California’s black market for pot is stifling legal sales. Now the governor wants to step up enforcement

(And they said… ‘Legalizing with stop the black market, lower crime and raise revenue? Only ‘crime’ reduced was ‘possession of pot’ laws. Black Market thriving. Any profit from Weed sales quick swallowed up by different version of ‘regulation & enforcement’ and growing health care costs!!!) FEB 18, 2019

Before he was elected governor, Gavin Newsom was instrumental in legalizing marijuana for recreational use in California. Now, as he settles into office, he faces the challenge of fixing a system that has been slow to bloom.

But a new report from the state Cannabis Advisory Committee on the first year of legal pot sales in California says there is problem that requires urgent action: “Fragmented and uncoordinated” enforcement has allowed the black market to flourish, threatening licensed business with unfair competition…

“Lack of enforcement is creating a thriving environment for the unregulated ‘underground market,’…As much as 80% of the marijuana sold in California comes from the black market, according to an estimate by New Frontier Data, a firm that tracks cannabis sales and trends. Analysts also found that California’s illicit pot market was valued at an estimated $3.7 billion last year, more than four times the size of the legal market.

For complete story https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-crackdown-pot-black-market-20190219-story.html

Nearly 1 in 6 Canadians Have Used Marijuana Since Recreational Pot Was Legalized

“… as you might expect, pot use over the past three months was considerably higher among younger people than older folks. Overall, 27.4% of Canadians aged 15 to 24 and 23.2% of those aged 25 to 34 used cannabis over the past three months. Meanwhile, just 5.2% of seniors aged 65 and up and 10.4% of Canadians aged 55 to 64 used weed recently. Even though the older generation has more disposable income, it\’s these younger adults that are the future of the legal weed industry.

Cannabis consumption rates are likely to rise — here\’s why

Although there were no major surprises here, there are some relatively interesting takeaways to be made.

I believe this data also demonstrates the scope of opportunity awaiting Shopify and its e-commerce platform. A number of large growers and provinces, including Ontario, have chosen to utilize Shopify\’s sales platform for online and brick-and-mortar sales. Aside from simply being the sales platform of choice, Shopify offers marijuana companies purchasing data on consumers for pretty much the first time ever.

Ultimately, the legal weed industry is still in its infancy in Canada. That means we\’re liable to see this data shift as Health Canada adjusts the boundaries of what\’s legal and growers and retailers come to better understand their customers.

For complete story go to ‘No, usage will NOT go up if  you legalize it!”

ATTACKERSMOKEDCANNABIS.COM ASKS RESIDENTS OF UK TO SIGN PETITION

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 EDITOR

Bottom of Form

A new website records murders, suicides and violence connected to cannabis use in Great Britain and Ireland.   Ross Grainger, writer, administers the website, attackersmokedcannabis.com.

‘Cannabis is a common factor in an alarming number of violent crimes, including murder, rape and child abuse, as well as suicide. As calls for the legalisation of cannabis grow ever louder, we demand the government first investigate the possible link between cannabis and violence.’

Grainger asks readers in Great Britain are asked to sign a petition to the British parliament. With more than 12,000 signatures, this petition passed the mark requiring a response.  Government responds to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures.  At 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

The website links to a 287-page catalogue of over 150 tragedies which occurred between 1998 to 2018.  For example,   “Beloved mentally ill teenage cannabis smoker found dead in woodland” is one sad story similar to stories in the USA.    Another incident dates back to 2003. Charles King, 23, a student at Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design hung himself from a tree. He left a note saying, “Cannabis has ruined my life.” tree.  (In Arizona, Andy Zorn left a similar message, “My soul is dead. Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain.”  His mother wrote some blogs for us, and his story is found on MomsStrong.org.)

Categories

The website divides incidences into following categories:

• Murder, manslaughter and infanticide (53)
• Frenzied stabbings and savage assaults (48)
• Rape and sexual violence (21)
• Suicide and self-harm (28)

In addition, there are sections on media bias, the tip of the iceberg and objections anticipated.  After Great Britain downgraded cannabis from a Class B drug to Class C in 2002, mental health problems increased. New cases bipolar and schizophrenia rose to record numbers. Great Britain went back to the earlier classification, after six years.

The catalogue reinforces our claims about murders, child abuse and suicides related to marijuana.  It is a valuable addition to the book a book published in January, Alex Berenson’s Tell Your Children the Truth about marijuana, mental illness and violence.

