For thousands of miles along the west coast, skies are red, orange, or gray with the dust of ash. It’s apocalyptic.  People are losing their homes and more than a few people have died in the three states which bookend our west coast.  Watching these catastrophic flames begs the answer to a new question.  How much global warming and climate change could have been avoided if California, Washington and Oregon hadn’t legalized pot?

The track of west coast fires follows the trail of growth in the massive marijuana industry over 25 years. It began north of San Francisco, moved further south along the central coast of California and up into Oregon and Washington. Washington, which made pot legal in 2012, hit a historical moment with more than 330,000 acres burning in 24 hours, more than in the entire fire seasons of 12 out of the last 18 years. Not until the last few years has Oregon, which legalized marijuana in 2015, been a large part of the fire problem.  Oregon has a huge surplus of marijuana.

At the moment, four cities on the “West Coast of Weed” have the world’s worst air quality.  Please tell Congress not to allow expansion of the marijuana industry.

Many politicians advocate for “a green new deal,” but they present the ideas too quickly, with solutions not thought out well enough to work.  Only bipartisan solutions will work, and then only when the public accepts and understands the issue, and all facets of climate change – including marijuana.

Being “green” on marijuana destroys environmental “green”

How ironic that politicians in Washington, Oregon and California care about global warming, but support one of nation’s biggest environmental disasters—the marijuana industry.  They complain only about fossil fuels while publicly endorsing this earth-scarring industry.   It’s possible that the marijuana industry fuels global warming more than strip mining, fracking, agriculture or any other industry.

Also the growers use pesticides and rodenticides which kill animals and threaten the eradication of species.  And when it comes to the droughts, blame pot not almonds for California’s water woes.

Replacing the logging industry with the marijuana industry

Throughout the 80s and 90s, environmentalists fought the  logging industry in Humboldt County, California, home of giant redwoods and sequoias.  In 1995, they won a landmark suit against Pacific Lumber Company, and the company went bankrupt 8 years later. Its assets were sold to Humboldt Redwood Company which promised to log sustainably.  The logging industry barely exists in the Emerald Triangle, three California counties known for marijuana. Once the backbone of this area, logging is slowly dying in the Pacific Northwest.

The marijuana industry moved in and cleared giant trees as quickly as loggers left.  Marijuana enthusiasts, emboldened by California’s vote in 1996 vote to allow marijuana as medicine, moved into the forests to grow pot in bulk.  Hiding between the giant trees, many of these illegal growers went unnoticed until satellite photos led to their discovery.   In 2010, a ballot to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes in California, led to an even greater increase in the desecration of forests to grow marijuana.  (That ballot did not pass, but environmental damage grew when entrepreneurs hoped for and prepared for an expanded marijuana market.)

Because the huge, ancient trees sequester carbon and trap water, those concerned about climate change were justified to worry about the destructive practices of Pacific Lumber.  Giant redwoods absorb water into their leaves directly from the abundant fogs of California’s north coast.  On other the hand, 15-foot marijuana plants need at least five gallons of water everyday.   Marijuana growers divert streams for irrigation, killing what was once an abundant, natural fish supply.  Furthermore growers use banned pesticides which flow into the watershed, killing the rich ecosystem.

Aerial views show the redwood forests pockmarked by marijuana grows.  Only one of the major progressive publications, Mother Jones, wrote about the irony that marijuana green is not environmentally green.

See the video about the ecological damage from illicit marijuana grows

Underground marijuana farming existed in this region since the 1960s and 70s.  The hippies who started it did not bring the problems because they grew for themselves, rather than selling it as “medical” and for the rest of the country.

What if California hadn’t allowed free reign of the marijuana industry after it passed medical marijuana in 1996?

Warnings about global warning were clear but California ignored

By about 2012, the Emerald Triangle supplied about 60% of our nation’s pot, 70% by 2015. A policeman from the Emerald Triangle wrote to PopPot.org before legalization:   “I see firsthand how marijuana is a social and environmental disaster – youth access, abuse, transient population moving in to grow or trim, associated criminal behavior – all rising.”

When the state finally started to regulate medical pot, they ignored an effort to add taxes for environmental and enforcement costs.  Some people honestly thought the environmental damage could be stopped by legalizing marijuana to “regulate” the offenders. The state failed with medical marijuana, so there wasn’t reason to believe California would learn to regulate “recreational” marijuana.

The Los Angeles Times editorial board warned in 2015: “Any effort to legalize marijuana must ensure that this billion-dollar industry repairs the legacy of damage and becomes a responsible steward of the land.”

