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Today, a coalition of social justice, drug prevention, recovery, family, and faith organizations penned a joint letter to the leadership of the United States House of Representatives strongly opposing the MORE Act, a bill to federally legalize the commercial marijuana industry that is tentatively scheduled for a vote the week of September 21st.
According to the letter the MORE Act would not simply decriminalize marijuana, as some proponents have claimed, but rather “fully legalize and commercialize the drug. This would allow major corporations like Altria (formerly Philip Morris, makers of Marlboro Cigarettes), vaping giants Juul and PAX, and Imperial Brands (makers of Kool Cigarettes) to deepen their existing investments into the marijuana industry and expand those investments to capture the United States market.”

After screening 11,348 potential studies....These results demonstrate a moderate association between cannabis use and physical violence, which remained significant regardless of study design and adjustment for confounding factors (i.e., socioeconomic factors, other substance use). Cannabis use in this population is a risk factor for violence.

How do you solve a problem like Colorado’s teen vaping rate, the highest in the nation?
That’s the question lawmakers are gathering on Wednesday to try and answer. They’ll be asking questions about all things vaping as they consider new measures to stop the epidemic, including what the science shows about health risks.
A group of doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado had a few insights they'd like to offer.
Among them was lung expert Dr. Robin Deterding who, when it comes to talking about the health risks of vaping, is blunt. 
“You're inhaling a chemistry experiment,” Deterding said. “And that's bad for your lungs."

“We had a kid that had to be taken over to Utah and put in a mental health facility. He was there about a month or more because of a drug-induced psychosis caused by too much marijuana products. The only thing that was in his system was THC,” Hildreth said. “It was scary for his parents and us because no one knew what was happening. None of us had ever seen marijuana do that to anyone before.”

The real cost in legalizing marijuana can be counted by the lives impacted- addiction, vaping, dispensing, traffic deaths, suicides, overdoses, … 
 

In the first nine months of 2019, the marijuana industry spent more than $3.8 million lobbying Congress, according to OpenSecrets — employing a total of 80 lobbyists. That put the industry on track to spend far more on lobbyists in 2019 than in the previous two years combined.

Yet it’s a modest investment considering the potential payout. If enacted, the SAFE Banking Act is expected to drive billions of dollars of new investment into this rapidly evolving sector.

The study also uncovered the scanner's ability to distinguish among different varieties of hemp and marijuana. In the changing legal landscape, there are thousands of varieties of cannabis, many of questionable quality.

Machine learning can accurately predict adults at risk for OUD, and identify interactions among the factors that pronounce this risk. Curbing early initiation of marijuana may be an effective prevention strategy against opioid addiction, especially in high risk groups.

CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI).

Wild mass killings of this sort are a post-1960 phenomenon. So, applying the rules of logic, the availability of guns simply cannot be the significant variable.
It must be the single most successful rebranding in marketing history. Millions now associate a highly dangerous drug with miracle cures, health and wellbeing. Mr Stroup, understandably, has since denied the words, but the article is still sitting in the Emory library for anyone who wants to check.
Yet their product also ruins the lives of users and their families. And it kills. Often very terribly. Will this realization come too late to save us from a grave mistake?

In a recent cohort study of alcohol consumption in Canada, marijuana use was found to increase demand for alcohol. In other words, those who reported marijuana and alcohol use consumed significantly more alcohol than those who reported only alcohol use. The mechanism for this association is not entirely clear. However, these findings have important implications for treatment and prevention, particularly in the context of changes in marijuana legalization. In the USA, greater alcohol consumption can only mean increases in traffic fatalities and injuries, violent crime, and all the other negative population-wide outcomes and costs associated with alcohol and marijuana use. Interestingly, in Colorado, where marijuana has been legal for recreational use since 2014, all these negative indicators have been on the rise along with a conspicuous increase in alcohol consumption.

People need to be educated that marijuana even 'medical' marijuana is not FDA approved and therefore is not a prescription.  Often contains mold, pesticides, fertilizers, unknown amounts of other chemicals and THC potency may be incorrect. 

The key points raised by the advisory (and supported by significant research) include:

• Strongly advising that marijuana should not be used during pregnancy or by adolescents.
• Marijuana use during pregnancy can affect the developing fetus by, among other things, hindering fetal brain development and increasing the risk of lower birth weight.
• Likewise, marijuana use by adolescents causes deficits in attention, impaired learning, decline in IQ and school performance, and an increased risk for early onset of psychotic disorders.
• Marijuana is also still considered a “gateway drug” and its use by adolescents increase the likelihood of the misuse of opioids.

