Tag Archives: marijuana dangers

Princeton Psychologist Puts Focus on Legalized Marijuana Outcomes

Sponsored by a psychological society devoted to finding non-drug solutions to emotional and mental health problems, this upcoming event gives us a chance to hear the expert opinions of  a psychologist who works amongst our troubled youth.

Dr. Dee Apple will share how legalization will affect children, adolescents and young people. He will explain how marijuana really affects the human body, especially the developing nervous system. He will explain its disruptive impact on the emotional functioning of adolescents and young people. Continue reading Princeton Psychologist Puts Focus on Legalized Marijuana Outcomes

Colorado Rethinks Marijuana Legalization

colorado-marijuanaNew reports out of Colorado indicate that legal marijuana  is posing real risks to the safety of young people. As Colorado rethinks marijuana, the rest of the nation should watch carefully this failing experiment.

Healthcare officials representing three hospitals in Pueblo, Colorado, issued a statement on April 27 in support of a ballot measure that would end Marijuana commercialization in the city and county of Pueblo. “We continue to see firsthand the increased patient harm caused by retail marijuana, and we want the Pueblo community to understand that the commercialization of marijuana is a significant public health and safety issue,” said Mike Baxter, president and CEO of Parkview Medical Center.

Among their concerns are  a 51 percent increase in number of children under 18 being treated in Parkview Medical Center emergency rooms.  Furthermore, of newborn babies at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital, drug tested due to suspected prenatal exposure, nearly half tested positive for marijuana.

In more bad news for the pot promoters, the Denver school system has produced a video to show how marijuana tax revenues are not providing education dollars. This is a common rationale used by the industry to garner support for legal weed.

Earlier this month, the Denver Post published an opinion piece by a Colorado activist which raises the issue of the high potency levels of pot, and the widespread use of marijuana by teenagers in the state.  Marijuana above 15% potency is considered a hard drug in the Netherlands, yet Colorado’s pot is 17% and beyond. Describing the risk of marijuana to the developing brains of young people, the writer then goes into the troubling statistics:

“… especially of concern given than 36.9 percent of Colorado high school students say they have tried marijuana, according to the 2013 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. One out of five students reported using it in the past 30 days.

In Denver, where there’s been the most marijuana commercialization, teen use over the previous month was disturbingly much higher, at 26.6 percent, with almost half of students saying they have tried marijuana.”

A bill to ban marijuana edibles which appeal to young children, such as gummy bears, is now being considered in the Colorado state legislature. It just passed the House with an overwhelming majority and is heading to the senate.

Smart Colorado, a citizen action group concerned about marijuana’s impact on youth, health and safety says that 165 cities and counties have banned marijuana sales, and yet 61% of high school seniors have already tried marijuana.

It is time to end the unwise Colorado experiment which is endangering the lives and futures of the most vulnerable.

Young Man Says Marijuana Led to Heroin Use in High School

Heroin

Chris’s Story –Audio Recording

Listen to this compelling 11 minute testimony from a bright teenager whose marijuana use led him to indulge in stronger drugs.

How can drug proponents say marijuana is not a gateway drug when in almost every case of heroin use we find a history where marijuana led to heroin?

Recording by ExactingEditor.com

Extreme Marijuana–Dabbing and Vaping Dangers

Part 2 of 2

Parents beware, the marijuana culture is promoting extreme highs that can get your kids hurt. Vaping and dabbing are new ways to get high that are extremely sudden, dangerous and eliminate the telltale odor, making marijuana use harder to detect.

Drugs like marijuana are addictive and once a teen gets swept up into the drug subculture, over-use and abuse of drugs is likely. The search for the next big ‘high’ and the impaired judgment caused by drug use is leading some teens to go too far.

Check out this TV News Story about this issue.

Marijuana Becomes Extreme ‘Sport’

Several “weed blogs” and numerous online videos promote the popularity of dabbing.

Dabbing is inhaling the potent vapors from concentrated marijuana oil which is up to 80% THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana. In comparison, a pot cigarette contains up to 18% THC. The intense high from concentrated pot oil can literally knock you unconscious. According to an account of a NORML event in California, one person nearly cracked their skull on the sidewalk and another experienced marijuana smoker broke her two front teeth when she passed out cold after ‘dabbing’.

Honey Oil, photo from the Humboldt Sentinel
Honey Oil, photo from the Humboldt Sentinel

Another grave danger lies in the process of making homemade concentrated ‘hash’ oil. Concentrated marijuana oil is also known as Butane Hash Oil (BHO). It is made by firing up the marijuana plant material with butane, a highly flammable and toxic solvent. This intense burn releases the THC and other compounds out of the plant and concentrates them. The butane then needs to be removed by further heating the concentrate. Adding heat to a highly flammable substance is dangerous business. Any remaining butane becomes a gas at room temperature and easily ignites, even with a small spark of static electricity.

Home Chemistry is Explosive

There have been 31 butane hash oil home explosions in Colorado just during the first 9 months of 2014. California has had an even higher number; numerous have happened on Oregon and Washington, too.  Amateur oil makers are now burn victims and properties were destroyed and neighbors put at risk of harm. See PopPot’s recent article, Hash Oil Explosions Rise this Year.

This more potent form of marijuana, BHO, can be added to food.  Or it is smoked in a variety of ways.  Hash oil bong (called an oil rig) or e-cigarette vaporizer (a technique called vaping) are among the two most popular devices used to smoke BHO.

In dabbing a tiny piece of potent hash oil is put into a small compartment of pipe, vaporizer of pen. Photo: Oregonlive
In dabbing a tiny piece of potent hash oil is put into a small compartment of pipe, vaporizer of pen. Photo: Oregonlive

  The Hidden High

Unlike smoking marijuana, which gives off a noticeable, pungent odor, vaping hash oil is odorless and discrete and can go unnoticed. This means that like an e-cigarette smoker, a marijuana smoker can ‘vape’ in public places, work or even school without fear of consequences or reprisal. This makes vaping marijuana concentrate very appealing to addicts. It means those most likely to abuse the drug and become dependent on it can become more reckless about the use of the drug, thereby risking an overdose, and posing a danger to others.

Even pot culture observers are warning about the risks of vaping and dabbing.  Vaping is growing in popularity, because it allows legal marijuana to be smoked in illegal places, such as ball games, malls, theatres, schools. There is also the risk of not getting all the butane out of the finished product. According to Mother Jones magazine, “When BHO is improperly made, it can be tainted with toxins.”

A hash oil lab that was raided by police in Glendale, CA. Photo: Glendale Police.
A hash oil lab that was raided by police in Glendale, CA. Photo: Glendale Police.

The two main arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana are: 1) that it is not harmful and 2) that it is impossible to overdose.  With dabbing and vaping, we know differently.

For more on this topic read the San Francisco Weekly article, Thanks to “Dabbing,” It Is Possible to Overdose on Marijuana.

See Part 1 What is Dabbing, and Why Should Parents Worry

Downloadable Fact Sheet

Get the Parents Opposed to Pot Hash Oil Facts! Download our new flyer, which describes the hash oil explosions in states which have permissive marijuana laws: POPPOT-Hash Oil Statistics.