Anti-marijuana billboards raise questions for Treasure Valley residents

• By SAVANNAH CARDON [email protected] Jan 12, 2019

A Keep Idaho campaign sign against legalization of marijuana is displayed near the intersection of 2nd Street South and Northside Boulevard in South Idaho.

Cars drive past a Keep Idaho campaign sign against the legalization of marijuana on 16th Avenue South in Nampa Friday night.

A Keep Idaho campaign sign against legalization of marijuana is displayed by Durobilt near the intersection of 2nd Street South and Northside Boulevard in Nampa Friday evening.

Keep Idaho is a campaign run by Boise-based nonprofit DrugFree Idaho, Inc., created to educate Idahoans about the impact legalized marijuana has had on surrounding states, especially its effect on youth, according to Rob Stevenson, executive director of DrugFree Idaho.

“People need to know that marijuana is not a harmless substance,” Stevenson said. “It affects people.”

Nearly all of Idaho’s surrounding states – Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada and Montana – have legalized marijuana in some form. Recreational marijuana is now legal in 10 states across the United States, and medical marijuana is legal in 33.

“Obviously we’re surrounded by states that have normalized marijuana,” Stevenson said. “We wanted to try to get those details out about some for the consequences that have come from that.”

Keep Idaho’s website shows a number of claims about marijuana use, mostly in Colorado, and the consequences it’s had on the states. Commercials laying out the claims about marijuana in schools and driving under the influence began popping up on televisions during the 2018 election season, and the billboards were put up shortly after, Stevenson said.

There are roughly 50 billboards across the state, Stevenson estimates.

Comments criticizing the sourcing behind Keep Idaho’s claims have circulated across various forms of social media.

“I love how they’re concerned with the source, but there not concerned that the children and pets may be in harm – that’s very interesting,” Stevenson said. “Maybe they should be concerned that this is happening – even if they are for legalization, they should still be concerned.”

Keep Idaho says on their website that “marijuana-related traffic deaths when a driver was positive for marijuana more than doubled from 55 deaths in 2013 to 123 deaths in 2016,” and cites the Colorado Department of Transportation 2012-2016.

The campaign also says that “seizures of Colorado marijuana in the U.S. mail has increased 914 percent from an average of 97 pounds (2009-2013) to 984 pounds (2013-2016) in the four-year average that recreational marijuana has been legal,” citing the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Prohibited Mailing of Narcotics.

For complete story Keep Idaho Weed Free

HOW MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION IMPACTS USE RATES

IDAHO AND NATIONAL COMPARISONS

12 YEARS AND ABOVE

OREGON HAS THE HIGHEST MARIJUANA USE IN THE NATION

108% higher than the national average

152% higher than Idaho

12-17 YEAR-OLDS

VERMONT HAS THE HIGHEST MARIJUANA USE IN THE NATION (MEDI-POT ONLY)

64% higher than the national average

70% higher than Idaho

18-25 YEAR-OLDS

VERMONT HAS THE HIGHEST MARIJUANA USE IN THE NATION (MEDI-POT ONLY)

80% higher than the national average

141% higher than Idaho

26 YEARS AND ABOVE

OREGON HAS THE HIGHEST MARIJUANA USE IN THE NATION

138% higher than the national average

183% higher than Idaho

MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION ADVOCATES HAVE CLAIMED FOR MORE THAN A DECADE

THAT LEGALIZATION WILL REDUCE YOUTH MARIJUANA USE

ANY QUESTIONS?

SOURCE: SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2016 & 2017

Today was the first time I heard Sean Hannity\’s voice promoting JUUL vape products on the radio. It made me physically ill. Another high-profile sell-out to the barons of the merging worlds of pot and tobacco.

I don\’t know exactly when Hannity sold his soul, but his personal and enthusiastic endorsement of this product coincides with a $12.8 billion dollar investment in JUUL by Altria, the company that owns Phillis Morris and US Smokeless Tobacco. Altria brands include Marlboro, Copenhagen, and Skoal. More importantly, Altria\’s investment in JUUL came at the same time that Altria acquired a major stake in the Canadian pot industry.

