Written by William Choslovsky

Imagine this: Upon taking his oath of office, President Donald Trump instructs his new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to ignore civil rights laws.

How would that go over?

Before you yell, “But we are a nation of laws!” you can thank President Barack Obama and his prior Attorney General Eric Holder for magnifying this issue.

Basically, the Obama administration made it standard operating procedure to ignore laws they thought unfashionable or unworthy.

The best example of this is marijuana.

To be clear at the outset, I am neither pro-pot nor anti-pot. And, in fact, marijuana is not even the issue — rather, the Constitution is. Marijuana is just the symptom that exposes the problem.

As pieces of paper go, our Constitution has proved remarkably durable, as it has structured our democracy for more than two centuries.

Old news now, marijuana laws are sweeping the country. More than half the states, including Illinois, have legalized some form of marijuana use.

But there is one little problem. Long ago Congress passed a law making marijuana, in all forms, illegal. No exceptions. Whether wise or not, it is the law of the land, no different from the thousands of other federal laws on the books.

Given this conflict, the question arises, can state law really trump federal law? Is marijuana really “legal” in those states?

The short answer is “no,” it remains illegal under federal law.

The constitutional lesson is simple: federal law is top dog, and it trumps all conflicting state law.

If Congress says your toilet bowl can hold only 2 gallons of water, and Illinois passes a law saying it can hold 3 gallons, Congress wins, and your toilet will have only 2 gallons to flush with.

It is called the Supremacy Clause, and it is all you really need to know to be a constitutional scholar.

But amazingly, Holder — Obama’s first attorney general — directed the Department of Justice to ignore federal law. He instructed his deputies and the FBI not to investigate, arrest or prosecute marijuana growers and users in states where it was “legal.” In short, he told them to look the other way, the rule of law be damned.

Though this issue surfaces through pot, it is dangerous, even subversive, stuff — however well-intended.

As the nation’s top law enforcement officer, the attorney general’s duty is to enforce the law — whatever it may be — not to make law. In failing to do so, he violates his oath to uphold the Constitution.

At bottom, this is no different than a rogue local sheriff choosing to enforce some laws while turning his eye on others.

To be clear, our federal law banning marijuana might be terrible. But that issue is above the attorney general’s pay grade, as his job is to enforce — not make — the law.

And the irony in all this is that there is a simple fix.

If our nation’s pot laws are terrible, then Congress can, and should, amend the existing law. Heck, it could just repeal the law altogether. It could do so in five minutes, which the Constitution allows.

But the Constitution does not allow the attorney general to simply ignore otherwise valid federal law because he, or others, think the law unwise. That is what happens in banana republics where men, not laws, rule.

Long ago, President Abraham Lincoln said: “The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.”

And the issue — enforcing valid laws, even bad ones, until repealed — is not limited to marijuana.

The same analysis applies to other important issues of the day, including immigration laws and mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Good or bad, these laws should be enforced until properly repealed or ruled unconstitutional.

Obama, a constitutional scholar, understands this.

In fact, in 2014 when some liberal groups criticized him on immigration policy and called him the “deporter in chief,” he responded, “I cannot ignore those laws any more than I can ignore any of the other laws that are on the books. That’s why it’s important to get comprehensive immigration reform done.”

Yet when Congress failed to act on immigration reform, Obama tried to get his way through executive order.

“Executive order” is just a fancy way of sometimes ignoring the law.

To put things in perspective, once you start down this path, what if a state chose to legalize heroin? Or child pornography? Or better yet, it passed a law making federal taxes optional?

It is a slippery slope best avoided.

Importantly, this is not a screed against Democrats or Republicans. The Constitution is larger than both.

After all, if a Democrat today ignores pot laws, might a Republican tomorrow choose to ignore civil rights laws?

When you remove the politics, the issue and solution become clear: amend or repeal “bad” laws, but do not ignore them, as such is the beginning of chaos. Though some may scoff at these extreme examples, the underlying concept remains the same in each case: Our Constitution is supreme and must be respected.

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William Choslovsky is a Chicago lawyer who appreciates selective enforcement of laws that might someday apply to him.

This article was originally posted at ChicagoTribune.com

Written by Dr. Donald J. Hagler

Federal Law in the United States has prohibited the manufacture, sale, and distribution of marijuana for more than 70 years. However, with the discovery of potential medicinal properties of marijuana and the increasing misperception that the drug is harmless, there have arisen increased efforts to achieve its broad legalization despite persistent problems of abuse.

Medical use of marijuana has prompted many states to establish programs for sale of medically-prescribed marijuana. As public perception of marijuana’s safety has grown, some states have also passed voter-approved referenda legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults. The result has been the same: limited legalization has led to greater availability of marijuana to youth.

