Once again, high potency marijuana is in the news. Governor J.B. Pritzker and several state lawmakers held a press conference this past Saturday to announce their bill (SB 7) to legalize marijuana for “recreational” use in Illinois. This legislation is sponsored by Illinois Senators Heather Steans (D-Chicago), Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Kimberly Lightford (D-Westchester) and Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago).

Illinois Family Institute continues to present overwhelming evidence of the high costs and consequences of this onerous public policy, and Illinois voters must speak out if we hope to turn the tide on their plans. Many of our friends and neighbors simply do not understand what this policy means for their families, communities, schools, workplace and roadways. If we hope to stop this legislation from becoming law, we must quickly educate and activate parents and grandparents.

It doesn’t take much to turn the tide!

As you are aware, the most extreme abortion legislation to date was introduced in Illinois this year. With a super majority of Leftists in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly and an extremely anti-life governor, it appeared to be a slam dunk for abortion activists. But these bills are now stalled! You did that!

Pro-life advocates made calls, visited their lawmakers, wrote letters and sent emails, and urged others to do the same. God used your efforts to push these bills back!

Earlier this year, the push for marijuana legalization in New Jersey fell apart. According to an article in the New York Times:

“[the] effort to legalize marijuana in News Jersey collapsed… after Democrats were unable to muster enough support for the measure, derailing a central campaign pledge by Gov. Philip D. Murphy and leaving the future of the legalization movement in doubt.”

Our goal is to derail the push here in Illinois with strong evidence coupled with strong opposition from concerned citizens like you. We can stop this from becoming law in the Land of Lincoln!

The evidence of harm couldn’t be clearer. This crazy social experiment has been going on for years in Colorado, California and Washington, and the data is extremely alarming. Consider our top 10 reasons to oppose legal weed in Illinois. And please share the linked graphics on your social media pages.

10 Reasons to Oppose High Potency Marijuana Legalization:

1.) Increased THC Levels. It’s Not Your Daddy’s Weed!

The TCH (tetrahydrocannabinol) levels in today’s marijuana products are much higher than the marijuana of the 60’s and 70’s. This high-THC content has been linked to an increase in serious mental health issues and addiction. A recent Cambridge University study found that the use of today’s high-THC products was associated with a higher risk of addiction than lower potency forms of marijuana and that the association was found to be even higher in younger cannabis users.

This includes the alarmingly high THC Content in Concentrates (oil, wax, dab, shatter).

2.) Increased Risk of Psychosis, and even more alarming is Youth Suicide; more here.

Several studies have linked marijuana use to increased risk for psychiatric disorders, including psychosis (schizophrenia), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. A recent study published in the The Lancet Psychiatry shows that consuming pot on a daily basis and especially using high-potency cannabis increases the odds of having a psychotic episode later.

This is also closely related to the homelessness problem that is increasing in Colorado due to the weed. Please also watch and listen to PGM Pastor Phil Kwiatowski‘s concerns in this short video presentation.

3.) Increased Marijuana-Related Hospitalizations and Poison Control Center Calls. 

Dr. Karen Randall, an ER physician and a resident of Pueblo, Colorado, spoke at a recent town-hall meeting in Des Plaines. Her testimony about how legal weed has negatively affected her hospital and community is powerful. Watch and listen to what she has to say here.

Washington state also has a huge problem with calls to poison centers as well.

4.) Increased Marijuana-Related Exposures in Children 0-5 Years Old. 

“A study in the December 2018 Pediatrics found that nearly half of hospitalized children in Colorado whose parents enrolled in a smoking cessation program tested positive for marijuana exposure. Authors of the study, “Marijuana and Tobacco Co-Exposure in Hospitalized Children” (published online Nov. 19), said findings suggest prevalent co-use of tobacco and marijuana in the state that could expose children to harmful effects of both.” Read more here and here.

5.) Increased Violent Crime in Legalized States; more here.

Are you surprised to learn that research published in the journal Psychological Medicine concludes that continued use of cannabis causes violent behavior as a direct result of changes in brain function that are caused by smoking weed over many years? Read more here.

6.) Increased and Potential Serious Brain Alteration; more here.

Medical research has revealed altered brain activity in young adults with cannabis addiction. The findings suggest a mechanism that may explain why the risk of depression and other mental health issues is higher among those who use the drug. Read more here, from the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

7.) Increased Heroin and Opioid Deaths in Illinois After “Medical” Marijuana is Legalized in 2013.

Would you be surprised to know that legal weed is also linked to increased alcohol consumption? More here, from Dr. Kenneth Finn.

8.) Premature Aging of the Brain.

“By studying a large number of imaging scans, researchers have identified conditions and behaviors that could make the brain age prematurely, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcohol use, and the use of cannabis.” (Medical News Today)

9.) Increased Marijuana-Related Traffic Fatalities; more here. 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a report in October 2018 claiming that “Colorado, Washington, and Oregon experienced a 5.2% higher police-reported crash rate overall than would have been expected had they not legalized recreational marijuana.”