Since JUUL manufactures one of the most popular devices used by kids to ingest nicotine (as well as marijuana concentrates) it is a match made in heaven for those accustomed to exchanging lives for obscene profits.

Of course, the Hannity JUUL commercial was superficially about \”responsible adults\” and \”healthy\” alternatives to tobacco, but it was as fake as anything that Altria and other tobacco companies have produced for decades.

Here is an article about Altria\’s recent investment in the marijuana industry, followed by Altria\’s press release explaining its investment in JUUL.

Marijuana Marlboro And What Altria\’s Purchase Of A Canadian Marijuana Maker Means

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanwaldrep/2018/12/18/marijuana-marlboro-and-what-altrias-purchase-of-a-canadian-marijuana-maker-means/#785cedd3398e

Altria Makes $12.8 Billion Minority Investment in JUUL to Accelerate Harm Reduction and Drive Growth

http://investor.altria.com/file/Index?KeyFile=396169695

Do these look familar?

Attempts to legalise dope in troubled Portugal

Fuseworks Media Monday, 21 January, 2019

Family First NZ says that it is significant that political parties in Portugal are now pushing for the legalisation of marijuana in their country because they wrongly believe it will combat current problems around organised crime, drug trafficking, increased consumption 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. But Portugal is simply taking the next step in the grand plan of drug normalisation – decriminalisation to legalisation – the same journey that the Drug Foundation and the Green Party with its referendum wants to take New Zealand down. And marijuana isn’t the only drug that they will want to liberalise. Availability and acceptability of drug use will all increase consumption which will be a health disaster,\” 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 (aged 15-64) 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.\” Last-12-months-use of any illicit substance has doubled between 2012 and 2017.

\”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.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/330353

COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS V. MARIJUANA

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Thomas J. Madejski, MD MSSNY President January 10, 2019

Colleagues:

MSSNY members are familiar with my strong concerns regarding legalization of recreational marijuana and potential severe consequences with regards to expanded use on our fellow citizens individually, and as a society. There are a number of financial considerations that continue to push for expansion of marijuana use.  Potential tax revenues are enticing. A 2018 state report estimates state and local taxes to range from $248 million — with a 7 percent tax — to $678 million if New York were to enact a 15 percent tax.  Big Tobacco is salivating about becoming Big Marijuana with the acquisition of commercial marijuana growers in other states, and obtaining novel delivery systems for a new potentially addictive substance.

This week I welcome the statement of the New York State Association of County Health Officials’ (NYSCHO) that MSSNY signed onto earlier in the week: “County Health Officials serve as the first line of defense in our communities, and they have seen up close the devastation associated with the abuse of legalized prescription opioid medications. While the addictive risk of opioids is different than marijuana, we are very concerned that the legalization of marijuana will similarly result in unintended, harmful consequences for countless New Yorkers.’’

For complete speech http://www.mssnyenews.org/enews/011119/

Ed Sheeran has quit smoking marijuana

January 15, 2019

Ed Sheeran has quit smoking marijuana because he prefers to be \”alert\”. The singer, who wrote song Sweet Mary Jane about his love of the drug in 2015, has now told reporters at The Daily Star that he has given up his smoking sessions as he found that the psychoactive substance clouded his creativity.

\”I\’ve stopped smoking weed,\” he said. \”I found myself just sitting at home watching films. I only ever create (when I\’m) sober – I like to be alert. I find most ideas happen when you have a cup of tea. For me, anyway.\”

Ed went on to explain that he has also decided to ditch alcohol until his live concerts are over.

For complete Story Ed Sheeran Quits Weed

This reporter took a deep look into the science of smoking pot. What he found is scary.

Alex Berenson’s new book delves into research linking heavy use with violent crime and mental illness. by Stephanie Mencimer Mother Jones (San Francisco), January 5, 2019.

