Marijuana Legalization Narrative Evolving

A 2012 crash in West Hempstead, N.Y., in which the teen driver had smoked marijuana. (Photo: Frank Eltman, AP) — A 2012 crash in West Hempstead, N.Y., in which the teen driver had smoked marijuana.
(Photo: Frank Eltman, AP)

The car crash graphic was an interesting choice for USA Today.

The comments are getting smarter:

harmful
incarceration not a real issue
big problems in Colorado
we already have medical mj [should be cannabis based medicines only, however]

But the pro-legalizers are still very much in the rhetoric. “most people think its ok”; “people shouldn’t go to jail”

We have to resist being part of the dialogue on how much pot is good for you or OK for you. The answer is, with everything science is telling us about the harms, generalized pot exposures should be eliminated as much as possible.

Simple public health message:

if it means more pot, pot promotion and more pot use, its a bad policy for Americans.
Commercialization is a bad answer and harms more people.
More pot means more harms.
It’s a lousy choice.
It’s not OK to collude with pot profiteers.
It’s not about one person. It’s about increasing harmful exposures across 315 million people.

Epidemiology should be easy for people to understand these days. Pot use can be contagious. And the harms follow for too many.

This new “freedom” message is bunk. Should marijuana users/sellers be free to hold the rest of us hostage to their promoting pot use to the most vulnerable for profit?

There is no freedom to inflict harm on innocents.

But the tide does seem to be turning. Evitable.

___________________________

Check out the referenced article from USA TODAY:

Marijuana legalization lights up midterms: Opinionline

Holder’s position on Marijuana – Does he think we are all stupid?

The idea that the US Attorney General has merely forgone the prosecution of users is ridiculous. The policies of this administration have allowed for the widespread commercialization of pot and unleashed a new big tobacco that is growing in power and influence as the federal government refuses to enforce clear and unambiguous federal law relating to DRUG TRAFFICKING (not use).

Sophistry is defined as the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving. Leaving pot users alone at the federal level is one thing, but claiming that this is the intent of your actions is sophistry taken to a new level.

The American public needs to understand that low level marijuana possession offenders were never put into the American prison system.

Drug traffickers were prosecuted — because profiting from addiction put money into the pockets of drug dealers at the expense of their customers who too often become dependent on the drugs and are vulnerable to a host of health ills and harms that accompany drug abuse.

Commercializing and industrializing an increasingly potent hallucinogenic drug, and releasing the forces of addictions marketing onto the people, is not something we should be “cautiously optimistic” about.

Continue reading Holder’s position on Marijuana – Does he think we are all stupid?

A Wasted Legacy — Obama, Holder & Marijuana

A wasted legacy--Obama, Holder and Marijuana — When legalization of marijuana yields national use rates of 40+% using the same deceptions that tobacco did, who foots the bill for rehabilitation, productivity loss and health effects?

By looking the other way as drugs are legalized by industry-funded state ballot questions in violation of federal and international law, President Obama and Attorney General Holder are legitimzing and normalizing the use of a mind-altering drug based on recollections of experiences from their youth. But make no mistake: they are setting an exmple for generations to come — demonstrating that in their view, drug abuse is not a serious social problem. When the smoke clears from the increasingly potent and addictive products from ever more agressively advertised new open drug markets, it is unfortunate but inevitable: Obama and Holder will have a “wasted” legacy on drug policy.

It’s a real shame. Big Tobacco got its wish: Big Marijuana is next.

Michelle Obama addressed one public health epidemic (childhood obesity) while Barack ushered in the next: rising youth marijuana use of a potently disruptive chemical which primes the adolescent brain for progressive addiction.

I am a job creator, manufacturer, award-and patent-winning innovator, payroll meeter, benefit provider, 401k matcher, complier with government regulation and tax payer whose business employs 112 people—two dozen of whom were added in the last five years.

But before all that, I am a husband, father and coach. I am also a local elected official, and give back in time and dollars through numerous charities.

I am an Independent in registration, but my sensibilities and votes tend toward democratic party policy. Until now.

On marijuana, we have become so open minded our brains have fallen out.

Continue reading A Wasted Legacy — Obama, Holder & Marijuana

Erasing the Inevitability of Marijuana Legalization

Marijuana legalization is not inevitable — ev·i·ta·ble adjective \ˈe-və-tə-bəl\
Definition of EVITABLE: capable of being avoided

Paid signature gatherers?
Repeal discussed as support plummets in CO?
National Polls showing more opposition.
Alaskan opposition above 50%

Among other recent developments beginning to erase the mantra of “inevitability” for marijuana legalization, “medical” marijuana questions failed to make state ballots in Ohio and Arkansas in the 2014 election cycle.