California legalized marijuana by ballot in 2016, because of a multi-million dollar advertising campaign. Billionaires and the cannabis industry funded the ballot.  Despite legalization, California’s black market dealers outsell the state-regulated pot shops by about four to one.  State and county governments still work to eradicate the illegal growers, who avoid paying state’s taxes and fees.  The state issues large fines for water violations, but cannabis cultivators continue to break all the rules.   It’s hard to conceive of any other domestic policy that has failed so completely.

Global warming and other environmental problems

In May of 2008, approximately 1000 of gallons of red diesel overflowed from an indoor marijuana grower’s fuel room into a creek.  The marijuana grower had left a valve open when pouring a larger diesel tank into a smaller one.  The fuel had spread so far down the rugged stream bed when a neighbor smelled the pungent odor and investigated.  He found “20 to 30 pools of red diesel” far below the spill.  The environmental cleanup was a massive operation, one of California’s largest; damage from from this one diesel spill rivals the impact of an oil spill in the ocean.

Even before legalization, the marijuana growers polluted the streams and dried up so many river beds.  The politicians and the public should have done their homework before they voted to legalize pot.

Please read these other articles from around the web.

The logical conclusion is that logging started the destruction of an incredibly rich ecosystem, but the marijuana industry sealed its fate.  It’s hypocrisy to support legislation that legalizes marijuana or favors the marijuana industry, while claiming concern about global warming. Now is the time for the two major political parties to work together and find a resolution.  Please write your representatives in Congress and tell them to vote No on the MORE Act.   California  admitted that it failed at regulation.

For more go to  True Environmentalists NEVER Use Illicit Drugs!

The city of Portland has been plagued with nightly violence, arson and attacks on police for three months. Last month Portland experienced the highest homicide rate in one month in the last 30 years.  In fact, in each month except March, the number of shootings exceeded the previous year’s rate for that month.

How does one explain extreme changes in the city over 5 years?   How much does the explosion of new marijuana stores fuel the current violence in Portland?  Oregon opened commercial “recreational” marijuana stores in July 2015, and now Portland boasts 304 licensed marijuana shops.

Obviously there’s much going on that does not concern Black Lives Matter in this city that is 6 % African American and 77 % white.  While COVID-19 frustrations and concern over the treatment of African Americans may have started the protests, a different force fuels nightly crimes.  Anti-police sentiment runs strong, but the current violence has nothing to do with the right to protest and free speech.

Could the anti-police protests be associated with cannabis use among young adults in that city? Negative effects of marijuana include irrational fears (paranoia), impaired judgement, delusional thinking, and aggressive or violent behavior. Remember how San Francisco’s Summer of Love came to a very bad end back in 1967?  History often repeats itself.

Defunding the police

In June, Portland’s mayor announced the city would stop using its marijuana tax revenue to fund police. The cannabis industry association requested the defunding, objecting that $2 million in the city’s marijuana tax goes to the police.

The first unit to go was the gun violence reduction unit.  Portland’s fiscal year began July 1, so it’s easy to measure the outcome of disbanding the gun violence reduction unit. There were 99 shootings in July, resulting in 15 deaths. August looks to be much the same, now that people 8 people were shot in the last week.

The mayor and city council decided to reduce the police budget specifically by defunding three specific units.  As schools begin, Portland’s high schools will no longer use the police department’s school resource officers.   Then in January, the police department will no longer patrol the transit system.  As city officials give into demands of the rioters, the more the rioters mock and take advantage of them.

Portland police union president Darryl Turner called getting rid of the gun violence reduction team “a big mistake” that would threaten the safety of residents.  Last week, rioters set the police union building in North Portland on fire.

Portland residents Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein explain their views of what’s happening in a series of podcasts, the Dark Horse Podcast. Only a tiny proportion of Portlanders agree with the defunding policy, but the rioters win.  Seattle, another city full of pot shops, is also defunding its police, but a petition to refund the police gathered over 200,000 signatures

Marijuana stores busier and pot shop thefts explode

Cannabis sales have gone up 20% since March. Furthermore, 60 weed store thefts have occurred since May.  Really? Weed was supposed to make people mellow, or so they claim.

From this article, Weed Robbery Spree Strikes Portland: Joe Russo, who co-owns a cannabis distribution company, says the sales increase makes sense. People are working less [coronavirus related job loss] and many are getting generous unemployment benefits.

“It makes sense that recreational vices are picking up,” Russo says.

