USA: Pro-Pot Propaganda More a Money Made Marketing Smokescreen!

The Marijuana Lobby Spends Big on Bills Americans Don\’t Want 

KEVIN SABET , SMART APPROACHES TO MARIJUANA  10/15/20

There has been a big push to commercialize and legalize marijuana lately. And while advocates insist this push derives from a desire to increase racial equality and social justice, the real reason is far more cynical: the almighty dollar.

Last year, Big Marijuana spent a record $11 million on federal lobbying, and $3.3 million in the last quarter alone. According to Open Secrets, at least $4.5 million has been spent by groups such as the Cannabis Trade Federation, the National Cannabis Roundtable and Canopy Growth to lobby federal lawmakers on marijuana issues so far this year.

It seems the recent investment of several billion dollars into Big Pot from Big Tobacco giants and alcohol conglomerates is now being spent on top K Street lobbying firms.

So, if money talks, did anyone listen?

Not really.

First, the industry tried to capitalize on the coronavirus pandemic by arguing pot was an \”essential business\” in need of a cash infusion. It\’s quite ironic, since the industry was at the same time touting profits. Record profits, by the way–made selling very high-potency marijuana that is up to 99 percent in THC strength. Today\’s pot damages the brain, and contributes to mental illness, car crashes and workplace accidents.

Under intense lobbying pressure, some House members saw an opportunity to pass federal marijuana legalization a few weeks ago. The MORE Act would have allowed for full commercialization nationwide, with unlimited THC potency levels, no public health or safety guardrails and the end of testing transportation workers as we know it–all while allowing pot companies to deduct expenses (such as social media advertisements targeted at kids) from their taxes.

After hearing from parents nationwide, the House cancelled the vote, deeming it too politically risky. They may vote for it during the lame duck session, but that would be like winning an exhibition baseball game after the season has ended.

The millions spent by the pot lobby did result in a vote in the House on the SAFE Banking Act. Since its introduction last year, this bill has been the top goal of the marijuana industry and its cheerleaders, who claim it is simply a reform needed to move the industry away from a \”cash-only\” style of operation.

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That claim is simply untrue–pot shops have already figured out how to go cash-free. The real goal of the bill is to open the industry to the billions of dollars of institutional investment currently \”sitting on the sidelines,\” according to former House Speaker and current Big Marijuana lobbyist John Boehner–who stands to make more than $20 million should marijuana be legalized federally.

A customer enters Dispensary33 marijuana dispensary on January 22, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. The state has seen a spike in requests for medical marijuana cards since it legalized the drug for recreational use on January 1.SCOTT OLSON/GETTY

Interestingly enough, in order to get this vote over the finish line, language was added to the bill preventing the government from pressuring banks and credit card companies against doing business with gun manufacturers–which led the National Rifle Association to lobby in favor of the measure and secure Republican votes.

With these votes secured, the pot lobby trumpeted \”bipartisan support\” for a federally illegal industry receiving access to the federal banking system.

Thankfully, even though the big banks embraced the legislation, the bill has gone nowhere in the Senate.

Outside of the banking bill, Big Pot has failed on every single item in its wish list for this Congress.

Lawmakers should take note that legalization is not as popular as the pot lobby would have them believe. The proof is in the pudding: in states that have legalized pot, a majority of communities have banned commercial marijuana operations.

Opinion polling backs this up. When given the full range of policy options–such as decriminalization only and medical marijuana only–voters overwhelmingly choose options other than outright legalization. In other words, \”criminalization versus legalization\” is a false dichotomy.

Lawmakers and the American people should see through their smokescreen and continue to reject them.

Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., served in three White House administrations, most recently as senior drug policy advisor from 2009 to 2011. He is the president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

For complete article go to https://www.newsweek.com/marijuana-lobby-spends-big-bills-americans-dont-want-opinion-1538842

ZUCKERBERG STILL DOESN’T UNDERSTAND ADDICTION

ZUCKERBERG STILL DOESN’T UNDERSTAND ADDICTION

Three years ago when Mark Zuckerberg traveled around the country, his biggest surprise was learning the extent of the addiction crisis.  He was genuinely concerned about the problem, realizing that he comes from a position of privilege, and that didn’t face economic loss like so many other Americans. Perhaps his awakened awareness had something to do with why he and his wife donated $500,000 to pass Measure 100 in Oregon this year, the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative

The choice of the donation reflects a naiveté similar to the naiveté he had in 2017.  It doesn’t appear that Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan consulted treatment and addiction specialists before donating the money.  The couple’s intentions were probably good, but Measure 110 disguises its true objectives by purporting to be about helping people.

