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Council members cite lack of local control as reason. The city of Venice will ban medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits, because current state statutes do not allow any form of local regulation above those placed on pharmacies. 
In moving toward prohibiting dispensaries, Venice joins the city of Sarasota and town of Longboat Key, though Sarasota is looking to modify its approach that would treat dispensaries the same as stand-alone pharmacies.

“The best long-term solution is prevention,” Sessions said. “The best action is not to start. Just say no.”

Those three words — embraced by First Lady Nancy Reagan in the 1980s to discourage young people from using recreational drugs — are back.

On Friday, as Summit County released its latest overdose numbers for the past seven days — 58 residents sought help in... Read More

Kentucky's ban on medical marijuana has survived an initial test in court, with a judge ruling Wednesday that the state has a good reason to "curtail citizens' possession of a narcotic, hallucinogenic drug."

Kentucky's ban on medical marijuana has survived an initial test in court, with a judge ruling Wednesday that the state has a good reason to "curtail citizens' possession of a narcotic, hallucinogenic drug."

We therefore must educate our youngsters, parents and educators before any use of marijuana or alcohol begins. We then must identify those individuals for whom marijuana or alcohol use has become problematic, getting them into an effective program of treatment before they progress to more dangerous alternatives.
 
Schools must revamp curriculums so children understand that any opioid misuse, be it prescription or street drugs, is a "red line" that they cannot cross.

Kissimmee commissioners voted 4 to 1 to ban the dispensaries from opening in town. They don’t believe there is room to regulate effectively the way the law is currently written.

Snelling argued that not everyone using medical marijuana is severely ill, with symptoms like insomnia, mood swings and chronic itching qualifying for the drug. She said she is worried misuse will be widespread.
“Voting for something to be legalized as a medicine by popular vote or through legislative does not make it a prescription drug,” said Miller.

Two local mothers showed up at the pow-wow to voice their concerns about an influx of dispensaries. One of the mothers, Teresa Miller, believes cannabis acts as a gateway drug.
“Years ago, when my son smoked pot and spring boarded to opioids, a severe addiction, I told myself if I could save one family from going through what our family and thousands of families around our state have gone through with a disease of addiction, then I would,” Miller said.
Miller also showed the... Read More

Indian River County joined many governments across the state banning dispensaries rather than accepting them as pharmacies, the only other option allowed in a state law adopted this summer.

Marijuana’s Negative Effects
Construction workers must have full use of their skills and faculties while performing their jobs. Medical marijuana may have positive medical benefits, but there are also well-documented negative effects. Some negative effects to the central nervous system include changes in sensory perception, altered thought formation and expression, short-term memory problems, and impaired thinking and learning. Negative physical effects include... Read More

The largest increases in opioid-related deaths in Florida from 2014 to 2015 were from the following drugs: Buprenorphine (up 102 percent), heroin (up 74 percent), fentanyl (up 69 percent), codeine (up 57 percent), and Oxymorphone (up 42 percent).

Crime is common near pot shops, including assaults, robberies and shootings. On July 19, a security guard was killed and three other men were shot at a pot shop... Read More

"We found no observational studies that met inclusion criteria, but a growing body of cross-sectional literature suggests negative opioid-related correlates among individuals who use cannabis and opioids concurrently. These include opioid misuse;... Read More

Abstract

Contemporary models of substance use disorders emphasize the role of cognitive control, which has been linked to difficulties in resisting the use of substances. In the present study, we measured two aspects of cognitive control, response inhibition (operationalized by a Go/NoGo Task) and performance monitoring (operationalized by an Eriksen Flanker Task), in a group of young cannabis-use disorder (CUD) patients and compared these functions with two control groups (i.e. a... Read More

Drug users now cause almost as many traffic deaths in Michigan as drunken drivers, a trend police blame on prescription drugs, the opioid epidemic and the easy availability of marijuana, medical and otherwise.
Over the past decade, fatal drunken-driving crashes across the state are down 36%, while those caused by people impaired by drugs have risen 263%.

They say they took their daughter to counseling, rehab summer camps, anything to help with her marijuana use and mental health struggles. The day before her overdose, she had passed two drug tests.  Her parents thought they had finally turned a corner.

Reports have shown a staggering increase in cannabis-related emergency department (ED) visits in recent years. In 2011, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimated a total of 1.25 million illicit-drug–related ED visits across the US, of which 455,668 were marijuana related.2 A similar report published in 2015 by the Washington Poison Center Toxic Trends Report showed a dramatic increase in cannabis-related ED visits.3... Read More

“Duration of marijuana use seems to be a significant factor associated with metabolic syndrome,” the researchers said.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that increase a person’s risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
The study found that “every year increase in marijuana use is associated with at least a 5 percent increase in odds of having metabolic syndrome.”