Pot proponents now say they need paid signature gatherers. “You need paid help for an effort like this and what’s disappointing is that we can’t convince enough donors to contribute to get the necessary resources to put us over the top,” said John Pardee, president of the Ohio Rights Group.

If you have to pay people to get signatures to legalize pot, how is that “the will of the people?”

Continue reading Erasing the Inevitability of Marijuana Legalization

Can the USA Afford the Risk of Further Increases in Marijuana Use?

Marijuana's Effects on Brain, Body and Behavior — “Can the USA Afford the Risk of Further Increases in Cannabis Use? “Not if we want people engaged in society” — Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA

It’s been an interesting week across the country on the marijuana issue.

See link on the homeless migrating to Colorado in search of jobs in the marijuana industry, and the news of current federal executive agencies making marijuana banking easier, while science is getting clearer and clearer on the developmental damage done by this drug.

Dr. Nora Volkow of NIDA spoke to sold out drug education events on Monday, 9/22, at the Butler Hospital in Providence and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on “Marijuana’s Effects on Brain, Body and Behavior”. Among the most recent scientific and research findings:

Past month marijuana use among 12th grade students now surpasses cigarette use.
Addiction is a developmental disease that starts in adolescence and childhood when the brain is most easily primed for the disease of addiction through early exposures to addictive substances.
Long-term effects: About 9% of marijuana users become drug dependent. One in six who begin marijuana exposures to the brain in adolescence (17%) become dependent on the drug. 25%-50% of daily users of marijuana are drug dependent .
Cannabis use and later life outcomes are dose dependent. When looking at the number of cannabis exposures during ages 14-21 in a population sample, those with 400 or more cannabis exposures represented 50-60% of the population sample who at age 21-25 were currently welfare dependent or unemployed. These high rates of marijuana exposure appeared in less than 2% of that same population sample that had gained a university degree by age 25. Inversely, those who had used marijuana zero times represented the largest percentage of the population with a college degree by age 25 at over 35%, while “never used marijuana” represented the smallest portion of the unemployed at ages 21-25 at below 25% of that group. Over 50% of that unemployed group had used marijuana 400 times or more during age 14-21, and nearly 60% of welfare dependent had used marijuana 400+ times during ages 14-21.
Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife.
Amotivational syndrome is linked to persistent marijuana use. Drive and ambition are negatively impacted.
Brain abnormalities are associated with long-term heavy cannabis use.
High potency cannabis use significantly increases risk of psychosis.
Regular cannabis use increases risk of schizophrenia in the genetically vulnerable.
As THC potency has increased significantly in recent years with marijuana commercialization, emergency room visits for adverse marijuana reactions have risen significantly as well.
the percentage of marijuana-positive fatal car crashes in Colorado nearly doubled during post-marijuana commercialization in 2009 going forward.
Perceived risk for marijuana use among 12th graders for regular marijuana use has been declining since the early 90’s. During this same time, daily use of pot by 12th graders has been rising and is at a 30 year high.
Marijuana use has been linked to higher drop out rates and stop out rates in both high school and college.

Dr. Volkow’s parting rhetorical question was, “Do we really want half of America stoned?” And her concerned reply? “Not if we want them fully engaged.”
Continue reading Can the USA Afford the Risk of Further Increases in Marijuana Use?

Marijuana Legalization: Not Looking So Good In Reality

Support for Marijuana Legalizaitn Drops. Good news for Teen Health, Public Health — Support for Marijuana Legalization Drops. Good news for Teen Health, Public Health.

With support for legalization slipping (down to just 44% from 51% a year ago) there is finally some encouraging news.

Legalization of another drug for recreational purposes might have looked like to good idea on paper to some drug policy and criminology intellectuals. But its not looking so great in reality.

Fortunately, there are now new resources to help Americans better understand the most misunderstood illicit drug in the country.

We don’t determine medicine by public opinion in this country.

And we should not have addiction for profit lobbying groups and wall street speculators pressuring America to legalize a third major addictive drug for “recreational” purposes.

The target market is always the most vulnerable. Predatory advertising targets the suffering and young people to create lifetime customers. Private profits soar, along with over-consumption and public health and safety fallout. Its time to get smart about the about the facts of this drug. Its not your Grandma’s Woodstock Weed anymore. Marijuana harms. Component medicines may heal — but that hasn’t been proven. Continue reading Marijuana Legalization: Not Looking So Good In Reality

Major Poll Finds National Support for Marijuana Legalization Down 7 Points (13.7%) Since 2013

Marijuana-support-for legaliztion-Down-Nationally — Public Religion Research Institute Poll, funded by the Ford Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, finds only 44% of Americans now support legalization, down from 51% in 2013. Opposition at 50%. 24% strongly oppose.

September 23, 2014

WASHINGTON- Coming off of a Suffolk University/USA Today poll finding only 46% of Coloradans support legalization now, a new report released today finds that in a survey of over 4,500 adults, only 44% support marijuana legalization. 50% of Americans oppose it, including 24% who strongly oppose such a policy.

