Troubled Portugal Bad Example For Drug Advocates in NZ

Friday, 18 October 2019,
Press Release: Family First  (for immediate release)

Portugal has been painted by pro-cannabis legalisation groups as a model to follow. Yet just last month, the mayor of Porto contradicted his previous pro-harm reduction position and endorsed reintroducing criminal penalties for drug use in public spaces.

The mayor said he was “a little tired of hearing just about the dignity” of people who use drugs, adding that the policy of decriminalisation “simply does not protect the overwhelming majority of the population,” giving as an example the people who, in the most troubled areas of Porto, \”cannot go to the window because they are threatened\”. He is advocating for the installation of over 100 new video surveillance cameras to monitor public streets in an attempt to clamp down on drug use. \”It is necessary to criminalise, nobody is arrested for an offense,\” he said.

In addition, some political parties in Portugal are now pushing for the legalisation of marijuana in their country. The Left Bloc (BE) and People-Animals-Nature (PAN) are proposing legalisation of cannabis for recreational use, with two bills tabled to the Portuguese parliament. They say that the effect of decriminalisation has been to increase trafficking and consumption every year and the use of psychoactive substances.

“For years, and especially recently, we have heard that Portugal’s decriminalisation is the perfect model of marijuana legislation. Ironically, the referendum in 2020 is about legalisation, not decriminalisation,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

But Portugal shows troubling results. The most recent statistics show that between 2012 and 2017 Lifetime Prevalence statistics for alcohol, tobacco and drugs for the general population have risen by 23%. There has been an increase from 8.3% in 2012, to 10.2% in 2016/17, in the prevalence of illegal psychoactive substance use. The National Survey on the Use of Psychoactive Substances in the General Population in Portugal 2016/17, reports, “We have seen a rise in the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption and of every illicit psychoactive substance (affected by the weight of cannabis use in those aged 15-74) between 2012 – 2016/17.”

“It is also significant to note that Portugal recently voted down a bill proposing to legalise medicinal — including grow-your-own — cannabis, and opted for a more confined law allowing use of some medicinal cannabis,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“If Portugal has been such a success since 2001, why are countries not rushing to replicate their approach — and why are politicians within the country even now saying it has failed. It is clear that the claims of success in Portugal well exceed the reality.”

For complete article http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1910/S00204/troubled-portugal-bad-example-for-drug-advocates-in-nz.htm

Stop the “green rush”

Progressives tend to believe legalizing pot is a good idea. Here are 7 reasons they should think twice.

10/14/2019

Colorado’s vote in 2012 to legalize marijuana united the progressive end of the liberal political spectrum with conservative libertarians. Progressives had long felt that the war on drugs was cruel and unfairly targeted minorities and, in many cases, agreed with libertarians that folks should be allowed to smoke a joint in peace without government interference.

For most of my life, I supported both these arguments. When I lived in Colorado, medical marijuana was legal, plenty of my friends had medical marijuana cards and smoked for bad backs and bum knees. It was really a nonissue.

When I set out to film a documentary on Colorado’s experience with legalization, I felt neutral about the issue. For sure, Colorado had changed – cannabis and cannabusinesses were suddenly dominating the landscape, from warnings at the car rental counter at the Denver airport to the profusion of shiny, colorful stores in my former hometown. It looked like a buzzed new world, and I wanted to document it.

But after spending 18 months shooting the film “Pot Luck: The Altered State of Colorado,” I had a change of heart. I became convinced that progressives need to rethink our support of legal pot.

What I learned is that just because prohibition failed, it does not mean legalization is succeeding. Few of the most significant benefits legalization advocates promised were materializing. The thirst for profit and the interests of powerful corporations were swiftly sidelining small-scale producers and retailers, even as we filmed. The need to provide justice to the victims of the war on drugs has been lost in the “green rush.” It was the same old story: powerful corporate interests coopt a nominally progressive social movement and warp it to their own benefit.