I found it interesting that, in addition to issuing the warning regarding marijuana use, Dr. Adams reiterates what the Food and Drug Administration has been warning the public about regarding CBD products,

VERMONT MEDICAL SOCIETY RESOLUTION- WHEREAS, non-prescribed CBD consumer products sold can contain up to 24 mg of THC, more than that of a typical cannabis joint, which contains up to 17 mg of THC, putting the consumer at risk for intoxication, unintended cannabis addiction relapse, and unintended mental health harm;

Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of health advocate participation in developing cannabis legalization frameworks.

Although this article is from 2010, the information is still relevant.  We now have more data to oppose legalization of marijuana for any reason.  

The Florida medical marijuana market continues to expand at a rapid pace.
The two publicly held companies with the largest presence in the state are Trulieve followed by Curaleaf.
Extensive Florida operations have allowed Trulieve and Curaleaf to avoid the bear market that has engulfed multi-state operators MedMen, Acreage Holdings and Harvest Health.
Acreage Holdings' lack of ANY sales in Florida sends a strong signal that it is adrift.

Link continues to update with information.  Latest from the Florida Department of Health on the Vape Lung Illness Crisis. The number of vape lung illnesses increased from 27 to 39. When will Governor DeSantis announce his plan to fight against this crisis? According to the CDC, most cases are linked to vaped marijuana (THC). What is the FL medical marijuana industry doing to protect patients? 

Talking Points:
• 77% of the cases of illness and at least 2 deaths have been connected to THC oils.
• At a time when we are investigating the causes of this rash of deaths and illnesses connected to marijuana oils and vapes, all marijuana legalization efforts and THC vaping oil sales should pause.
• This is not a black-market issue, it is the result of allowing Big Marijuana - an addictionfor-profit drug industry backed by Big Tobacco and companies like Juul - to mass produce these oils and vapes, along with candies, gummies, and other dangerously potent forms of the drug.
• Big Tobacco, E-Cigarette and Vaping Companies and the Marijuana industry share many of the same investors. The industries are connected by billions in investments.

The report also shows that the tax revenue from state-authorized marijuana sales, far from being a game-changer like pot pushers said it would be, amounted to around nine-tenths of 1% (000.9%) of Colorado’s fiscal year 2018 budget. Previous reports are just as bad. 

Pot Is a Schedule I Controlled Dangerous Substance for Good Reason

Passed in 1970, the Controlled Substances Act places marijuana in Schedule I, a category reserved for drugs that are medically unhelpful and dangerous. Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment, and a lack of accepted safety for use even under medical supervision.

States have passed so-called medical marijuana laws under the theory that pot has medicinal benefits that can’t be produced by other legal means. In making those claims, pot pushers want us to ignore the fact that today’s marijuana is one of the most genetically modified substances on the earth, has over 500 known carcinogens, has THC levels that dwarf the 1% or 2% levels from the 1970s (levels are now at 20-90% THC), and that there is zero quality, content, or dosage control in their products. 

They are also counting on you not knowing that there are already three FDA-approved THC drugs, and at least five more on the way.   

The dirty little secret they hide from you is that you don’t have to smoke marijuana, eat it in a brownie, or chew it in a marijuana-laced gummy bear to reap the medicinal benefits of THC. A doctor can write you a prescription for those drugs. They can’t write one for marijuana, because it is not a medicine

The three FDA-approved drugs are Marinol, Cesamet, and Syndros. Drugs like Syndros show great promise for countering today’s dangerous “medical marijuana” movement. The companies that sell those FDA-approved drugs do, and should have access to the federal banking system. But those who peddle pot, with sky-high genetically manipulated THC levels that have no medical benefit, shouldn’t.

What Do I Need to Know about Marijuana?   Podcasts   Answers all the myths with science and facts.  Is it safe to drive using marijuana?  If it is a medicine, how can it hurt me?  What does marijuana use do to my brain? ....

Vaping Pens... Honeycomb   - the "Pass Out Pen" 

• The Ripper- The Ripper 2.0 is new, improved and the only Sub -ohm conceal (concealer) vaporizer for oils and wax ( as it is a 2 in 1 unit). High capacity, high powered vaporizer make it the most powerful pocket vape for oils and wax and also disguised as a light makes it ultra discrete. 
• The Elf- "Small, compact, stylish and most importantly it is Auto-Draw button less design of this high quality aerospace feel ELF concealer. Available in 5 classy colors this small unit has effortless draws amounting in big rips and large vapor. Easy to use simply inhale. It is the only unit that is button less that can fit wide 510 thread cartridges with its magnetic adapter, and be a pull thru unit and still work with Ceramic heater cartridges that usually require more power to vape them.
• '510' thread- five 10 thread-510 threaded is a term used to describe the threading that connects vape cartridges and batteries – there are 10 screw threads, and the cartridge is generally five millimeters in length (510). "510 Thread" has been used to describe all sorts of vape pen parts, whether they are threaded or not. It's a non technical term created by an original e-cig factory (Joyetech) to describe the battery to tank connection they were using. While it was considered proprietary at the time, this (and most other e-cig innovations) are passed around freely between manufacturers. Most pens today are all based on this 510 thread.