Oregon legalized marijuana in 2014.  Oregon, like Colorado, ranks in the top five states for abuse of marijuana, methamphetamine, opioids and alcohol.  It is no accident that these early legalization states have the highest rates of all substance abuse.  Our addiction epidemic is a poly-substance abuse epidemic.  Legalizing marijuana enables other drug use, because cannabinoids, including THC, follow the same pathways as opioids. In other words, the opioid and cannabinoid receptors work together.  The vast majority of people who die of overdose have multiple substances in their bodies.

Support addiction treatment, but don’t enable drugs

We support and encourage rehabilitation and treatment, but the sad truth is that there’s no guarantee of truly overcoming addiction through treatment.  Addiction often begins with a beautiful boy or girl, as Dr. DuPont explains so well.  Over and over again, our children try but falter.  It is not because drug treatment models fail and that treatment specialists don’t have good intentions. Nor is it because our children are failures. Super human fortitude is required to recover from addiction.

It’s not one time, or ten times, or a hundred times that those with substance abuse disorders must be strong; it’s a thousand times and then some more.  In the throes of addiction, drug or alcohol use is not a choice.  It is not just a matter of willpower, because the brain has been hijacked by chemicals, chemicals that essentially rewire the brain’s reward system.  Making any drugs easier to access is lethal to a person in recovery. Decriminalizing drugs will make it easier to access drugs.

Most forms of cancer may be easier to treat and to cure than drug addiction.  It is also quite possible that decriminalizing drugs while putting money into treatment is similar to pouring cancer-causing agents into the water of a cancer treatment center.

Creating a problem to solve a problem

In order to bring down addiction, Oregon needs to work on primary drug prevention.  Measure 110 decriminalizes all drugs and therefore will make life much more difficult for those in recovery. Like marijuana legalization, it creates a problem to solve a problem.

Addiction is a health issue, and it’s a mistaken notion to think the US doesn’t treat it as such. Since 1956, the American Medical Association has used the disease model for addiction. Though approximately 1/5 of adult Americans have a substance addiction (including those in recovery), no one starts out intending to become addicted. Most Americans understand that addiction is not a moral failing, but they want all levels of government to protect its citizens.

Since the 1990s drug courts in the United States have emphasized treatment over punishment.  They’ve been a success, although the Drug Policy Alliance, which is promoting Measure 110, doesn’t like drug courts.  Drug Policy Action, the political arm of Drug Policy Alliance donated $3,915,553.43 to pass this ballot.  As we’ve said before, Drug Policy Alliance promotes drug use while trying to disguise its objectives and claim humanitarian goals.

As the son of a psychiatrist and dentist, Mark Zuckerberg had role models, drive, and the good sense to avoid substance abuse. Unlike DPA which wants to legalize all drugs, he probably has good intentions.  Unlike his fellow Facebook founders, Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, he wisely chose not to contribute to Proposition 64, the most foolish ballot to ever pass by public vote in California.  (Since it passed in 2016, approximately 80% of California’s marijuana market, is in the black market. No one was in jail  for marijuana at the time of the ballot. The state only gets 1/3 of the promised tax revenue. It’s failed policy, except for those invested big corporate pot.)

From Parents Opposed to Pot

USA: Red Ribbon Week – Caring Parents for Drug Free Kids

Virtual Ways to Celebrate Red Ribbon

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Our annual Red Ribbon celebration is right around the corner! Are you ready?

Due to the nationwide pandemic and social distancing guidelines, this year\’s celebration will look a little differently than the ones in the past.