Police officers speak up

Is it possible that Portland’s violent protestors deliberately loot the purveyors of their favorite drug? Are these nightly rages against the federal courthouse drug-fueled rampages? We submit the following evidence to the court of public opinion.

This below video is a press conference with some of the front lines police officers giving their perspective. The first to speak is Sargent Brent Maxey, who described a nightmarish attack on his Central Police Precinct building, and the civilian workers inside. Maxey says:

“It got to the point where they were throwing burning material into the lobby through the gaps in the windows, and blowing marijuana smoke, it was almost like a scene out of a horror movie. It was really unnerving…they had removed all the plywood, they had disabled all the exterior cameras, they started coming at the windows with hammers, they had removed some 2×4 lumber and were smashing at the windows of the precinct at what I believe was a sincere effort to get inside… by words and actions their intent was to harm us and essentially burn down the building…”.

—from Police on Portland Protests video, below

Officer Rehanna Kerriage describes many of the calls received by the downtown Portland precinct:

“consist of livability issues: camping issues, mental health, drug issues, some shootings, stabbings, protest related issues and defending police property.”

—from Police on Portland Protests video, above

We know that many drug users end up homeless and living on the street (camping issues) with deteriorating mental health issues.

Homelessness is up, too.

The homelessness population has completely changed since 2014.  Back then, it wasn’t even noticeable.  Are people moving to the city because of the weed and then becoming homeless?

A drug legalization lobby, spearheaded by Drug Policy Alliance, aggressively demonizes law enforcement with oft-used phrases such as, “war on drugs,” “mass incarceration,” “militarized police force,” “low level drug crimes.”  Their game is to make the public believe that possession of drugs, rather than crimes committed while on drugs, lands people in jail. This year, the Drug Policy Alliance donated nearly $ 2.5 million for a ballot to decriminalize all drugs in Oregon.  Drug Policy Alliance, a Soros-funded group, gave most of the $ 9.2 million used for Measure 91, the ballot to legalize pot, back in 2014.

Marijuana use is a frequent element of these mass protests the “Chaz/Chop zone” in Seattle, the Ferguson protests and the attack on the Central Portland Precinct.  While it may be scientifically difficult to associate marijuana use to the mob violence breaking out in several cities, it is still important to observe and pinpoint what role marijuana use plays as a root cause of the violence.

Cannabis’ negative effects can promote some of the behaviors we witness in the triggering incidents and the follow-on protests and riots. Among those are, resisting arrest, confusing fact with fiction, attractions to violent ideologies, mood disorders, paranoia and psychosis, violent outbursts.  Jeremy Christian, who committed the violent knife attack on a Portland train three years ago, was a cannabis fanatic.

For more information about cannabis related violence, see Think Ya Know? Is Marijuana a Risk Factor for Violence? Or, read Alex Berenson’s book, Tell Your Children the Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence.

Sargent Brent Maxey gave a longer interview to a local Portland reporter. Check it out, I Want People to Know the Truth — A Police Officer’s Perspective on the Portland Protests.

The marijuana activists get very upset at any suggestion of marijuana being called a gateway drug.  Of course not everyone who starts using marijuana uses other drugs; some just go on to stronger versions of marijuana, such as “wax,” “dabs” or vapes.  Others may not use anything stronger than the old-fashioned weed of the last century.

Yet the scientific evidence suggests it is a gateway drug which can open the doors to other addictions, including alcohol. Studies show that marijuana affects dopamine receptors and our brain’s reward system which may lead to the use of many other drugs. In one study done by the University of Michigan Medical School, researchers found a negative correlation between the amount of marijuana consumed over time and the amount of dopamine that was released in the brain in response. Smokers will then seek other drugs in order to achieve the high they used to experience with pot.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says cannabinoids are able to decrease the reactivity of brain dopamine reward circuits over time, leaving frequent marijuana users vulnerable to other drug addiction. Additionally, THC promotes an enhanced response to other drugs in the same way that alcohol and nicotine do, which may lead to the progression of more drug addictions that may cause toxic overdose.

Thought Provoking Facts

Marijuana + Xanax

In 2017, PopPot did a story about the troubling trend of young people adding Xanax to marijuana. They do it to get a specific high. This article contains some shocking tragedies from such polysubstance abuse, and ends with a video of a local politician talking about the addiction crisis and her son’s death caused by his drug use.

Read more: Teens, College Students, Young People add Xanax to Marijuana.

Marijuana is a factor in the U.S. Opioid/Opiate Crisis

The statistics on the above chart are based on a U.S. national survey on drug use and health.

