Wow! Check this out! These people are just openly admitting that they will sell to the black market in CA. Do these people expect us to feel sorry for them that decades long businesses of growing and selling pot ILLEGALLY (clearly drug dealers!!!) is going up in smoke because of legalization???? This is so amazingly absurd that it’s hard to believe it’s real. They cry when marijuana is illegal and now they are complaining that making it legal is too much of a hardship for them to follow through on.
Legalizing Weed creates three markets, now – ‘legal’ – ‘Grey’ – ‘Illegal’ (unregulated)… so much for ‘legalizing marijuana will stop the illegal trade!\’ mantra!
From the Article – “It’s putting us in a situation where if we’re not able to sell to that market anymore we’re having to find new, illegal channels in a saturated market,” says June. “We would either have to shut down or find new avenues of sale on the black market or the unregulated market.”
“It’s been a lot more difficult than we thought,” says Shivawn Brady, operations director for an Illinois-based medical cannabis company called Justice Grown that operates a farm in Sonoma County. She urges financial assistance to be given to smaller-scale growers, noting a single permit can cost $10,000 to $20,000 — not to mention land use requirements that can compel people to relocate. “It’s hurting a lot of people,” she says.
Brandon Levine, director of a dispensary called Mercy Wellness, says he doubts 10 per cent of the hundreds of growers he currently works with will be able to get licensed.
“There won’t be legal outlets for all the people that cultivate and have gone to dispensaries, so the black market is going to explode,” Levine says, calling the situation “hugely urgent”.
Suppressing the black market was a central argument for proponents of legalisation, who argued that legal outlets would undercut the illicit trade. While it is an open secret in marijuana country that the black market absorbs some of what is grown, many cultivators have embraced legalisation as a way to come out of hiding and grow conscientiously, touting environmental protections and a way to finally jettison the ever-present threat of prosecution.
But some of them won’t be able to get their products into the regulated market, and “people who work with dispensaries and can’t get permitted aren’t going to stop growing,” says Sonoma cultivator Julie Terry, voicing a widely shared sentiment.
“Many, many people will not be in that regulated market,” says Sam Magruder, a Sonoma County grower who has sunk millions into obtaining properly zoned land and getting it up to code for his growing operation.
I thought you might be interested in a study released today by Quest Diagnostics that offers new insight into our nation’s prescription and illicit drug epidemic.
The study, “Quest Diagnostics Health Trendsâ„¢: Prescription Drug Misuse in America,” is based on an analysis of about 3.4 million prescription medication monitoring laboratory tests performed by Quest Diagnostics between 2011 and 2016.
Quest is the leading provider of diagnostic information services, providing laboratory testing to about one in three American adults each year. The company analyzes this de-identified data to provide objective insights into critical healthcare issues affecting millions of Americans. I thought the latest data might interest your staff, members and online followers. You can access the full study at QuestPDM.com.
Key findings include:
- More than half (52%) of test results of patients tested showed evidence of potential misuse in 2016, suggesting a majority of patients took their prescribed drugs in ways that were inconsistent with their physician’s knowledge or instruction.
- Dangerous drug combination: opioids and benzodiazepines. Among 33,000 specimens tested for opioids, benzodiazepines, and alcohol, more than 20% were positive for both opioids and benzodiazepines, more than 10% were positive for both alcohol and opioids, and 3% were positive for all three.
- Heroin and fentanyl also combined. Among all specimens positive for heroin, 19% were also positive for non-prescribed fentanyl. When combined with heroin, fentanyl heightens the risk of drug overdose death.
- Drug misuse rates were high among most age groups and both genders. However, adolescents (10 — 17 years of age) showed a striking improvement, with the drug misuse rate dropping from 70% to 29% between 2011 and 2016.
Prescription medication misuse infographic 9 6 17USA
Quest is sharing these study findings at the medical conference PAINWeek 2017 in Las Vegas this week as well as with traditional and social media outlets.
Call to Action: We encourage you to consider sharing these findings with others who may take an interest.
Attached is an infographic with the key findings. Additionally, you may go to QuestPDM.com to access:
- The full study in PDF form
- An interactive map of misuse states by state
Also below are suggested Facebook posts and Tweets that link to the study:
| National study finds people often combine prescription drugs, like opioids, with other drugs, putting their health at risk. QuestPDM.com | #PainWEEK 2017: @QuestDX study reveals prescriptions widely, dangerously combined QuestPDM.com |
| Examination of 33,000 prescription drug lab results shows widespread misuse. Learn more at QuestPDM.com | @QuestDX provides new insights into the nation\’s prescription drug epidemic based on lab data QuestPDM.com |
| Did you know half of all American adults tested misuse their prescription medications? Learn more here: QuestPDM.com | Did you know half of all American adults tested misuse their prescription medications? @QuestDX QuestPDM.com |
Supplied by KP P U B L I C A F F A I R S w. www.ka-pow.com
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Please download this year\’s Brochure for all the info you will need for The 9th UK Recovery Walk Blackpool.
Download this years Walk Brochure here
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NEWS
For information contact: John Pastuovic 312-925-9092 [email protected]
New Opioid Tool Kit introduced to address U.S. Drug Epidemic
Unveiled on International Overdose Awareness Day
For Immediate Release
St. Petersburg, FL — Thursday, August 31, 2017 – Drug Free America Foundation today introduced a first-of-its-kind Opioid Tool Kit in an effort to help address the opioid epidemic gripping the United States. The Opioid Tool Kit was unveiled in conjunction with International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event held on August 31st each year that aims to raise the awareness of the problem of drug overdose-related deaths.