“Legalization is not a done deal – far from it,” remarked Kevin A. Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). “People are waking up and realizing that legalization in practice does not represent the magic policy they were promised.”

Continue reading Major Poll Finds National Support for Marijuana Legalization Down 7 Points (13.7%) Since 2013

Marijuana Legalization Support Plummets 17% — USA Today/Suffolk University Poll

Latest polls show support of marijuana legalization plummeting — “Marijuana Doubts: Colorado voters may be having second thoughts about the legalization of marijuana. A slight majority of voters (50.2 percent) say they do not agree with the decision to legalize recreational marijuana in that state—a decision made by voters in 2012–while 46 percent continue to support the decision. Nearly 49 percent do not approve of how the state is managing legalized pot, compared to 42 percent who approve.” Suffolk University News

Colorado Voters are Turning Against Marijuana Legalization.

A September 17, 2014 Suffolk University/USA Today poll finds support for legalization plummets 17% among Colorado voters.

DENVER- In the first indication of a backlash brewing in Colorado against legal pot, a Suffolk University/USA Today poll finds that now only 46% of likely voters support Amendment 64, the constitutional amendment legalizing and commercializing marijuana. 50% of likely voters oppose the measure entirely. That is a marked difference from election night 2012, when 55% of voters supported the measure. Even fewer people – 42% of likely voters – approve with the way the state is handling the legal change. Continue reading Marijuana Legalization Support Plummets 17% — USA Today/Suffolk University Poll

Teen Marijuana Use: Is This A Price We’re Willing To Pay?

Parental attitudes critical in teen marijuana use — Kids are 6 times more likely to use pot simply because of a parental attitude of indifference

Its becoming increasingly common to hear proponents of marijuana legalization to say its “the government” who wants to keep this drug illegal. Understandably, if one cannot win an argument on the merits, then attack either A) the person making the better case, or B) the government or any other convenient conspiracy canard.

However — many doctors treating kids derailed by this drug, which is almost always a pre-cursor for their young patients and clients who move on to other drugs or developing other co-occurring mental health problems, think expanding the supply of this drug through open commercialization is a bad idea for public health.

The Lancet tells us why:

Dr. Muiris Houston emphasized the recent findings published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry regarding youth marijuana use, which included research showing teenagers who are daily users of marijuana are:

60% less likely to complete high school or obtain a university degree
seven times more likely to attempt suicide
8 times more likely to use other drugs
more likely to become addicted to marijuana
more likely to become welfare dependent

Continue reading Teen Marijuana Use: Is This A Price We’re Willing To Pay?

Mental Health Parity and Marijuana — Insurance Companies Will Have to Pay

Mental Health Parity is now the law of the land. Insurance companies will have to cover the treatment costs for drug abuse and addiction when it strikes.

In the US, adolescent marijuana use is at the highest levels since 1992. Canada’s stats look similar. And the marijuana they are smoking is at least 3 to 8 times more potent than the weed of previous decades.

What was happening in 1992 that led to some of the lowest rates of use of this drug over 40 years?

What was the messaging that persuaded kids not to use?

What was the funding for education, prevention and enforcement of marijuana laws?

What has changed?

Something was working then that is not working now . . . and our kids are paying the price. We are trending in the wrong direction with exposures to this drug.

Having pot profiteers waiting in the wings, advertising and glamorizing this drug — without consequence — is a very clear part of this picture.

Is this what we want for the coming generation? In the United States, Mental Health Parity is now the law of the land. Insurance companies will have to cover the treatment costs for drug abuse and addiction when it strikes. We know that one in six adolescents who use today’s marijuana will become addicted. And that risk of addiction goes up to 25-50% among those who smoke marijuana daily. Continue reading Mental Health Parity and Marijuana — Insurance Companies Will Have to Pay

Life and Learning Impaired: Marijuana and School Don’t Mix

Even a little pot increases college dropout risk. — Some say a 21-year-old age limit solves the problem of adolescent exposures to this drug. A ridiculous assertion. Society is a pourous. Where this is more pot, and more pot promotion, more of this drug falls into the hands of young people.d

Those who say a 21-year-old age limit on marijuana sales solves the problem of youth exposures are dreaming . . . society is porous . . . where there is more pot, more pot falls into the hands of young people.

Adolescent development is a stage where the brain does not process long term consequences, and it is a time of egocentrism and a strong need to figure out peer relationships and find a place to belong.

The euphoria of a cannabis high, when it falsely appears “all the kids are doing it” can trump what well intentioned adults have told their kids about the rules.

We are seeing the highest levels of youth marijuana use in 30 years. And it is a much more potent drug this time around as profiteers seek to deliver the most impactful high to eager consumers looking for just that.

