Articles

06/13/2016

06/06/2016

“They told me I was having a psychotic episode brought on by cannabis,” said Thibodeau, who requested that the Star use his grandmother’s surname as he is still recovering from the breakdown.
“I was shocked. We live in a society where there is such a culture around smoking dope that people think it is cool to be a stoner. Nobody ever talks about the pitfalls.”

05/26/2016

Recent research has documented high rates of comorbidity between cannabis use disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans.
Overall, 14.6% of participants reported using cannabis in the past 6 months. After controlling for age, race, service era, and combat exposure, past 6-month cannabis use was associated with unmarried status, use of tobacco products, other drug use, hazardous alcohol use, PTSD severity, depressive symptom severity, and suicidality. The present findings show that cannabis use is quite prevalent among veterans seeking PTSD specialty treatment and is associated with poorer mental health and use of other substances.

05/25/2016

Kennesaw State University
 

I'm going to go ahead and say that I did not read the entire article before posting this comment. I had a question pop into my head and I had to ask it before I lost it. The article states " biggest risk of smoking weed is the smoke itself, which contains the same kind of cancer-causing chemicals as cigarette smoke". Now maybe I am just a super uneducated smoker but I didn't think that weed and cigarettes had the same chemicals in them. From what I've always been told, cigarettes have things like formaldehyde in them, whereas weed is just trimmed from the plant and put in a bag. And if you smoke it out of glass, then it truly is just smoking a plant from glass. Now, I am aware that smoking anything is bad for your lungs and also using lighters which contain butane has an effect but I just became a little confused when it was said that they have the same chemicals in them. I would love for someone with a little insight to help me out with this. Thanks.

Ashley Kirk · 

Kennesaw State University

I'm going to go ahead and say that I did not read the entire article before posting this comment. I had a question pop into my head and I had to ask it before I lost it. The article states " biggest risk of smoking weed is the smoke itself, which contains the same kind of cancer-causing chemicals as cigarette smoke". Now maybe I am just a super uneducated smoker but I didn't think that weed and cigarettes had the same chemicals in them. From what I've always been told, cigarettes have things like formaldehyde in them, whereas weed is just trimmed from the plant and put in a bag. And if you smoke it out of glass, then it truly is just smoking a plant from glass. Now, I am aware that smoking anything is bad for your lungs and also using lighters which contain butane has an effect but I just became a little confused when it was said that they have the same chemicals in them. I would love for someone with a little insight to help me out with this. Thanks.

05/21/2016

"It’s the best educated guess that we have," United for Care director Ben Pollara said. "It’s up to the Department of Health and the Legislature. … It could be 2,000, it could be 20. It could be 5,000."
The state health department did project 1,993 medical marijuana dispensaries would be needed to serve potential patients, based on data from Colorado compared with Florida. That is more than the 840 Walgreens and 233 Walmart supercenters and discount stores in the state, although the comparison seems like a bit of a red herring.
It’s important to remember that while the health department report is the only real estimate available, this figure isn’t definite. The agency and the Legislature would decide the actual number of stores and how they are regulated after the amendment passes. That total is anyone’s guess.
 

05/21/2016

Endangers health of community and drains precious health resources.

05/21/2016

05/19/2016

05/16/2016

Friends, I make no bones about not being politically correct; neither do I apologize. But I would be the first to acknowledge that uneducated/unemployed weed-smoking/drug-crazed young black males are single-handedly responsible for the huge spike in the homicide rate. And this is being seen all across the country.

05/16/2016

05/14/2016

A new study to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2016 Meeting found that one in six infants and toddlers admitted to a Colorado hospital with coughing, wheezing and other symptoms of bronchiolitis tested positive for marijuana exposure. 
"Especially as marijuana becomes more available and acceptable, we need to learn more about how this may affect children's health and development." In the meantime, she said, "marijuana should never be smoked in the presence of children." 

05/14/2016

“I think the black market in general is still very active and Craigslist is a perfect example of the active black market,” Lauren Harris said.

05/11/2016

05/11/2016

05/10/2016

05/10/2016

05/10/2016

05/08/2016

"The cannabis industry, with a capitalization in excess of $4 billion, has embraced the free market. Its opponents, such as Smart Approaches to Marijuana, counter that unfettered legalization means another Big Tobacco. The danger is that “better products” (mostly high-THC pot and more seductive ways to deliver it) will produce more addiction, accidents, psychoses and cognitive deficits, particularly among daily users who account for the vast majority of sales. When the core business model is phishing for phools by exploiting misinformed buyers, more research is not necessarily welcome. If rescheduling produces additional studies confirming that regular cannabis use causes abnormal brain development, memory impairment and diminished IQ, the drug would look more like lead exposure than a harmless party plant."