“His consistent use of marijuana affected his brain structure,” Gomez-Mallada said.  But Cox ruled: “The court finds there is little possibility of rehabilitation. The defendant is a danger.” Marshall’s accomplice, Henry, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is scheduled for sentencing in July.

After retail marijuana sales began in Colorado, the increase in collision claim frequency was 14 percent higher than in nearby Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. Washington's estimated increase in claim frequency was 6.2 percent higher than in Montana and Idaho, and Oregon's estimated increase in claim frequency was 4.5 percent higher than in Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

Abstract

Objective This study examined how freshman year substance use prospectively predicted time to college graduation, and whether delayed graduation predicted postponed adoption of adult roles and future substance use. Participants Participants were part of a longitudinal study that began in 2004. The first analyses focused on freshman year (N = 2,050). The second analyses corresponded to a subset of participants at age 27 (N = 575). Methods Measures included... Read More

“The pill mills were everywhere,” said Teresa Miller. We had our van stolen from our front yard one Saturday night, and it was abandoned in Brooksville with drugs in it. I don’t want this to happen again, and I don’t want that type of clientele walking through our neighborhood again.”

First, dosing of smoked marijuana remains unpredictable. And although much of the medical marijuana debate centers on the effects of single exposures, insufficient information exists regarding the effects of repeated exposures. Approximately 10% of people routinely using marijuana become addicted, with a higher incidence amongst adolescents. Tolerance and down-regulation of receptors have been documented with repeated marijuana use. A marijuana withdrawal syndrome has also been recognized,... Read More

Aside from the changes to criminal law, legalization has implications for school safety policies, child abuse and neglect statutes, child care center regulation, advertising restrictions, substance abuse programs, employment law, traffic offenses, banking, state revenue, ports of entry and federalism, among many others.
These policy challenges have far-reaching implications, few have been easy to resolve, and most have drawn time and resources away from other policy areas. But most... Read More

Authorities said a toddler nearly died from eating edible marijuana. The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families on Friday announced the 2-year-old girl had almost died Thursday and had been admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

But he was also the teen who began smoking marijuana at 14 before turning to oxycontin two years later. He wrecked his mother's car while driving stoned, pilfered money from his friends, dropped out of high school and spent three weeks in jail after his parents turned him in for stealing their credit cards.

The town suddenly became a haven for recreational pot users, drawing in transients, panhandlers and a large number of homeless drug addicts, according to officials and business owners. Many are coming from New Mexico, Arizona and even New York.
He said he’s also noticed an uptick in crime in the area. Shoplifting, he said, has become a major problem in Durango and business owners are becoming fed up.

The position that medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited due to the conflict in federal law is not unique. Coral Gables, for instance, holds the same opinion.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article151193...

 All cannabis‐based and cannabinoid medications should be subjected to the  rigorous scrutiny of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory process.  This process provides important protections for patients, making medications available  only when they: 1) are standardized by identity, purity, potency and quality; 2) are accompanied by adequate directions for use in the approved medical indication; and 3)  have risk/benefit profiles that have been defined in well‐controlled ... Read More

DO FLORIDIANS NEED INCREASED ACCESS TO HARD LIQUOR?

1. Florida is ranked #3 in the nation for fatal DUI crashes- Not just statistics- Deputy John Kotfila died saving another drivers life when a driver with a .27 BAC hit Kotfila head on.

... Read More

The number of teenagers sent to emergency rooms more than quadrupled after marijuana was legalized in Colorado — mostly for mental health symptoms, researchers reported Thursday.
They found 639 teenagers who went to one hospital system in Colorado in 2015 had either cannabis in their urine or told a doctor they'd been using cannabis. That's up from 146 in 2005, before the use of marijuana was legalized in Colorado.

The driver, 18-year-old Darion Wheeler died from head and chest trauma. Coroner Stratmoen released toxicology results and determined Wheeler had “Cannabis by-product levels that were higher than 10 times the limit that is considered impaired driving by studies from the National institutes of Health and the Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”

My property value will decrease if a pot dispensary locates next door or in close proximately.  I already have camera and locked gate on my commercial property but believe I will need at least two full-time security guards.  This product is cash only sales.  I am concerned about the new cliental wandering through our neighborhoods.  As a small business owner, the increase security and insurance costs are going to greatly impact our profit and discourage us from expanding.  

