Users of high-potency cannabis four times more likely to report associated problems

Press release issued: 27 May 2020

Users of high-potency cannabis are four times more likely to report associated problems, and twice as likely to report anxiety disorder, than users of lower-potency strains, according to new research from the University of Bristol.

Published today [27 May] on JAMA Psychiatry the research uses data from Children of the 90s, a long-term health study that recruited more than 14,000 pregnant women and their babies born in and around Bristol in the early 1990s and has been following their health and development ever since.

This is the first research of its kind to look at data from a general population sample, with previous research into the links between cannabis potency and mental health only looking at clinical and self-selecting samples of people who use drugs. Added to this, the nature of the data available from the Children of the 90s health study enabled the research team to take into account whether mental health symptoms were present before the individual started using cannabis.

Dr Lindsey Hines, Senior Research Associate from Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences and lead author, explained: \”We know that people who use cannabis are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don’t use cannabis, but we don\’t fully understand how recent increases in the strength and potency of cannabis affects this. This study gives us an estimate of the increased likelihood of mental health problems from use of high-potency cannabis, compared to use of lower-potency cannabis, and we are able to account for the effect that people’s early adolescent mental health symptoms may have on this relationship.\”

The research looked at data collected from participants aged 24 years who had reported using cannabis in the previous year, of which 13 per cent reported use of high-potency cannabis… Researchers were then able to compare this data to reported mental health symptoms at age 24 as well as early symptoms of mental health collected when participants were younger.

Dr Hines continued: \”People who use cannabis are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don’t use cannabis, but reducing the potency and regularity of their cannabis use may be effective for lessening likelihood of harms from use.

For complete media release go to https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2020/may/cannabis-potency-research.html

For Research go to JAMA Psychiatry

MY DAUGHTER SUFFERED PARANOIA AND PSYCHOSIS FROM “MEDICAL” MARIJUANA

JUNE 4, 2020 MEDIA

My daughter is in her thirties.  A friend who was a recovering drug addict introduced her to marijuana. She started experimenting with pot after high school. I didn’t know about it at the time, only found out years later. She said it brought up memories and was sort of traumatic for her.

She started seeing a therapist.  And, eventually, she was recommended a medical marijuana card. I still don’t know the diagnosis. She was smoking marijuana occasionally before that, but once she got the card she started smoking large amounts of pot. She was telling me strange things, things that didn’t make sense. I thought ‘this is really odd.’ The next time we visited she was very secretive. She was dressed nicely and seemed to be taking care of herself, as normal. But it was our conversation that was unnerving.  She took me outside to the woods nearby to speak, because she suspected there were hidden cameras all over her home. “Mom, I am being spied upon.” She was convinced she was being observed from space.

She was depressed and confessed to smoking pot while she was pregnant. After the baby was born her mood was different, it seemed like post-partum depression.

Three years after she got her medi-pot card she was abusing “medical” marijuana (she was smoking up to 5 bowls, daily).  She suffered a severe psychotic break.

My next visit a few months later she was dressed in rags, neglecting her children.  I didn’t know how long it had been since she had taken a bath. The self-neglect was something I had never seen before. She screamed and yelled at her children, which she had also never done previously.

She began fantasizing about an extramarital affair.  Then she chopped off all her hair except for a long pony tail.  Convinced that people were out to get her and her children, she tried to explain to me “people are talking about me on Facebook.” She became violent toward her spouse, leaving him with cuts and bruises after her fits of rage. He never knew what would set her off, because she was like a time bomb.

One afternoon, she was pacing around the room, gesturing wildly and spouting off about “Q and The Plan.” She yelled at me, “I want to change the world.” It was very bizarre and scary behavior.

Her paranoia was incredible.  My daughter said repeatedly, “people are watching me.” She believed they were talking in code about her in Facebook. She was addicted to Facebook and wouldn’t stay off of it. It was an obsession. One time I found her hiding in a corner with the cell phone.

Her paranoia began to restrict her freedom of movement. She wouldn’t leave her property, then it got so bad she was afraid to leave her house, wouldn’t even step out the front door. She feared the people watching her, afraid that they might come kidnap her or take her children.

My daughter didn’t want to quit cannabis, but she no longer had access because she wouldn’t go into town to get it. Her husband helped by not getting the drug for her. Her paranoia got worse without the drug, but gradually she began to improve.

Fortunately, she is now distancing herself from the “Q conspiracy.” She no longer believes there is a child trafficking ring in her small town.  Her husband supports her recovery. Today, she spends time in the garden.  She is home schooling the children, and encouraging them in their interests. She tends to the family pets and a backyard flock of chickens. We are watching her being restored to being a wife and mom. Yet, she still struggles with leaving their property, so even after two years there is a lingering effect of the paranoia.