How is Marijuana Used?

Whether used licitly or illicitly, marijuana is smoked or ingested. It may be smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes (joints), e cigarettes, pipes or water pipes (bongs), and cigars that have been refilled with a mixture of marijuana and tobacco (blunts). Marijuana emits a distinctive pungent usually sweet-and-sour odor when it is smoked. Marijuana is not so easily detectable, however, when ingested in candy, other foods or as a tea.

Has Legalization Escalated Youth Exposure to Marijuana?

There is evidence legalization of marijuana limited to medical dispensaries and/or adult recreational use has led to increased unintended exposure to marijuana among young children.

By 2011, rates of poison center calls for accidental pediatric marijuana ingestion more than tripled in states that decriminalized marijuana before 2005. In states which passed legislation between 2005 and 2011 call rates increased nearly 11.5 percent per year. There was no similar increase in states that had not decriminalized marijuana as of December 31, 2011.

Additionally, exposures in decriminalized states where marijuana use was legalized were more likely than those in non-legal states to present with moderate to severe symptoms requiring admission to a pediatric intensive care unit. The median age of children involved was 18-24 months.

Marijuana use by adolescents has grown steadily as more states enact various decriminalization laws. According to CDC data, more teens now smoke marijuana than cigarettes.

It is unclear, however, whether this trend indicates a causal relationship or mere correlation. There is some evidence legalization may encourage more youth to experiment with the drug. A national study of 6116 high school seniors, prior to legalization of recreational use in any state, found 10 percent of non-users said they would try marijuana if the drug were legal in their state. Significantly, this included large subgroups of students normally at low risk for drug experimentation, including non-cigarette smokers, those with strong religious affiliation, and those with peers who frown upon drug use. Among high school seniors already using marijuana, 18 percent said they would use more under legalization.

There is also evidence of medical marijuana diversion having a significant impact upon adolescents. For example, researchers in Colorado found that approximately 74 percent of adolescents in substance abuse treatment had used someone else’s medical marijuana. After adjusting for sex, race and ethnicity, those who used medical marijuana had an earlier age of regular marijuana use, and more marijuana abuse and dependence symptoms than those who did not use medical marijuana.

Conclusions from this study may not apply to adolescents as a whole due to the select population surveyed. There are broader adolescent population studies suggesting no significant increase in use due to enactment of medical marijuana laws.

These authors, however, caution that their results may not be definitive for five reasons: not all states with medical marijuana laws are represented in the various studies; the studies rely upon survey data from a voluntary survey (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) which has the potential for reporting bias; there are gaps in the annual youth risk behavior data; the primary outcome measure was obtained from a single survey item; and the research is not long-term relative to when medical marijuana laws were implemented.

Consequently, while all reported their data did not find medical marijuana laws to significantly increase teen use, they also advised continued long-term observation and research.

Is Marijuana Medicine?

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted there is very little scientific evidence to support the use of medical marijuana. Authors Samuel Wilkinson and Deepak D’Souza explain that medical marijuana is considerably different from all other prescription medications in that “[e]vidence supporting its efficacy varies substantially and in general falls short of the standards required for approval of other drugs by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

The FDA requires carefully conducted studies consisting of hundreds to thousands of patients in order to accurately assess the benefits and risks of a potential medication.

Although some studies suggest marijuana may palliate chemotherapy-induced vomiting, cachexia in HIV/AIDS patients, spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, and neuropathic pain, there is no significant evidence marijuana is superior to FDA approved medications currently available to treat these conditions. Additionally, support for use of marijuana in other conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s disease and Alzheimer’s, is not scientific, relying on emotion-laden anecdotes instead of adequately powered, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials.

Also, to be considered a legitimate medicine, a substance must have well-defined and measurable ingredients that are consistent from one unit (such as a pill or injection) to the next. This consistency allows researchers to determine optimal dosing and frequency. Drs Samuel Wilkinson and Deepak D’Souza state:

“Prescription drugs are produced according to exacting standards to ensure uniformity and purity of active constituents … Because regulatory standards of the production process vary by state, the composition, purity, and concentration of the active constituents of marijuana are also likely to vary. This is especially problematic because unlike most other prescription medications that are single active compounds, marijuana contains more than 100 cannabinoids, terpenoids, and flavonoids that produce individual, interactive, and entourage effects.”

As a consequence, there are no dosing guidelines for marijuana for any of the conditions it has been approved to treat. And finally, there is no scientific evidence that the potential healthful effects of marijuana outweigh its documented adverse effects.