Marijuana flower on sale in Seattle, top left, and cannabis-infused lollipops on sale in Colorado, top right. Below, a woman walks past a dispensary in Nederland, Colorado. | AP Photo

There’s a strong case to be made that we on the left are making a naive mistake in our headlong rush to legalize. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Pot is increasingly dangerous because of high THC levels.

THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis. In the 1990s, the average potency of weed at the national level was 3.8 percent THC. Due to the combination of consumer demand and advances in botany and technology, THC potency climbed steadily higher over the past two decades. The introduction of corporate-funded science was like injecting nitrous oxide into a race car engine. By 2017, the average THC potency of the cannabis flower had reached nearly 20 percent. Today, concentrates that claim potency rates of 100 percent are marketed.

This rise in potency is alarming. The research recently published in The Lancet, the world’s most prestigious medical journal, argued that daily users of high-potency cannabis were roughly five times as likely to experience a first-episode psychosis. In Amsterdam, one of the cities included in the study, the researchers concluded that about 50 percent of first-episode psychosis disorders could be prevented if high-potency cannabis were no longer on the market.

Politicians in Colorado are aware of these kinds of findings but because of the strength of the cannabis lobby in the state, they are unable to act. Proponents of Initiative 139, a Colorado ballot measure which would have capped THC potency, withdrew the initiative because of well-funded opposition from the Marijuana Industry Group.

1. There are unforeseen legal and social side effects including drugged driving, home-grow explosions and homelessness.

Many of the law enforcement officers I interviewed for my film expressed distress at how the public fails to understand the new pressures which legalization has created. The problems extend from the high drama of organized crime to the ordinary rituals of daily life in Colorado.

1. Legalization doesn’t lower crime. (Some crimes diminished, but organized crime has increased.)

Less than a year after Colorado legalized cannabis, the Drug Policy Alliance was beating its chest while making bold pronouncements about how legal cannabis would mean the end of drug cartels trafficking in weed, distinguished academics at Stanford were creating pie charts showing the destructive effects of cannabis legalization on the profit margins of organized criminals and Rolling Stone was publishing articles with headlines like “Five Reasons Cops Want to Legalize Marijuana.”

Cannabis outside a warehouse in Boise, Idaho. | AP Photo

Like most promises made in the lead-up to the vote that legalized marijuana, these claims do not hold up to scrutiny. Colorado’s new cannabis status quo has plenty of space in the shadows for black-market operators who move excess product to states where the drug is still illegal for recreational purposes. Many of the entities participating in the underground marijuana economy in Colorado and other states with legal weed have ties to international crime, from the cartels harvesting thousands of cannabis plants in Colorado’s forests and mountains to the 100-plus grow houses run by a Chinese criminal enterprise in Sacramento, Calif. Across Colorado, organized crime charges have gone up in recent years.

1. The boost to public coffers is not manifesting the promised social benefits.

In Colorado and in other states with legal recreational cannabis, legalization advocates made huge promises about surging tax revenue. In turn, Colorado voters expected that more funding would stabilize the state’s underfunded education system and social safety net. It’s taken time for promises about tax revenue to materialize, but as of June Colorado has indeed passed more than $1 billion in tax revenue from cannabis sales.

However, the actual gains to Colorado’s balance sheet from cannabis are minimal given the overall size of the annual state budget ($27 billion). The new funding hasn’t resulted in much concrete change in a state with massive funding shortfalls. While few ambitious public policy ventures are actually being realized because of cannabis taxes, Colorado’s new class of cannabusiness millionaires are perpetuating the same income inequality here which is aggravating social tensions across the United States.

1. Minority communities disproportionately bear the downside of legalization.

The real, enduring hypocrisy embedded in the legacy of the cannabis legalization movement is how marginalized people, particularly people of color, have been affected by legalization.

1. Legalization has not redressed the injustices of the war on drugs.

The evils of the war on drugs were quite rightly front and center during the campaign to legalize in Colorado, as advocates made the suffering of people jailed for minor drug possessions a central argument for legalization. But that supposed fairness didn’t apply retroactively.

