijuana’s not harmful, that marijuana is not addictive and that quitting marijuana involves no withdrawal. The book is easy to read. It was published in 2015.

An addictions specialist, Dr. Hill provides an unbiased, honest and factual report. He makes the complex issues associated with decriminalization and legalization understandable. Dr. Hill concludes that legalizing “medical” and recreational Continue reading Dr. Hill on The World’s Most Popular Weed →

California, Drug Policy, Oregon

Marijuana Industry Aims for West Coast of Weed

June 27, 2015 Leave a comment

How can a babysitter in California who allowed a 17-month old baby to die in her charge while she smoked pot be acquitted?

Why did a marijuana-intoxicated driver who killed Rosemary Tempel and injured others in Seattle receive a lesser charge of vehicular homicide which can get him out of jail in 3 years?

Rosemary Tempel, a nurse, was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated driver on July 17, 2012, less than 4 months before I-502. — Rosemary Tempel, a nurse, was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated driver on July 17, 2012, less than 4 months before I-502 passed in Washington state.

(The driver was driving without insurance, on probation, had previous marijuana DUI, domestic violence charges, and the judge refused to allow the marijuana in his blood as evidence.)

How can a man in Oregon who made butane hash oil out of marijuana while his children were in harm’s way never be charged with a felony or misdemeanor? (He suffered burns and the friend who was with him later died. Insurance covered his $1.3 million in burn treatment, but he is filing suit against the butane suppliers, despite the well-known dangers of making BHO. )

With much of the expensive real estate in the west owned by foreign business interests, both in Vancouver and in California, it seems as if the prevailing powers are just hoping to have a “doped up” population on the west coast to control. The illegal marijuana grows have had a devastating impact on California’s water supply. Yet, the marijuana industry/lobby has made clear its intention to make the western coast of North America a solid block of territory where marijuana is legal.

The Oregonian featured a series of articles on hash oil explosions, May 5, 2014. — The Oregonian featured a series of articles on hash oil explosions, May, 2014.

If these accidents were caused by alcohol instead of marijuana, there would probably be less sympathy in the justice system. It’s a sad state for the west coast of North America, if the rights of marijuana users continue to go unchecked.

Alaska voted to legalize in November, despite the wild, marijuana-related murders of two state troopers last year. Just last week, Vancouver City Council, in British Columbia, approved rules for the city’s 100 or so medical marijuana dispensaries. The weed community is upset that 2/3 of Oregon, the eastern part, will not open marijuana dispensaries. Yet, there will still be a solid weed coast from southern California to Alaska. Some readers may be thinking it’s not legal in California. It is, however, legal for anyone 18 or over to get a medical marijuana card, for the least of medical conditions. Nonetheless many cities and counties in California and Washington have banned dispensaries.

Drug Policy, Featured

National Families of Action States Marijuana Policy

May 22, 2015 Leave a comment

National Families in Action (NFIA) weighs in on the legalization of marijuana with three basic positions:

1) Replace incarceration for low level drug offenders with assessment, treatment for those who are addicted, and education and social services for those who are not. Children and teens who are caught using are best served by get help, not punishment.

2) Any medical marijuana program should be based on public health models.

3) Recreational marijuana is not a good idea. If marijuana is legalized the best way to do it and prevent youth usage is to follow the precedent set by Dr. Kessler to regulate tobacco.

National Families in Action (NFIA) was founded in Atlanta in 1977, to protect children from drugs. It led a national effort to help parents prevent the marketing of drugs and drug use to children and helped them form parent groups to protect children’s health.

Today NFIA publishes the weekly Marijuana Report, an update on major news affecting marijuana across the US. NFIA has worked continuously for many years. Tobacco and alcohol cause enough problems in the US and it’s unwise to add a third addictive drug.

Since National Families in Action has been studying Colorado, what has been found? The more medical marijuana dispensaries, the more adolescent marijuana use.

“Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000 but only legalized cultivation and dispensaries in 2009, giving rise to an explosion of dispensaries in some areas of the state. Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, but legal pot shops did not open until January 1, 2014.

“In 2013, Colorado initiated the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey of some 40,000 middle-school and high-school students. It divided the state into 21 regions, releasing statewide data in September 2014 but regional data quite a bit later.

“Nationwide press coverage proclaimed that one year after full legalization, Colorado high school students’ marijauna use (36.9%) was lower than the national average (40.7%). But that wasn’t the whole story, illustrated (by the graphic linked above). Use is considerably higher than the national average in some regions, considerably lower in others. Why?

“There are nearly twice as many dispensaries in regions where use is higher, and that’s before recreational pot shops opened for business. In the past, we have shown that states with the highest youth marijuana usage also have the highest usage of opiate, heroin and cocaine abuse. It also tends to happen in states where “medical” marijuana is legal.

What will the 2015 Colorado Healthy Kids Survey show?” Thankfully, a few non-profits have been formed in order to educate and prevent marijuana from getting into the hands of children. Smart Colorado and Parents for a Healthy Colorado have stepped up the plate and are trying to fill a gap in substance abuse education. Project SAM is very active in Colorado, also.

In Oregon, Clear Alliance has formed and is working to educate in anticipation of a of that state’s legalization that begins July 1.

National Families in Action co-founded the Addiction Studies Program for Journalists with Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1999. With demonstration grants from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in the 1990s, the organization worked with families in inner-city Atlanta public housing communities to help parents protect their children from the crack epidemic and to help parents and teachers conduct an after-school program, Club HERO, for sixth-grade students at a large, inner- city middle school.

Parents Opposed to Pot