Tag Archives: Drug Free America Foundation

Reviews, Video

Marijuana…Know The Truth Campaign

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. “Marijuana…Know the Truth” is a new campaign of the Drug Free America Foundation, Inc.  Its producers designed two videos to educate the public about the real consequences of marijuana use. The initiative begins with public service announcements (PSAs) that examine the connection between marijuana use and opioid abuse and overdose. A thirty-second commercial begins this week and will run in select movie theaters throughout the country for 10 weeks. The video features a mother, Karen Bailey, who tells the story of how her son started smoking marijuana in middle school. His marijuana use turned into an opioid addiction that ultimately took his life.

Please share the video on your social media and with your contacts.
Drug Free America targets the commercial to cities and states that have been hard hit by drugs and overdose deaths. By a long shot, drugs cause far more accidental deaths in the US than both guns and traffic incidents. To drive home that point, the campaign will run digital PSAs, too. The theater PSAs appear in CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, and WV. For theater information, contact Amy at [email protected].
The Drug Free America Foundation has a longer version of the video on their homepage. In this video, Karen Bailey explains in more detail the gripping story of how her son’s marijuana use transitioned into an opiate pill problem.

Gateway Drug

Big Marijuana moves to exploit the Opioid Epidemic

Remarks prepared by Drug Free America Foundation, March 2018. Get a downloadable copy here.

Marijuana use is associated with an increased risk of prescription opioid use. The National Institute on Drug Abuse analyzed data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and found respondents who reported past-year marijuana use in their initial interview had 2.2 times higher odds than nonusers for having a prescription opioid use disorder and 2.6 times greater odds of abusing prescription opioids.[i]

Marijuana use seems to strengthen the relationship between pain and depression and anxiety, not ease it. A recent study that surveyed 150 adults receiving MAT examined whether marijuana use diminishes the relationships between pain, depression, and anxiety and whether self-efficacy influences these interactions. The study concluded that marijuana use strengthens the connection between feelings of pain and emotional distress. Marijuana use was also associated with a low sense of self-efficacy, making it harder for them to manage their symptoms.[ii] Continue reading Big Marijuana moves to exploit the Opioid Epidemic →

Featured

Newest Activist Groups Go Against “Recreational” Marijuana

The newest groups against marijuana commercialization:                         Marijuana Science Forum  (objective; not necessarily for or against) Texans Against Legalizing Marijuana (LIKE their  Facebook page)  Families Against Recreational Marijuana (FARM)                    
Neo-American Political Group (Like their Facebook page, please)  Marijuana Victims Association

Legalization means commercialization (don’t deny it–that is what has happened in every state that voted to legalize.)   Please join us in stopping the commercialization of marijuana.  Decriminalization is already in place.  NORML is raising money and trying to normalize pot use in every state.   Hit the “LIKE” and “SHARE” buttons in order to raise the profile of all groups that fight this in their states.   (Just Say No to Marijuana went online after we published this article.)

Canada                                                                                                                                   Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada

California Groups  (Please suggest to friends, family in the state)
Marijuana Harms Families                                                                                        Butane Hash Oil and Honey Oil Dangers (against pot labs only)
Ban Commercial Cultivation                                                                          BSane.org                                                                                                                     Calaveras Residents Against Commercial MJ                                               
Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana
Moms Strong
Stop Pot
RAM – Rethinking Access to Marijuana
STOP Commercial Pot (California)
Take Back America Campaign

 Colorado Groups (Please suggest to friends, families there)
 Parents of Colorado Against the Normalization of Dope
Parents for a Healthy Colorado
People Against Retail Marijuana in Manitou Springs (PARMMS)
Smart Colorado
Pueblo for Positive Impact                                                                                      Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo                                                                                      Act on Drugs

Massachusetts                                                                                                               The Marijuana Policy Initiative                                                                                     Be Smarter Massachusetts
Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts

Florida                                                                                                                                        Auntie Cannabis is Anti-Pot                                                                                            No on 2
Mothers Opposed 2 Marijuana
Prevention Plus Wellness

Maine
Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Maine
Mainers Protecting Our Youth and Communities

Oregon
Portland for Positive Impact
Clear Alliance

Nationwide and/or Other States
Educating Voices
Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy
Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada                                                      Don’t Roll Up Roll Out
I Hate Marijuana                                                                                                                  LegalLies
Marijuana Harms Families
Marijuana Issues in Tennessee
MarijuanaX
National Families in Action
The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
SAM Taskforce
Stop the Legalization of Marijuana
Texans ALARM

Vote No on 2 Nevada
Keep Arkansas Safe
Keeping Missouri Kids Safe
Safe Montana

Please sign the petition against T-Mobile for trying to normalize marijuana use.

Please start a group for your state to go against legalization if it doesn’t have one.     There are many other community, county and groups affiliated with CADCA. This list emphasizes groups that concentrate on marijuana prevention.   Drug Free America Foundation is national and it opposes all drugs.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana and Parents Opposed to Pot focus on marijuana.  National Families in Action writes the latest studies of marijuana in The Marijuana Report (see above). We must support each other, as well as other state groups.

Merry Jane claims many states have strong policymakers working to actively legalize and regulate cannabis.

We are sorry to have left out some groups, but if you want to see a group added please write [email protected]

Addiction, Teens

NIDA Report Shows Use of Marijuana High, Feeding Future Drug Addiction

National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported today that drug abuse among teens is trending downward, except for marijuana.   The University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future Survey was completed for 2016.  It showed that six percent of high school seniors across the country are daily marijuana users.

Many of these young, habitual tokers, are potential addicts–if not yet addicted.  They may stick to marijuana which is extremely potent today–5x more potent than it was in 70s.  Or they may go onto other drugs, or slide into alcoholism as they turn the legal age to buy booze.  The six percent of seniors who are daily pot users is triple the rate of daily drinkers in 12th grade.  That figure is very troubling, and it is the same high rate from the previous year.

Teen abuse of other substances, including opioids and heroin, is down. However, adult substance abuse continues to rise astronomically.   The Centers for Disease Control released new statistics last week:  52,404 drug-related deaths in 2015, an 11% rise.  By comparison, 37,757 died in car crashes, an increase of 12%. Gun deaths, including homicides and suicides, totaled 36,252, a jump of 7%.     In 2014, there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths.  The rate of increase has risen rapidly in the last decade.

There’s the concern that these daily marijuana users will go onto other drugs, drugs that lead to overdose and are potentially lethal.    States with high rates of teen marijuana use in 2011 and 2012 ended up having the highest rates of opioid pill abuse two years later.  Here’s five reasons marijuana is a gateway drug.

Pain Pills, Cough Syrup and Other Drugs

The use of synthetic cannabinoids and ecstasy is lower, but still too high.  High school students are  using much fewer opioid pain pills.  Among 12th graders there’s been a 45 percent drop over the past five years. Only 2.9 percent of high school seniors reported past year misuse of the pain reliever Vicodin in 2016, compared to nearly 10 percent a decade ago.  The Drug Free American Foundation, CADCA and the pharmacies regularly sponsor “Take Back Your Drugs” days.  At these times, pain relievers from other family members are tossed out, with the hopes of preventing illicit use.

Fewer eighth graders are using marijuana, which is encouraging.   Parents Opposed to Pot believes it’s because new parent and community drug education efforts – since legalization — are discouraging early pot use.

One troubling note is that eighth graders had an increase in misuse of over-the-counter cough medicine.  This year, 2.6 percent of them have abused it, up from 1.6 percent in 2015.

Tobacco use and drinking are trending downward, but use of e-cigarettes has gone up.   Here’s the statistics.