#Recovery Month

Colorado: harsh reality of marijuana legalization

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA Report

#RECOVERY MONTH

Federal Court Rules In Favor Of Worker Rejected For Medical Marijuana Use

A Connecticut woman’s rights under that state’s medical marijuana law were violated when a company refused to hire her on the basis of her legal cannabis use, and a lawsuit seeking damages against her would-be employer may proceed, a federal judge ruled.

In 2016, Katelin Noffsinger filed suit against Bride Brook Health and Rehabilitation Center, a federal contractor, after a job offer was rescinded following a positive test for cannabis on a pre-employment drug test.

Noffsinger had accepted a management-level position with the firm, which then scheduled a drug test. Prior to the test, Noffsinger informed Bride Brook that she was a qualified cannabis patient under Connecticut’s Palliative Use of Marijuana Act, and used the drug–namely, synthetic marijuana pills, consumed in the evening–to treat post-traumatic stress disorder following a 2012 car crash.

After learning of Noffsinger’s patient status, Bride Brook officials debated over email the best way to inform her that she could not be hired because of her marijuana use.

After the positive drug test and the subsequent rejection, Noffsinger filed an employment-discrimination lawsuit in state court. The case was elevated to federal court after Bride Brook used federal drug laws–including federal cannabis prohibition–to justify their actions.

Unlike some other states including California, Connecticut’s medical-marijuana law, passed in 2012, offers specific employment protections for cannabis patients.

Employers don’t have to accommodate cannabis use during work hours or employees who are intoxicated in the workplace, but any off-hours marijuana use by a certified patient following state law is protected.

In court filings, Bride Brook argued that the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act preempted such protections.

For complete story https://www.marijuanamoment.net/federal-court-rules-in-favor-of-worker-rejected-for-medical-marijuana-use/

A note for the those still wondering, if ‘legal weed’ is a harmless idea!

Marijuana legalization often has unintended consequences, but many consequences are fully intended by pro-pot lobbyists and the commercial pot industry. Here is one of them.

A federal contractor in Connecticut, who was required to conduct pre-employment drug testing, rescinded a management position offer after a woman tested positive for marijuana. The woman then filed an employment-discrimination lawsuit against the employer on the basis that she was a \”qualified cannabis patient\” under Connecticut law.

The employer, a rehabilitation center which had a zero tolerance drug-free workplace policy, asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit under the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act.

Last week, the federal judge rejected the employer\’s motion on the basis that Connecticut\’s medi-pot law included specific employment protections for marijuana patients. Consequently, the plaintiff can now seek monetary damages through a jury trial.

Pot legislation and voter initiatives often contain language that produces all kinds of chaos. Although most of this is purposely written into the laws, pot proponents have also learned that vague language can also be used to their advantage in court. Oklahoma is one of the most recent victims of a wide-open and extremely vague pot initiative. It won\’t be the last.

At times, when I have questioned a legislator\’s inclusion of certain bizarre language in a pot bill (such as absolute immunity for the pot industry and pot doctors) there has been no explanation of why the language was included or where it came from.

The answer? The pot industry purposely includes (and excludes) language in order to maximize their profits, and this fact is often ignored (or grossly misunderstood) by legislators and voters – with disastrous consequences.

Employer liability is only one of many consequences that are intended by pot industry.

California\’s Illegal Weed Industry Is Doing Better Than Ever

Those in the weed business have discovered that the black market is still more profitable in many ways than the newly legal industry.

Even though recreational (or “adult-use”) marijuana has been legal in the Golden State since January 1, the cannabis industry is still functioning largely as it has for for decades–in the shadows.

In fact, the situation become so dire that earlier this year, Governor Jerry Brown proposed allocating an extra $14 million of the state budget to policing unauthorized weed. The money would fund five teams within the state attorney general’s office that would focus on effort like “complex, large-scale financial and tax evasion investigations,” according to a statement from Brown. In June, however, the proposal was scrapped after a dispute over how to pay for it.

So cities throughout the state–including Los Angeles, widely recognized as the largest legal marijuana market in the US–continue to grapple with a unsanctioned industry. Six months into legalization, LA remains besieged by illegal businesses, said Adam Spiker, executive director of the cannabis trade group Southern California Coalition (SCC).

For complete story Told Ya So — Now Have 3 Weed Markets!