05/08/2016

05/02/2016

The purpose of this study was to provide estimates of the prevalence of self-reported use
and driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, and related perceptions and
beliefs among drivers 18 and older in the United States, and to present an analysis of
changes in these behaviors between 2013 and 2015. The data analyzed were collected via
nationally-representative surveys administered during this period.
From 2013-2015, an estimated 14.0 percent of drivers drove with a BAC close to or over the
legal limit in the past year, and 4.6 percent drove within an hour of using marijuana.
Drivers are divided with regard to their perceptions of the effect of using marijuana an hour
prior to driving on one’s risk of causing a crash: 58.3 percent believe this risk is increased,
6.2 percent believe it is not affected, 3.6 percent believe it is decreased, and 31.8 percent
indicated that they do not know how using marijuana an hour before driving affects crash
risk. Drivers who reported using marijuana, and those who reported driving within an hour
of use in the past year were less likely to believe that using marijuana increases crash risk,
and more likely to believe that such use does not affect or decreases crash risk. Awareness
of per se DUI laws for marijuana was low: in states that did have a per se law, only 48.5
percent were aware of it; in states without a per se law, 44.7 percent indicated incorrectly
that their state had such a law. Irrespective of whether their state actually had a per se law
for marijuana, more than half of all drivers reported that they did not know whether or not
their state had such a law.

04/30/2016

To approve a medicine, the FDA requires five criteria to be fulfilled...marijuana legalization via ballot amendments or legislative bills does not meet any of the FDA requirements. 
Smoking dope, getting high and saying I feel better is not a criteria for medicine. 

04/22/2016

With youth usage and perception of harm having significantly  increased the past 4 it would be better to compare data to 10 years ago not last year.

04/20/2016

2016 Amendment 2: "Does this sound like medicine?"

What is the reality of legalizing marijuana under the guise of a medicine?

04/15/2016

• The current laws mean I have to drive across the city transporting the weed and hash with no license to do so. It’s impossible to work normally this way, and I’m more scared of the police than the dealers I buy from.’
• While Dutch policy allows coffee shops to sell cannabis, cultivation remains illegal.
• ‘The current system, in which you can sell cannabis but not grow it, is unsustainable,’

04/08/2016

Colorado amends marijuana regulations to include child resistant, regulated sales, potency, serving size, harms...

04/01/2016

In summary, marijuana use is harmful to children and adolescents.  For this reason, the American College of Pediatricians opposes its legalization for recreational use and urges extreme caution in legalizing it for medicinal use.  Likewise, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) recently offered their own policy statement opposing efforts to legalize marijuana. They similarly pointed out that “marijuana’s deleterious effects on adolescent brain development, cognition, and social functioning may have immediate and long-term implications, including increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, sexual victimization, academic failure, lasting decline in intelligence measures, psychopathology, addiction, and psychosocial and occupational impairment.” Thus the AACAP (a) opposes efforts to legalize marijuana, (b) supports initiatives to increase awareness of marijuana’s harmful effects on adolescents, (c) supports improved access to evidence-based treatment, rather than emphasis on criminal charges, for adolescents with cannabis use disorder, and (d) supports careful monitoring of the effects of marijuana-related policy changes on child and adolescent mental health.⁴⁹ The College agrees with this position on marijuana.

04/01/2016

03/24/2016

Furthermore, the study shows that people engaged in the non-medical use of prescription opioids rarely use heroin. Also, the transition to heroin for people abusing prescription opioids occurs at a lower rate than for others. The research indicates that the primary causes in the increase in heroin use and associated overdoses are lower market prices and higher purity for heroin.
 

03/19/2016

03/15/2016

On public record, one application for an indoor grow states they will use over 9,700 gallons a day at full production. The purpose of indoor growing is year-round full production, right? So that’s 3,540,500 gallons per year, or 5.36 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Imagine me putting that pool in my backyard, draining and refilling it every 10 weeks because it makes me a ton of money, keeps a lot of people stoned, and you voted for it.
Where is the outrage? Pot drains water & electric resources #Waste&wasted

03/14/2016

Every case of epilepsy is different and the disease is highly variable. Scientific studies help the entire epilepsy community to understand how and why various treatments work and for whom they are effective. Research also helps us understand the correct dose, side effects, and potential interactions with other medications. At present, the epilepsy community does not know if marijuana is a safe and effective treatment nor do we know the long-term effects
that marijuana will have on learning, memory and behavior, especially in infants and young children. This knowledge gap is of particular concern because both clinical data in adolescents and adults and laboratory data in animals demonstrate that there are potential negative effects of marijuana on these critical brain functions. 

03/13/2016

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) advocates for careful consideration of potential direct and downstream effects of marijuana policy changes on children and adolescents, and involvement of the medical and research community in policy-related discussions.  Legalization of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes, even if restricted to adults, is likely to be associated with (a) decreased adolescent perceptions of marijuana’s harmful effects, (b) increased marijuana use among parents and caretakers, and (c) increased adolescent access to marijuana, all of which reliably predict increased rates of adolescent marijuana use and associated problems.

03/09/2016

Drug use impacts any person's ability to get a job far more than their arrest record. Several suggestions were offered to help make this citation an avenue for reducing future drug use and criminal activity.

03/01/2016

02/21/2016

WHEREAS, the legalization of marijuana would be contrary to the interests of the public health, safety and welfare, and would undermine the quality of life of the citizens of the state of Florida.