“With more than 142 people dying each day, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50,” according to Calvina Fay, Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation. “Moreover, deaths from drug overdose are an equal opportunity killer, with no regard to race, religion or economic class,” she said.
“While alcohol and marijuana still remain the most common drugs of abuse, the nonmedical use of prescription painkillers and other opioids has resulted in a crisis-level spike in drug overdose deaths,” said Fay.
The Opioid Tool Kit has been designed to educate people about the opioid epidemic and offer strategies that can be used to address this crisis. “The Tool Kit is also intended to encourage collaboration with different community sectors and stakeholders to make successful and lasting change,” Fay continued.
(more)
The Opioid Tool Kit is a comprehensive guide that defines what an opioid is, examines the scope of the problem, and addresses why opioids are a continuing health problem. The Tool Kit also provides strategies for the prevention of prescription drug misuse and overdose deaths and includes a community advocacy and action plan, as well as additional resources.
Fay emphasized that the best way to prevent opioid and other drug addiction is not to abuse drugs in the first place. “The chilling reality is that the long-term use and abuse of opioids and other addictive drugs rewire the brain, making recovery a difficult and often a life-long struggle,” she concluded.
The Opioid Tool Kit can be found on Drug Free America Foundation’s website at https://dfaf.org/Opioid%20Toolkit.pdf.
###
Costs of Substance Abuse – USA
Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care.**
| Health Care | Overall | Year Estimate Based On | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tobacco1,2 | $168 billion | $300 billion | 2010 |
| Alcohol3 | $27 billion | $249 billion | 2010 |
| Illicit Drugs4,5 | $11 billion | $193 billion | 2007 |
| Prescription Opioids6 |
$26 billion | $78.5 billion | 2013 |
For full report https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics
Let\’s do the \’MATH\’! So, based on this current data, the LEGAL drugs combined cost to the American economy is, $627.5 Billion!
The cost to the nation for illicit drug use is $193 Billion.
Clearly legalising and regulating drugs escalates use and misuse, so why would you add another \’substance\’ to that framework and unleash another \’right to use\’ model for the already \’over drugged\’ community?
The \’Permission\’ model and not prohibition drives demand faster and further! Check out https://dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/aod/aod-ploicy-documents/TheMostEffectiveDrugPusherUpdated2014.pdf
\”Accessibility, Availability and Acceptability – All increase consumption!\” Dalgarno Institute
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When Professor David Nutt was sacked by the Home Secretary for arguing against government policy on drug classification, he stated that his proposals were based on scientific evidence. Professor Andy Parrott goes mythbusting.
It has been highly publicised across the national media — but how ‘scientific’ was Professor David Nutt’s proposal to downgrade cannabis and Ecstasy/MDMA ?
Nutt was sacked by the Home Secretary last November as chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, or ACMD, for arguing against government policy on drug classification. He defended himself by saying that his proposal to downgrade cannabis and ecstasy reflected scientific evidence. In this article, I list published statements made by Nutt about cannabis and Ecstasy/MDMA; after each statement are comments and quotations from scientific papers written by academic researchers in this field. For more
addiction-today-acmd-nutt-parrott-myths-facts-1
LIBBY STUYT AT OREGON MENTAL HEALTH AND LAW CONFERENCE
(An advisor to Parents Opposed to Pot, Dr. Libby Stuyt an addictions psychiatrist in Colorado, spoke at the Oregon Mental Health and the Law Conference in Portland. The Mental Health Association of Portland published a blog about it on August 13.) Here it is:
Libby Stuyt, MD spoke at the Oregon Health Forum with Drs. Esther Choo of OHSU and Katrina Hedberg who is the State Epidemiologist and State Health Officer at the Oregon Public Health Division, and at the Oregon Law & Mental Health Conference in June 2017 on the unintended consequences of marijuana legalization.
Stuyt is an addictions psychiatrist and medical director at the Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo. She is also the president of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association.
Stuyt has a unique and expert view on the effect of increased marijuana availability and use, and as Colorado is about two years ahead of Oregon in the process of legalization and regulation of marijuana.
Major points of Libby Stuyt’s speech
Stuyt’s data is from information collected by the state of Colorado and from her experience as a clinician and researcher.
- Colorado has had significant increase in marijuana use by people under 18 years old. All use by under-age persons is illicit use. Most Colorado youth get marijuana from adults they know — not from retail stores.
- Pueblo Colorado, with a population of 106,000 has over 7000 homeless people (Portland with a population of 583,000 has about 4500); many are people who arrived seeking employment in the marijuana industry.
- 13% of children given CBD for seizure disorders have had “really bad” reactions; the CBD made seizures worse.
- Estimates of marijuana addiction at 9-10% is from research on low-potency THC; this data should no longer be used. Scientists don’t know addiction rate to high potency THC, but use by youth is increasing, for daily users addiction rate is about 50%, withdrawal is harder, and violence associated with high potency THC is higher.
- Stuyt calls marijuana addiction a “learning disorder.”
- Marijuana use significantly reduces neurogenesis in the brain.
- Doctors are seeing more psychosis related to high-potency THC marijuana.
- 75% of Stuyt’s patients have PTSD. 83% of her patients are seeking treatment for marijuana addiction. Marijuana masks symptoms of marijuana, it does not treat or cure PTSD. PTSD is treatable and curable — but not with active marijuana use.
- Increased correlation — not causation — of suicide in adolescents who use marijuana.
You can hear the entire talk in a recording on the original blog. (We have published articles and videos of our other professional advisors, such as Ken Finn, MD of Colorado Springs and Christine Miller, PhD)
Taken from Parents Opposed to Pot, which is totally funded by private donations, rather than industry or government. If you have an article to submit, or want to support us, please go to Contact or Donate page. (Used with Permission)