Continue reading Life and Learning Impaired: Marijuana and School Don’t Mix

How Staten Island Is Fighting a Raging Drug Epidemic — Where does marijuana figure?

….This article in the New Yorker, Sept 8, 2014, paints a poignant picture of the opiate crisis in one geography — Statan Island. It tells the pharmaceutical history of the chemical sources of the epidemic — and how Pharma companies engage in “tobacco-like” litigation to protect their sales. And how parents and churches take the lead in caring for addicts and work to prevent more addiction.

One topic missing this in this article is marijuana. Radio silence, again. Youth alcohol use is mentioned, pills, opiates, heroin.

Yet, in Massachusetts, each time we’ve spoken with groups of Learn to Cope parents of addicts in support groups, on average 28 of 30 say teen marijuana use preceded opiate addiction in their loved one. Continue reading How Staten Island Is Fighting a Raging Drug Epidemic — Where does marijuana figure?

Our Country Will Never Prosper by Disguising Marijuana Proceeds as Taxes and Fees

The Honorable Mayor of Denver, Michael B. Hancock, expressed his concerns about the impact that drug legalization will have on public health and safety. He concluded with the following words:

“As a parent, I worry about how the increased presence of marijuana in our city will affect our children and our grandchildren. Despite a few lessons learned from medical marijuana, the long-term implications of that industry and the potential for an expanded industry will not be known to us for perhaps a generation or more. There is no denying, however, the potential for a negative impact on our kids — on their home lives, their health, their education and their future. We already know the toll substance abuse takes on so many of our residents. Sadly, many of them are parents. The cost of substance abuse on our healthcare system, our jails and in our courts is substantial. I want more for all of our kids and for all Denverites.”

Continue reading Our Country Will Never Prosper by Disguising Marijuana Proceeds as Taxes and Fees

As Trafficiking From Pot States Proliferates, Wisconsin Girl Eats Dad’s 225g THC Bar from Colorado

File under child poisonings, diversion to youth; interstate black market:

A young girl in Wisconsin found a marijuana chocolate bar in her dad’s bedroom which came from Colorado. After eating it, she was found intoxicated at school and barely had a pulse. Her father is charged with child neglect. Just another example of Colorado pot being exported to other states.

Continue reading As Trafficiking From Pot States Proliferates, Wisconsin Girl Eats Dad’s 225g THC Bar from Colorado

Will Marijuana Use Under Legalization Rise to the Same Levels as Alcohol and Tobacco?

We’ve Become the Marijuana Black Market

Some criminologists fancy pot legalization as a magical scheme to get control of the black market for this drug, simple economics easily predicted what is actually occurring when states legalize and “regulate” pot. The black market thrives in the midst of expensive and aggressive “legitimate” pot markets.

Washington State’s pot consultant said in 1978:

“If we legalize marijuana or any other drug, either we will have a
private industry whose profits depend on creating addicts. Or we have a public beauracracy whose revenues depend on creating and maintaining addicts. Somebody’s going to get the revenue stream; whoever gets that revenue stream is going to try to maximize it.”

“This dynamic presents a much bigger threat to America’s Public Health picture that the legalizers seem to appreciate.”

Now we seem to be on a mad trajectory of proving in policy practice what we already knew in theory.

Continue reading We’ve Become the Marijuana Black Market

City Defends Marijuana Dispensary Ban

The city of Fife, Washington is defending its ban on pot dispensaries. The stakes are very high.

28 cities and two counties in Washington have banned the sale of retail pot, and many others have enacted moratoriums.

The litigating dispensary owner is suing to overturn the ban. Let’s hope that the judge makes the right decision by upholding Fife’s right to keep the dispensary from opening.

Continue reading City Defends Marijuana Dispensary Ban

Marijuana? Now a Call to Legalize Heroin

Legalize marijuana and heroin? — Is the fact that 91% of Americans over the age of 12 don’t use drugs a failure or that only .01% or 200,000 people use heroin really a failure of prohibitive drug policies?

Pertaining to the Boston Globe’s recent publishing of an opinion piece advocating to “End Prohibition of Heroin”…

The Manipulation of the American Public

In 1912 the United States signed an international convention restricting the use of opium, heroin and cocaine and as a direct result of prohibitive drug policies, the use of these illicit drugs has remained below .5% for the American population.

Is the fact that 91% of Americans over the age of 12 don’t use drugs , and that only .01% or 200,000 people use heroin really a failure of prohibitive drug policies?

