Vaping Awareness Campaign — Get Your Head Out of the Cloud!
\”Get Your Head Out of the Cloud\” is a youth vaping awareness campaign from the American Lung Association and the Ad Council to provide parents with a simple roadmap to address the dangers of vaping. The campaign offers free educational resources including a conversation guide on our website, TalkAboutVaping.org.![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GetHeadoutCloudVaping-1.png\")
Talk to YOUR Kids About Vaping
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AND HEIGHTENED VIOLENCE IN PORTLAND
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.
![\"\"](\"https://poppot.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Police-Referred-to-as-Pigs-by-Rioters-300x200.jpg\")
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.
London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey wants firms to test staff for drugs to help stamp out gang violence
The Evening Standard
Big companies should carry out random drug tests on their staff, Shaun Bailey has said.
The Conservative London mayor candidate said the aim of mandatory drugs tests on staff would not be to get people fired, but to change the culture around drug use.
People who buy drugs are \”funding the criminals who…unleash mayhem\” on London\’s streets, he argued.
London is by far the biggest consumer of cocaine in Europe with a market worth £1 billion per year, a study by King\’s College London claimed last year.
London is the biggest consumer of cocaine in Europe (PA)
In an open letter addressed to London’s business leaders, he wrote: \”This is a huge problem. Drug use is not only a crime in itself; drug use is a direct cause of crime, from county lines gangs to stabbings on our streets.
\”When people buy drugs, they are funding the criminals who traffic vulnerable kids and unleash mayhem on our streets.
\”So as mayor, I’ll call for every business in London with over 250 employees to sign up to a drug testing charter.\”
For complete article go to Evening Standard
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NEW CDC Data Confirms Concerning Trends in Youth Marijuana Use
Finds marijuana use is number one risk factor for future prescription opioid misuse
(Alexandria, Va) – Today, new data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBS), an annual survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Prevention (CDC) confirms concerning trends when it comes to substance abuse, especially marijuana use, in high school students.
Notably, the data finds that lifetime marijuana use is the number one risk factor for prescription opioid misuse.
“This survey confirms a trend we have been noticing: every other drug among young people is going down with the exception of marijuana. There’s a reason for that: the mass commercialization and normalization of today’s high potency marijuana in this country,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former three-time White House drug policy advisor.
\”One data point that should ring alarm bells is the fact that having ever used marijuana was the top risk factor to misusing prescription opioids in the past month. We have to understand that drug use does not happen in a vacuum – co-use is a real phenomenon.”
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/SAmpost1.png\")
In fact, the CDC report states:
\”Specifically, the high rates of co-occurring substance use, especially alcohol and marijuana use, among students currently misusing prescription opioids highlights the importance of prevention efforts that focus on general substance use risk and protective factors. Notably, these associations are not limited to high school students because binge drinking and marijuana use are associated with increased prescription opioid misuse among both adults and adolescents…\”
According to the data, 21.7% of high schoolers report marijuana use and the most common substances used were alcohol and marijuana. 17.1% of 9th and tenth graders reported marijuana use while 26.6% of eleventh and twelfth graders reported marijuana use.
Furthermore, 43.5% of students who reported currently abusing prescription opioids also reported currently using marijuana.
While use rates of most drugs amongst high schoolers are dropping, marijuana use either remains steady or is increasing, according to the data.
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/SamPost2.png\")
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/SamPost3.png\")
“This CDC survey should be a wake up call about the public health epidemic that is mass marijuana use among young people,\” continued Dr. Sabet. \”It can no longer be ignored.”
###
Media Contact: Colton Grace [email protected]
IS MARIJUANA A GATEWAY DRUG?
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
![\"\"](\"https://poppot.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/heroin-use_1185px-768x462-1.jpg\")
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.
![\"\"](\"https://poppot.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/It-doesnt-start-with-heroin-2-Copy-1024x1024.jpg\")
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.
![\"\"](\"https://poppot.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Staggering-Orange-and-Blue-Copy-1024x1024.jpg\")
Regulation changes to combat illicit drug manufacturing in Australia
Changes to the criminal code and customs regulations will come into force today to make it harder for criminals to manufacture illicit drugs in Australia.