For complete story http://www.poppot.org/2019/02/26/website-asks-residents-of-uk-to-sign-petition/

MADAM SECRETARY PUSHES DANGEROUS NARRATIVE ON CBS

JANUARY 10, 2019 EDITOR

A letter to CBS Corporation, 524 W. 57^th Street, New York, New York, 10019-6188, dated January 8, 2019

Re:  Madam Secretary program of January 7, 2019

We have been fans of “Madam Secretary” and are always astounded at how closely the programming reflects actual news stories of the week or two preceding the program.  However, we were stunned and dismayed by this week’s program which promoted the use and legalization of marijuana.  The alleged “facts” as presented in the program are misleading and/or incorrect.

As parents who have lost a child to drugs at a state university whose “substance abuse” counselor advocated that “cocaine is neither harmful nor addictive if used in moderation,” we are appalled that CBS/Madam Secretary would incorporate into its programming the use of marijuana and marijuana products by the Secretary’s highest ranking staff member.  That staff member is shown being incoherent on a phone call with another staff member. But even worse is his promotion and association with a member of the marijuana lobby to effect a political change.  Absolutely  abhorrent!

I am enclosing copies of two recent newspaper stories regarding the dangers of marijuana that somehow managed to see the light of day (although I am well aware that most mainstream media suppresses anything that illuminates the many dangers associated with marijuana use, particularly by youngsters).  These two articles may open your eyes.

Because marijuana is known to adversely impact various prescription medications, my husband, director of transplant at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon, requires that all potential recipients test negative for marijuana use for 6 months prior to receiving a transplant.  There are thousands of individuals waiting for the opportunity to receive a transplant (an extremely expensive medical procedure) and wasting one because a recipient is too stoned to remember to take the prescribed anti-rejection medication or a medication the patient must take has a negative interaction with the marijuana product the patient decides to take, is a tragic and costly event that could have been avoided.

I am enclosing two articles that I hope will persuade you to change the next episode and all future episodes of Madam Secretary by removing any references suggesting that the use of marijuana or marijuana products (other than cannabis-based medications that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration) are safe or beneficial.

Sincerely,

Sandra S. Bennett and William M. Bennett, MD

Enclosures:   Marijuana is More Dangerous Than You Think (WSJ, 01/04/2019)

It’s High Time We Took a Breath From Marijuana Commercialization (Denver Post , 9/28/18)

For Source Story http://www.poppot.org/2019/01/10/madam-secretary-pushes-dangerous-narrative-on-cbs/

Sure, Cannabis Is a “Gateway Drug”–Leading Toward Less Use of Other Drugs SESSI KUWABARA BLANCHARD FEBRUARY 7, 2019

As more and more prohibitionist cannabis policies are reversed in North America, a long-peddled, if long-debunked, perception that weed is a “gateway drug” to other substances is increasingly being challenged. More than that, a growing body of evidence indicates that it can be an “exit drug.”

Research suggests that cannabis can serve as an “exit drug” for substances ranging from opioids to benzodiazopines, tobacco and alcohol. A recent study in Harm Reduction Journal surveyed 2,000 respondents on the impact of their cannabis use on their use of other substances. The respondents were all registered with a federally licensed medical cannabis provider in Canada, which recently legalized recreational use and has offered medical cannabis for two decades.

Additionally, some participants reported “exiting” alcohol (45 percent) and tobacco use (30 percent).

Hmmm???  Opiods & Cannabis – Fast Facts

“The opioid crisis appears to be worsening where marijuana has been legalized.” – JAMA INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE JOURNAL, 2018

“There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between Cannabis use and the development of substance dependence and/or a substance abuse disorder for substances including alcohol, tobacco and other illicit drugs!”
National  Academies of Sciene (2017)

Associations between cigarette smoking and cannabis dependence: Aims

Conclusions: Cigarette smoking is related to concurrent cannabis dependence independently of cannabis use frequency. Cigarette smoking also mediates the relationship between cannabis use and cannabis dependence suggesting tobacco is a partial driver of cannabis dependence in young people who use cannabis and tobacco. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4337852/

A number of studies, including two published just last month, have also found that cannabis can impact a person’s use of benzodiazepines. One found that 45 percent of participants ceased their benzo use by the end of the study period; the other saw 22 percent of participants substituting weed for benzos.

These findings challenge a longstanding misconception.

“[W]e recommend avoiding medical marijuana certification in a patient prescribed high-dose opioids. Given the dearth of evidence for long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain, adding more uncertainty with marijuana seems unwise.” (Mayo Clinic 2016)

“Prescription opioids were seen as a wonder drug, especially for pain management.” We should not repeat history with yet another wonder drug installed before proper evidence.” (Addiction 2018)

“There is compelling and enduring evidence that marijuana is not a gateway drug,” write researchers at the Benjamin Center for Public Policy Initiatives at SUNY New Paltz. “Yet, non-evidence-based political factors on both the left and the right remain the reason for the persistence of the gateway myth.”