Sound ethics demands that physicians “First do no harm.” This is why a dozen national health organizations, including the College, presently oppose further legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

If and when rigorous research delineates marijuana’s true benefits relative to its hazards, compares its efficacy with current medications on the market, determines its optimal routes of delivery and dosing, and standardizes its production and dispensing (to match that of schedule II medications like narcotics and opioids), then medical opposition will dissipate.

The Extent of Marijuana Abuse

In the United States, marijuana is the most frequently used illicit drug, with 23.9 million of those at least 12 years old having used an illegal drug within the past month in 2012.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded 2013 Monitoring the Future study of the year 2012 showed that 12.7 percent of 8th graders, 29.8 percent of 10th graders, and 36.4 percent of 12th graders had used marijuana at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. They also found that 7, 18 and 22.7 percent respectively for these groups used marijuana in the past month.

After a period of decline in the last decade, marijuana use has generally increased among young people since 2007, corresponding with both its increased availability through limited legalization and a diminishing perception of the drug’s risks. The number of current (past month) users aged 12 and up increased from 14.5 to 18.9 million.

In 2010, 7.3 percent of all persons admitted to publicly funded treatment facilities were aged 12-17. Marijuana is the leading illicit substance mentioned in adolescent emergency department admissions and autopsy reports, and is considered one of the major contributing factors leading to violent deaths and accidents among adolescents.

  Such data indicate that marijuana use in adolescents is a major and growing problem. Given the widespread availability and abuse of marijuana, and its increasing decriminalization, it is important to examine the adverse clinical consequences of marijuana use.

Marijuana and Addiction

Marijuana is addictive. While approximately 9 percent of users overall become addicted to marijuana, about 17 percent of those who start during adolescence and 25-50 percent of daily users become addicted. Thus, many of the nearly 6.5 percent of high school seniors who report smoking marijuana daily or almost daily are well on their way to addiction, if not already addicted. In fact, between 70-72 percent of 12-17 year olds who enter drug treatment programs, do so primarily because of marijuana addiction.

Long-term marijuana users trying to quit report various withdrawal symptoms including irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which can make it difficult to remain abstinent. These withdrawal symptoms can begin within the first 24 hours following cessation, peak at two to three days, and subside within one or two weeks follow drug cessation.

Behavioral interventions, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have proven to be effective in treating marijuana addiction.

Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the endocannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

Is Marijuana a Gateway Leading to the Abuse of Other Illicit Drugs?

An additional danger associated with marijuana use observed in adolescents is a sequential pattern of involvement in other legal and illegal drugs. Marijuana is frequently a stepping stone that bridges the gap between cigarette and alcohol use and the use of other more powerful and dangerous substances like cocaine and heroin. This stage-like progression of substance abuse, known as the gateway phenomenon,

is common among youth from all socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Additionally, marijuana is often intentionally used with other substances, including alcohol or crack cocaine, to magnify its effects. Phencyclidine (PCP), formaldehyde, crack cocaine, and codeine cough syrup are also often mixed with marijuana without the user’s knowledge.

Other Effects of Marijuana on the Brain

The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). When marijuana is smoked, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body. It is absorbed more slowly when ingested in food or drink.

In all cases, however, THC acts upon specific molecular targets on brain cells, called cannabinoid receptors. These receptors are ordinarily activated by chemicals similar to THC called endocannabinoids, such as anandamide. These receptors are naturally occurring in the body and are part of a neural communication network (the endocannabinoid system) that plays an important role in normal brain development and function. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors is found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement. Marijuana over-activates the endocannabinoid system, causing the high and other effects that users experience. These effects include distorted perceptions, psychotic symptoms, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, disrupted learning and memory, and impaired reaction time, attention span, judgment, balance and coordination.

Chronic exposure to THC may also hasten the age-related loss of nerve cells. Numerous mechanisms have been postulated to link cannabis use, attentional deficits, psychotic symptoms, and neural desynchronization. The hippocampus, a component of the brain’s limbic system, is necessary for memory, learning, and integrating sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. THC suppresses neurons in the information-processing system of the hippocampus, thus learned behaviors, dependent on the hippocampus, also deteriorate.

Brain MRI studies now report that in young recreational marijuana users, structural abnormalities in gray matter density, volume, and shape occur in areas of the brain associated with drug craving and dependence. There also was significant abnormality measures associated with increasing drug use behavior. In addition to the regions of the nucleus accumbens and amygdala, the whole-brain gray matter density analysis revealed other brain regions that showed reduced density in marijuana users compared with control participants, including several regions in the prefrontal cortex: right/left frontal pole, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right middle frontal gyrus (although another small region in the right middle frontal gyrus showed higher gray matter density in marijuana users).