1. The commercial cannabis industry will not and cannot regulate itself.

A marijuana plant at an indoor growing facility in River Rock, Colorado. | AP Photo

Over the past five years, spending by the corporate cannabis lobby in Colorado has tripled. Pro-cannabis groups spent nearly $1 million on state-level lobbying in Colorado last year, while Smart Colorado, the largest voice of opposition to legalization in the state, spent only $346,121 on lobbying over the preceding five years. Even when the Colorado Legislature can overcome opposition from the cannabis lobby, it’s difficult for both Colorado legislators and bureaucrats at the Marijuana Enforcement Division to keep up with the dizzying pace of change in the cannabis industry.

Beyond the financial and lobbying power of the industry is the serious issue of legislative overload. Legislation seeking to regulate cannabis accumulates on the state docket in response to a constant stream of new problems like out-of-control home-grow operations, candied edibles identical to those marketed to children and dispensaries that attract crime and become a nuisance to entire neighborhoods. One glaring example of how Colorado has missed the boat on cannabis regulation is the aptly titled “legal looping” loophole.

Legal looping describes how customers repeatedly return to the same retailer to purchase the maximum legally permitted amount of marijuana. At the infamous Denver retailer Sweet Leaf, a group of straw buyers may have acquired as much as two tons of cannabis for illegal resale outside of Colorado. Unfortunately, the backlog of regulations weighing down the Colorado legislature means that effective enforcement is a long way away.

Progressive House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) caught the nation’s attention earlier this year when she slammed the racial makeup of the cannabis industry. To her credit, AOC also focused on the need to do justice to the communities harmed by the war on drugs. Perhaps the legalization movement will also start to acknowledge the very real inequities that cannabis legalization has wrought.

But for far too long, progressives have stumbled blindly onward in a race to legalize cannabis. There’s more to this story, and it’s time we all paused the green rush to national legalization and reached consensus on what the benefits and harms truly are.

Jane Wells is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and the founder of 3 Generations, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Her film “Pot Luck: the Altered State of Colorado,” will be released in December 2019.

Authors: Jane Wells

for complete article go to  https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/10/14/marijuana-cannabis-legal-000986

Newsletter – Regional Forum issue 2019

WFAD Newsletter

The World Federation Against Drugs hosts Regional Forums across the globe each year. The aim of the Regional Forums is to gather member organisations and other Civil Society organisations working in different regions to share best practices and strengthen capacity in networking and advocacy work.

Our members continue to work hard all across the world to create change in policies, implementation and better the lives of people facing addiction. With focus on prevention, treatment, and recovery WFAD\’s network reaches all areas of the field – moving towards our mutual goal to harness the awesome power of the world\’s NGO\’s to reverse the drug abuse epidemic by supporting the drug-free goal and the drug abuse prevention treaties of the United Nations.

This Newsletter highlights the past Regional Forum and invites members to partake in the coming forums. This year, USA, India, Singapore and Serbia has/will host regional forums.

Join us in planing for the coming year!
Email [email protected] with you suggestions.

We hope you enjoy!

The Asian Pacific Forum Against Drugs is directed to members in the region working within the area of Prevention.
RSVP by emailing the AFPAD-WFAD Secretariat [email protected]
Including the following details:
1. Full Name
2. Email Address
3. Organisation
4. Designation
Should you require any assistance, please email to [email protected]
(Mondays to Fridays, 10am to 6pm).

Accommodation*
For delegates whom are intending to stay at the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel for APFAD-WFAD Conference, please email to [email protected] for reservations to enjoy a 15% discount.

For more information, visit National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) Facebook Page or email to [email protected] for assistance.

*WFAD are not able to offer sponsorships for this event.

Membership

WFAD is a multilateral community of organisations and individuals that continues to grow, with now over 250 member organisations! Seeing an increase of 30 new members since the 2018 Congress.