But there are still plenty of ways you can celebrate Red Ribbon and being drug free virtually with your schools and your communities. Check out a few ideas below:

Communities Can:

  • Contact your elected officials about issuing a proclamation declaring Red Ribbon Week in your community, and post the Red Ribbon proclamation on social media platforms.
  • Invite elected and government officials to participate in virtual Red Ribbon Week activities via video conferencing platforms.
  • Post Red Ribbon Week fact cards on your social media platforms to inform your digital community about the facts.
  • Display red ribbons on the interior and exterior surfaces of your home or home office.
  • Using a video conferencing service, sponsor a special drug abuse prevention webinar for the community. Invite a speaker who is an expert on drug prevention and invite the community to attend.
  • Submit a public service announcement about Red Ribbon Week activities to your local radio station.
  • Create and share flyers, fact sheets, Red Ribbon Week events, and other materials with community coalitions, libraries, hospitals, local churches and synagogues, gymnasiums, grocery stores, parks and recreation departments, health clinics, universities, local health departments and other public places via social media platforms.

Schools Can:

  • Have a drive-up party and decorate your car with red ribbons and balloons and drive thru your neighbor or school parking lot with friends.
  • Sponsor a virtual Red Ribbon Week activity (e.g., fun run; bike-a-thon; bookmark, poster, or essay contest; classroom door decorating contest).
  • Incorporate drug prevention facts and tips in your school-wide announcements and websites throughout Red Ribbon Week.
  • Have a virtual Red Ribbon Rally with performances by local talent or school groups.
  • Do a virtual drug prevention and refusal skills presentation for your classmates.
  • Start a Red Ribbon Week Club that meets via video conference regularly to promote drug prevention throughout the year.
  • Incorporate Operation Prevention classroom resources into your curriculum.

Get more Red Ribbon Virtual ideas on RedRibbon.org!

Global: Weed, Violence & Accountability for Purveyors of Pernicious Pot!

THINK YA KNOW IS MARIJUANA A RISK FACTOR FOR VIOLENCE?

 MEDIA

Given the data, can we strongly suggest that marijuana, especially in the high-potency forms and fast delivery systems available, is now a serious risk factor in violent acts?

All the facts and increasing potency of THC in marijuana is a RED ALERT to parents. We inform parents of the warning signs of marijuana use, so they have every opportunity to steer youth away from irreversible harm.

The latest PopPot video, Is Marijuana a Risk Factor for Violence?

Thought Provoking Facts

PopPot is one of the few organizations in the U.S. exposing the connection between marijuana use and gruesome acts of mass violence. Our story Marijuana is the Common Web Between So Many Mass Killers gained national attention when it was quoted in this New York Post article: The Link Between Marijuana and Mass Shootings May Be Closer Than We Think. Since coroners don’t always test for marijuana in cases of violent crimes, we do not know the true statistics on marijuana and violence. Yet, in many news articles about crimes, we often find a mention of marijuana. In our recent article, Violence and Crime, we write about several high profile cases that prove this point.

What Does the Research Show?

On May 27, 2020, The American Journal of Psychiatry published a meta-analysis of 30 studies of marijuana and violence which found an association between cannabis and physical violence in young adults less than 30 years of age. They reported, “These results demonstrate a moderate association between cannabis use and physical violence, which remained significant regardless of study design and adjustment for confounding factors (i.e., socioeconomic factors, other substance use)”. The analysis concluded, “Cannabis use in this population is a risk factor for violence.”.

Researchers also found marijuana to be a significant contributor to intimate partner violence, even after controlling for alcohol use, antisocial personality symptoms and relationship satisfaction.

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A report from the U.S. Secret Service also lists marijuana as a risk factor for violence:

“SUBSTANCE USE: About half of the attackers (n = 15, 54%) had a history of illicit drug use and/or substance abuse. This abuse, which included alcohol and marijuana, was evidenced by such factors as the attacker receiving treatment for the abuse, suffering legal consequences, or having significant problems in their personal lives stemming from the abuse.” – The Mass Attack in Public Spaces- 2017 Report

The International Journal of Environmental and Public Health presents cases of violence involving marijuana:

“Here, we present 14 cases of violence with chronic marijuana users that highlight reoccurring consequences of: marijuana induced paranoia (exaggerated, unfounded distrust) and marijuana induced psychosis (radical personality change, loss of contact with reality).” – Review of Cases on Marijuana and Violence

News Reports about Marijuana and Violence

The evidence shows that we can decrease the risk of violent events if we decrease marijuana and other drug use.  Marijuana legalization is a disastrous failure because of uncontrolled access to recreational and medical marijuana and no warnings or medical oversight.  The effects of marijuana on the brain resulting in subsequent violence in a growing number of people is a disturbing trend. As a nation, we need to discourage marijuana use, not promote it.