Countless studies have also shown that prefrontal cortex dysfunction is involved with decision-making abnormalities and functional MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies have shown that cannabis use may affect the function of this region.

Brain imaging with MRI was used to map areas of working memory in the brain and showed similar findings in normal and schizophrenic subjects who did not use marijuana, but decreases in the size of the working memory areas of the striatum and thalamus for those who had a history of cannabis use, that was more marked in those who used marijuana at a younger age and in users with schizophrenia.

In chronic adolescent users, marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory persists long after the acute effects of the drug wear off. A major study published in 2012 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides objective evidence that marijuana is harmful to the adolescent brain. As part of this large-scale study of health and development, researchers in New Zealand administered IQ tests to over 1,000 individuals at age 13 (born in 1972 and 1973) and assessed their patterns of cannabis use at several points as they aged. Participants were again IQ tested at age 38, and their two scores were compared as a function of their marijuana use. The results were striking: Participants who used cannabis heavily in their teens and continued through adulthood showed a significant drop in IQ between the ages of 13 and 38—an average of eight points for those who met criteria for cannabis dependence. Those who started using marijuana regularly or heavily after age 18 showed minor declines.

By comparison, those who never used marijuana showed no declines in IQ. This is the first prospective study to test young people before their first use of marijuana and again after long-term use (as much as 20+ years later) thereby ruling out a pre-existing difference in IQ. This means the finding of a significant mental decline among those who used marijuana heavily before age 18, even after they quit taking the drug, is consistent with the theory that drug use during adolescence—when the brain is still rewiring, pruning, and organizing itself—has long-lasting negative effects on the brain.

Other studies have also shown a link between prolonged marijuana use and cognitive or neural impairment. A recent report in the journal Brain, for example, reveals neural-connectivity impairment in some brain regions following prolonged cannabis use initiated in adolescence or young adulthood.

Another longitudinal study followed 3385 patients who were between 18 and 30 years of age in 1985 for over 25 years. Cognitive function was assessed at the end of the study and included tests of verbal memory, processing speed, and executive functioning. 84.3 percent of the population reported past marijuana use, but only 11.6 percent continued using marijuana during middle age. For each five years of past marijuana use, verbal memory decreased significantly.

Effects on Activities of Daily Living

Consistent with marijuana’s impact upon the brain, research demonstrates marijuana has the potential to cause difficulties in daily life and/or worsen a person’s existing problems. Heavy marijuana users generally report lower life satisfaction, reduced mental and physical health, more relationship problems, and less academic and career success compared to their peers who come from similar backgrounds. Marijuana use is also associated with a higher likelihood of dropping out of school, workplace tardiness and absence, more accidents on the job with concomitant workman compensation claims, and increased job turnover.

A 2014 study combined the data of three investigations from Australia and New Zealand which compared a series of outcome measures of young adults according to their marijuana use at age 17. The researchers found a significant dose-response effect for each of these. After adjusting for co-variables, compared to those who never used cannabis prior to age 17 (OR 1.0), the odds of graduating from high school by age 25 dropped to 0.78 (95% CI,0.67-0.90) for those who used cannabis less than monthly to 0.61 (95% CI,0.45-0.81) for those using it monthly or more to 0.47 (95% CI,0.30-0.73) for those using it weekly or more to 0.37 (95% CI,0.20-0.66) for daily users. The decrease in attaining a university degree was almost identical. The odds of dependence on cannabis between the ages of 17 and 25 rose progressively from 2.06 (95% CI,1.75-2.42) for less than monthly users to 17.95 (95% CI,9.44-34.12) for daily users, and the odds of other illicit drug use between the ages of 23-25 rose from 1.67 (95% CI,1.45-1.92) for less than monthly users to 7.80 (95% CI,4.46-13.63) for those who were daily users prior to age 17. The odds of a making a suicide attempt between the ages of 17 and 25 were increased from 1.62 (95% CI,1.19-2.19) for less than monthly users to 6.83 (95% CI,2.04-22.9) for daily users.

While unadjusted odds ratios were progressively higher for progressively higher amounts of cannabis used before age 17 for both depression (between ages 17-25) and for welfare dependence (at ages 27-30 depending on the study), these differences were no longer significant after adjusting for co-variables. Although the greatest harm was among heavier users, it is most concerning that even less than monthly usage prior to age 17 was associated with a significantly lower educational achievement, and significantly higher rates of drug dependence and suicide attempts.

Marijuana and Mental Illness

 A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and mental illness. People who are dependent on marijuana frequently have other comorbid mental disorders including but not limited to anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and personality disturbances, including amotivation and failure to engage in activities that are typically rewarding (see figure 3).