• JUUL is a brand of e-cigarette that is shaped like a USB flash drive. Like other e-cigarettes, JUUL is a battery-powered device that heats a nicotine-containing liquid to produce an aerosol that is inhaled. 

• All JUUL e-cigarettes have a high level of nicotine. According to the manufacturer, a single JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.2

• News outlets and social media sites report widespread use of JUUL by students in schools, including classrooms and bathrooms.

• Although JUUL is currently the top-selling e-cigarette brand in the United States, other companies sell e-cigarettes that look like USB flash drives. Examples include the MarkTen Elite, a nicotine delivery device, and the PAX Era, a marijuana delivery device that looks like JUUL.

• Additional information about USB-shaped e-cigarettes and actions that parents, educators, and health care  

• CDC’s Infographic

Hacking the Juul- opening the pods to reload marijuana.  very potent. 

Healthy Kids Link- Spanish version

Another video

The ABC7 I-Team has been given exclusive access to the largest set of test results and analysis on CBD products to date. Those tests reveal not only potential dangers, but also patently false claims plaguing the industry.

Teens who previously seemed impervious to smoking traditional cigarettes are now vaping at such a significant rate that the Surgeon General and FDA has declared youth use of e-cigarettes an epidemic.
 

The FCC (Forensic Chemistry Center) is currently prioritizing samples that are most likely to enhance our understanding of this outbreak, i.e., vaping samples that are associated with cases of patient lung injury. If you have identified product samples with direct-association to case-illnesses in your state as part of your ongoing investigations, please reach out your local FDA District Emergency Response Coordinator or write to FDAVapingSampleInquiries@fda.hhs.gov for follow-up, collection, and shipment of samples to FCC through the utilization of FDA field staff.

Marijuana, or cannabis, is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. It acts by binding to cannabinoid receptors in the brain to produce a variety of effects, including euphoria, intoxication, and memory and motor impairments. These same cannabinoid receptors are also critical for brain development. They are part of the endocannabinoid system, which impacts the formation of brain circuits important for decision making, mood and responding to stress.

In the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, researchers surveyed almost 50,000 adolescents in Arizona. The researchers found that among teens who used any form of cannabis, 72 percent had experience with the more potent products.

Overall, the researchers found that 33 percent of the teens had tried some form of pot and 24 percent said they had used concentrated forms. The likelihood of a student using cannabis rose with age: 20 percent of the eighth graders said they’d used the drug, compared to 35 percent of the 10th graders and 46 percent of the 12th graders.

Similarly, 15 percent of the eighth graders, 25 percent of the 10th graders and 33 percent of 12th graders said they had used cannabis concentrates. Concentrate users had the highest rates of having tried other drugs.

Just last year, the Parents Opposed to Pot lobby group tried to sound the alarm on the link between marijuana and mass shootings, compiling a list of mass killers it claims were heavy users of marijuana from a young age, from Aurora, Colo., shooter James Holmes and Tucson, Ariz., shooter Jared Loughner to Chattanooga, Tenn., shooter Mohammad Abdulazeez.
You can’t address the youth mental health crisis without considering the effect of rising teen marijuana use.
Among American teenagers, the drug’s “daily use has become as, or more, popular than daily cigarette smoking” according to the National Institute of Health’s 2017 Monitoring the Future study.
Another BMJ study estimated that “13 percent of cases of schizophrenia could be averted if all cannabis use were prevented.” That’s more than 400,000 Americans who could be saved from a fate worse than death.

Toxicologist Peter Stout, CEO and president of the Houston Forensic Science Center, said the toxicology report showed low levels of anti-anxiety drugs and marijuana in Kelley's system.

Their observations and initial research show that marijuana use may affect patients’ responses to anesthesia on the operating table — and, depending on the patient’s history of using the drug, either help or hinder their symptoms afterward in the recovery room.
If pot users indeed need more anesthesia, are there increased risks for breathing problems during minor procedures? Are there higher costs with the use of more medication, if a second or third bottle of anesthesia must be routinely opened? And what does regular cannabis use mean for recovery post-surgery?

Conclusions: RWID and DUI are significantly associated with greater alcohol and marijuanause over time. This study highlights that teens may be at higher risk for problem substance use in the future even if they ride with someone who is impaired. Prevention and intervention efforts for adolescents need to address both driving under the influence and riding with an impaired driver to prevent downstream consequences.