With our member’s support and collaboration, WFAD continues to be one of the largest networks within the field. As a member of WFAD you are part of our growing network of organisations and individuals working towards a drug-free world. The membership includes contacts and updates amongst and between members as well as the Secretariat, displaying your activities on the website and social media, participation in Regional and World Forums, as well as the possibility of joint projects, conferences, and other activities in collaboration with the WFAD Secretariat and members. Member organisations have full voting rights at the annual Congress.

The membership is free, however members who have capacity are encouraged to pay a voluntary membership fee.

If you are yet to update your membership, do so via the following link.

Become a member?
Read the platform, guidelines and apply via the following application form.

Regional Forum on Drug Addiction and Recovery
The Balkan Regional Forum on Drug Addiction and recovery will be hosted on the 19-20th November 2019 in Serbia.

The conference is a joint cooperation between World Federation Against Drugs and three leading Civil Society organisations in the Balkan region: Izlazak, Celebrate Recovery and Preporod. With over 240 member organisations WFAD organises a World Forum Against Drugs every two years and hosts regional conferences together with members throughout the year. Izlazak, Celebrate Recovery and Preporod are leading Civil Society organisations working within Recovery. The three organisation deploy a joint project, providing telephone hotline and in-person meeings to active users, individuals in recovery and members of their families.

The Forum will focus on Drug Addiction and Recovery within the Balkan region, bringing together Civil Society, authorities and country representatives. During a two-day Forum, participants are welcomed to a mixture of testimonies, speeches and workshops highlighting themes such as life in Recovery, International standards on prevention, the Icelandic model of prevention, as well as the legal status of cannabis. The Forum will further present the results of the three organisation’s joint project “Choose Recovery” in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

The aim of the Forum is to gather member organisations of WFAD and other civil society organisations in the region to share best practices and strengthen capacity within the area of Recovery. In order to carry out a fruitful Forum we welcome your participation in the Conference.

Read more on the website: https://forum.biramoporavak.com/

Asian Regional Forum Against Drugs in Cochin, India, 25-27th sept.

The Asian Regional Forum Against Drugs was a success! The regional Forums against Drugs are hosted in strategic location throughout the world. This year, Cochin, India was selected to host the Asian Regional Forum Against Drugs. The conference was a joint cooperation between World Federation Against Drugs and the Fourth Wave Foundation, Project VENDA. WFAD and Fourth Wave Foundation are two organisations with vast experience within the field.

We thank all participants and speakers for participating in the Asian Regional Forum Against Drugs 2019 and making it a success. The main objective of the forum was to bring together civil society members, key decision makers and practitioners across Asia to empower and enable advocacy and networking in the region. The 3 days of the forum saw key stakeholders from across sectors coming together to share, understand and plan on how to work together.

The forum engaged over around 500 and more participants from across the world through live streaming online.

The program agenda, key themes and topics discussed during the forum was designed to address issues and solutions at regional and country levels. The general feedback suggest that the forum helped in understanding the perspectives on prevention, care & recovery and various best practices. The forum also examined challenges like stigma associated with recovery, legalisation debates and gender perspectives in dealing with the world drug problem.
The response by the local print and online media was very encouraging. Many of the speakers were interviewed and the media coverage during the conference had opinion articles and best practices stories published. The local press rendered due attention to the conference agenda all three days making the conference message reach target audience of youth and local communities by spreading the message of prevention approach in solving the issue of Narcotics and drugs in our communities and among youth.

See the presentations here.
For more information and videos follow this link.
For photos visit WFADs Flickr page and Project Vendas Flickr page.

The webcast will be available in a months time on the Youtube Channel of Fourth Wave Foundation.

Guest post on WFAD\’s Instagram!

WFAD is currently working making our Instagram into a platform for our members to share their work and best practices. By doing so, member organisations of WFAD have the possibility to guest-post on WFAD\’s instagram account for a one-or two-week period. We are hoping to create an account that shows WFAD\’s many members and their great work, while opting for prevention and recovery — through creating an easy accessible platform for, and by, our members.

Would you like to be our next guest poster?