Marijuana use is associated with a 7-fold increased risk of depression (OR 7.10, 95% CI,4.39-11.73) and a 5-fold increased risk of suicidal ideation (OR 5.38, 95% CI,3.31-8.73) when used alone, and with a 9-fold increased risk of depression (OR 9.15, 95% CI,4.58-18.29) and nearly 9-fold increased risk of suicidal ideation when marijuana plus other drugs are involved (OR 8.74, 95% CI 4.29-17.79).32 Daily marijuana use in young women has been associated with a five-fold increase in depression and anxiety.

Population studies also reveal an association between cannabis use and increased risk of schizophrenia. In the short term, high doses of marijuana can produce a temporary psychotic reaction involving hallucinations and paranoia. There is also sufficient data indicating that chronic marijuana use may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in people predisposed to it, perhaps also intensifying their symptoms.

A series of large prospective studies showed a link between marijuana use and the later development of psychosis with genetic variables, the amount of drug used, and the younger the age at which use began increasing the risk of occurrence. Although it is possible that pre-existing mental illness may lead some individuals to self-medicate with (abuse) marijuana and other illicit drugs, further prospective studies similar to those examining psychosis, will more firmly establish marijuana as a causative factor for other forms of mental illness.

A review of 10 studies evaluating the possible link between cannabis use and the development of psychotic disorders found nearly a 50 percent increased risk of psychosis among cannabis users versus nonusers. “Longitudinal studies show a consistent pattern of association between cannabis and psychosis, which could be indicative of a causal relationship.” “There is a strong body of epidemiologic evidence to support the view that regular or heavy cannabis use increases the risk of developing psychotic disorders that persist beyond the direct effects of exogenous cannabinoids.”

One mechanism that may contribute to this increased risk is the increase in neural noise caused by cannabis. Neural noise is random neural activity of the brain which reflects poor processing of information. The active constituent of cannabis (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) has been reported to increase this neural noise which may play a role in the psychosis-like effects of cannabis.

Although there may be other factors that contribute to the apparent relationship between marijuana use and psychosis, it is an important factor to be considered, especially when there is a family history of mental illness.

Marijuana and Driving

Marijuana contributes to accidents while driving due to its significant impairment of judgment and motor coordination. Data from several studies was analyzed and documented that use of marijuana more than doubles a driver’s risk of involvement in an accident. Because they impede different driving functions, the combination of even low levels of marijuana and alcohol is worse than either substance alone.

Studies have shown a statistically significant increase in non-alcohol drugs detected in fatally injured drivers in the past decade. The most commonly detected non-alcohol drug was cannabinol, the prevalence of which increased from 4.2 percent in 1999 to 12.2 percent in 2010 (Z = -13.63, P < 0.0001). The increase in the prevalence of non-alcohol drugs was observed in all age groups and in both sexes. In this study, increases in the prevalence of narcotics and cannabinol detected in fatally injured drivers were particularly apparent.

Other Health Effects of Marijuana

Since marijuana contains many of the same compounds as tobacco, it has the same adverse effects on the respiratory system when smoked as tobacco. These include chronic cough, respiratory infections, and bronchitis. In the longer term emphysema and lung cancer are also among its effects. In fact, smoking marijuana is more harmful than tobacco for two reasons: first, because it contains more tar and carcinogens than tobacco, and secondly, because marijuana smokers tend to inhale more deeply and for a longer period of time as compared to tobacco smokers.

Marijuana use also has a variety of adverse, short- and long-term effects, especially on the cardiopulmonary system. Marijuana raises the heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to three hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users had a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug. This elevated risk may be due to increased heart rate as well as the effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in older individuals or in those with cardiac vulnerabilities. Marijuana use has been found to increase blood pressure and heart rate and to decrease the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

Chronic smoking of marijuana and its active chemical THC has consistently been shown to increase the risk of developing testicular cancer, in particular a more aggressive form of the disease. One study compared 369 Seattle-area men aged 18-44 with testicular cancer, to 979 men in the same age bracket without the disease. The researchers found that current marijuana users were 1.7 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than nonusers, and that the younger the age of initiation (below 18) and the heavier the use, the greater the risk of developing testicular cancer.

A similar study of 455 men in Los Angeles found that men with testicular germ cell tumors were twice as likely to have used marijuana as men without these tumors.

THC can also cause endocrine disruption resulting in gynecomastia, decreased sperm count, and impotence.