Continue reading Marijuana? Now a Call to Legalize Heroin

The Grey Lady Gaffs — NY Times Out-of-Touch on Marijuana

“It’s a remarkable weekend when one finds the Grey Lady arguing for state’s rights, and worrying huffily about arbitrary Presidential powers. But when it comes to smoking dope, the mind of the New York Times has fully boggled. Against careful science, sound public policy, and even liberal politics that defends the vulnerable, the venerable editors have decided that what America needs now is marijuana, and more of it. …

In his poignant article, “Comparing Alcohol and Marijuana: Seriously” for the Hudson Institute, David Murray underscores what we’ve been thinking. At a time when journalistic integrity is being ground away under the rolling stones of unvetted internet journalism there are few places we look for the bar to be held up. The New York Times in one of those places. So imagine the dismay when that venerable institution takes a stand on a movement that is fully exploiting “easy to sway journalism” as a cornerstone of a greed-driven manipulation campaign the likes of which we haven’t seen since the tobacco industry fooled us into thinking that smoking was okay. Continue reading The Grey Lady Gaffs — NY Times Out-of-Touch on Marijuana

Florida Fights Back Corporate Marijuana

Florida organizes against big marijuana — A concerted and well organized push back in Florida is educating voters to the deceptions of organized, corporate marijuana industry lobbyists.

The formula is being repeated. Marijuana profiteers are picking off states one by one.

The same laws, written by the same pro-pot lobbyists, with the same negative consequences for youth and other vulnerable populations as unsuspecting voters are manipulated into voting against their own best interests for public health and public safety.

Florida is organizing. And doing it well. We’ve seen the playbook so many times. Thankfully Florida got an advance copy and can mount a truth campaign based on experiences in other states.
Continue reading Florida Fights Back Corporate Marijuana

Marijuana Industry Works to Erase Data But can’t Hide The Truth

Marijuana Industry Influences CO Crime Data Manipulation — In the CDC’s latest report, issued late last week, the two states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use — Colorado and Washington — are not represented. As the chart below shows, Colorado data were not weighted, essentially meaning the state failed to provide CDC researchers a sample size suitable for analysis. The State of Washington didn’t participate in the survey at all.

You can try to erase the data, but you cannot change the truth.

The Medical Marijuana Industry Group is just the latest organization dedicated to influencing policy and policymakers in the goal of corporate greed–this time in profit from marijuana addiction.

This corporate marijuana lobby, in its latest deception, issued in June a list of data that is a gross misrepresentation of the facts as it relates to youth use rates and crime statistics in Colorado.

Does drug policy affect the levels at which young people use mind-altering drugs? History has shown that, yes, indeed it does. Not only are youth use rates highest in the United States in “medical marijuana states”, but elsewhere in world, Sweden for example, each time the country softened its drug laws youth use went up, along with public health harms. Continue reading Marijuana Industry Works to Erase Data But can’t Hide The Truth

Study finds medical marijuana farms draining streams dry

"medical" pot farms draining streams dry — “State fish and wildlife officials say much of the marijuana being grown in northern counties under the state’s medical pot law is not being used for legal, personal use, but for sale both in California and states where pot is still illegal.”

We recently wrote about the ecological impacts of marijuana legalization. The previous day the following article appeared in the Seattle Times. A year prior, The Atlantic highlighted is theme as well in “California’s New Pot Growers: Not at All Earth-Friendly”

The magical notion that legalization will put an end to illegal pot operations is once again exposed as just that–magical.

“People are coming in, denuding the hillsides, damming the creeks and mixing in fertilizers that are not allowed in the U.S. into our watersheds,”

Cartels no longer need to operate in Mexico. They can do it right here. On Federal and private lands, using Federal water otherwise vital for fish, wildlife and other agricultural needs.

This is the ugly secret of California’s Green Rush.

Continue reading Study finds medical marijuana farms draining streams dry

Grown Indoors or Out, Marijuana is an Ecological Loser

Marijuana an ecological loser — There is nothing natural about industrial cannabis production. It’s a net loser for the environment – indoors or outdoors. Mother Nature never produced concentrated THC.

The Econundrum for Big Marijuana and the “it’s a plant from nature” mindset:

Outdoors cannabis production destroys soils with chemical contamination and is a water hog.

Chemical contamination follows the plant to the consumer.

Smaller and players and the black market will inevitably drift to outdoor production — trying to keep it hidden in remote locations.

Like the leaching of any chemical contamination through an ecosystem — this phenomenon IS man made: an industrial cannabis market.

Indoors, it’s got a huge carbon footprint — an energy AND water hog, and is a very chemical intensive agricultural process, with the same fertilizers and pesticides as are required outdoors. And it becomes even more of a genetically modified commodity hybridized for concentrated THC chemical production in plant form.

There is nothing natural about industrial cannabis production.

It’s a net loser for the environment – indoors or outdoors.

Mother Nature never produced concentrated THC. Continue reading Grown Indoors or Out, Marijuana is an Ecological Loser

Buyers Remorse? Montana Initiative to ban marijuana cleared for signatures

It’s encouraging to see at least one State’s citizens fighting back against the rise of Big Marijuana. Big Sky Country would be much better off.