Send an email to [email protected] and tell us why your organisation should be guest poster on the WFAD Instagram account.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Regional Forum Arizona
Regional Forum and Board Meeting in Arizona, USA.
June 2019
Think Globally, Act Locally: A Global Drug Policy Summit on June 26, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona.

The program included an impressive group of national and international presenters that you won\’t want to miss. Attendees can choose between two informative presentation tracks: \”Local and National Impacts of Changing Marijuana Policy\” and \”International Drug Policy Perspectives and Innovations.\”

Around 80 individuals in the US, the Western Hemisphere and from countries around the globe attended the forum , who are all engaged in community drug prevention, policy and public health, health care professionals, advocates and families in recovery, law enforcement officers, local officials and lawmakers, and more.

After the Global Drug Policy Summit, part of the Board of WFAD met for an in-person Board meeting.

WEBINARS
Throughout the year, WFAD will host online Webinars that are accessible to all members. The Webinars will be held by different professionals and discussing themes such as:
– Prevention
– Recovery
– Global Drug Policies
We will send out more detailed information including how to access the webinars shortly, until then, make sure to keep yourself posted via our Facebook and Newsletters.

The 62nd Session of the CND – Ministerial Segment
The reconvened Intersessionals with the Commission on Narcotic Drugs were held in December in preparations for the 62nd Regular Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
In the political Declaration and plan for Action on the international Cooperation towards a more integrated and balanced strategy to counter the World drug problem, adopted in 2009, Member States decided to establish 2019 as a target date or the goals set in the operative paragraph of the Political Declaration. Read more here.

7th World Forum Against Drugs
Every second year, WFAD hosts the World Forum Against Drugs. The World Forum is a meeting place for people from all continents who are working to prevent drug abuse at grass-root, on a voluntary basis, professionally or as policy makers. The World Forum is one of its kind where people from all over the world meet to share ideas and experiences about the work against illicit drugs, based on a balanced and restrictive policy. Read more about the 6th World Forum Against Drugs here and view our Flickr for photos.

The 7th World Forum Against Drugs will be held in Vienna, in connection ti the 63rd Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in March 2020. More information to come.

Are you a member of WFAD and want news from your organization published on the WFAD website or Newsletters? Get in touch with us via email: [email protected].
WFAD · Ragvaldsgatan 14 · Stockholm 11846 · Sweden

Cannabis-related admissions to psychiatric hospitals rose 185% in eight years

New report voices concerns over the increased potency of the drug

Oct 15, 2019,  Colin Gleeson

A new report notes a surge in cannabis-related admissions to general and psychiatric hospitals from 2008 to 2016.

Cannabis-related admissions to general and psychiatric hospitals increased by 90 per cent and 185 per cent respectively from 2008 to 2016, coinciding with a decline in perceived risk of regular use, according to new research.

Bobby Smyth, Anne O’Farrell and Antoinette Daly, writing in the latest issue of the Irish Medical Journal, argue that Ireland is seeing a changing pattern of cannabis use and cannabis-related health harms.

Their study is based on two national population surveys and three national treatment databases, focusing on people under the age of 34. It finds that cannabis is the illegal drug that causes the greatest amount of disability-adjusted years for older teenagers.

It cites research that shows cannabis use appears to contribute to the development of psychosis and that the risk of psychosis increases with higher potency THC, which is the substance in cannabis that causes the intoxication effects.

“Adolescent cannabis use is associated with depression and suicidality in early adulthood,” note the authors. “There is growing evidence that heavy cannabis use during adolescence has a negative impact on cognitive development and functioning.”

The authors cite statistics which show that past-month cannabis use among adolescents and young adults increased after 2011, “coinciding with a decline in perceived risk of regular use”.

The treatment of cannabis use disorders and cannabis-related hospital admissions have “increased significantly” since 2011 as the drug has grown more potent, the report notes.

From 2008 to 2016, there were increases in the rates of cannabis-related addiction treatment episodes among adolescents and among young adults of 40 per cent and 168 per cent respectively. One in 28 young adults was cannabis dependent in 2015.