Effects of prenatal exposure to marijuana

The risk of using marijuana during pregnancy is unrecognized by the general public, but infants and children exposed prenatally to marijuana have a higher incidence of neurobehavioral problems. THC and other compounds in marijuana mimic the human brain’s cannabinoid-like chemicals, thus prenatal marijuana exposure may alter the developing endocannabinoid system in the fetal brain, which may result in attention deficit, difficulty with problem solving, and poorer memory.

Evidence especially suggests an association between prenatal marijuana exposure and impaired executive functioning skills beyond the age of three. Specifically, children with a history of exposure are found to have an increased rate of impulsivity, attention deficits, and difficulty solving problems requiring the integration and manipulation of basic visuoperceptual skills.

Rising Potency and Contaminants

The potency of marijuana has been increasing for decades, with THC concentrations rising from 4 percent in the 1980s to 14.5 percent in 2012 in samples confiscated by police. Some strains now contain as much as 30 percent THC. For a new user, this may mean exposure to higher concentrations of THC, with a greater chance of an adverse or unpredictable reaction. Increases in potency may account for the rise in emergency department visits involving marijuana use. For experienced users, it may mean a greater risk for addiction if they are exposing themselves to high doses on a regular basis.

However, the full range of consequences associated with marijuana’s higher potency is not well understood, nor is it known whether experienced marijuana users adjust for the increase in potency by using less. Since the legalization in Colorado, one certified lab there has reported that much of the marijuana they have studied and tested has been found to be laced with heavy metals, pesticides, fungus and bacteria.

Health Risks Underestimated

Health risks associated with marijuana use are often underestimated by adolescents, their parents, and health professionals. As explained above, there are newer, stronger forms of marijuana available than that which existed in 1960; current forms of marijuana are known to be three to five times more potent.

Parents underestimate the availability of marijuana to teens, the extent of their use of the drug, and the risks associated with its use. In a 1995 survey, the Hazelden Foundation found that only 40 percent of parents advised their teenagers not to use marijuana, 20 percent emphasized its illegal status, and 19 percent communicated to their teenagers that it is addictive.

Parental Monitoring Important

Research shows that appropriate parental monitoring can reduce drug use, even among those adolescents who may be prone to marijuana use, such as those with conduct, anxiety, or affective mood disorders.

Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) found that adolescents were much less likely to use marijuana if their parents stated their disapproval.

“Parents who do not want their kids getting drunk and using drugs should begin by sending a strong message to their kids about the importance of avoiding alcohol. Our survey results this year show how important it is for teens to get a clear anti-use message from their parents, especially from Dad. Teens who get drunk monthly are 18 times more likely to report marijuana use than teens who do not drink; those who believe their father is okay with them drinking are two and a half times more likely to get drunk in a typical month. Therefore, parents who do not want their kids getting drunk and using drugs should begin by sending a strong message to their children about the importance of avoiding alcohol.”

In 2011, past month use of illicit drugs, cigarettes, and binge alcohol use were lower among youth aged 12 to 17 who reported that their parents always or sometimes engaged in monitoring behaviors compared to youths whose parents seldom or never engaged in monitoring behaviors. The rate of past month use of any illicit drug was 8.2 percent for youths whose parents always or sometimes helped with homework compared with 18.7 percent among youth who indicated that their parents seldom or never helped.

Columbia Center for Alcohol and Substance Abuse found that teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week) were less likely to have used marijuana. Compared to teens who had infrequent family dinners (2 or fewer per week), teens who had frequent family dinners were almost 1.5 times likelier to have said they had an excellent relationship with their mother and their father. The report also found that compared to teens who said they had an excellent relationship with their fathers, teens that had a less than very good relationship with their father were:

Compared to teens who said they had an excellent relationship with their mothers, teens who had a less than very good relationship with their mother were:

Consequently, the College encourages parents to take advantage of the “family table,” and to become involved in drug abuse prevention programs in the community or in the child’s school in order to minimize the risk of their children experimenting with drug use.

In Conclusion

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. The College agrees with this position on marijuana.

The College urges parents to do all they can to oppose the legalization of marijuana, such as working with elected officials against the drug’s legalization and scrutinizing a candidate’s positions on this important child’s issue when making voting decisions. The College encourages legislators to consider the establishment and generous funding of more facilities to treat marijuana addiction.

Children look to their parents for help and guidance in working out problems and in making decisions, including the decision to not use drugs. Therefore, parents should be role models, and not use marijuana or other illicit drugs. Finally, these reports strikingly emphasize the need for parents to recognize and discuss these serious health consequences of marijuana use with their children and adolescents. They also point to the requirement for medical experts and legislators to seriously discuss and review these observations prior to promoting any state or federal effort considering legalization.

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Dr. Donald J. Hagler is a Professor of Pediatrics, Consultant in Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiovascular Diseases Mayo College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.

