Articles

According to the Journal of American Medical Association, 50 percent of the people who have a severe mental condition also have a substance abuse problem. JAMA also found that 37 percent of alcoholics have a mental illness, as do 53 percent of drug addicts.
When people use marijuana regularly, the drug may reduce thinking, memory and learning functions. Marijuana's effects on these abilities may last a long time or even be permanent. There have also been increases in fatal car crashes due to marijuana use in states like Washington and Colorado that have legalized the practice.

She said she only smoked marijuana about four hours before putting the girls in the bathtub after taking a nap at around 3:30 p.m., the affidavit states.

Commissioners will consider banning anyone under 21, requiring dispensaries to keep visitor logs and extensive surveillance cameras, and even imposing "odor maintenance plans" on the three dispensaries the city plans to allow in designated zones.

“So called medical marijuana in other states has become a farce and a sham. The average user of smoked medical marijuana has no chronic illness and is a white male in his mid-30s with a history of drug and alcohol abuse. . . In the last 20 years and due to market demand, constant genetic engineering has increased THC potency in marijuana plants, and extraction-concentration methods are becoming extremely popular and widespread. become addicted.”Marijuana is the 2nd leading cause of impaired driving arrests. One in six adolescents trying marijuana will become addicted.
“In the city of Denver since the legalization of marijuana Denver Police Department is dealing with a 900% increase in the unlawful cultivation and manufacture of marijuana concentrate, and a 99% increase in unlawful distribution of marijuana and marijuana concentrate.
Marijuana is the #1 problem in Colorado schools. In school year 2015-16, 63% of all drug related school suspensions were for marijuana. 58% of all drug related school expulsions were for marijuana. 73% of all drug related school referrals to law enforcement were for marijuana violations. Youth past month marijuana use is 74% higher than the national average.

We want to prevent what happened with Big Pharma from happening with Big Marijuana in Florida. We want to avoid the pill mill scenario we experienced several years ago.  Given the number of people dying in our state from opioid abuse be it heroin or prescription drugs we do not want to add fuel to this fire by inadequately regulating ‘medical’ marijuana dispensary zoning, licensing and locations.

We should approach mass marijuana production and distribution as we would any other large-scale public health problem. We should do what we can to limit exposure, and we should provide clear, unbiased education. In the case of prevention efforts being unsuccessful, we need to provide immediate treatment and assistance in stopping use. If we are going to use this as a medication, then we should use it as we use other medications. It should have to undergo the same scrutiny, Food and Drug Administration approval, and regulation that any other medication does. Why are we allowing a pass on a medication that very likely would carry with it a black-box warning?

“It’s not the job of the state government to create conditions in which private companies can be profitable for selling marijuana.”  Therefore regulate marijuana like it was a medicine with strict guidelines similar to the FDA process!

Kirk’s children are seeking damages for negligence, failure to warn, wrongful death, deceptive trade, strict liability, breach of implied warranty, misrepresentation and consumer law  violations. They are represented by Gregory Gold, of Greenwood Village.
The effects of marijuana can be much more powerful when it is eaten rather than smoked. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, on a visit to Colorado, wrote a much-cited column about the misery induced by eating marijuana candy.

Pediatricians are in a unique position to provide parents and teenagers with accurate information and counseling regarding the consequences of marijuana or cannabis use by children, teenagers, and adults. A number of strategies can be used to counsel families about preventing use and to intervene if marijuana is being used either recreationally or medically by the families for whom they provide medical care.

Couture blamed "black ice" despite the nearly 50 degree weather at the time, according to the release. Police said the traveled portions of Pelham roads were clear of snow and ice. Couture admitted to smoking marijuana before driving and performed field sobriety tests. 

In a new study, researchers in London, Ontario found that women who used marijuana while pregnant were almost three times more likely to have an infant with low birth weight than women who did not use marijuana.

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.

Through his research, he believes there may be a link between chronic use of marijuana — especially when started at a young age — and Alzheimer’s. 
Moral issue:  In addition to the money and organizing efforts driving the legalization campaigns, Fortanasce said widespread ignorance has enabled the marijuana lobby to obfuscate the issue. While marijuana may have some medicinal properties (cannabidiol in pot, for example, can help decrease nausea and be used to treat seizures), Fortanasce noted that there are already medications on the market that are far more efficacious than marijuana.

Marijuana legalization also involves significant downsides to existing businesses.  As marijuana use has increased in states that have legalized its use, so has use by employees, both on and off the job.  Large businesses in Colorado now state that after legalization they have had to hire out-of-state residents in order to find employees that can pass a pre-employment drug screen.

“It’s a craze, not an epidemic,” he said, adding that “epidemic” implies something beyond people’s control.

The existence of hallucinations, delusions, and organic brain dysfunction in heavy cannabis users seems to be associated with cannabinoid levels in hair. The continuation of persistent symptoms 3 months after the discontinuation of cannabis abuse, was a remarkable finding. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: We provide evidence that chronic and heavy cannabis abuse results in long-lasting brain dysfunction in all users and in long-lasting schizophrenia-like psychotic symptoms in more than half of all users. These findings suggest a reevaluation of the current classification of cannabis as a "soft narcotic" which erroneously, therefore, is typically considered harmless. (Am J Addict 2017;XX:1-8).