Cannabis-related psychiatric admissions more than doubled during the period 2011 to 2017, while general hospital admissions “continued their relentless upward trend”.

‘Worrying increase’

“In spite of this increased harm, there was a worrying increase in the proportion of young adults who saw little or no risk in regular cannabis use,” according to the authors.

“This mismatch between a reduction in perceived risk and the growing scientific evidence that cannabis use is associated with multiple risks is a major concern from a public health perspective.

For complete article IRELAND CANT TREAT HER WAY OUT OF THIS CANNABIS CHAOS!

For Immediate Release: October 11th, 2019

BREAKING: CDC Narrows Warnings to Specifically Target THC Products

(Alexandria, VA) – Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) narrowed their warnings on vaping to urge Americans to specifically avoid the use of marijuana vaping products. Earlier guidance from the CDC recommended Americans avoid using e-cigarettes containing either nicotine or THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana.

Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration released the following statement in response:

\”Today\’s warning from the CDC could not be clearer: we are witnessing a marijuana vaping crisis. We have allowed this industry to run too far ahead of the science, and now we’re are experiencing the tragic consequences. Additionally, two deaths in Oregon and illnesses in Delaware and Maryland derived from state ‘legal’ products confirm this is not simply a black-market issue.

\”We are calling on the Trump Administration to use the Food and Drug Administration\’s enforcement powers to remove all marijuana vaping products from the shelves. Additionally, we call on Congress to immediately halt any consideration of legislation seeking to grant further legitimacy and investment into the marijuana industry.

\”It is my sincere hope that lawmakers nationwide are paying attention. There is no question the efforts to legalize marijuana and its subsequent commercialization has led us to this point. It\’s no longer simply time to pump the brakes on this front, it\’s time to bring this THC normalization movement to a screeching halt.”

###

About SAM Co-founded in 2013 by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is the nation\’s premier non-profit, non-partisan marijuana policy organization. Advised by a blue ribbon scientific advisory board, SAM envisions a society where marijuana policies are aligned with the scientific understanding of marijuana\’s harms, and the commercialization and normalization of marijuana are no more. Its mission is to educate citizens on the science of marijuana and to promote health-first, smart policies and attitudes that decrease marijuana use and its consequences.

SAM has advised almost every state government in the U.S., Pope Francis, Queen Silvia of Sweden, and several other governments, dignitaries, and international organizations. It has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, and SAM team members have testified before Congress numerous times, as well as appearing in almost every media outlet in the country.

Media Contact: Colton Grace
P: (864) 492-6719   E; [email protected]

 

Why I shed no tears for these drug legalisers

By  Neil McKeganey  October 9, 2019

THERE has been shrieking commentary in the press following the resignation of Professor Alex Stevens from the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. The accusation from Professor Stevens is of intolerable political vetting of those appointed to the committee which, in addition to seeing him resign, has also led to the non-appointment of Niamh Eastwood, a non-practising barrister heading the legal rights drugs charity Release, a case he repeated to the ill-briefed and uncritical Justin Webb of BBC Radio Four’s Today programme yesterday. 

Whilst some journalists may be in a lather over these developments, should we be similarly concerned? In Eastwood’s case, her non-appointment seems to have to do with the fact that she characterised the minister responsible for drugs policy, and the Home Office, of making stuff up and of talking rubbish — and standing by what she said:

I stand by what I said about the Ministers letter to the #acmd on drug consumption rooms as I said to the @Independent today

Make what you like of those accusations; they hardly augur well for the development of a trusting relationship between a minister and his or her advisers.

Stevens’s resignation seems to be because he feels political vetting (whatever that is) has occurred and he does not like it one bit. Both Stevens and Eastwood have repeatedly argued for some form of drugs legalisation or decriminalisation, i.e. a profound change in the very laws that have seen the setting up of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in the first place. In my view, if you are going to argue for fundamentally overturning our drug laws you should not put yourself forward for appointment to a government committee set up under those very same laws. 