Transnational, serious and organised crime groups use precursor chemicals to manufacture illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine or ‘ice’. While many of these chemicals are classed as prohibited imports, some precursor chemicals can still legally be brought into Australia.
To ensure these chemicals are only imported for legitimate reasons, the Liberal Morrison Government has proscribed additional substances as prohibited precursors, under the Criminal Code and Customs Legislation Amendment (Precursors and Drugs) Regulations 2020.
Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs the Hon. Jason Wood MP, said…
“The changes bring federal controls into line with state and territory controls, enabling law enforcement agencies to investigate, prosecute and disrupt the importation of these new precursors.”
The Government has amended four regulations to ensure Australia adheres to its international obligations, controls additional drugs in line with Department of Health requirements, and supports the Government’s National Drug Strategy. These amendments:
- List additional substances as controlled precursors and border controlled precursors through the Criminal Code Regulations 2019;
- Impose controls on the importation and exportation of drugs, and the importation of precursors through the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958 and the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956; and
- Prescribe additional precursors as tier 1 goods in Part 1 to Schedule 7 of the Customs Regulation 2015.
“Already this year, the ABF has made 716 detections of precursor drugs. ABF officers are constantly on the lookout for precursors being illegitimately brought into the country.”
It is an offence to import precursor chemicals without a license or permit. Penalties under the Criminal Code Act and Customs Act range from two years imprisonment and/or a fine of $88,800 for possession, up to 28 years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $1,243,200 for more serious offences.
Further information about the changes is available here:
www.abf.gov.au/help-and-support-subsite/CustomsNotices/2020-34.pdf
For complete article go to Mirage News
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/SAM-LOGO1.png\"){kind=logo}
For Immediate Release: August 13th, 2020
New CDC Study Reinforces Alarms Raised Over Pregnant Women and Marijuana Use in “Legal” Marijuana States
(Alexandria, Va) – Today, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that among pregnant women surveyed in 2017, those who gave live birth in marijuana-legal states Alaska and Maine had the highest rate of marijuana use, followed by medical marijuana states Illinois, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
“Marijuana use during pregnancy is a rising – and concerning – trend,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former White House drug policy advisor. “The push for commercialization of marijuana and the normalization of the pot industry has sent a message to the public that use of this drug is safe, as evident by the dramatic decreases in rates of perceived harm. In reality, today’s marijuana is much stronger than in the past and leaps and bounds ahead of the available research, which already displays significant risks to mental health. It’s time our lawmakers get serious about discussing the ramifications of the continued expansion of marijuana commercialization.”
According to the study, 9.8 percent of women reported using marijuana before pregnancy, 4.2 percent reported use during pregnancy, and 5.5 percent reported use after pregnancy.
Alarmingly, 12.1% of Maine women reported using marijuana during their pregnancy, the highest of the states surveyed. Data show the most common method of use to be smoking, however 4.5 percent of women who used marijuana during pregnancy reported using high potency dabs. More recent data must be studied to better understand the growing threat to pregnant women.
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PostMaine.png\")
According to a recent, first of its kind General Advisory released by United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams, marijuana use among pregnant women rose by 69% (4.2% to 7.1%) between 2009 and 2016.
It is the position of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that “women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy should be encouraged to discontinue marijuana use. Women reporting marijuana use should be counseled about concerns regarding potential adverse health consequences of continued use during pregnancy” Additionally In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that “…it is important to advise all adolescents and young women that if they become pregnant, marijuana should not be used during pregnancy”.
The advice of top scientists, doctors, and researchers, however, appears to run counter to the marijuana industry. In Colorado, 83 percent of medical marijuana dispensaries and just over 60 percent of recreational marijuana dispensaries recommended marijuana to pregnant women. As marijuana becomes normalized, states must protect pregnant women from this misinformation. Even after pregnancy, marijuana use can still present risks for newborns. THC, the main psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, can be found in breast milk for up to six days after use. It may affect the newborn’s brain development, resulting in a host of long-term consequences.
