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Resources on the Truth and Consequences of Marijuana

This page was created to provide information and research material on the harms of legalizing marijuana for both “medical” and recreational purposes.

Some Illinois lawmakers want legalize recreational marijuana for the purpose of taxing and securing a new revenue source. However, the high costs to society far outweigh any revenue stream, which they are hopeful will bail out decades of wasteful spending. It may not be the panacea they were hoping for.

Be sure to WATCH…

VIDEO – The chemicals being used to grow today’s marijuana are causing an environmental disaster.

Marijuana growers are poisoning the soil, water supplies and are killing wildlife.Dr. Mourad Gabriel, Ph.D in Comparative Pathology (emphasis on wildlife disease ecology). He is the Co-founder of the Integral Ecology Research Center.

VIDEO – Marijuana in Your Schools.

Ron Castagna, educator and retired Colorado high school principal of 27 years, 2012 Principal of the Year

VIDEO – Cannabis in the Emergency Room. 

Dr. Karen Randall talks about the terrible financial burden legalization has put on their hospitals and Medicaid system, due to the increase in homelessness and THC potency. Dr. Karen Randall, Emergency Room Physician in the 3rd busiest Emergency Department in Colorado; trained in emergency medicine, pediatrics and family practice; holds a certificate in Cannabis Science and Medicine from the University of Vermont.

VIDEO – Black market thrives, crime and driving fatalities increase.

Chelsea Clarke, Strategic Intelligence Unit Supervisor for the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. She is a primary contributor to the annual Threat Assessment and The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact reports, as well as a leader in the Colorado Heroin Response Work Group. 

VIDEO – Marijuana’s hidden price: the environmental, economic and human impact of legalization in California.  R

oger Morgan, Chairman/founder of Take Back America Campaign; former chairman and executive director of the Coalition for a Drug-Free California; founding chairman of the Colorado SAFE Foundation in 1997; prior Board Member of the San Diego Prevention Coalition; member of the National Coalition for Student Drug Testing.

VIDEO – “It’s Changed My Home.”  

Aubree Adam’s son started using marijuana in the 8th grade, soon after Colorado legalized the drug for recreational use. As a freshman, Aubree’s son had a psychotic break and tried to kill himself. Her son continued a cycle of addiction and mental illness for several years. He is now in recovery, and admits marijuana almost killed him and was his gateway to other drugs. 

VIDEO – Legalization has not curbed the opioid epidemic in Colorado, which saw a record year of opioid deaths in 2017. 

Dr. Ken Finn, Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Board Certified in Pain Medicine and Pain Management;  licensed in Colorado, Utah and Arizona; president and founder of several Rehab Medicine businesses;  serves on the American Board of Pain Medicine Executive Board and Exam Council; Volunteer Clinical Instructor at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Medical Branch; published several papers related to cannabis in the face of the opioid epidemic and societal effects. 

VIDEO – “If It’s Legal, Why Test? Addressing the Marijuana Bully in the Workplace.”

Illinois business owners must be aware of the implications legalization will have on their business. Chuck Marting serves on the Board of the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association; former law enforcement officer where he spent 17 years as a Drug Recognition Expert; expertise in workplace impact, has trained district attorneys, school administrators and business owners on workplace impairment testing.

Rocky Mountain High Brings State to New Lows Recreational marijuana has negatively affected every part of Colorado’s culture: schools with increased youth use, poisonings, car fatalities, hospital admissions… But what’s little known, and Big Marijuana wants to keep it that way, is the effect it’s having on neighborhoods, the environment, and homelessness. Big Marijuana lied to Coloradans. Illinois residents should expect the same to happen here. Watch this.

Effects on Society

A Second Drug Wave Is Coming 

Colorado Law Officer Warns Other States Not to Legalize

Five Years Later, Colorado Sees Toll of Pot Legalization

Colorado Impact Study by Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

Analyzing Colorado’s Grand Experiment

Pot is a Gateway Drug

Colorado’s $1 Billion Pot Industry Saves Towns as it Sows Mayhem

What to Expect if a Marijuana Cultivation Center or Dispensary Opens in Your Community

Denver Drug Agent: Our problems ‘Have Exploded’ with Pot Legalization

Costs to Teens and Adolescents

[VIDEO] Truth and Consequences of Medical Marijuana by Peter Bensinger

Marijuana Legalization: The Issues

Addictive, Stronger & Dangerous

9 in 10 Teens at Drug Clinics Being Treated for Marijuana Use

    • Cannabis is responsible for 91% of drug addiction cases involving teenagers
    • Skunk – high-potency herbal cannabis – causing more people to seek treatment 
    • Backs up research that skunk is having detrimental impact on mental health

How safe is super-concentrated marijuana?