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics spawned the theory in the 1960s, and it was heavily utilzed to justify an escalating drug war in the decades that followed.

GATEWAY DRUG: The term “gateway drug” is used to illustrate the tendency of cannabis to introduce the user to other illicit drugs, and arguments for and against the hypothesis have a long history.

There are multiple studies that have reached a conclusion in support of the gateway hypothesis (see Kandel, 1992 and 1996; Clayton, 1992; Bailey, 1992; Poikolainen et al, 2001). Specifically, the Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University found that children who use drugs, including cannabis, are up to 266 times more likely to use cocaine than those who do not use any of the gateway drugs identified (cannabis, tobacco and alcohol). Further, a study on 311 sets of same-sex twins, in which only one twin smoked cannabis before age 17, found that early cannabis smokers were up to five times more likely than their twin to move on to harder drugs (Lynskey, 2003). Also, Hurd (2006) concluded that findings supported the gateway hypothesis when she conducted a study on rats. Hurd found that rats trained to self-administer heroin would administer greater doses if they had previously been exposed to THC. A further study of 75,000 adolescents and young adults found teenage cannabis smokers had a 50% higher risk of developing an alcohol-use disorder and specifically stated “Addictive drugs all act on a part of the brain that is described as the central reward circuitry. Once this system is exposed to one drug, the brain may become more sensitive to the effects of other drugs, as demonstrated by a number of rodent studies” (Gruzca, 2006).

In summary, as Kandel states (1992), very few try illicit drugs other than cannabis without prior use of cannabis.

(Cannabis — suicide, schizophrenia and other ill-effects – A research paper on the consequences of acute and chronic cannabis use – Drug Free Australia)

For complete story https://filtermag.org/2019/02/07/sure-cannabis-is-a-gateway-drug-towards-less-drug-use/

Last week, California Senator Kamala Harris admitted she smoked pot in college, going on to say, \”I think it [marijuana] gives a lot of people joy. And we need more joy in the world.\”

In response, SAM Director of Local Affairs Dana Stevens wrote in The Hill today how Senator Harris, and many of the other 2020 candidates, have demonstrated a \”clear misunderstanding about the differences between today\’s high-potency, commercialized marijuana and her college joint,\” and highlighted how the legalization argument \”demonstrates just how effective \’Big Marijuana\’ lobbyists have been at convincing politicians that legalizing weed is no big deal.\”

Dana goes on to say , \”The senator is surely not alone in her misperceptions about weed. For most people marijuana conjures up images of carefree Woodstock hippies… However, there is strong scientific evidence demonstrating today\’s pot brings greater risk of mental illness, increased youth use and more drugged-driving deaths.\”

You can read Dana\’s full column HERE. Be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Best,

Kevin Sabet

President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana
About SAM: Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is a nonpartisan, non-profit alliance of physicians, policy makers, prevention workers, treatment and recovery professionals, scientists, and other concerned citizens opposed to marijuana legalization who want health and scientific evidence to guide marijuana policies. SAM has affiliates in more than 30 states.

Evidence shows that marijuana – which has skyrocketed in average potency over the past decades – is addictive and harmful to the human brain especially when used by adolescents. In states that have already legalized the drug, there has been an increase in drugged driving crashes, youth marijuana use, and costs that far outweigh pot revenues.These states have seen  a black market that continues to thrive, sustained disparities in marijuana arrest rates, and tobacco company investment in marijuana.

Endorsing Cannabis as an Opioid Substitute \’Irresponsible\’

Alicia Ault  February 12, 2019

Even as two states have passed laws to encourage clinicians to use cannabis as a substitute for opioids, some experts are warning against this practice.

Two addiction experts – Keith Humphreys, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, and Richard Saitz, MD, professor and chair of the department of community health sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts – argue that \”substituting cannabis for opioid addiction treatments is potentially harmful.\”

Saitz, who is also a former director of Boston Medical Center\’s Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, said he and Humphreys decided to write the article, which was published online February 1 in JAMA, because patients and physicians have been \”chattering\” about cannabis as an opioid substitute.

\”The conversation has generally assumed cannabis to be safer and as effective as opioids, but it isn\’t clear what the truth is,\” Saitz told Medscape Medical News.

Thirty-three states, Washington, DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico have legalized cannabis for medical use, and 10 states and Washington, DC, have legalized it for recreational use, according to the National Council on State Legislatures.

Both New York and Illinois recently amended medical marijuana laws in favor of cannabis as a substitute, which was another factor in writing the article, said Saitz.