10.) Increased Social and Economic Costs Outweigh Tax Revenue by $4.50 to every $1. more here and here.

Given the facts above, you can see how the social costs for the state’s first responders, welfare system, health care system, traffic fatalities, violent crime, increased use in all age categories, and addiction – are costs Illinois cannot afford.

Take ACTION: Please click HERE to send a message to your state senator and state representative to urge them to reject the push for legal marijuana.

Additionally, PLEASE CALL your lawmakers to make sure they know that many people oppose this disastrous policy. Click HERE for their names and phone numbers, which you will find at the end of the state list. Please make the calls!

Watch more:

Please visit IFI YouTube channel and this playlist of 16 videos (and growing) dedicated to the opposition of marijuana legalization.

Read more:

Thinking Biblically About Recreational Marijuana

Medical Doctor from Peoria Opposes Legal Pot

ER Doc Says “Recreational” Pot Has Ruined My Town

IFI Resource Page on Marijuana

Former State Rep. Jeanne Ives Address Marijuana & Illinois’ Economic Crisis (podcast)

More info:

NoWeedIllinois.com

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A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois!

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

 

This article has been updated to correct errors and add additional information.

Full-Term, Preborn Babies Can Be Killed For Virtually Any Reason

Why, I kept asking myself last week, are so many Americans so livid about Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) signing into law a bill passed jubilantly by the state legislature that makes it possible for women to abort full-term babies. Sure, the bill is morally repugnant and the jubilant applause by the legislature was grotesque, but 19 other states—including Illinois—allow full-term babies to be killed and for the same reasons. Seven other states and the District of Columbia allow full-term babies to be killed for any or no reason. Two other states allow full-term, healthy babies to be aborted if they were conceived during rape or through incest.

Toward the end of last week, just as outraged pro-life voices were dying down, it came to light that a new bill was proposed in Vermont which many mistakenly believe would legalize unrestricted abortion throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy. They were mistaken in that unrestricted access to abortion through the entire nine months of pregnancy has been legal in Vermont since 2014. The bill proposed in Vermont merely enshrines in state law the existing legal right as a “fundamental right.” Pro-baby-killing advocates are preparing for the day Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Late-term abortions are banned in 20 states except if the mother’s “health” is deemed at risk by allowing the baby to grow to term. But here’s the catch: “health” includes any physical, emotional, psychological, or familial factors that affect “well-being.” With that ambiguous and wildly broad definition, virtually any woman can have her baby killed at any point in her pregnancy.

Two states allow healthy babies to be killed in the womb in the 9th month if they were conceived in rape or through incest (AR, UT). Killing full-term babies is no less barbaric because they were created via criminal acts of someone else’s doing.

Seven states allow full-term babies to be killed if the babies have “lethal” abnormalities, which is de facto infanticide.

Take a gander at the chart provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation which lists the 20 states that allow late-term abortions for “health” reasons and the 7 that allow it for any or no other reason.

Also, take note of Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and the District of Columbia. Those places are virtual killing fields. They don’t even require the pretense of a “health” reason for women to abort their full-term babies. In those 7 states, there are no bans on abortion at any stage. It’s open season on babies who, through no fault of their own, have the misfortune of being conceived in the wrong womb.

Since all 50 states and D.C. allow late-term abortions that threaten a mother’s life—as distinct from her “health”—it’s important to understand the inconvenient truth “progressives” don’t want Americans to think about: There is no life-threatening condition that would ever necessitate the direct, intentional, active killing of a baby in the womb. There are relatively rare occasions in which continuing a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life, but ending a pregnancy does not require the direct, intentional, active killing of a baby.

Doctors can induce delivery or perform a C-section to save a woman’s life in a life-threatening or emergency situation without dismembering, crushing, burning, or chemically inducing cardiac arrest in a baby. In some induced deliveries or C-sections, babies will not survive, but that is wholly different from intentionally killing them. Obstetrician-gynecologist and former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explains:

Let me illustrate with a real-life case that I managed while at the Albany Medical Center. A patient arrived one night at 28 weeks gestation with severe pre-eclampsia or toxemia. Her blood pressure on admission was 220/160. A normal blood pressure is approximately 120/80. This patient’s pregnancy was a threat to her life and the life of her unborn child. She could very well be minutes or hours away from a major stroke.

This case was managed successfully by rapidly stabilizing the patient’s blood pressure and “terminating” her pregnancy by Cesarean section. She and her baby did well.

This is a typical case in the world of high-risk obstetrics. In most such cases, any attempt to perform an abortion “to save the mother’s life” would entail undue and dangerous delay in providing appropriate, truly life-saving care. During my time at Albany Medical Center I managed hundreds of such cases by “terminating” pregnancies to save mother’s lives. In all those cases, the number of unborn children that I had to deliberately kill was zero.

GET WOKE, AMERICANS! Full-term babies can be legally exterminated in the womb for virtually any reason or no reason in most states in the U.S. Take your righteous anger at this barbarism and do something useful.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cuomo-Re-Recording-3.mp3

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A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois! 

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.