Submitted by a concerned mother to Parent Opposed to Pot.

Pot Use Declared A \”Civil Right\” by Gavin Newsom

Gov. Newsom Continues His Pot Pandering At the Expense of Public and Individual Health and Safety.

On Friday Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference that he’s “very proud of this state” for going beyond issues such as implicit bias in policing and the “deadly use of force.” California’s leadership helped advance “a conversation about broader criminal justice reform to address the issues of the war on drugs” and “race-based sentencing,” he said.
“That’s why the state was one of the early adopters of a new approach as it relates to cannabis reform. Legalization around adult-use of marijuana,” he said. “It was a civil rights call from our perspective.”

The governor\’s premise is wrong. There is no social justice issues related to marijuana arrests in California. A search of California jails and prisons prior to the Prop 64 vote of 2016 showed no one incarcerated for simple possession of marijuana. This was one of the lies foisted on California voters to get their vote – \”to keep users out of jail.\” And, for those who were in jail, they were in jail for marijuana offenses that are still illegal today including trafficking large amounts of the drug.

Gov. Newsom appears to be saying that minorities and the poor have not had an equal right to use and abuse illicit drugs but now they have that right. However, marijuana use and drug use have always disproportionately impacted individuals and communities of poverty and color. He is now more proud of that.

\”\’Black Lives Matter\’ but appear to matter less when it comes to encouraging and promoting drug dealing to minorities and monetizing addiction of blacks, minorities and the poor generally,\” says, Carla Lowe, AALM President.

Those who use marijuana have higher rates of:
– Dropping out of high school and college and lower grades. 
– Poverty and lower income. 
– Arrests and arrests for marijuana offenses are actually increasing after \”legalization\” as there are still laws that can be broken related to marijuana. 
– Moving on to other drugs. 

Scott Chipman, Vice President AALM, suggests to governor Newsom, \”The civil rights he should be protecting are those of being able to live in a safe and sane community, raise children free from drug dealers, drugs and addiction, and drive on streets without impaired drivers.\”

Paraphrasing Charlie Rangel in the 1990\’s, allowing drug dealers and promoting drug use is nothing less than genocide in minority communities. “We should not allow people to be able to distribute this poison without fear that they might be arrested and put in jail,” he said.

Media Contacts

Southern California, Scott Chipman 619 990 7480 [email protected]
Northern California, Carla Lowe 916 708 4111 [email protected]

Join the National Register of Anti-marijuana Groups and Persons

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Art by Tom Scott – Co-Author of The Great Brain Robbery

Opinion: Big Marijuana is peddling a ballot measure in Arizona that\’ll benefit their own and leave the state facing a host of health and societal ills. Beware.

Arizonans have expected a measure aimed at legalizing marijuana following a failed effort at legalization in 2016. The details of the proposal are now public for the first time. (Photo: Associated Press)

Ignoring important regulations, mislabeling products, illegally distributing extremely high potent marijuana – these are just a handful of the allegations recently brought against one of Arizona’s largest medical marijuana suppliers, Harvest.

Coincidentally, Harvest happens to be the single largest donor to the campaign aiming to legalize non-medical pot at the ballot box this November — and, predictably, will be one of the first in line to receive a license to peddle said pot to Arizonans.

Arizonans shouldn’t fall for this scheme.

The so-called “Smart and Safe Arizona Act” would commercialize today’s super strength pot and favors existing large corporations while leaving others on the outside looking in. Not to mention that it is almost solely funded by large marijuana corporations.

These same corporations are trying to convince us that this effort will represent a chance for local entrepreneurs, “mom & pop” stores, and social equity applicants to get in on the ground floor. But that’s not at all what will happen.

The big funders will be the first to benefit

Don’t expect the drug dealers to be sent packing. In the last month, a California woman with significant ties to the Sinaloa Cartel was convicted of using planes to move marijuana through a nationwide drug trafficking ring. Similar cartel activity has been uncovered in almost every state where pot has been legalized. Illicit markets are thriving.

Once legalized, industry will be hard to control

Regulating this industry isn’t a cake walk, either. Oregon regulators were forced to admit they have utterly failed to regulate its marijuana industry. Given its failure to test for mold and harmful pesticides, the state actually said it couldn’t ensure pot sold there was even safe for human consumption.

And because of pot lobby pressure, lawmakers in Nevada banned employers from refusing job applicants if they tested positive for marijuana. This is a nightmare for businesses.

We\’ll be footing the costs of pot legalization

Legalizing marijuana in Arizona won’t generate social justice or equity, it won’t bring the state a windfall of tax revenue, and it will do nothing to stem the state’s existing issues with cartel activity. Instead, it will enrich existing corporations while leading to further harms to health, safety, and commonsense.