Cannabis use appears to increase rather than decrease the risk of developing nonmedical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder.

Similarly, it can be anticipated that if introduced, the indications for the  use of medical cannabinoids would expand well outside of the initial indications. Hence, the medical profession cannot justify the use of medical cannabinoids that would be associated with an iatrogenic risk of serious adverse psychological events.  The use of medical cannabinoids for any purpose, including research under closely observed conditions, is incompatible with mental health promotion.

Ask any Florida legislator if their phone has been ringing off the hook from constituents who can't get enough vodka or rum, and they would have to say "no." Then why are they pushing hard liquor into our grocery stores without public input or backing?
 
It appears the driving force behind this change are corporate executives at big box stores who will profit greatly. They don't care about Florida families and are too cheap to spend money building a separate entrance. The current... Read More

Medical Marijuana is a very political, emotional and complex topic.  Now that amendment 2 has passed implementing it as a medication seems to be even more contentious.  I am sure we can all agree the goal, as with any medication, is to provide guidelines to make it as safe and beneficial as possible while at the same time preventing abuse or misuse.  Attempting to regulate prescription medications has proven to be very difficult and the lack of strict guidelines led to over... Read More

Findings suggest that marijuana use is associated with a 54% increase in the odds PDV (physical dating violence) victimization, and a 45% increase in the odds of perpetration. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that dating violence is a correlate of marijuana use, and that association is strongest among adolescents (vs. emerging adults) and girls (vs. boys).

"I think it's really important to remember that marijuana of any kind is illegal under federal law," Board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob said. "There have been comments made by the new administration in Washington that signs may point to action being taken in the near future to support federal law."

Adolescent marijuana use has significantly increased in our state post-legalization, as has been documented in numerous studies. Ask any teenager and they will tell you that marijuana use is rampant in our local high schools, which is obviously not surprising given its widespread availability and the perception of its safety. While we can debate the effects on adults, marijuana use clearly has a detrimental impact on a teenager.

Read more here:... Read More

Everyone should be concerned:  Voters, not medical practitioners or scientists, have been able to determine medical practice.
Beneath it all, however, we must pause to seriously consider the known, detrimental effects of repeated marijuana use on the developing adolescent brain.  We must act accordingly and responsibly in ways that promote the public health and safety, help delay initiation of use, and reduce, not increase, the accessibility of marijuana to this particularly vulnerable... Read More

The Washington Poison Center (WAPC) saw a slight increase in calls regarding opioid exposures in 2016 (n=1,696) compared to 2015 (n=1,672). Of the calls received, over 70% (n=1,199) of the exposures occurred in individuals 20 years of age or older.

Illness should continue to be treated by health professionals employing scientific evidence. This is responsible policy. It is not appropriate or medically justified for family physicians to refer patients to medical marijuana clinics; instead, they should inform their patients that medical treatment must be based on scientific evidence.

UC Davis physician researchers have found that medical marijuana contains multiple bacterial and fungal pathogens that may cause serious and even fatal infections. They warn that smoking, vaping or inhaling aerosolized marijuana could pose a grave risk to patients, especially those with leukemia, lymphoma, AIDS or conditions requiring immune-suppressing therapies.
 
“Infection with the pathogens we found in medical marijuana could lead to serious illness and even death,” said... Read More

The mold and bacteria was so widespread and potentially dangerous that the UC Davis academics concluded that they cannot recommend smoking raw or dried weed. "We cannot recommend inhaling it," says George Thompson III, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the university who helped conduct the cannabis research.

Pennsylvania is getting ready to launch its new medical marijuana program next year, but state regulations could keep dispensaries from opening in Philadelphia. But regulations requiring these facilities to be at least 1,000 feet from schools and daycare centers leave little room for the industry to set up shop here, said City Councilman Derek Green.
Pennsylvania medical marijuana.

Short-term side effects include impaired short-term memory, impaired motor function, altered judgment, and, in high doses, paranoia and psychosis. Not to mention that drivers who have recently smoked marijuana are twice as likely to get into a car accident than their sober counterparts.Approximately 9% of people who experiment with marijuana will become addicted.
If marijuana can meet all of the FDA requirements, including efficacy data, evidence of safety, and a meticulous... Read More

Researchers at UC Davis are warning some medical marijuana users after identifying potentially lethal bacteria and mold on cannabis samples from 20 Northern California dispensaries.