Pot Plenty Dangerous Today

Potent THC Levels

Pot Contains Heavy Metals & Fungus

Stop Pretending Marijuana is Harmless

Bigger Habit for College Students than Cigarettes

Cannabis Can be Highly Addictive, Major Study Finds

Getting Marijuana Addiction Treatment

Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy

“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.”

Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago’s EVIDENCE-BASED POSITION STATEMENT
In Opposition to Legalization of Possession and Use of Marijuana for Non-Medical Reasons by Adults in Illinois 

According to Narconon:

  • Of all the people who use marijuana, about one in eleven will become addicted.
  • When a young person begins smoking marijuana in his or her TEENS, he (or she) has a one in six chance of becoming addicted.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine:

“Marijuana is a mood-altering drug capable of producing dependency. While popularly thought to be a fairly benign ‘drug,’ marijuana can have adverse effects on memory and learning, perception, behavior and functioning, and on pregnancy.”

The American Psychiatric Association:

“There is no current scientific evidence that marijuana is in any way beneficial for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder. In contrast, current evidence supports, at minimum, a strong association of cannabis use with the onset of psychiatric disorders. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to harm, given the effects of cannabis on neurological development.”

Psychotic/Violent Incidents

INCONTROVERTIBLE – Heavy Cannabis Use Increases Risk of Psychosis

Cannabis-Induced Psychosis – Judge Rules

Teen Killed for Smoking His Friend’s Weed

5 Teens Face 1st Degree Murder Over Pot and Meth

Psychotic Episode – Man Beats 82-yr-old Mother to Death

Strong Cannabis Causes 1 in 4 Cases of Psychosis

“American Sniper” Chris Kyle Murdered

This Is How One Pot Smoker Learned That Weed Plays a Mysterious Role in Psychosis

Pothead gets 25 Yrs for Attempted Murder of President

Lancaster County Mom Charged with Infant Daughter’s Asphyxiation Death

13-Yr-Old Stabbed to Death

High on Edibles Pleads Guilty to Wife’s Murder

Tucson Massacre: 6 Killed, 14 Injured

TN Shooter Smoked Pot

PA Man High on Pot Charged with Killing Infant Daughter

CO Theatre Shooter Killed 12, Injured Dozens

Clackamas Shooter “Smoked a Bowl” Before Killing 2, Injuring 1

Boston Marathon Bombing

Mother Shoots 17-Yr-Old Son

Staunton Murder-Suicide

Charleston Church Shooting

Chattanooga Shooter Changed After Mideast Visit, Friend Says

Chilling Account of O.C. Mansion Slayings

Robert Durst, ‘The Jinx,’ Charged with First-Degree Murder

Poisoned by the Weed: Marijuana and Pretty Little Killers

Marijuana Use Increases Violent Behavior

1-Armed Man Accused in Pot-Fueled Samurai Sword Attack

Baby’s Death Investigated

Deaths & Suicides

THC Deaths 

Synthetic Marijuana Cause of 3 Dead, 107 Hospitalized, Severe Bleeding

Mother Fell Asleep, Rolled on Top of Child After Using Marijuana

Mom Charged in Baby Smothering Death

Highland County Coroner: Marijuana is ‘gateway to hell’

How safe is super-concentrated marijuana?

Marijuana Blamed in More Deaths

Edibles Linked to Attempted Suicide

Babysitter Crushes Toddler under Vehicle

College Grad Commits Suicide

Who Said No One Ever Died From Marijuana?

Denver Coroner: Man Fell to Death After Eating Marijuana Cookies

Jacksonville Police: Girlfriend Shot in Face While Playing with Gun, Smoking Marijuana

Couple Dies in Marijuana-Related Crash

Hash Oil Explosion Leaves 1 Dead

Father, Son Staged Slain Alaska Troopers’ Bodies, Indictment Says

Impaired Driving & Fatalities

More Drivers Killed Under the Influence of Drugs Than Alcohol

Driver High on Pot Kills 3 (2 are kids)

Illinois Marijuana Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes are Increasing

Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Linked to Increased Crashes

Prom Night Ends Tragically

Woman Accused of DUI in Fatal Crash Ordered to Stand Trial

Fatal Road Crashes Involving Marijuana Double 

Effects of Marijuana on Driving Performance

Children

3-Year-Old Hospitalized After Ingesting Marijuana

More Children Hospitalized for Mistaking Pot Brownies, Cookies for Treats

Rise in babies Born with Marijuana in System

Baby’s Death Investigated

Study Shows What Happens to Babies of Mother Smokes Marijuana

Baby Ate Cannabis Oil

The American Medical Association:

“Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood and psychotic thought disorders.”