In Does Teen Pot Use Increase Violence?, we detail a number of high profile cases where marijuana use was a factor. Some of the most horrific cases are of multiple fatalities in a family setting, detailed in Orange County Murders Horrify Friends and Neighbors.

Another way marijuana and violence are linked is through drug deals gone bad. Here is a recent story of 2 young adults arrested for a shooting after a drug deal.

Take Action

This Think Ya Know? email presents a new video, scientific research and news stories about the connection between violence and cannabis drug use. Please share it with anyone who needs to know the truth.

Parents, sit with your children and come up with escape plans so your children don’t find themselves stranded in situations where marijuana is being used. This is a great way to impress upon them that you are concerned and want to protect them. Visit Parent Movement 2.0 website for great advice and strategies that can help you do this.

If you or someone you know is struggling with violent outbursts, especially from marijuana use (Cannabis-Induced Psychosis), please seek help immediately. If you feel like you are in immediate danger, call 911. If not, contact your doctor or an addiction/mental health specialist in your area.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.  Also visit the online treatment locators.

Other Resources for Parents

Every living room coffee table needs to have Alex Berenson’s book, Tell Your Children —The Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence. Displayed prominently, it will encourage your curious teen to wonder about the worst outcomes that await the unsuspecting drug user.

In her book, “From Monsters to Miracles,” author Anette Edens, PhD, offers solutions for families dealing with adolescent substance abuse.

Attacker Smoked Cannabis blog and now a new book by UK journalist Ross Grainger. He follows news stories in the UK and Ireland where cannabis was influential on the perpertrator of a violent crime.

Another UK drug prevention activist Mary Brett offers How to Spot the Signs of youth drug use.

Join PopPot!

You can build community with others who have been harmed by marijuana, and empower youth to not be pressured to use it.

Join us October 1-3 in Washington DC for our Voices of Truth rally
in support of those families dealing with tragedies caused by marijuana.

For more information, please visit our sites, poppot.org and voicesoftruthrally.com.

UK: Weed & Slavery – Guilty on Two Counts!

Cannabis farms are a modern slavery \’blind spot\’ for UK police, study suggests

Date: September  2020 Source: University of Cambridge

Summary: Migrants arrested for tending plants in the flats, houses and attics where cannabis is grown in bulk are often victims of trafficking and \’debt bondage\’ – yet many are not recognized as such by police, according to a new study.

Migrants arrested for tending plants in the flats, houses and attics where cannabis is grown in bulk are often victims of trafficking and \”debt bondage\” — yet many are not recognised as such by police, according to a new study.

Research from Cambridge criminologists suggests that those charged with drug cultivation have often been forced into illegal work as a condition of debt to criminal gangs for smuggling them into the UK.

The researchers, including a Detective Inspector who completed a Masters at Cambridge\’s Institute of Criminology, argue that police take too narrow a view of modern slavery when it comes to \”growers\” arrested during cannabis farm raids.

While growers — often Vietnamese nationals — are not always imprisoned within farms, many work under threat of extreme violence towards themselves or family back home, with little in the way of language or contacts in the UK.

The researchers say that arresting officers often lack detailed training on modern slavery, and make only \”perfunctory\” enquiries: a brief question that places the onus on a victim who doesn\’t understand their own situation.

As such, migrants end up serving years in UK prisons despite being forced to commit the cultivation crimes by gangs who seize passports and threaten — and administer — violence.

\”The abuses of freedom in cannabis farm cases do not tally with traditional perceptions of slavery. Victims may be held against their will, forced to work and unable to leave, despite an unlocked door,\” said Prof Heather Strang, the study\’s senior author.

\”Big questions remain about how the criminal justice system should ethically manage modern slavery victims who are also illegal immigrants involved in illegal activity,\” she said.

The new study, published in the Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing, was co-authored by DI Adam Ramiz of Surrey Police as part of his research at Cambridge, where he worked with Strang and Prof Paul Rock from LSE.

Cannabis farms are unassuming abodes in towns and city suburbs that house hundreds of plants in blacked-out rooms, grown with equipment such specialist lighting. A live-in \”grower\” will work for criminal gangs to feed and protect the Class B drug crop.