WHY MARIJUANA MAY BE THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG

September 2018 By Sue B

It doesn’t strike people down like pills or heroin does. It doesn’t make the heart explode like cocaine or methamphetamine can. A person in withdrawal from marijuana isn’t screaming in pain. So what makes weed the most dangerous?

Simply because so many people believe that it is harmless. As Richard Adamski, a 30-year marijuana user, put it, “In my strong opinion, cannabis is the most dangerous drug because most people think it isn’t.” Now that he’s stopped consuming cannabis, he says, “I am 66 now and nothing to show for what I’ve done in my life because of marijuana.”

Selling the Idea It’s Harmless

Once a person believes that this drug is harmless, it becomes incredibly hard to change their mind. This is a phenomenon that pro-legalization advocates count on. They know they only have to convince a population that cannabis products should be able to be provided to those who are ill. As soon as they get that idea accepted, medical marijuana laws go on the ballot. Whether this idea is true or not, when enough people accept it, marijuana quickly becomes legal for medical use. Of course, the regulations for qualifying for medical marijuana are hazy and loose in most states. It doesn’t matter. The population has accepted the idea that marijuana is not only harmless, it’s medicine.

Once this belief is instilled in a population, it can skew some people’s thinking in the most astounding ways.  For many people parenting high is a formula for success.  If you doubt it, take a look at these couple of articles.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/20/marijuana-parents-smoking-at-home

“Responsible” parenting while using marijuana isn’t possible. At least 113 child abuse deaths related to caregiver marijuana use the legalization of marijuana.

https://thestonermom.com/responsible-stoner-parent/

This belief in harmlessness can lead to some misguided thinking. A school administrator in Spokane, Washington told the story of a student who had a bag of marijuana confiscated from her.  The student’s mother came to the school and asked for her bag of marijuana back because, after all, it belonged to her and not her daughter. No, she didn’t get her wish.

For complete article http://www.poppot.org/2018/09/04/why-marijuana-may-be-the-most-dangerous-drug/

Blood Borne Viruses are on the increase – handing out drug taking paraphernalia that enables, equips and empowers you to take an illegal drug, that gets you so wasted you often have no idea if you\’ve had sex, let alone who with? This is good policy???

Rise in sex while on drugs prompts health warning

There has seen a rise in visits to sexual health clinics from people having unprotected sex while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to a doctor in north Wales.

Dr Ushan Andrady warned that people should consider the risks before engaging in such behaviour.

The health board which covers the region has launched a campaign to increase sexual health awareness.

It comes after a fivefold increase in syphilis cases in south west Wales.

• Record number of condoms given to athletes
• Cuts to sexual-health services imminent
• Call for free online chlamydia tests

Sexual health and HIV consultant Dr Andrady, the clinical lead for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board\’s \’Sextember\’ campaign, said people were not aware of the risks of having unprotected sex whilst under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

\”We have definitely seen a rise in people coming into the clinic after having sex whilst under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and they regret what they have done,\” he said.

\”Sometimes people forget about protection when they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol.\”

For complete story https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45367610

The real cost of cocaine: Following the drug from Colombian rainforests to British suburbia

‘There are some Londoners who think it is a victimless crime, taking cocaine at “middle-class parties”,’ Khan said. Dick criticised otherwise ethically minded users ‘who will sit round happily talking about global warming, fair trade, environmental protection and organic farming, but think there’s no harm in taking a bit of cocaine. Well, there is. There is misery throughout the supply chain.’

It’s a reasonable point. In an age when we put so much stock in consumer ethics, considering our footprint on the planet with every stride, why not investigate where your drugs come from, too?

If it ends with a snort, it begins with a seed…. In the first of a litany of environmental crimes occurring throughout the supply chain, the creation of clandestine farms means tearing down swathes of forest.

Rosie had no idea about its origins and doesn’t think about her complicity. She has two degrees, but thought cocaine came ‘from Cuba’ and was always ‘a powder… coming on a boat in the middle of the night’. She likes how coke makes her feel, but didn’t know about the environmental destruction, or cartel violence, or the risks taken by smugglers, or the bribes, or levamisole, or necrosis syndrome, or the young lives being ruined by county lines or lost in gang violence. (She did know about the Kinder eggs, but doesn’t seem very bothered.)

‘I had never really put too much thought into how it got here, just how I can get it,’ she says. And so the cocaine will keep on coming.

For complete story https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/01/real-cost-cocaine-following-drug-colombian-rainforests-british/

Welcome to the insanity of \’legalization\’!!!

