Drugged and Stoned is a Deadly Combination

May 23, 2016 Leave a comment

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.

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.

Medical Marijuana, News Articles

House of Representatives Passes Marijuana for Veterans Amendment

May 20, 2016

Allowing Veterans Marijuana for PTSD Ignores all Science

An amendment which will require Veterans’ Administration psychiatrists to allow medical marijuana for veterans with PTSD passed the House of Representatives on May 19. If this law had been in place on February 2, 2013, when Eddie Routh killed Chad Littlefield and Chris Kyle, their families could have sued the VA.

The defendant in the “American Sniper” murder trial, Eddie Routh, was found guilty of murder even though he plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors argued his deadly behavior was brought on not by schizophrenia, but weed. They called it “marijuana psychosis.” He was a veteran, but certainly not the first veteran to go into a raging psychosis after using marijuana. One of Parents Opposed to Pot’s followers begged us for help to save her son.

Congress is choosing to act against the scientific literature, most recently the study from Yale which covered more than 2,000 veterans between 1992 and 2011. For the veterans who used marijuana, there was a worsening of PTSD symptoms and increased violence. Congress is following a course that risks making people who are already fragile more depressed and anxious, and possibly violent.

Other Marijuana – Related Lawsuits

Lawsuits involving medical and recreational marijuana are mounting. The family of Kristine Kirk, who was shot by her husband during his cannabis-induced psychosis, are filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the three Kirk children. A recreational marijuana manufacturer and store that sold a weed-laced candy to Richard Kirk are named in the suit. Kirk is awaiting trial on charges he shot his wife to death after consuming the treat. The lawsuit, according to the Denver Post, claims the manufacturer and store failed to properly warn Kirk of the candy’s potency and possible side effects, including hallucinations and psychotic episodes.

The family of Kate Steinle, killed by Francesco Sanchez, whom San Francisco refused to prosecute for his marijuana crimes, is now suing the city of San Francisco. Sanchez, under the influence of marijuana, was delusional and terrified because he thought he saw a sea lion. (Some people see this as an immigration issue, but Parents Opposed to Pot notices that if he served time for his marijuana crimes, he would not have been on the street.)

A 16-year-old Seattle boy jumped six floors to his death after the first time he tried marijuana on December 5, 2015. Although the marijuana was purchased legally, Hamza Warsame was not a legal consumer. After extensive investigation, his death was determined to be an accident caused by his reaction to marijuana.

Coverup of the Marijuana -Psychosis Risk

First the American Press and now Congress is ignoring the scientific literature that shows marijuana is related to psychosis and violence.

Information on the marijuana and psychosis risk was presented at the National Press Office more than 11 years ago. A video meant to be a Public Service Announcement for parents and their children was ignored by the American Press. The media coverup has continued.

Lives could have been saved, and so many cases of mental illness and psychotic breakdowns and crimes could have been prevented – if the American Press had decided to report to the public. In fact the scientific evidence on each of the following is voluminous: marijuana & psychosis, marijuana & violence and marijuana & psychiatric disorders.

Testimonies

Marijuana Brain Changes: One Family Member’s Testimony

May 13, 2016

Family dysfunction caused by marijuana

I have two family members who smoked marijuana for years. And since my family is large one I know that this is the difference that has made them unlike the rest of us. One is now in his 40s and started smoking marijuana when he was age 16, long before his brain was fully developed, in 1986. According to him, he smoked it daily for about 25 years. He still defends his old habit and is all for legalization.

He always says that marijuana is not addictive and not harmful. I always ask him if it’s not addictive, why did you smoke it daily for 25 years, and if it’s not harmful, why did you quit? Continue reading Marijuana Brain Changes: One Family Member’s Testimony →

Mental Health, Violence

Yes, Marijuana Kills and This Time it was a 16-Year-Old

May 11, 2016

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.)