That those 8% of Americans who choose to regularly expose their brains to THC get to twist drug control history in order to open the markets to this insidious frequently abused, addictive, drug is beyond common sense.

Most Americans stand with Montana and against commercialized pot. The marijuana backlash is coming. Continue reading Buyers Remorse? Montana Initiative to ban marijuana cleared for signatures

‘Campaign of Deception’ — Is it Time to Sue Marijuana Industry?

Campaign of deception is marijuana playbook. — The time will soon be here when lawsuits against marijuana’s Big Farma will be headline news.

The following article reports a lawsuit filed by California counties against pharmaceutical companies for deceptive advertising, unfair business practices and creating a public nuisance.

Before considering getting into the ganjapreneur game, substitute “marijuana” in the following article for “narcotic” and consider if your business plan has enough in reserves for your legal defense and subsequent penalties.

The same theories that applied to Big Tobacco, are being applied in this case to Big Pharma, can and should be applied against the burgeoning marijuana industry–Big Farma. Continue reading ‘Campaign of Deception’ — Is it Time to Sue Marijuana Industry?

For The Sake of Journalism, Marijuana Reporters Need To Take a Deeper Look

We search the web for marijuana coverage on a regular basis. We also look at the best research done on the topic. There’s simply no doubt that a pot-friendly media, saturated in misinformation about the drug, has given the cannabis crusade a big boost in recent years.

With the demise of most print journalism, and the rise of on-line stringers, news reporting on this subject has lost much of its rigor. Quick reports using old canards, rather than the high standards of legitimate journalism, has clouded the public’s access to well-informed news analysis on the 21st century science and political history of the current marijuana movement.

Because the public has become so alarmed by the vast number of Americans who have been incarcerated, they somehow bundle that issue with marijuana. The connection of the issues is thin. There is broad agreement that marijuana is a public health problem. And unfortunately, an unbridled pot industry in reaction to an incarceration problem will create much more human suffering and dysfunction than most people have had a chance to consider.

For the sake of credible journalism, writers and reporters everywhere need to take a deeper, better, updated, look.

Continue reading For The Sake of Journalism, Marijuana Reporters Need To Take a Deeper Look

Marijuana, the Most Dangerous Drug Out There. Why?

Fascinating perspective from the chief of science at the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (who was speaking recently at a national conference in Washington DC). It is worth repeating.

———–
From www.addictionpro.com:

‘The most dangerous drug out there’

May 8, 2014 by Shannon Brys, Associate Editor

When you opened this blog post, what were you expecting to see as ‘the most dangerous drug out there’? Methamphetamine, opiates, oxycodone or crack cocaine? Continue reading Marijuana, the Most Dangerous Drug Out There. Why?

Magical Notion: Legalization of Marijuana will keep it away from kids

The magical notion that legalizing marijuana is going to help to keep the drug out of the hands of kids is a pipe dream. We need much smarter policy solutions, which lower use rates and drive down demand for this drug.

Only two states have have legalized pot recreationally and yet diversion to youth is getting worse everywhere–the following story from NJ.

Even as this dangerous drug is promoted through legalization campaigns, uncontrolled supply is increasing, intentionally confusing messaging about the risks associated with use of marijuana are lowering perception of harm, and promotional media messaging is driving up demand.

When the novel solution (drug legalization) is making a bad situation worse, its time to find another way. Continue reading Magical Notion: Legalization of Marijuana will keep it away from kids

Video: Peer-Reviewed Publications on Negative Marijuana Health Effects

This video from a self-described “nerd” with no dog in the fight of legalization, takes a careful look at peer reviewed literature to address the many myths that are being perpetrated by the pot-lobby and marijuana proponents. Here are the YouTube notes and the bibliography:
————–

This video deals exclusively with the documented negative health consequences of recreational cannabis use.

I used data from over 140 papers in the process of preparing this video. I’ve done my best to document sources. Below are some key papers for reference. Continue reading Video: Peer-Reviewed Publications on Negative Marijuana Health Effects

A Caution on Medical Marijuana Legalization — The Thin End of the Wedge

Marijuana -- the thin end of the wedge for addiction and legalization — “Medical” Marijuana is the thin end of the wedge for addiction as well as recreational legalization.

[.pdf of this page]

A version of the following letter was sent to us after its first draft was sent to Governor Dayton of Minnesota. It is as applicable as precautionary tale for Florida, Alaska, and any other state considering legalization of marijuana in any form.

———

Dear Governor Dayton — The marijuana backlash is coming. Don’t get caught on the wrong side of history.