Notably, this study was released just days after the release of a massive study in Nature Medicine that found women who use marijuana during pregnancy had 1.5 greater odds of having a child with autism.
###
Media Contact: Colton Grace E: [email protected]
For Immediate Release: August 13th, 2020
New CDC Study Reinforces Alarms Raised Over Pregnant Women and Marijuana Use in “Legal” Marijuana States
(Alexandria, Va) – Today, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that among pregnant women surveyed in 2017, those who gave live birth in marijuana-legal states Alaska and Maine had the highest rate of marijuana use, followed by medical marijuana states Illinois, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
“Marijuana use during pregnancy is a rising – and concerning – trend,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a former White House drug policy advisor. “The push for commercialization of marijuana and the normalization of the pot industry has sent a message to the public that use of this drug is safe, as evident by the dramatic decreases in rates of perceived harm. In reality, today’s marijuana is much stronger than in the past and leaps and bounds ahead of the available research, which already displays significant risks to mental health. It’s time our lawmakers get serious about discussing the ramifications of the continued expansion of marijuana commercialization.”
According to the study, 9.8 percent of women reported using marijuana before pregnancy, 4.2 percent reported use during pregnancy, and 5.5 percent reported use after pregnancy.
Alarmingly, 12.1% of Maine women reported using marijuana during their pregnancy, the highest of the states surveyed. Data show the most common method of use to be smoking, however 4.5 percent of women who used marijuana during pregnancy reported using high potency dabs. More recent data must be studied to better understand the growing threat to pregnant women.
According to a recent, first of its kind General Advisory released by United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams, marijuana use among pregnant women rose by 69% (4.2% to 7.1%) between 2009 and 2016.
It is the position of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that “women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy should be encouraged to discontinue marijuana use. Women reporting marijuana use should be counseled about concerns regarding potential adverse health consequences of continued use during pregnancy” Additionally In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that “…it is important to advise all adolescents and young women that if they become pregnant, marijuana should not be used during pregnancy”.
The advice of top scientists, doctors, and researchers, however, appears to run counter to the marijuana industry. In Colorado, 83 percent of medical marijuana dispensaries and just over 60 percent of recreational marijuana dispensaries recommended marijuana to pregnant women. As marijuana becomes normalized, states must protect pregnant women from this misinformation. Even after pregnancy, marijuana use can still present risks for newborns. THC, the main psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, can be found in breast milk for up to six days after use. It may affect the newborn’s brain development, resulting in a host of long-term consequences.
Notably, this study was released just days after the release of a massive study in Nature Medicine that found women who use marijuana during pregnancy had 1.5 greater odds of having a child with autism.
###
Media Contact: Colton Grace E: [email protected]
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/SmartCo.jpg\")
Most Colorado High School Marijuana Users Dab Ultra-Potent Pot Concentrates
Six years after adult-use marijuana commercialization began in Colorado, teens report an alarming increase in their use of ultra-potent pot products in the form of dabs and vapes, according to official state data released today.
More than half of high school students who use marijuana reported that they dab marijuana to get high. Among students who reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, 52% said they dabbed it, up from 34.4% just two years ago– a 50% increase, according to the new bi-annual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey results, based on surveys of over 53,000 middle and high school students statewide last year.
“Dabbing” is a method of inhaling highly concentrated THC (commonly referred to as hash oil, wax or shatter) using a blow torch-heated delivery system commonly referred to as a dab rig. THC is the main high-inducing chemical in marijuana.
The survey results also show a 69% increase in students vaping marijuana in two years. Among high school students who used marijuana in the past 30 days, 34.3% reported vaping it, up from 20.3% in 2017.
In addition to highlighting the increases in dabbing and vaping, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment noted that the percentage of youth who drove after using marijuana more than tripled in two years. According to the state, 32.4% of youth drove a vehicle after using marijuana in the past month, a statistically significant increase from 9% in 2017.
Colorado has no limits on marijuana potency and has seen levels of THC steadily rise in commercial products. Some concentrates, which make up an increasingly large share of the market, can exceed 90% THC. Those potency increases have been documented in a state funded study.