Adolescents, Teens & Schools

Legalized pot sends more teens to ER in Colorado, study finds

10 Serious Risks for Youth

Marijuana & School Failure

Teen Use & Treatment Rises

Adolescent Pot Use & Abnormal Conditions

Middle School Drug Cases Increase

Scores Arrested for Underage Possession

Colorado School’s #1 Problem is Pot

Northwestern Study Poor Memory Loss in Teens

Teen: CO Voters Were Duped 

The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America:

“As a national organization that builds coalitions to prevent youth alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, CADCA has long believed that marijuana legalization is a bad idea that will increase youth drug use.”

Drug Use in the Work Place

Workplace Drug Use at a 12-Year High

Drug Use a Problem for Employers

Employers Can Fire for Off-Duty Pot Use

Study Confirms Pot Use Up Drastically in Workforce

Company Says Pot Pushed Them out of State

Marijuana’s Effects on Health

Cannabis Linked to Bipolar Symptoms in Young Adults

Greater Marijuana Use Linked to More Severe Schizophrenia

Cannabis & the Brain: NIDA Sounds the Alarm

New Study is Bad News if You’re a Marijuana Supporter

[VIDEO] Dr. Andrea Barthwell on Marijuana as Medicine [Part 1] [Part 2] 

American Society of Addiction Medicine: White Paper on State-Level Proposals to Legalize Marijuana

This is Your Brain on Drugs

Cannabis toxicity and adverse biological activity

Regular pot smokers have shrunken brains, study says

Additional resources on the health effects of marijuana can be found HERE.

Marijuana Decriminalization and Legalization

Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No

Prisons Not Filled With Pot Users

Cannabis Myths Exposed

Criminal Justice: Myths and Facts

National Association of Drug Court Professionals: The Facts on Marijuana

Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No

Taxing Marijuana

State Worker Becomes New Marijuana Lobbyist

Colorado Rethinks Legalization

Pacific Garden Mission Letter Opposing Decriminalization

Medical & Law Enforcement Nightmare

The Hidden Costs of Marijuana Use in CO: One Emergency Department’s Experience

Lawsuit Against Marijuana Company for Fatal Shooting

Hospital Incurs $20 Million in Loss Due to Marijuana-Related Admissions

Former Drug Czar Opposes Legalization

Few IL Doctors Will Certify Patients for Medical Marijuana

Prosecutors & Law Enforcement Sue Colorado  Press Release

Pot Not Staying in Colorado

Black Market

Big Marijuana Trashes Democratic Process

Black Market Thriving in Colorado

A pro-marijuana group admits the key to full legalization is legalizing “medical marijuana” first.

“The key to it is medical access, because once you have hundreds of thousands of people using marijuana under medical supervision the whole scam is going to be bought. Once there’s medical access…then we will get full legalization.”
~Richard Cowan, former director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana.

Most Medical Organizations Oppose Marijuana as Medicine

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes medical marijuana outside the regulatory process of the FDA and opposes legalization because of the potential harms to children and adolescents.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s policy statement warns of the negative effects.

The American Academy of Neurology warns that medical marijuana legislation is not supported by medical research.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine recognizes “there are several potential medical and public health consequences of marijuana use that require further research.”

The Glaucoma Research Institute’s position: “To date, no studies have shown that marijuana— or any of its approximately 400 chemical components—can safely and effectively lower intraocular pressure better than the variety of drugs currently on the market. Currently, there are no National Eye Institute studies in the United States concerning the use of marijuana to treat glaucoma.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has sounded the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.

Pot Not Medicine

No Approved ‘Medicine’ in Marijuana

Scant Evidence Medical Pot Helps Many Illnesses

A Bust for “Medical” Marijuana: Health Benefits Go Up in Smoke

Colorado Rejects Pot for PTSD Treatment, Cites Lack of Research

Videos

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