The state capital may be in Tallahassee, but the pot shop capital for the South may soon become Tampa. Hillsborough County commissioners stuck down a provision that would have limited the number of marijuana dispensaries/pot shops. What does that mean for citizens living in unincorporated Hillsborough?

The Washington Poison Center (WAPC) experienced another year of increased calls on marijuana exposures and poisonings. In 2016, there were 286 calls related to marijuana exposures*. Over 42% (n=120) of the total calls were regarding individuals 13-29 years who had been exposed to some form of marijuana. Highest marijuana exposure rates in 2016 were King, Spokane, Snohomish, and Pierce counties.

Please review the following information to better understand how alcohol misuse impacts our families:

1. Overview of Alcohol Consequences- NIAAA PowerPoint (easy reading)

Consequences

• Physical Effects: Infectious disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Neuropsychiatric disease, Cardiovascular disease, Liver and pancreas disease, Unintentional and intentional injury Heart, liver, pancreas
• Unintentional and Intentional consequences: fatal crashes, falls, drownings, burns, suicide, stabbing, shooting, HOMICIDE, assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse.
• Social harm: family dysfunction, unemployment, criminal conviction, financial, child & family neglect

Cost of Alcohol Abuse:

• Globally, alcohol is third leading risk factor for premature death and disability
• $223.5 billion in 2006- estimated costs of alcohol abuse in U.S.
• Nearly 60% costs paid by government and others
• 15% of U.S. workforce drinks enough alcohol to lead to workforce impairment

     2.  Teen Theft
Teen shoplifting, liquor a bad mix

• Several Capital High School students agreed with Graham’s assessment, " that teens are taking advantage of it being easier to shoplift liquor" than beer or wine.
• “You’re not an automatic suspect when you walk in a grocery store,” said one student interviewed Tuesday in the school parking lot.

Doubly illegal: Qualitative accounts of underage alcohol access through theft

• … In addition to 9% of respondents who reported stealing alcohol from commercial outlets themselves, a total of 26% respondents reported occasions when their close friends stole alcohol.

       3.  Florida Ranks 3rd in the Nation for DUI Fatalities
2015 DUI Arrest by County
2014 Summary State DUI arrests and Fatalities
      4.  16-18 other states allow hard liquor in grocery store ailses.
               2016 Issue Briefs for State Policymakers- Healthy Alcohol Market

But the complex details on how to get that done is now being hashed out in Tallahassee and as we uncovered, some key lawmakers in Florida's weed wars are already seeing the green from it.

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 Joseph Tuscano, a professor of internal medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UC Davis, and a lead study author. “Inhaling marijuana in any form provides a direct portal of entry deep into the lungs where infection can easily take hold.”

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.

Widely viewed as one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country, New York’s Compassionate Care Act’s list of qualifying conditions is relatively short, no flower or edibles are permitted, and only five registered organizations (ROs) are licensed to manufacture and sell products.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration had initially projected $4 million in medical cannabis tax revenues in 2016. Instead, the state will see about $1 million.

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.

After his death, testing of 20 medical marijuana samples from across the state found the vast majority were contaminated with dangerous bacteria and fungi.

Marijuana use during pregnancy can be harmful to your baby’s health. The chemicals in marijuana (in particular,tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) pass through your systemto your baby and can negatively affect your baby’s development.

“There is some misinterpretation that employers can’t fire employees now that [cannabis is] legal, but employers can still enforce their policies as there is nothing in the law that says they have to accommodate that,” said Robin Largent, partner at Carothers Disante & Freudenberger LLP in Sacramento.
However, employers who do not have a well-documented cannabis policy could expose themselves to allegations of discrimination.   “I advise clients to modify their policy if necessary to make clear it’s illegal, giving employees clear expectations,” Daniel said.

"The study suggests that the effects of cannabis use on verbal intelligence are explained not by neurotoxic effects on the brain, but rather by a possible social mechanism," said lead author Natalie Castellanos-Ryan, Assistant Professor at Universite de Montreal in Canada

According to research studies, marijuana use causes aggressive behavior, causes or exacerbates psychosis and produce paranoias. These effects have been illustrated through case studies of highly publicized incidents and heightened political profiles.

Marijuana is currently a growing risk to the public in the United States. Following expanding public opinion that marijuana provides little risk to health, state and federal legislatures have begun changing laws that will significantly increase accessibility of marijuana. Greater marijuana accessibility, resulting in more use, will lead to increased health risks in all demographic categories across the country. Violence is a well-publicized, prominent risk from the more potent, current marijuana available.

