“Coalition for a SAFER ILLINOIS” said the idea of legalizing weed in Illinois was so people can buy from regulated dispensaries, rather than the black market. It’s an odd comment since none of the states that have legalized pot have gotten rid of black markets. In fact, the black markets seem to grow stronger with legalization, as everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Last year Washington Governor Jay Inslee, above, called for increased funding to treat mental illness, an outgrowth of marijuana legalization. In the US, Washington leads the states with the greatest percentage of fatal accidents involving drivers under the influence of marijuana. (Read our previous article)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently wrote letters to Governor Jay Inslee (top), Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado and the attorney generals of both states, asking how they propose to address their failed marijuana regulation.
“[T]he medical market [for marijuana] is considered `grey’ due to the lack of regulation and oversight” and, furthermore, aspects of Washington’s regulatory structure for the “medical market” have “unintentionally led to the growth of black market enterprises”;
•
The “recreationally licensed” marijuana market also is incompletely regulated: the leading regulatory violation in that market has been the “failure to utilize and/or maintain traceability” of marijuana products;
•
“Since legalization in 2012, Washington State marijuana has been found to have been destined for 43 different states”;
•
90% of public safety violations of the state’s marijuana “regulatory structures” for “recreational licensees” involved minors, according to data from the first year of Washington’s “recreational marijuana” laws. Violations include, for example, sales to minors and employment of minors;
•
“One in five 10th grade students reported riding with a driver who had used marijuana — 9% reported driving within three hours of consumption,” according to the most recent data in the report;
•
“49% of young adult drivers who used marijuana in the past month had driven a car within three hours after using marijuana” and 64% of marijuana DUIs in Spokane Valley involved youth, according to data from the first year of Washington’s “recreational marijuana” laws;
•
“61.9% of drivers do not believe marijuana makes a difference in their driving ability” and “[d]rivers with active THC in their blood involved in a fatal driving accident have increased 133.2% from 2010 (16) to 2014 (23)”;
•
In 2014 alone, 17 THC extraction labs exploded; and
•
There was a 54% increase in the number of marijuana calls to the State Poison Center from 2012-2014. These findings are relevant to the policy debate concerning marijuana legalization. I appreciate your offer to engage in a continuing dialogue on this important issue. To that end, please advise as to how Washington plans to address the findings in the Northwest HIDTA report, including efforts to ensure that all marijuana activity is compliant with state marijuana
laws, to combat diversion of marijuana, to protect public health and safety, and to prevent marijuana use by minors.
I also am open to suggestions on marijuana policy and related matters as we work to carry out our duties to effectively and faithfully execute the laws of the United States. You may direct your response and suggestions to the Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison within the Office of Legislative Affairs, which can help coordinate any communications logistics. I look forward to your response.
3 deaths that occurred in hash oil labs and grow sites
Mass murders caused by heavy marijuana users. For example, Arcan Cetin killed 5 at the Cascades Mall and Jaylen Fryburg killed 4, plus himself, at the high school in Marysville.
Despite the incredible problems from legalizing weed, a video from Huffington Post chooses to call reminders of these problems “Reefer Madness.”
A stoned driver killed high school senior Cheyllyn Ranae Collinsworth, 18, on May 17, 2017. “Chey,” as she was called, would have graduated as one of the top 25 students at Centralia High School. She planned to attend Central Washington University and pursue her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher.
A crash on May 17, 2017 in Thurston County killed Cherllyn Collinsworth,18. The other driver – under the influence of marijuana – had crossed the center lane of Old Highway 99.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who bragged that he will defend Washington’s marijuana program should be sorry, too. He said, “My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the federal government does not undermine Washington’s successful, unified system for regulating recreational and medical marijuana.”
However, another family must live with a big hole in their hearts.
Other Marijuana Driving Victims in Washington
Cheryllyn’s death adds to a growing list of victims in Washington who are also young people. Since Washington legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, drivers under the influence of marijuana killed these students (and perhaps others).
Cadence Boyer, 7 (killed from accident on sidewalk on Halloween)
High School Students
Jenna Farley, 14,
Kassidy Clark, 16
Luther Stroudermire, 18
Shane Ormiston, 18
Gabriel Anderson, 15
Cheyllyn Collinsworth, 18
Marijuana contributed to other deaths in Washington:
In Washington the percentage of traffic deaths involving stoned drivers is nearly the same as those involving those under the influence of alcohol, 27% vs. 29%. It is unbelievable that any state would add to the problem of drunk driving by calling for a policy that increases stoned driving and results in a higher rate of traffic deaths.