Police will be able to toke, but must be fit for duty

September 15, 2018

While members of the Canadian Armed Forces must refrain from using cannabis in the eight hours before they report for duty and for 24 hours before handling a firearm, regulations for police officers don\’t appear to be as tight.

Provided they show up at work fit for duty, your local police officers will be free to smoke a joint with the neighbours when recreational cannabis becomes legal under federal law on Oct. 17.

While members of the Canadian Armed Forces must refrain from using cannabis in the eight hours before they report for duty and for 24 hours before handling a firearm, regulations for police officers don’t appear to be as tight.

The Vancouver Police Department won’t apply any specific time restriction between using cannabis and reporting for duty, which is consistent with the department’s policy concerning alcohol and prescription drugs.

The VPD will add cannabis to its current human resources language concerning prescription drugs and alcohol, a policy change that is in the final stages of approval, according to spokesman Const. Jason Doucette.

“Training around the VPD’s impairment at the workplace policy will contain information on the latest research on the use of cannabis,” said Doucette in a written statement. “We want to provide our officers with the latest information so they can make an informed decision when it comes to cannabis use and being fit for duty.”

For complete and insane article go to https://vancouversun.com/cannabis/cannabis-news/police-will-be-able-to-toke-but-must-be-fit-for-duty

Pot use among college students at 30-year high

Breana Noble, The Detroit News Sept. 5, 2018

Marijuana use among college-age people is at the highest level in three decades and fewer think using it is harmful, according to researchers at the University of Michigan.

Months before Michigan voters will decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the annual study found marijuana use among the nation\’s 19-to-22-year-olds has increased gradually over the past decade as marijuana becomes more easily accessible and young people view the drug as less risky.

Researchers also found that youths who do not attend college are more likely to use marijuana. The study also surveyed other drug use among the age group and found non-medical use of prescription narcotic drugs was at its lowest since the late 1990s.

The federal National Institute on Drug Abuse paid for the survey, Monitoring the Future Panel Study.

\”In this country, laws are changing, attitudes are changing, people are not perceiving use, even regular use, as dangerous as they used to,\” said John Schulenberg, the study\’s principal investigator and a psychology professor at the university.

\”And this could be the problem. On this daily use, the scientific evidence is pretty clear that this gets in the way of things, and it can be associated with, if not contributing to, a decline in mental health.

\”If one is involved in heavy use, and they continue with that,\” Schulenberg said, \”then their health and wellness and happiness is probably not as high as those who do not use or do not continue to use.\”

For complete story https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/2018/09/05/monitoring-future-panel-study-university-michigan-marijuana-college-students-2017/1190950002/

Spike in cannabis overdoses blamed on potent edibles, poor public education

\”He had eaten a [cannabis] edible and just couldn\’t handle it,\” MacIntosh said.

Cannabis overdoses are something he said he\’s personally witnessed at the bar three times in the past year.

That mirrors a trend happening across the country – as the Oct. 17 date for legalization of recreational pot looms, CBC News has learned that cannabis-related emergency room visits have spiked.

Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that over the past three years the number of emergency room visits because of cannabis overdoses in Ontario has almost tripled – from 449 in 2013-14, to nearly 1,500 in 2017-18.

In Alberta, the number has nearly doubled over the same timeframe, from 431 to 832.

Symptoms of cannabis overdose – or more precisely, THC poisoning, THC being the main psychoactive chemical in pot – include elevated heart rate and blood pressure, anxiety, vomiting and in some cases psychosis, possibly necessitating hospitalization.

Symptoms of cannabis overdose – or more precisely, THC poisoning, THC being the main psychoactive chemical in pot – include elevated heart rate and blood pressure, anxiety, vomiting and in some cases psychosis, possibly necessitating hospitalization.

Outside of Alberta and Ontario, the statistics on cannabis overdoses are sparse. But the CIHI figures that are available for other reporting jurisdictions, which include small samples from health centres in Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Yukon, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, show Canadians in some regions are being sent to a hospital because of pot at four times the rate they were in 2013.

\”That\’s just the tip of the iceberg,\” said Heather Hudson at the Ontario Poison Centre at SickKids children\’s hospital in Toronto, pointing to a rise in the number of cases involving children and cannabis.

\”We are certainly getting more calls about children who are being exposed unintentionally,\” she said.

For complete article go to ‘Who said WEED was Harmless??