At the request of the Colorado General Assembly, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment just completed a comprehensive analysis of the health effects of marijuana potency that acknowledged that almost 93% of products sold in Colorado are greater than 15% THC.
In the early 1990s, the average THC content in confiscated marijuana samples was less than 4%. Marijuana potency has accelerated in the past decade as marijuana commercialization expanded.
Rachel O’Bryan, one of Smart Colorado’s co-founders and an expert in the field of marijuana commercialization and the impacts on kids, said, “It’s no surprise that kids are switching to easily concealed ultra-potent pot when they are bombarded with images and marketing for these high-THC products that have proliferated since legalization. This is not the much milder marijuana of their parents’ generation.”
Peer-reviewed scientific studies show that marijuana harms developing brains yet researchers haven’t been able to fully explore the effects of these new ultra-potent products. A recent study found a significant association between using marijuana concentrates and progressing to more frequent use among adolescents. The study found that the rate of persistence of use and progression of use is greater with concentrated THC than with other marijuana products.
When nationwide high school use of e-cigarettes soared by 78% in a single year and 26% of Colorado students, twice the national average, reported current e-cigarette use, then-Gov. John Hickenlooper and public health officials sounded the alarm, laws to ban flavored nicotine vaping liquid were passed and states, including Colorado, sued the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul for illegally marketing to children.
O’Bryan said she hopes these latest figures will finally shock the state into action.
![\"\"](\"http://www.dontlegalizedrugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ColoradoHPCannabisUse2019.png\")
Canada: Premier rejects harm reduction model during funding announcement for new addiction recovery centres
New recovery communities in southern Alberta will open early next year
Sarah Rieger · CBC News Jul 25, 2020
Premier Jason Kenney announces funding for two recovery communities, one on the Blood Reserve and one in Lethbridge County, on Saturday. (Jason Kenney/Twitter)
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney challenged the harm reduction model of addiction treatment on Saturday, during a $10-million funding announcement for two new recovery centres in the southern part of the province.
The premier said the investment, which will bring 125 addiction treatment beds to Lethbridge County and the Blood Tribe First Nation, was part of a plan to build a province-wide continuum of care from addiction prevention, to treatment, to recovery.
The recovery communities are two of five being built across the province, as part of a long-term treatment model that \”[encourages] participants to examine their personal behaviour to help them become more pro-social and positively engaged citizens … based on honesty, taking responsibility, hard work, and willingness to learn,\” according to a government news release.
When asked by a reporter about the recent defunding of a supervised consumption site and the province\’s controversial report that focused on negative community impacts of supervised consumption sites, rather than lives saved, the premier did not mince words.
\”Handing somebody who\’s deep in addiction a needle is not a continuum of care. I don\’t even think it\’s terribly compassionate simply to facilitate an addiction rather than to offer a full spectrum of services for recovery and lifetime treatment,\” Kenney said.
\”If you think the harm reduction obsession is really successful when it comes to preserving human lives, then I invite you to take a stroll down East Hastings on the downtown east side of Vancouver.\”
Harm reduction is a method that aims to reduce fatality rates and the harm associated with drug use, while acknowledging that abstinence is not always a realistic goal. Alberta Health Services harm reduction programs include supervised consumption services and providing naloxone kits.
Last week, the province cut off funding to charitable organization ARCHES, which runs Lethbridge\’s only supervised consumption site, one of the busiest sites in the country, after an audit found $1.6 million of unaccounted for public money.
A report last year found the province\’s sites, including ARCHES, have a 100 per cent success rate at reversing overdoses. The sites also provide other services, like emergency medical care, education on the harms of drug use, and referrals to other social services like counselling.
Kenney described the findings of the ARCHES audit as \”disgusting,\” on Saturday, saying that the staff were \”exploiting addicts.\”
He said the new recovery community model will mean the province is no longer focused on what he described as a single-minded, harm reduction approach, which he said brings a negative impact to local neighbourhoods.
For complete story https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-addiction-recovery-1.5663410