This is a position paper of the American College of Pediatricians which has been republished with permission. For the original version with extensive footnotes and references, please consult the ACP website.

Written by Michael Cook

The most dangerous side of legal pot is Big Marijuana, say foes of the referenda in five American states on election day. To see what’s coming down the pike, consider what happened to Colorado’s ballot initiative 139.

Marijuana is already legal in Colorado. In 2000 voters supported Amendment 20 to the state constitution permitting people to cultivate a few marijuana plants for medicinal use. In 2012, they supported Amendment 64 legalizing private cultivation and retail sales for recreational use.

The results have not been positive.

Although supporters of recreational pot had the gall to argue that legalization would lead to decreased use by teenagers, regular use of marijuana among children between 12 and 17 has been above the national average and is rising faster than the national average.

Nor did legalization reduce black market marijuana activity in Colorado. Last year the state’s Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman, told the media:

“The criminals are still selling on the black market. … We have plenty of cartel activity in Colorado (and) plenty of illegal activity that has not decreased at all.”

Homelessness has surged by 50 percent from the time recreational pot was legalized. Surveys at Denver shelters estimate that about 20 to 30 percent of newcomers
 have moved to Colorado so that they can have easy access to the drug.

Edibles – cookies, lollopops, sodas, cupcakes and the like — now make up at least half of the Colorado marijuana market. They often contain 3 to 20 times the concentration of THC, the main drug in marijuana, which is recommended for intoxication. Unsurprisingly, there have been several deaths related to marijuana edibles since legalization.

So people disturbed by such trends started lobbying for mild restrictions. Ballot initiative 139 would have imposed a few conditions on retail sales such as child-resistant packaging, product health warnings, and keeping THC potency to 16 percent (its natural concentration in cannabis is 0.2 to 0.5 percent).

Big Marijuana fought back.

It sued to keep ballot initiative 139 off the ballot. When it lost that court battle, it paid signature-gathering companies to refuse business from supporters of 139. In a blistering editorial, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper, The Gazette, based in Colorado Springs, declared that “Big Marijuana is officially corrupt”:

When Colorado voters legalized marijuana, they meant well. They wanted a safe trade, regulated like alcohol. They ended up with a system of, by and for Big Marijuana. It is a racket in which the will of voters gets quashed before votes are cast. Any doubt about Big Marijuana’s disregard for Colorado’s desire for good regulation will disappear with a new revelation: the industry bought away the public’s chance to vote.

As the lobby group Smart Approaches to Marijuana says, “This is not about mom-and-pop pot stores; it’s about, in the words of one ‘Ganjapreneur,’ creating ‘the Wal-Mart of Marijuana’.”

The financial potential is enormous. (Even MercatorNet is receiving email invitations to invest in the marijuana industry.) In Colorado alone, legal sales of medical and recreational pot last year amounted to US$996.2 million. This generated $135 million in state taxes, which creates a government interest in keeping the business alive and healthy.

The message from Colorado, then, is clear: don’t legalize pot. Not if you want to keep your kids safe. Not if you want to keep crime down. And not if you want to protect democracy. As Ben Cort, a member of the board of directors of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told The Gazette:

“The narrative of the marijuana industry has been ‘don’t meddle with our business, because the voters have spoken and the will of the voters is sacred. This is a democracy.’ Then we have a genuine democratic effort to improve recreational marijuana regulation, and the industry shuts down democracy with big money and a bag of dirty tricks.”

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Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.   This article was originally posted at Mercatornet.com

TV advertising for marijuana is banned because of Federal regulations. This video ad early went to air last year in Colorado. Produced by Cannabrand, a marijuana marketing company, and Neos, a manufacturer of refined cannabis-infused vaporization pens, the ad focused on lifestyle rather than getting high. 

Written by Cully Stimson

This November, there are a record number of ballot initiatives in at least nine states regarding so-called medical marijuana or outright legalization of the Schedule I drug. The pot pushers, both small businesses and large, want more people smoking, eating, and consuming more pot because it is good for their bottom line.

Before voting yes, voters—and, in particular, employers—should take a look at more disturbing data that was released two weeks ago at a national conference.

At the annual Substance Abuse Program Administrators Association conference, Quest Diagnostics—one of the nation’s largest drug-testing companies—unveiled the results of its Drug Testing Index. The index examines illicit drug use by workers in America each year.

In 2015, Quest examined more than 9.5 million urine, 900,000 oral fluid, and 200,000 hair drug samples. Following years of decline in overall illegal drug usage, the results showed that the percentage of employees testing positive for illicit drugs has steadily increased over the last three years to a 10-year high.