New York issued emergency regulations in July 2018 allowing opioid users to become certified to use medical marijuana instead. In August 2018, the Illinois governor signed a bill allowing individuals over age 21 with conditions for which opioids might be used to apply for the medical marijuana program.

\”Irresponsible\” Recommendation

\”The suggestion that patients should self-substitute a drug (ie, cannabis) that has not been subjected to a single clinical trial for opioid addiction is irresponsible and should be reconsidered,\” Saitz and Humphreys write.

\”There are no randomized clinical trials of substituting cannabis for opioids in patients taking or misusing opioids for treatment of pain, or in patients with opioid addiction treated with methadone or buprenorphine,\” they add.

There is \”low-strength\” evidence showing that cannabis can alleviate neuropathic pain, and insufficient evidence for other types of pain, and the studies are of poor quality, said the authors.

Saitz and Humphreys noted that some have said that allowing cannabis use instead of opioids has led to fewer overdoses. But, they said, \”correlation is not causation.\”

The only individual-level study to look at this issue, published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine in 2018, found that \”medical cannabis use was positively associated with greater use and misuse of prescription opioids,\” they said. A regression model study published last fall in the American Journal of Psychiatry reached a similar conclusion: that cannabis use increased the risk of developing nonmedical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder.

Saitz and Humphreys said proponents of substitution often overlook the risks of cannabis, which include motor vehicle crashes, cognitive impairment, structural brain changes, and psychotic symptoms. There is also a risk of cannabis addiction, they said.

The authors said that if cannabis is to be used as medicine, it should be subjected to the same types of trials and regulation as medical therapies.

\”Cannabis and cannabis-derived medications merit further research, and such scientific work will likely yield useful results,\” they said. \”This does not mean that medical cannabis recommendations should be made without the evidence base demanded for other treatments,\” they write.

Ineffective Pain Reliever

Asokumar Buvanendran, MD, chair of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Committee on Pain Medicine and a professor of anesthesiology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, agreed that \”there is not enough research and science\” on cannabis, but added, \”we need to support further research.\”

The ASA has supported moving marijuana to schedule II on the Drug Enforcement Administration\’s list of controlled substances, which would facilitate more research, Buvanendran told Medscape Medical News.

Even though he practices in Illinois, he said that he does not believe awareness of the changes to the state\’s medical marijuana law is widely known.

Buvanendran said he\’d counsel patients seeking to substitute cannabis to consider alternatives – such as injection therapies and surgical procedures to modulate nerves causing pain – which have a larger evidence base.

Kevin Boehnke, PhD, a research investigator in the anesthesiology department and Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who has written a lot on cannabis and chronic pain, told Medscape Medical News that most cannabis trials have methodological flaws and \”the evidence for opioids for chronic pain management is quite poor.\”

He also notes that the studies generally do not distinguish between tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is psychoactive, and cannabidiol (CBD), the other most prevalent active ingredient. THC is associated with most of the health risk of cannabis, while CBD products have limited abuse potential, Boehnke said.

Boehnke believes cannabis offers less dangerous side effects and a lower risk of addiction – although he would advise against use in people with substance use disorders. Both opioids and cannabis are relatively ineffective pain relievers, \”but one of them can kill you and one can\’t,\” said Boehnke, adding, \”to me, the risk-benefit is obvious.\”

Need for Better Evidence…

Fore complete article https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/908991

Legal cannabis oil sold in British health shops can get users high and make it dangerous to drive, study shows

• Cannabis oil sold as a health product in Britain can get users \’high\’, study finds
• Researchers found driving under the influence of CBD cannabis ‘may be harmful\’
• The products have soared in popularity amid claims they help combat ailments

By JONATHAN BUCKS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 17 February 2019

The legal version of cannabis sold as a health product in the UK can get users ‘high’ and even make it dangerous to drive, a study has found.

Cannabis oils and capsules said to help reduce anxiety and pain are on sale in high street stores including Holland & Barrett and are used by more than 250,000 Britons.

They are sold legally because they contain no more than 0.2 per cent of the mind-altering substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is found in the illegal version of the drug.

But now scientists have found that the active ingredient in these products, cannabidiol (CBD), is also psychoactive. In the study, subjects used a vape to inhale different strains of cannabis.

Those using the version containing CBD but not illegal THC reported levels of intoxication three times that of those who used only a placebo. In addition, experts said subjects felt detached from reality.

Scientists from Wollongong University in Australia concluded that driving under the influence of CBD cannabis ‘may be harmful’.

For more https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6712725/Legal-cannabis-oil-sold-British-health-shops-users-high-study-shows.html