A PopPot article explains why efforts to stop the opiod/opiate crises need to focus on marijuana prevention, Time for a Paradigm Shift Away from Heroin to Marijuana.

Former Inner City Pastor and Former Gang Member Speak Out

Ex-prisoner, former gang member Eddie Martinez explains why marijuana is a foundation drug. Pastor Darrell Glover tells of his struggles to influence kids in a positive direction, when politicians are legalizing the drug.

What does the Science Say?

The 25-year Christchurch Longitudinal Study demonstrated that in 86% of cases of those who had taken two or more illegal drugs, marijuana had been the drug the study subjects had taken first. The correlation is in the mathematics and can’t be denied.

The researchers concluded that the use of marijuana in late adolescence and early adulthood had emerged as the strongest risk factor for later involvement in other illicit drug use. Read more at Mathematics Proves Correlation to Marijuana as Gateway Drug.

Australian researchers found that twins who use cannabis by age 17 are 2.1 to 5.2 times more likely to develop addiction issues.  An Australian twins study determined this likelihood by comparing twins who used pot to the co-twins who hadn’t used marijuana. Read more Australian Twins Study Supports Gateway Effects of Marijuana.

Does exposure to marijuana make you more vulnerable to addiction in later years?

…a study using longitudinal data from the National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Use and Related Disorders found that adults who reported marijuana use during the first wave of the survey were more likely than adults who did not use marijuana to develop an alcohol use disorder within 3 years; people who used marijuana and already had an alcohol use disorder at the outset were at greater risk of their alcohol use disorder worsening. Marijuana use is also linked to other substance use disorders including nicotine addiction.  Read more at DrugAbuse.gov, Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?

When drug users go over to other types of drugs such as opiates, meth, benzos and heroin, do they stop their marijuana use? Generally not. Marijuana enables the use of other drugs by mitigating withdrawal symptoms of heroin, for example. As a companion drug to meth and Xanax, it can bring specific types of highs that one drug alone will not achieve. For some people who achieved sobriety after opioid addiction, using marijuana again was an entry back into addiction.

Finally, as the toxicology reports of several high profile celebrities who died from overdose show, marijuana is often in the system at time of death. We suggest that the term foundation drug is the best way to describe marijuana and its many functions: gateway drug, enabler drug, companion drug and relapse drug. Certainly the legalization of marijuana, with its normalization, is increasing all drug use in the United States today.

Watch What the Marijuana Lobby Does, Not What They Say

It is important to note that the marijuana lobby denies it is a gateway, yet at the same time their agenda is to legalize all drugs. Drug consumers, once cultivated, will be the best customers for other mind altering substances. We have already seen the industry push for psychedelic mushrooms to be legalized! Decriminalization of psycho-active mushrooms or psilocybin began when Denver, Colorado, became the first city to decriminalize in May 2019. Next to do so were the cities of Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, in June 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Guess where you go to buy these magic mushrooms— marijuana dispensaries!

We know from their public statements of cannabis lobbying groups that their ultimate aim is to promote legalization and consumption of  LSD, Heroin, Meth, etc. Despite how aggressively they dispute the gateway role of marijuana, these drug marketers are anxious for more profit from being able to sell more products.

Watch what they do, not what they say.

Testimonies about Marijuana Leading to Other Substances

Corey’s Story: Marijuana First, Heroin Last

Ben’s Story of Marijuana Addiction Leading to Use of Psychedelic Mushrooms

Chris’s Story: Marijuana Led to Heroin in High School

Former Drug User Explains Why Marijuana Goes with Heroin Like Peaches Go with Cream

In this short video, Lady Gaga Describes How She “‘Lily Padded’ from One Drug to Another.”

Take Action

Share this Think Ya Know? with 5 people associated with your school. We have much work to do to reverse the marijuana lobby’s deceptive message that cannabis doesn’t lead to other drug use.

Jeffrey Veatch lost his son to heroin, and now speaks to schools about the role marijuana played in his talented son’s early death. Check out his story Father Spearheads Drug Awareness Campaign. Consider getting him invited to speak in your community school.

Dr. Robert DuPont, president of the Institute for Behavior and Health and the first director of the NIH National Institute of Drug Abuse is author of the book Chemical Slavery—Understanding Addiction and Ending the Drug Epidemic. He believes we need to educate students that they have one important choice to make, and that choice is to never use any brain-toxic drugs.

Sign up for updates from the Smart Approaches to Marijuana website.

Now that you know more about marijuana, the foundation of mind altering drug use, take some time and help educate 5 people you think need to know.

For more information, please visit our website, poppot.org.