I’m a lifelong Democrat and voted for President Obama twice. But this issue is complex. People across the country are organizing in a grassroots response. Continue reading A Caution on Medical Marijuana Legalization — The Thin End of the Wedge

Sanjay Gupta on Marijuana: Will History hold him in the company of the Tobacco Docs?

Doctors were used to sell cigarettes. Doctors recommend marijuana. — RJ Reynolds, 1946
Ads like this regularly appeared in publications like the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Click image to enlarge).

Sanjya Gupta - Weeds Cigarette MD — Reminiscent of the heyday of Big Tobacco, Gupta’s position on marijuana and image is being co-opted to lend credibility to the marijuana industry.

Big Tobacco used doctors for years to convince us that cigarettes were okay. They even had campaigns pitching the health benefits of smoking cigarettes.

The same playbook is being used to run the next great public health fraud–the legalization of marijuana. And they’ve got Sanjay Gupta playing the role of the Cigarette “MD”. Continue reading Sanjay Gupta on Marijuana: Will History hold him in the company of the Tobacco Docs?

Video: Understanding Addiction as a Disease — Your Teen and Marijuana, Alcohol and other Drugs

From Bluepic Studios and wait21.org, this video is a great primer on addiction.

Why does the body crave a drug over more healthy options?

Why does exposure to alcohol, marijuana , tobacco, and other drugs before age 21 dramatically increase the odds of addiction?

Continue reading Video: Understanding Addiction as a Disease — Your Teen and Marijuana, Alcohol and other Drugs

Time for Reefer Sanity — Marijuana is Harmful

Marijuana is harmful. Time for Reefer Sanity — Science is not on the side of the Pro Pot faction–regardless of how well they manipulate the data and replay the games of Big Tobacco. At the end of the day it is addiction on which they are planning their profits.

Don’t believe the hype: marijuana legalization poses too many risks to public health and public safety. Based on almost two decades of research, community-based work, and policy practice across three presidential administrations, my new book “Reefer Sanity” discusses some widely held myths about marijuana:

Myth No. 1: “Marijuana is harmless and non-addictive”

No, marijuana is not as dangerous as cocaine or heroin, but calling it harmless or non-addictive denies very clear science embraced by every major medical association that has studied the issue. Scientists now know that the average strength of today’s marijuana is some 5–6 times what it was in the 1960s and 1970s, and some strains are upwards of 10–20 times stronger than in the past—especially if one extracts THC through a butane process. This increased potency has translated to more than 400,000 emergency room visits every year due to things like acute psychotic episodes and panic attacks.

Continue reading Time for Reefer Sanity — Marijuana is Harmful

Left Turning Against Big Pot. Son of dealer, now dad, reflects on marijuana legalization

The left is finally turning against Big Pot. We’ve been waiting. Patrick Kennedy’s message (Project SAM‘s message) is finally gaining traction.

Marijuana legalization means commercialization, which means more potent pot, more pro-pot marketing, more youth exposures, more public health fallout, and yet another vice-based industry preying on vulnerable populations.

80% of their profit comes from the 20% of their customers who are chronic users. And the youth market is the target market for building a life-long customer base.

See the video and read the interview with a thoughtful young man coming of age as a new father, and coming to terms with his own father’s legacy as a major drug dealer.

Continue reading Left Turning Against Big Pot. Son of dealer, now dad, reflects on marijuana legalization

Video: Tony Dokoupil on The Coming Marijuana Backlash

In addition to his legitimate and well-earned bone fides as a senior writer for NBC News and Newsweek and The Daily Beast before that, Tony Dokoupil comes at the marijuana legalization issue from an interesting perspective. As the son of a notorious marijuana dealer and folk hero, Dokoupil is quoted from his memoir The Last Pirate–A Father, His Son and the Golden Age of Marijuana as saying, “My father went to jail for dealing weed and, to my surprise, I would keep him there.”

“If we really mean to sell marijuana like alcohol, then we mean to create a market where most of the revenue comes from people who have a problem.

That is the business model of alcohol. Eighty percent of the revenues comes from a tiny sliver of the users. It’s not the guy who has a drink after work. It’s the guy who has six and misses his kid’s bedtime, his marriage is in shambles. That’s the kind of guy who supports the industry.”

Continue reading Video: Tony Dokoupil on The Coming Marijuana Backlash

Don’t Go To Pot — David Frum Weighs In

In a most eloquent, most thorough, most thoughtful consideration of the issue, David Frum provides the case against marijuana legalization.

“Today, the experiment of state-by-state marijuana legalization is failing before our eyes—and failing most signally where the experiment has been tried most boldly. The failure is accelerating even as the forces pushing legalization are on what appears to be an inexorable march.”

Here’s the full text as published on Commentarymagazine.com: Continue reading Don’t Go To Pot — David Frum Weighs In

Student jumps to death after eating marijuana cookies

Is it really going to take a body count to stop Big Marijuana?