Some people think that marijuana is not truly “addictive” or that people can’t become “hooked” on the drug, but research shows that about 1 in 10 marijuana users will become addicted. For people who begin using before the age of 18, that number rises to 1 in 6.
Marijuana use directly affects the brain — specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention, decision making, coordination, emotions, and reaction time.
 

http://www.cqstatetrack.com/texis/redir?id=586a677b847&rtype=text&origin...
HB 158 - AS INTRODUCED    2017 SESSION   17-0115   01/09     HOUSE BILL 158
 AN ACT adding opioid addiction to qualifying medical conditions under therapeutic use of cannabis.
 SPONSORS: Rep. Schleien, Hills. 37; Rep. E. Edwards, Hills. 11; Rep. Fisher, Belk. 9; Rep. Zaricki, Hills. 6; Rep. Josephson, Graf. 11
 COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
ANALYSIS
 This bill adds opioid addiction to the qualifying medical conditions under therapeutic use of cannabis.
 Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
17-0115  01/09   STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE  
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen   AN ACT adding opioid addiction to qualifying medical conditions under therapeutic use of cannabis.   Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
 1  Use of Cannabis for Therapeutic Purposes; Definitions.  Amend RSA 126-X:1, IX(a)(1) to read as follows:
(1)  Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C currently receiving antiviral treatment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pancreatitis, spinal cord injury or disease, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, lupus, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, ulcerative colitis, opioid addiction, or one or more injuries that significantly interferes with daily activities as documented by the patient's provider; an
2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Colorado Assistant Attorney General Michael Song:

• Song cautioned that doctors have to be tightly regulated, with means to punish those abusing the ability to recommend medical marijuana.
• Song said problems are arising as people, for example, eat a whole cookie, or worse, several, while they wait for the effects to hit. Then they wind up in emergency rooms stoned way over the edge.

“But the bottom line is that long-term, heavy cannabis use may impair the dopaminergic system, which could have a variety of negative effects on learning and behavior,” said Dr. Anissa Abi-Dargham, professor of psychiatry and a lead author of the paper.
 
“I used to be able to read a book and even after a couple years I would still know most of the book,” she said. “Now I have to read something four or five times to remember.”

Ref: Rules on pot remain hazy
If doctors, dispensaries and patients are confused now just wait until a patient begins to ask their doctor typical questions about ‘medical’ marijuana. Such as:  How often should I take it, for how long, what strength, interactions with other drugs, expected side-effects, driving under the influence, research and validation that it will help specific symptoms, follow-up appointment … and the list goes on.  Most if not all these questions will be impossible to answer from a medical perspective.  Amendment 2 circumvented the science and medical fields.  Many voters seemed to be confused and misled - This was not legalizing a prescription drug but allowing Big Marijuana into our state.  Sounds more like “Pot Luck” than a medication.
In essence, Florida has legalized drug dealers and addicts to recommend marijuana to the 20 million patients who apparently are in dire need of it.  With all the medical breakthroughs does anyone really believe there isn’t something better we could give our loved ones?  That would be the first question I would ask before considering ‘medical’ marijuana.  
As for Monica Russell of Surterra who is “anxiously awaiting” for the implementation of Amendment 2, maybe she needs to take her “own medicine” as I hear it helps with anxiety.
 
Teresa Miller
Community Substance Abuse Volunteer
StopRxDrugAbuse & No2Pot Founder
#ProtectOurFamilies

Excessive alcohol use accounts for 1 of 10 deaths among working-age adults in the United States.

Marijuana use skyrocketed under President Obama, up 27 percent among kids, according to the National Institutes of Drug Abuse. Phoenix House reports that up to 50 percent become addicted.
 
Nearly 100,000 parents lose their children to drugs annually

If the changes observed in Washington are attributable to legalization, why were there no changes found in Colorado? The authors suggest that this may have been because Colorado’s medical marijuana laws were much more liberal before legalization than those in Washington. After 2009, Colorado permitted medical marijuana to be supplied through for-profit dispensaries and allowed advertising of medical marijuana products. This hypothesis is supported by other evidence that the perceived risks of marijuana use decreased and marijuana use increased among young people in Colorado after these changes in 2009.

Western Colorado law enforcement officials say that Colorado has now become a magnet for criminals coming to take advantage of the state's marijuana laws.
A little over a week later, a 51-year old Palisade man was shot and killed in different incident related to a large pot grow operation. So far, there have been no arrests in the case.
“Legalization was supposed to get rid of the black market – it hasn’t done that – I would estimate that the black market has grown 20 fold since legalization,” said Gaasche.
 

Past-Month Marijuana Use Mostly Steady 
From 1996 to 2016, past-month marijuana use was mostly steady among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders.

In 2016, past-month use for each grade was:

12th grade: 22.5%
10th grade: 14.0%
8th grade: 5.4%

68.9 percent of high school seniors do not view regular marijuana smoking as harmful, but 68.5 percent say they disapprove of regular marijuana smoking.

This year, daily marijuana use exceeded cigarette use among 10th (2.5 vs. 1.9 percent) as well as 12th (6.0 vs. 4.8 percent) graders.

Ellen Snelling, chairwoman of the Tampa Alcohol Coalition and member of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, added that marijuana isn’t harmless, telling the panel of her teenage daughter’s decline into drug use after trying pot.

Is it possible to regulate a plant that people can grow in their backyards? Questions to consider and recommendations for implementing Amendment 2 (legalizing 'medical' marijuana in Florida).
Written document