It’s been a few years since Alex Berenson has “committed journalism,” as he likes to say. As a New York Times reporter, Berenson did two tours covering the Iraq War, an experience that inspired him to write his first of nearly a dozen spy novels. Starting with the 2006 Edgar Award-winning The Faithful Spy, his books were so successful that he left the Times in 2010 to write fiction full time. But his latest book, out January 8, strays far from the halls of Langley and the jihadis of Afghanistan. Tell Your Children is nonfiction that takes a sledgehammer to the promised benefits of marijuana legalization, and cannabis enthusiasts are not going to like it one bit.

The book was seeded one night a few years ago when Berenson’s wife, a psychiatrist who evaluates mentally ill criminal defendants in New York, started talking about a horrific case she was handling. It was “the usual horror story, somebody who’d cut up his grandmother or set fire to his apartment — typical bedtime chat in the Berenson house,” he writes. But then, his wife added, “Of course he was high, been smoking pot his whole life.”

Berenson, who smoked a bit in college, didn’t have strong feelings about marijuana one way or another, but he was skeptical that it could bring about violent crime. Like most Americans, he thought stoners ate pizza and played video games — they didn’t hack up family members. Yet his Harvard-trained wife insisted that all the horrible cases she was seeing involved people who were heavy into weed. She directed him to the science on the subject.

We look back and laugh at Reefer Madness, which was pretty over-the-top, after all, but Berenson found himself immersed in some pretty sobering evidence: Cannabis has been associated with legitimate reports of psychotic behavior and violence dating at least to the 19th century, when a Punjabi lawyer in India noted that 20 to 30 percent of patients in mental hospitals were committed for cannabis-related insanity. The lawyer, like Berenson’s wife, described horrific crimes — including at least one beheading — and attributed far more cases of mental illness to cannabis than to alcohol or opium. The Mexican government reached similar conclusions, banning cannabis sales in 1920 — nearly 20 years before the United States did — after years of reports of cannabis-induced madness and violent crime.

For complete article URL: www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/new-york-times-journalist-alex-berenson-tell-your-children-marijuana-crime-mental-illness-1/

Tell Your Children:
The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence by Alex Berenson (New York: Free Press, 2019) Hardcover: 272 pages ISBN: 978-1982103668 RRP: US$26.00
Book description An eye-opening report from an award-winning author and former New York Times reporter reveals the link between teenage marijuana use and mental illness, and a hidden epidemic of violence caused by the drug — facts the media have ignored as the United States rushes to legalize cannabis. For complete article : www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tell-Your-Children/Alex-Berenson/9781982103668

Author of book claiming to \’prove\’ a link between the legislation of cannabis and a rise in violent crime receives death threats

• Alex Berenson said there is \’conclusively\’ a link which he sets out in his book
• \’ I\’ve been stunned by the backlash,\’ the author said following the controversy
• The murder rate rose more than 44 per cent in Washington over four years
• He has branded the legislation of cannabis as \’a catastrophic mistake\’
• But critics of his book have branded it \’reefer madness\’

By CAROLINE GRAHAM FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY IN LOS ANGELES

PUBLISHED: 11:56 AEDT, 27 January 2019

The author of a controversial new book that claims to \’conclusively prove\’ a link between the legalisation of marijuana and a rise in violent crime has received a torrent of death threats.

Alex Berenson, 46, analysed dozens of studies comparing murders and violent assaults in US states where marijuana is legal for his book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness And Violence.

But the married father of two said he was \’unprepared\’ for the backlash, including death threats on social media and people ringing his home to threaten his children.

\’You can never be prepared for death threats but I\’ve been stunned by the backlash,\’ he said.

Reflecting on the lessons from his research, he warned that the rush to legalise marijuana in the UK is a \’catastrophic\’ mistake, adding: \’Those in the UK who are pushing to legalise cannabis should look at the US.

For more https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6636297/Author-faces-death-threats-cannabis-legislation-link-violence-claim.html