The tragic news yesterday of the death of a college student visiting Denver on a pot-themed Spring Break trip should sober us all.

If the evidence isn’t already sufficient to simply vote it down, States considering recreational marijuana legalization would do well to wait and see. Continue reading Student jumps to death after eating marijuana cookies

FactCheck: Marijuana Is 300-800% More Potent

“Today’s marijuana is 300 to 800 percent more potent than the pot of yesteryear” claimed SAM New England’s Heidi Heilman in her commentary in Rhode Island’s Providence Journal on March 13, 2014.

It turns out she is right.

PolitiFact, the fact checking website, vetted this statement and rules it “TRUE” while providing the research to back up this judgment.

A 300 to 800 percent increase in potency reflects a 4 to 9 times increase over your Woodstock weed or baby boomer bong hit. Parents and voters would do well to ask what other facts SAM has got right. For example: Marijuana is addictive. Continue reading FactCheck: Marijuana Is 300-800% More Potent

Outright Lies from “Big Marijuana”

Ed Wood is among many who are waking up to the manipulations and outright lies of Big Marijuana. In his letter to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Wood writes:

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Pot Taxes May Help State Income, but Problems Remain
Regulation does not keep pot out of the hands (and bodies) of youth whose brains, still being in the formative stages, are most susceptible to permanent harm. Continue reading Outright Lies from “Big Marijuana”

Is Marijuana Addictive? Bet Your Heroin on it.

"Cannabis Use Disorder" or marijuana addiction is real and number one reason teens seek substance use treatment. — “Cannabis Use Disorder” or marijuana addiction is real and the number one reason teens seek substance use treatment.

Dr. Adi Jaffe is just the latest to expose the underlying lie in the pro-pot playbook of Big Marijuana. Yes, marijuana is addictive. And Big Marijuana is counting on it.

Just like Big Tobacco before them today’s Pied Piper’s of Pot are selling a carefully crafted lie on which their industry is based. The reality is that they need to hook our youth in order to reap their profits. Continue reading Is Marijuana Addictive? Bet Your Heroin on it.

President Carter Opposes Marijuana Legalization

Is the leadership of the left waking up? It appears so. And about time too.

Just weeks after President Obama spoke in opposition to legalization, former President, Jimmy Carter, announced his opposition to marijuana legalization and support of Project SAM (Smart approaches to Marijuana) a bi-partisan organization seeking to change the conversation about marijuana.

Continue reading President Carter Opposes Marijuana Legalization

Parents Are Fooling Themselves When it Comes to Marijuana/Alcohol

Teens Are More Likely to Drink (and Use Drugs) Around Relatively Unsupervised Settings

“I think parents are fooling themselves,” said Dave Melton, managing director of global road safety for Liberty Mutual. “In some cases, parents are thinking of their own teen years and not realizing that things have changed drastically since then.”

Truth from the UK — we’re all being brainwashed on marijuana

Maybe we can learn something from those going before us–if we can get anybody to listen.

Massachusetts, and all the other states before it, are going down the path towards legalization of marijuana. It starts, as it has in the UK, with “decriminalization” and moves through the next two steps in the Big Marijuana playbook–medicinalization, and then full legalization.

The British commentator and author, Peter Hitchins has seen the Big Marijuana movement for what it really is–snake-oil sold by charlatans at best, the next Big Tobacco at worst.

“It is amazing how many otherwise sensible people have already been fooled into accepting the dud arguments for relaxing the law against cannabis, one of the most dangerous drugs in existence.”

Continue reading Truth from the UK — we’re all being brainwashed on marijuana

Three friends hurt, one still on life support in marijuana impaired car crash

Those that have succumbed to the decades long indoctrination of the Cannabis Cult love to spout the notion that drugged driving on marijuana has not led many car accidents at all, let alone life-threatening ones. They go so far as to say that marijuana mellows you out and, if anything, makes you drive slower and therefore more carefully. Here’s a very typical comment that might show up on any story on drugged driving:

“pot heads have been driving our roads since it became widely used in the 60’s. this is nothing new. you don’t hear of many wrecks from pot.”

Well tell that to the friend of a stoned driver in Halifax, MA who is still on life support…here’s the story from CBS:

Continue reading Three friends hurt, one still on life support in marijuana impaired car crash

Marijuana Industry sets policy for MA DPH on pot homegrows

In the draft DPH marijuana regulations a “verified financial hardship” definition includes any individual on MassHealth, or Supplemental Security Income, or with an income not exceeding 133% of federal poverty level.

This group, with a willing doctor’s signature on a marijuana recommendation, and a note saying they cannot find their own way to a “Medical Marijuana Treatment Center” can get a registration to grow marijuana at home or have a “caregiver” grow it for them.

Prevent Don't Promote Marijuana/THC Use

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‘The most dangerous drug out there’