Don’t fall for this marijuana monopoly.

For complete article https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/05/26/wary-big-marijuana-dangers-today-potent-pot-poses/5215773002/

This remarkable and must see documentary goes a long way to \’blowing away\’ the seemingly blinding smokescreen of Pot Propaganda.

The pro-pot pundits produce spin and project profit as an attempt to pitch pot as relatively benign. The truth, however, is beyond concerning – it is distressing.

Anyone, not least law and policy makers – those charged with protecting the health, well-being and productivity of a nations citizens – must watch and re-watch this important primer.

The evidence-based research on the inherent physical, psychological, environmental, familial, economic and emotional harms of this recklessly purveyed malignant substance are staggering in breadth and overwhelming in condemnation…. However, the \’smokescreen\’ set in play by the addiction for profit industry, will keep most blind to the egregious realities of normalized and commercialized Weed use.

Watch it now and pass it on!

For Immediate Release: May 28th, 2020

New Study: Use of High Potency Marijuana Increases Risk of Anxiety Disorders

(Alexandria, Va) – Today’s highly potent marijuana drastically increases the risk of mental health issues according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. The study, conducted with 1,087 twenty-four-year olds who reported recent marijuana use, found that users of high potency marijuana were four times more likely to abuse the substance and twice as likely to develop anxiety disorders.

“Studies such as this continue to prove what we have been saying for some time: today’s pot is light years away from the weed of Woodstock,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration. “As we have routinely pointed out, the science behind today’s pot is sorely lacking. As it catches up, we are certain to see more studies such as this.”

In addition to increases in anxiety, the study also found that users of high potency marijuana were more likely to use the drug once a week, twice as likely to have used other substances in the past year, and more than three times as likely to be tobacco users.

Marijuana commonly used in the 60’s, 70’s, and even 90’s barely registered above 4% THC content. Today, following the commercialization of the drug, average THC content has exploded some 500%. Average marijuana “buds” can feature up to 30% THC while marijuana concentrates can contain upwards of 99% THC.

As the science struggles to catch up with the rising potency of today’s marijuana, we are only seeing the first signs that marijuana use has become much more harmful to the human brain. Last year, a ground-breaking study confirmed a link between the use of high potency marijuana and greater rates of psychosis at the population level. Daily users of high potency pot were more than 4x more likely to develop psychosis.

“When it comes to tobacco, we didn’t see truly drastic harms until big corporations saw the potential for massive revenues and started altering tobacco to make it more addictive,” continued Dr. Sabet. “We are beginning to see the same take place with marijuana. A massive industry, ironically featuring billions in investment from Big Tobacco, is working to expand marijuana commercialization while also driving up THC content. Meanwhile, warnings from public health researchers and experts are ignored. We cannot allow this to continue.

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Media Contact: Colton Grace  E: [email protected]

The adaptability of drug markets

Arecent report from Crest Advisory questions the received wisdom that the threat from county lines operated by organised crime groups (OCGs) and gangs would reduce because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Crest argues that the picture appears to be far more complex. The gangs who operate county lines have always proven highly versatile and adaptable, and they are now embracing new tactics to protect a lucrative business.

Significant reductions in the number of children reported missing from home or care have been cited as evidence that exploitation through county lines has reduced due to the lockdown. On the surface this makes sense, as it seems obvious that exploitation of vulnerable children and in county lines drugs networks may be easier to disrupt during the COVID-19 lockdown due to increased visibility of young people in public spaces or on public transport.

However, there are several reasons that this should be treated with caution.

Some boroughs are reporting a noticeable increase in the length of missing episodes during lockdown, possibly because young people transported to trap houses are having to stay there for longer due to increased demand and lockdown restrictions.

• The move towards local recruitment means that in assessing whether children are being exploited in county lines during lockdown, we should pay as much attention to vulnerable children in the ‘county bases’ as those going missing from the ‘home bases’.
• Rescue Response also say that young people are also being provided with taxis via apps (such as Uber, Bolt and Kapten) in order to make longer journeys. Taxis continue to be used by dealers and networks for deliveries.
• Given that there is still demand for Class A drugs — and that by retreating from the market, even temporarily, gangs risk ceding territory to rival groups — those who operate lucrative county lines will naturally seek to change the patterns of recruitment and exploitation and embrace new methods of transport, distribution and retail rather than putting their drugs lines on furlough.
• The charity Missing People, who have been engaging with the police in different regions since the lockdown began, have told us that there is evidence of increased drug dealing in ‘liminal spaces’ such as railway land, car parks and abandoned industrial buildings. The decreased visibility of young people involved in drug dealing may not paint the full picture

For complete article go to Russell Webster — Adaptability of Drug Markets in Lockdown