FDA has determined that your “CBD Lotion,” “CBD Pain-Relief Patch,” “CBD Tincture,” and “CBD Disposable Vape Pen” products are unapproved new drugs sold in violation of sections 505(a) and 301(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act), 21 U.S.C. 355(a) and 331(d). Furthermore, these products are misbranded drugs under section 502(f)(1) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 352(f)(1). FDA has also determined that your “Bido CBD for Pets” products are unapproved new animal drugs that are unsafe under section 512(a) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 360b(a), and adulterated under section 501(a)(5) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 351(a)(5)

Cannabis legalization has led to significant health consequences, particularly to patients in emergency departments and hospitals in Colorado. The most concerning include psychosis, suicide, and other substance abuse. Deleterious effects on the brain include decrements in complex decision-making, which may not be reversible with abstinence.

ED and urgent care (UC) visits with cannabis-associated International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes or positive urine drug screens for teenagers and young adults have increased since legalization, and the majority require behavioral health evaluation. A subsequent retrospective review by Wang et al. from 2005–2015 identified 4202 such visits for patients 13 to <21 years old to a tertiary-care children’s hospital system. Behavioral health evaluation was obtained for 2813 (67%) and a psychiatric diagnosis was made for the majority (71%) of the visits. 

Cannabis is known to induce DNA damage by several mechanisms including damage to chromosomes at the time of cell division, dramatic reductions in histone formation which form the core of the nucleosomes around which DNA is twined and are crucially involved in signalling to the transcription and epigenetic machinery to regulate gene expression, alteration of DNA methylation and many other processes 2-6. And genotoxic stress of many types is known to trigger DNA checkpoints and interfere with the normal process of meiotic and mitotic cell division; and are also known to trigger ageing and cellular senescence pathways.
That it has been linked with all four areas, in the context of its many other known harms – respiratory, driving, impaired developmental trajectory, reduction in IQ, hippocampal shrinkage, brain disconnection and immunopathies - implies directly that the cannabis legalization debate itself is non-viable and profoundly and inherently misleading.

• Thousands of businesses, as well as local governments earning tax money off of sales, are now literally invested in that lie.
• “The mantra about how this is a harmless, natural, and non-addictive substance—it’s now known by everybody. And it’s a lie.”
• As for new risks: In many stores, budtenders are providing medical advice with no licensing or training whatsoever. “I’m most scared of the advice to smoke marijuana during pregnancy for cramps,” said Humphreys, arguing that sellers were providing recommendations with no scientific backing, good or bad, at all.
• “The reckless way that we are legalizing marijuana so far is mind-boggling from a public-health perspective,” Kevin Sabet, an Obama administration official and a founder of the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told me. 

In the four states that were among the first to legalize pot – Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington – crashes were up by as much as 6% compared with neighboring states without legalized recreational weed, according to analysis of collision loss data from January 2012 through October 2017 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and an October 2018 report done by the Highway Loss Data Institute.

The study looked at 1991-2017 U.S. federal health data on more than 200,000 high school students. It found that the number who said they'd used pot at least once over the past month rose 10-fold -- from 0.6% in 1991 to 6.3% by 2017.

Then he started asking them, “do youJUUL?" and their answers changed.

“I wasn’t even asking the right questions, and I think a lot of clinicians still don’t ask the right questions,” Winickoff said. “Once I found out that kids were using, many of them thought that what they were using was not a big deal, that maybe they could stop any time they wanted. Some of them thought that vaping was just water vapor plus some flavor.”

"If it's not USDA Organic certified, and it's not full panel lab tested, you have no way of knowing what you're getting," said Cranford, who's been producing CBD long before it was en vogue.

"Overseas they use hemp to do cover crops. They use it to purposely suck out the pesticides and heavy metals on soil there so they can plant food crops next," Cranford said. "These crops are being imported into the US and people are making CBD out of it. The really scary part is when you have these contaminants in your plant material, and you make this oil, you're concentrating it."

After thousands of tests, 70 percent of products were found "highly contaminated" with heavy metals like lead and arsenic, herbicides like glyphosate (the active ingredient in RoundUp) and a host of other contaminants including pesticides, BPA and toxic mold.

Virginia Commonwealth University, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other medical journals have published studies that reflect similar outcomes to the hundreds of tests done by Ellipse Analytics, citing contamination, false labeling and false claims.

Contrary to what you've been told over and over, it is not a preposterous assertion that marijuana is a gateway drug to cocaine, heroin, meth and such. Not everybody who smokes marijuana graduates to harder narcotics, true. But most of those who do go on to the harder stuff start off with weed.
Video on Snake Oil

A Paulding County student collapsed and nearly died after taking a hit off a vape pen. The dramatic scene unfolded in front of a class when the South Paulding High School student collapsed and stopped breathing.
 
*** This is exactly why we need to raise the age for purchasing these products to 21... give our youth a chance.