The latest study is small in scale — gaining access to growers willing to talk is difficult — but criminologists say that it\’s an important addition to this under-researched area.

The team looked at criminal histories of 19 Vietnamese nationals arrested in connection with cannabis farming in Surrey and Sussex between 2014-2017, and conducted in-depth interviews with three further growers — two Vietnamese and an Albanian — as well as the arresting officers in those cases.

The growers all described being in hock to human smugglers, working in farms to pay debts, and some spoke of death threats and physical intimidation. Two spoke of dangerous journeys to the UK via lorries, similar to the 39 Vietnamese nationals found dead in Essex last year.

One witnessed murder by smugglers while trekking for days through forests. Another was locked inside the house once in the UK. The victims didn\’t consider themselves such, as they had wanted to come here, yet had been forced into illegal labour on arrival: smuggling that becomes trafficking.

Interviews with officers revealed police questioning on slavery to be limited, cursory and \”binary\” — whether or not the grower was physically locked in — and conducted with a presumption of guilt on the that the grower is an offender.

\”We found that some officers only had an hour of modern slavery training, and felt that the onus is on trafficking victims to volunteer that information, rather than police to investigate further,\” said Ramiz, who led the study.

\”The brief question or two on slavery will often come after a grower has been given the standard legal advice to say nothing and later to plead guilty,\” he said.

Police frustrations focus on growers, with one officer talking of \”hitting a brick wall\” if they won\’t open up, but researchers say that the legal advice offered to trafficked cannabis growers is routine and uncritical: \”go quietly.\”

They argue that police should \”re-frame\” their response to cannabis farms so that the possibility of modern slavery is \”more fully considered,\” and suggest detailed training for front-line officers along with greater willingness to refer cases to specialist investigators.

Dame Sara Thornton, the UK\’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, described the study as a \”welcome contribution to building an evidence-based approach to preventing modern slavery.\”

\”The Modern Slavery Act includes a statutory defence for those compelled to commit an offence as a direct result of their being a victim of modern slavery. It is essential that the police investigate all lines of enquiry when they come across these complicated cases,\” said Thornton.

Added Ramiz: \”While much more research is needed, these accounts of debt bondage and fierce intimidation suggests the mass cultivation of cannabis is rife with modern slavery, and the grey area between offender and victim in these cases can become a blind spot for UK police.\”

For complete article go to  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915090106.htm

Global: Environmentalists and Weed – Recipe for Hypocrisy?

DO MARIJUANA GROWS LEAD TO FIRES AND GLOBAL WARMING?

 EDITOR

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.

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An AP photo shows how marijuana growers have bulldozed trees in northern California to make room for pot grows.  While much criticism is given to leveling the tops of mountains for coal, hardly anyone is calling it out when the same thing is done for marijuana farming.

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!

USA: Top Marijuana Researchers Condemn Vote on MORE Act

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For Immediate Release: September 10th, 2020

Top Marijuana Researchers Condemn Upcoming House Vote on MORE Act

(Alexandria, VA) –  Today, researchers from institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Addiction Medicine, and the University of Colorado sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of House Leadership expressing their concern with the rush to vote on the MORE Act, a bill that would legalize marijuana at the federal level.

“We write with concern regarding the reported push to vote on the “MORE” Act, which would fully legalize and commercialize marijuana. This is not about decriminalization or rescheduling marijuana. This is about full, commercial legalization. We write to emphasize that there is consensus in the scientific community that such a rush to put engineered, high potency marijuana products in the commercial marketplace would put decades of public health progress in jeopardy,” said the researchers, who sit on the Scientific Advisory Board for Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM).

The letter lays out examples of some of the harms the current body of research has associated with marijuana commercialization including the drug’s addictive properties and its potential links to mental illness; youth marijuana use and the increased likelihood of prescription opioid misuse; the drug’s harms on brain development; and increases in marijuana-impaired driving.

