Marijuana Dispensaries have been open for three years in Washington and it’s taken legislators this long to crack down on billboards. Last week that passed a bill aimed at making the the signs less appealing to children.
Legislators passed SB 3151 which will try to limit how marijuana companies can advertise on billboards The sign for Green Lady Buds in Olympia uses sex appeal to portray a certain image (pictured above). Another sign that some people found inappropriate to young audiences had a large cat saying, “I’m so high right meow.”
State Rep. Joyce McDonald of Puyallup, introduced the bill. She said, “The people who have called me from my district are very concerned because every time they drive past, the billboards are in their face” Concerned about impressionable children learning to read, McDonald wanted to ban all the marijuana advertising on the billboards. She doesn’t understand why the state prohibits such advertisements for cigarettes, but allows them for weed. Under a 1998 settlement agreement reached with 46 states, including Washington, tobacco companies agreed to stop using billboards to advertise their products.
I am not a long-time user. I used casually for about six months, but then suddenly had a terrible experience with marijuana-induced psychosis. I had moved from a state where is was illegal, to Washington. A dispensary sold me something incredibly strong just recently, in March. It was a joint mixed with a marijuana wax- I didn’t even know what that was. I was SO naive, but there is literally NOTHING out there that lets consumers know that ANYthing even remotely bad can happen.
As long as I didn’t drive under the influence, what could go wrong? I thought all pot was “safe.” The irony is that I am nearly 40, a stay-at-home mom with honor roll kids, no history, ZERO history with drug usage, or ANY depression, mental illness etc etc.. NONE. I never used marijuana before I moved to Washington. I literally just set out to listen to music and unwind while I got the house clean….awaiting the arrival of my husband who was gone on a business trip. My kids were on Spring break, at a friend’s house.
About halfway through I felt very dizzy and unbalanced… So I thought I just needed to sit down, or maybe eat.. I looked at the glass of wine I had poured… and dumped it in the drain…. Then I had a sudden disturbing image of myself biting THROUGH the wine glass… It came over and over. Bite the glass….. the words wouldn’t leave my head…. I’m biting glass. My heart began to race, my hands began to shake. I felt freezing cold, yet was sweating. Then I was feeling a sudden surge of Adrenalin and was panic stricken. I began having suicidal ideations, in MINUTES…
Shooting Myself and Biting Glass
Over and over and over… shoot yourself… bite through the glass… shoot yourself…and much worse.. it was as if a tape of my worst nightmares were playing over and over and over again in my head…and it was just as physical as it was psychological….. With absolute sincerity, I tell you that I barely made it through that night alive, and even the subsequent days and weeks… I still suffered terrible suicidal ideation……….
NEVER, ever did I have suicidal thoughts or feelings in my life. I am happy, well-adjusted, and a warm, outgoing person with lots of friends and a solid marriage.
Within days I began researching, because I KNEW what I had experienced was from smoking…again, I reiterate, I had nothing else in my system or history to indicate otherwise….and there it was.. All the research indicating that it WAS the pot.. Marijuana-induced psychosis is a proven thing and all too common. There is ZERO safety put in place in these recreational pot stores. They don’t warn a consumer about strength, concentration or side effects. It as if you are buying a glass of milk to them!! I later found out that marijuana wax is known as a “dab” and I am still unsure of what they really are…
No Warnings Against Psychosis!
The ER in Olympia Washington sees on average TWO cases of marijuana-induced psychosis a DAY!! Yet we don’t hear of this!? Why not? I would have NEVER tried any medicine or drink that could even remotely do this to me, but thought I was using something as harmless as a glass of wine because they say it is. I can’t even fully describe the horror of that night as it’s very, very hard to revisit. Thank you for warning people. I am glad I was able to use some of the resources and information you have shared to help recover…….People need to know. Marijuana can be deadly. I almost lost everything to very casual use.
I am lucky to have health insurance and lucky that my husband could be with me. My husband had to take an entire week off to stay home with me! Again how fortunate I am and I’m in the position to have someone that could do that.
I am lucky in that I am NOT an addict or addicted to it. So not using isn’t an issue….. I would never smoke pot again, but the suicidal ideation was so intense and such a terrible and traumatic experience…. It is hard to describe how horrific it is was and I’d rather be tortured than ever experience that again…. I just never thought that was even possible…. From BK, Washington
Tracking Deaths from Hash Oil Labs Exposes the Growing Danger
People use marijuana to make butane hash oil , also called honey oil. Hash oil labs using marijuana have replaced meth labs as the most dangerous drug labs of our time. They are blowing up people and homes, particularly in California and in the West.
By April, 2015, the California Alliance of Drug-Endangered Children had tracked 41 marijuana lab deaths in that state between 2011 and April, 2015. Three children had died by that time and several more were injured. More recent information on the deaths in California aren’t available at this time.
In California, they call it “honey oil” to disguise its connection to marijuana. When fires are reported on the news, reporters often don’t mention the connection to marijuana.
Above and top, explosion in New York on September 27, 2016. Fire Captain Michael Fahy died after fighting the blaze. Fire fighters claim drug lab fires are more difficult to put out than ordinary house fires, because of the way debris shoots and explodes. Photos WABC-TV, via AP
2 allegedly died after the Rio Dell fire on November 9, 2016. The burns covered 90% of their bodies. At least 22 hash oil explosions have occurred in California since the vote to legalize marijuana on November 8, 2016.
Legal, legitimate Labs also Explode, Resulting Lawsuits
Advocates will say these deaths will stop if it’s regulated and allowed only in state-licensed dispensaries. However, fires have occurred in licensed dispensaries in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan and New Mexico. The lab that exploded in New Mexico was one the state’s largest marijuana companies. One of the workers who suffered from extensive burns in the fire sued the dispensary.
Michigan or Rhode Island could be the next state to legalize marijuana. However, Michigan has seen its share of hash oil explosions, most of them caused by medical marijuana patients. The one in Grand Rapids occurred with a six-year-old child in the home. Firefighters fighting this type of fire, such as the one in Muskegon, find them more dangerous than regular house fires. Child abuse is always a concern at these labs, and two children were present during the recent fire in Niles Township, Michigan.
We believe the regulation of butane will be very difficult, just like all other regulation programs that try to regulate these labs: https://www.facebook.com/lostcoastoutpost/videos. In short, regulating marijuana dispensaries is a terrible task. It doesn’t work.
A National Safety Report released this month shows that 76% percent of those surveyed are concerned about traffic safety under the legalization of marijuana.
Ironically, the same survey showed that 13 percent of drivers actually have driven under the influence of marijuana during the last month. Of the 2,000 plus participants, 14% were between comprised drivers ages 30-34, the largest group in the survey.
On CBS Evening News, Deborah Hersman of the National Safety Council called out people driving under the influence of marijuana and alcohol, She also mentioned states legalizing substances without adequate testing. Watch the video.
Traffic fatalities have been increasing in the last two years, to an estimated 40,000 deaths last year. The previous year a rise in deaths was led by increases in the Northwestern states. Washington, which commercialized marijuana in 2014, had the highest rate of traffic fatalities involving drivers under the influence. The rate more than doubled in 2014.
Hersman mentioned that drivers ages 19-24 seem to be involved in the most risky driving behaviors. We find that many of the crashes caused by stoned drivers involve those ages 17 – 20, below the legal age for marijuana in the states that have legalized. When teens drive stoned, they often have friends with them, leading to multiple deaths at once.