There is another dimension, though, which has to do with the first word in the committee’s title: ‘Advisory’. Some members of this committee, Stevens included, seem to be of the view that their recommendations should be implemented by whatever government is in power. Advice should be sought and given, but when it comes to implementation it needs to be weighed against a host of other things, including what the elected members have presented as their policies for tackling illegal drugs in the first place.

Am I crying into my pillow tonight at the failure to appoint Eastwood or to persuade Stevens to stay? Not particularly. What upsets me more is when government advisers and experts think the best we can do to tackle our drug problem is to implement ways in which drugs can be made more accessible. I want more barriers in place around drugs — indeed I want Trump’s much-vaunted wall in place to reduce access to these deadly substances.

For complete story go to ‘Legalisers are NO friend to children and families!’

MARIJUANA DUI CRASHES IN ILLINOIS RISE

Many recent crashes in Illinois suggest that pot users think it’s safe to drive after toking, or they simply don’t care.  Prior to the decriminalization of marijuana, Illinois experienced less than 1000 vehicle deaths each year.  In 2016, the year of marijuana decriminalization, traffic deaths rose to 1078. In 2017, 1091 people died from fatal crashes on Illinois roads, and 1038 died in 2018.

With decriminalization, Illinois raised the marijuana limit from zero THC  to 5 ng of THC.   When politicians talk of decriminalization or legalization, they signal to the public a belief that pot is harmless.

On May 31, the day legislators passed a legalization bill, Erik McKay drove recklessly and killed a passenger, reports the Daily Herald.  “Officers at the scene detected an odor of alcohol in his breath and through the course of investigation they (came to) believe he was potentially involved with marijuana in his system,” according to South Elgin police sergeant Mike Doty said.  McKay was charged with: aggravated driving under the influence in an accident causing death, a Class 2 felony; reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony; and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, a Class A misdemeanor.  Amy Carlson, 25, of St. Charles, died.

Injuries and a teen’s death

Danielle Thomas. Photo comes from the Lake and McHenry County Scanner.

A two-car wreck on March 15 killed Danielle Thomas, 16, a high school student and cheerleader at McHenry West. Four other teenagers suffered injuries.   Another teen driver, Caleb Rohrbach, 18, has several charges pending.

“Rohrbach had marijuana in his system at the time of the crash, police said. An unspecified amount of marijuana also was found in his car.”   He remains in jail, held on $1 million bail. He pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide and other charges.  A terrible decision to drive under the influence of marijuana ended one teen’s life and drastically changed another teen’s life.

Where are the adults who should be warning against stoned driving the same way we warn against drunk driving?

What’s wrong with the politicians? 

Politicians who advocate for marijuana should be held accountable for promoting to young people the false belief that pot is safe.  A few weeks ago, Brandon Harding, 22, of Elgin was allegedly high on pot when he crashed his vehicle, injuring two female passengers. The Daily Herald reported: “The two women had severe lacerations on their foreheads, and Harding, who was not injured, had slurred speech and was ‘stumbling and staggering,’ according to the report. Harding smelled of alcohol and marijuana, but a preliminary breath test showed he had no alcohol in his system, the report said.

“However, Harding showed impairment in field sobriety tests and the officer, who was a certified drug recognition expert, placed Harding under arrest for DUI-drugs, the report said.

On June 22, 2018, Caleb Rallings, 20, a seasonal Cook County Forest Preserve District employee caused a fatal, five-car crash. He had the marijuana in his system at the time of the collision. The crash killed Giuseppe Garzano, 44, and injured two other people.

Presumably the forest preserve district and other government bodies don’t want drugged employees.  Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Students Against Destructive Decisions conducted a study of 2800 teens in states that have legalized marijuana.

Photo of crash on August 16, 2018, in Schaumburg comes from The Daily Herald. The driver who has been charged had many previous traffic tickets. The victim leaves a wife and 4 children.

One third of those surveyed thought that driving under the influence of marijuana is legal in states where it’s recreational.  More than 20% of teens reported it’s common among their friends. The study also found that parents’ perceptions were not much different.