02/18/2016

02/13/2016

The National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition (NNOAC) opposes all efforts at the local, state, and Federal levels to decriminalize, legalize, or normalize marijuana possession, production, and use, including legalize “medical” marijuana.

Marijuana is a dangerous psychoactive substance that has caused untold pain and suffering to individuals, families, and communities. 

02/11/2016

Medina's back seat passenger, Daniela Benavides San Miguel, 18, was killed in the crash. Benavides San Miguel had graduated from Gulliver Preparatory last spring and was a freshman at Pepperdine University in California.
A passenger in the front seat, Mathew Saldana, 17, was injured in the crash. Medina and Saldana were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center with head injuries.
According to a court document, toxicology reports showed that Medina tested positive for marijuana.

02/09/2016

The simple fact that THC is fat soluble. That makes it absorbed in a very different way and much more difficult to relate behavior to, say, [blood] levels of THC or develop a breathalyzer."  The height of your intoxication isn't at the moment when blood THC levels peak, and the high doesn't rise and fall uniformly based on how much THC leaves and enters your bodily fluids, says Marilyn Huestis, who headed the chemistry and drug metabolism section at the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

02/01/2016

Acceptance of employee marijuana use means increased accidents and injuries, loss of workplace productivity, increased workers' compensation claims, and employee turnover, to name a few problems (National Institutes of Health). These losses have real dollar value that impacts small-business owners considerably. Ultimately, the most costly battles will be fought in the courts at the employers' expense. Weakening or removing employers' rights for a safe and drug free workplace ultimately threatens all of us.

01/28/2016

01/20/2016

DENVER — The Colorado Department of Transportation says traffic deaths rose by 10 percent last year to 545, the highest total since 2008.
 
#NoCoincidence  

01/17/2016

Five companies were awarded licenses in November to grow and distribute the new low-THC forms of the drug and some have now hired lobbyists. Costa Farms, a giant Miami-based grower of fruits and vegetables, wants to expand the list of ailments for which low-THC marijuana can be prescribed so it can broaden its market. It gave $88,000 to the political committees of the top players, including $35,000 each to the sponsors of their bills -- Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar.  #bribes
 

01/08/2016

The good news, however, is to be found in the very restrictive guidelines they have imposed, including prohibiting smoking it, and pot edibles, as well as Not including psychological issues as debilitating conditions, ie  PTSD, or "pain" to justify physician recommendation for patients. There is also no providing immunity for physicians or dispensers for civil liability. Patient warnings on the packaging are also required because of the risks of use, including addiction. While it is still unfortunate they approved it at all, it is encouraging that they are setting a precedent of how it should be made available to the public considering much of the risks involved in use. 

01/03/2016

"At a minimum, dabs are four times as strong as a joint, and the high is administered all at once,"

01/01/2016

January 2016 Update:
YOUTH USAGE: 
• In the two year average (2013/2014) since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, youth past month marijuana use increased 20 percent compared to the two year average prior to legalization (2011/2012). o Nationally youth past month marijuana use declined 4 percent during the same time.
• The latest 2013/2014 results show Colorado youth ranked #1 in the nation for past month marijuana use, up from #4 in 2011/2012.
COLLEGE USAGE:
•Colorado college age past month marijuana use for 2013/2014 was 62 percent higher than the national average
ADULT USAGE:
•The latest 2013/2014 results show Colorado adults ranked #1 in the nation for past month marijuana use, up from #7 in 2011/2012.
• Colorado adult past month marijuana use for 2013/2014 was 104 percent higher than the national average compared to 51 percent higher in 2011/2012.

12/29/2015

Although studies are beginning to show that some ingredients in marijuana are likely to be helpful for people with certain conditions, the findings have yet to nail down the specifics about the dose, the frequency, the best form to take (such as getting the active compounds from edible products or smoking it), the risks from frequent use, and whether marijuana works as well as or better than other available treatments, Budney said.
Usage Doubles & Addiction Doubles:  Over this 12-year period, the estimated number of U.S. adults who had used marijuana in the previous 12 months grew from 4.1 percent in 2001 to 9.5 percent in 2013. Marijuana-use disorders, which include problems with drug addiction and dependence, also rose, increasing from 1.5 percent of the adult population in 2001 to 2.9 percent in 2013, the study showed.
 
 College students smoke more pot than cigarettes: The survey found that 5.9 percent of college students said they had smoked pot 20 or more times in the past month. For comparison, 5.2 percent of students reported they had smoked cigarettes 20 or more times in the past month, according to the study. 
Inaccurate Labeling Edibles: Only 13 of the 75 tested pot food products — such as baked goods, beverages and candy — bought from dispensaries in California and Washington state had labels that accurately listed the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, 
Teen Brain:  The researchers found that teens who had smoked marijuana — even once — had smaller brain volume in the amygdala compared with teens who never tried pot.
 

12/18/2015

Analysis of Impaired Drivers - Three years ago, about 19 percent of the samples contained THC, the key ingredient in pot. This year, that percentage is up to 33 percent.  

12/18/2015

The evidence of harm, however, is only getting clearing. And the latest rise in use, addiction and death by car crash numbers add clarity to the picture of harms associated with widespread use of the drug.