What Does it Take to Admit the Failures of Legalizing Pot?
The explosion began on North Kerby Avenue, Portland on Monday afternoon. Two men died. The Oregonian/Oregonlive published these photos which were courtesy of the public, Samantha Matsumoto and Olivia Dimmer.
This past week a butane explosion rocked a North Portland neighborhood killing two men, the home owner and a man working on the home. The force of the explosion was so great that it leveled the home, damaged the two adjacent homes and threw debris across the street into a park where children were playing. When will Oregonians say “Enough is enough”? Legalization may not have caused this deadly incident, but it sure did contribute to it.
Oregon’s beautiful city, Portland, gained fame through the TV series Portlandia. People are nice and the drivers are generally more polite there. Although most major cities saw declines in real estate values during the recession, Portland’s real estate values rose very high. With its food culture, microbreweries and movie theaters, Portland has become the place “young people go to retire.” How long will the reputation last?
Marijuana labs — sometimes called hash oil labs or BHO labs — were exploding before legalization, but the problem grew bigger after marijuana possession became legal in July 2015. The number of burn victims rose from 7 to 30 within a year. Today marijuana users can buy “wax” or “dabs” from licensed dispensaries, but it is cheaper to make at home using butane. Unlicensed chemists who run the marijuana labs may be trying to sell their own supply to undercut the legal market. Or they be so addicted that risking death is not enough to stop them.
(Washington and Colorado outlawed the BHO labs after legalization; Oregon and California passed laws against the practice before legalizing weed. Since those laws aren’t working, some places in California are banning the sale of butane.)
What about mental health care?
The Vermont legislature failed to legalize pot this year. Vermont’s savvy governor probably recognized the need for more mental health care before legalizing a substance that assaults the brain. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who makes mental health care his mission, had been warning of this problem. Oregon illustrates the problem of not having a rock solid, foolproof mental health care system in place before legalizing marijuana.
Twice this year, psychotic stoners brought knives onto the public transportation in Portland and terrified the public. On May 26, Jeremy Christian killed two men who were defending the Muslim women he was attacking. He had declared his love for cannabis on Facebook. Christian’s behavior was consistent with marijuana-induced psychosis.
On May 10, a 24-year-old in a mental health crisis terrified a group of people on the train, including a 17-year-old. Unfortunately a policeman shot Terrell Johnson to death. An investigation has cleared the officer of wrongdoing. Johnson began smoking pot at age 12 or 13. He was a healthy, “normal” young guy before THC assaulted his brain. The police officer had no choice when the guy pursued him. Anthony Bonofiglio, a man on a train the night before the final incident, described Johnson’s bizarre behavior in the police report. Johnson was in full-blown psychosis! His toxicology report revealed marijuana and a small amount of alcohol.
Psychosis is not a condition that the brain can just snap out of once it’s triggered. A hospital in the state of Washington gets one or two new psychosis patients every day. The medical staff at Providence St. Peter’s in Olympia stabilizes the patients with a drug Risperdal to stop the psychosis. It’s a temporary treatment which doesn’t solve the problem.
Other Accidents and Lawsuits in Portlandia
Elizabeth Kemble was the first victim of a stoned driver after recreational pot shops opened in October, 2015. Photo: The Oregonian
A stoned driver killed pedestrian Elizabeth Kemble within a week of the opening of commercial pot stores. Two months later, a driver high on pot killed bicyclist Martin Greenough in Portland. His family is suing the city of Portland. Furthermore, a construction worker who was burned in a hash oil explosion at a legal marijuana facility in Oregon is suing also. The District Attorney of Clatsop County Oregon, Josh Marquis, warned ahead of time that only the lawyers would benefit from legalization.
Marijuana is already popular and adults have a right to do what they want with their bodies. These popular arguments reveal how little our society cares about the young, mostly males, who go psychotic from marijuana. If they die or lose their minds, it was their choice to use substances, the legalizers say.
On the other hand, how long can we persist in ignoring the rights of others who are affected by this failed experiment? Marijuana labs do affect the neighbors, and they overwhelm our fire departments and burn centers.
Other marijuana-related emergency visits overwhelm the hospitals. All of us must pay for it in some way. We know marijuana legalization is not working in Washington, Colorado or California.
Recently a woman in Portland sparked outrage by posting on Facebook a photo of breastfeeding while smoking from a bong. Maybe that image will wake people up to the fact that pot addiction really does affect others. It is no paradise in Portlandia.