The signatories also point out that while the effort to pass the MORE Act is couched as a well-intended solution to social injustices, marijuana commercialization has routinely failed to make good on any promises of social justice or equity:

“Racially biased marijuana policing and penalties for low-level possession must be reformed, but legalization and commercialization of the drug will not correct these injustices and will result in further social injustice. The marijuana industry promoting gummies, candies, and high-powered vapes and concentrates containing up to 99% THC actually exploits vulnerable populations. In Denver alone, there is one pot shop for every 43 residents of color in minority neighborhoods, worsening the achievement gap in communities of color…Legalization is not social justice–only 2% of the entire industry today has any form of minority ownership. Criminal justice reform can and must proceed. Creating a new addiction-for-profit industry will not aid or speed needed criminal justice reform. This is why decriminalization and expungements are prudent, while commercialization of the next Big Tobacco is not. Communities historically impacted by biased policing through marijuana enforcement require criminal justice reform, not billionaire-backed pot shops.”

Signers of the letter:

Hoover Adger, Jr, M.D., M.P.H.

Director, Adolescent Medicine

Professor of Pediatrics

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Judge Arthur L. Burnett, Sr.

First Black United States Magistrate Judge

Executive Director, National African American Drug Policy Coalition

Eden Evins, M.D., M.P.H.

Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Founding Director, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Jodi Gilman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Director for Neuroscience, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Sion Kim Harris, Ph.D., C.P.H.

Co-Director, Center for Adolescent Behavioral Health Research

Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Marilyn A. Huestis, PhD

Institute of Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University

Yifrah Kaminer, M.D., M.B.A.

Professor of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Professor of Pediatrics, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s Injury Prevention Center

Christine Miller, Ph.D.

Former Research Associate

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Kimber P. Richter, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Professor and Director, UKanQuit

KUMed Hospital Tobacco Treatment Service

Christian Thurstone, M.D.

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colorado, Denver

Aaron Weiner, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Owner, Bridge Forward Group LLC

Kathryn Wells, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado

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Media Contact: Colton Grace E: [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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California: Cannabis Chaos -Three Weed Markets & Harms Grow – Revenue Doesn\’t!

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CA Prop 64 Has Failed So Badly
The State Now Finds It Necessary
To Advertise For Pot Drug Dealers

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This is California Cannabis\” is designed to promote the state\’s legal cannabis cultivation market and raise awareness of the support and guidance offered to licensed cannabis growers by CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing, a division of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Virtually every Prop 64 promise made to CA voters have been broken or unfilled.

\”Under Prop 64 the state promised to make the pot and our kids safer with regulations and education on the harms of pot use for kids. The only advertising they are doing is for the pot drug dealers. Governor Gavin Newsome, chief cook and bottle washer for the pot industry, continues to pay off pot industry doners and is desperate to have his failed Prop 64 experiment look like a success.\” -Scott Chipman (VP of AALM)

\”A giant flaw in the marketing scheme is that it advertises a harmful product that is readily available on the black market and at lower prices. We call on federal enforcement of CSA for advertising, to cut off federal funds to CA to stop the harms to restore some sanity to drug policy in the country\’s most populous state and the state with the greatest number of children.\” –Carla Lowe (President of AALM)

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USA: Big Pot Playbook for Profit – Always off the Backs of Minorities!

Cannabis stores tend to target California\’s minority populations

by Landon Hall, University of Southern California

California neighborhoods where cannabis retailers are located tend to have higher proportions of Hispanic and Black residents, and lower proportions of whites, while also being poorer than those areas without such retailers. That\’s according to a new study co-authored by researchers from the KSOM Department of Preventive Medicine and USC Dornsife\’s Spatial Sciences Institute and published in the September issue of Preventive Medicine Reports.

The research shows that \”minority populations in California are disproportionately exposed to unlicensed cannabis retailers,\” the authors wrote. The study examined areas where both licensed and unlicensed retailers are located. Overall, neighborhoods served by any retailer represented 42% of the state\’s population.

The researchers identified 1,110 cannabis retailers in the state–448 licensed and 662 unlicensed. Relative to neighborhoods without retailers, neighborhoods with retailers had higher proportions of Hispanics, African Americans, and residents living below the poverty level. Compared with neighborhoods with only licensed retailers, neighborhoods with only unlicensed retailers had higher proportions of Hispanics and African Americans, and lower proportions of non-Hispanic whites. Neighborhoods with both licensed and unlicensed retailers had higher proportions of African Americans, Asian Americans, and people living in poverty, relative to neighborhoods with only licensed retailers.

For complete article go to https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-cannabis-tend-california-minority-populations.html

See also Marijuana & Social Justice

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