Marijuana DUI Crashes from 2018 in Illinois

On August 16, 2018, the speeding driver responsible for a fatal Schaumburg crash spent the day ‘smoking weed,” according to reports.  The other driver, Amando Chavez, a 41-year-old father, was trapped in his vehicle and had to be extricated. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m.   Chavez was a father of four young children.

In October, an Alsip man, Dave E. Flynn was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI for a June 26 crash that killed his passenger, a 25-year-old Elgin woman, Maria DeJesus Ayala.

Flynn was arrested in early October.  Lab tests showed he had 6.6 nanograms of active THC per milliliter in his body, authorities said. The legal threshold in Illinois is 5 nanograms of THC.

For complete story to Road Toll Meets a POT Hole!

VAPING DEATHS TEST MARIJUANA INDUSTRY’S RESISTANCE TO REGULATION

OCTOBER 4, 2019 EDITOR

All eyes on Governor Kate Brown

The marijuana industry proves that “tax and regulate marijuana” cannot work.   One year ago, October 3, 2018, the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB), announced new regulations that would ban marijuana edibles.  The LCB responded to 382 cases of toxic overdose of marijuana products in 2017, 82 of them involving children ages five and under.

A week after the announcement, the LCB rescinded the regulations in response to fierce objections from the industry.

Governor Kate Brown of Oregon

Now Oregon Governor Kate Brown has a good opportunity to ban marijuana vaping products in Oregon.   The lung illnesses and two of the deaths in Oregon involved products bought at state-regulated dispensaries.   However, she is talking to many parties including the marijuana industry.

Will the governor ban marijuana vapes? This will be a good test as to how much “the Industry” controls a politician. The Oregon Health Authority suggests a six-month ban on all vaped products.

Once again the cannabis industry proves that it is hostile to all attempts at sensible regulation.  In 2016, the cannabis industry spent $800,000 to buy out a ballot designed to cap the potency of marijuana sold in Colorado dispensaries to 16% THC.

How Other Governors responded

Yesterday, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) said that 78% of the vaping illnesses reported involved THC.   The governors of New York, Michigan and California issued orders banning flavored vapes.  A judge struck down the New York ban.

Only Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has taken the strong response of banning all vaping products for four months, including marijuana vapes.

Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts called for a four-month ban on vaping, including THC.

Many reports erroneously left out the fact that THC, not just nicotine, was involved in the lung illnesses.  Many reports falsely claimed it’s only black market THC involved in the the illnesses.

Politicians love to criticize Big Tobacco, while defending the marijuana industry which lines their pocketbooks with campaign contributions.

Statistics from the CDC, Mayo Clinic report

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports severe lung illnesses involving 1,080 people in 48 states, of whom 18 died. Of the reported cases, 16% are younger than 18; 21% are 18-20 years; 80% are younger than 35, and 70% are male.

Most patients report vaping THC products, and 37% used THC products exclusively; 58% used nicotine and 17% used nicotine exclusively.  Vaping enables easy cross-over between nicotine and marijuana. 55% are 24 years and younger.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic examined samples of lung tissue from 17 patients in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida, two who died.  They looked as if they had been exposed to toxic chemicals, similar to a chemical burn.

Solution to the Vaping Problems

Nicotine vapes help some cigarette smokers quit, making a total ban controversial to those trying to quit cigarettes.  Perhaps making the nicotine vapes available by doctor’s prescription only would make it less likely for youth to fall into the vaping trap.  Youth vaping was not an issue ten years ago, before the marijuana industry gained control of our nation.

True to form, the marijuana industry wrote a letter to Senators McConnell and Schumer, advocating that descheduling marijuana would be the solution to our vaping crisis.  The letter falsely suggested that the vaping products responsible for this crisis come only from the  black market.

The cannabis industry repeatedly shows itself impervious to regulation, and the vaping illnesses prove this point.  For source Addiction for Profit Industry Doesn’t Care!