Law enforcement hopes that THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) testing using saliva will enable officers to test drivers in a safe, relatively noninvasive manner, and several manufacturers have developed such test devices.  There are questions whether oral THC testing can serve as a valid testing device, but no court has forbidden their use.

The Drug Testing Index is an analysis of test results from three categories of workers—including federally mandated, safety-sensitive workers, the general workforce, and the combined U.S. workforce

Oral fluid drug testing results—best at detecting recent drug usage—showed an overall positivity rate increase of 47 percent over the last three years in the general workforce to 9.1 percent in 2015 from 6.7 percent in 2013.

According to Quest, the increase was “largely driven by double-digit increases in marijuana positivity.” In fact, according to the report, in 2015 there was a “25 percent relative increase in marijuana detection as compared to 2014.” The report also showed a significant increase in heroin positivity in urine tests for federally mandated safety-sensitive employees.

Another disturbing trend is the rising positivity rate for post-accident urine drug testing in both the general U.S. and the federal mandated, safety-sensitive workforces. According to the index, post-accident positivity increased 6.2 percent in 2015, compared to 2014, and increased a whopping 30 percent since 2011.

To those of us who have warned about the growing liberalization of the use of marijuana, from so-called “medical marijuana” to recreational abuse of the Schedule I drug, the results of the index are all too predictable.

It is also not surprising that none of the major organizations that push for pot legalization and decriminalization of marijuana have written major stories about the Quest Diagnostics report.

The more people use marijuana, the more likely it is that those who work and are subject to testing will pop positive for marijuana, even in safety-sensitive jobs. Think about that next time you hop on an airplane, ride Amtrak, or go about your daily life thinking everyone is focused on their job and your safety.

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Article originally published at DailySignal.com.

This bill will put more impaired drivers on the road,
more impaired employees in the workplace
and more children at risk.

Before the regular session ended on May 31st, State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) and State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) were able to pass legislation to decriminalize marijuana. The bill passed in both the Illinois House and Senate. Any day this dubious bill (SB 2228) will be sent to Governor Bruce Rauner, who will then have 60 days to sign it into law or veto it.

SB 2288 reduces criminal penalties from possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana to a civil law violation of $100 to $200. There are no limits to the number of civil law violations a person can receive, plus their record will be expunged every January 1st and July 1st.

What these lawmakers have done is removed a deterrent to drug use and addiction. They are moving full steam ahead toward full legalization. “Medical” marijuana and incremental decriminalization are the first necessary steps.

“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.

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to send an email or fax to Governor Rauner.  Please urge him to veto SB 2228. Also, please call his Springfield office at (217) 782-0244. A tally report is given to the governor at the end of each day. There is a huge liability issue at stake that the governor should be concerned about. Who will assume responsibility for the increase in road fatalities, psychotic incidents, youth addictions, not to mention employer liability?

Too many lawmakers have been erroneously led to believe that our prisons and judicial system are overrun with “petty” marijuana offenses.  This is NOT the truth.  Please read a former Will County and Cook County Assistant State Attorney as he exposes this myth in an article he wrote exclusively for Illinois Family Institute: Cannabis Myths Exposed

This legislation was co-sponsored by State Representatives Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), Carol Ammons (D-Champaign), Sonya Harper (D-Chicago), Michael Zalewski (D-Riverside), Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein), Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago), Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria), and Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago).

In the Illinois Senate, this legislation was co-sponsored by State Senators Michael Noland (D-Elgin) , Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago), Jason Barickman (R-Pontiac), Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), Don Harmon (D-Chicago), Pam Althoff (R-Crystal Lake), Karen McConnaughay (R-West Dundee), Linda Holmes (D-Aurora), Napoleon Harris (D-Harvey), Emil Jones III (D-Chicago), Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago), Donne Trotter (D-Chicago), and Iris Martinez (D-Chicago).

Background

Contrary to one of the reasons lawmakers give for decriminalization, prisons are NOT overcrowded with marijuana users. Click Here and Here  and Here.

Marijuana is NOT Harmless. Cannabis Use is classified as a Disorder in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

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 on children.

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.”

Fatal car crashes involving marijuana double after states legalize the drug. States that have relaxed their laws are seeing a 24.4% increase in car fatalities.

Psychotic incidents increase with marijuana use. Click Here and Here and Here and Here and Here.

Children will be affected. As perceived risk decreases, use increases. Colorado has seen a jump in school drug cases.  Click Here and Here. Furthermore, a diminished IQ and cognitive performance and even brain abnormalities have been detected with “casual” use.

Drug use will become a big problem for employers.

With the state our state is in, why would lawmakers make it worse?

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Written by Edward Ronkowski

I retired after three decades as a prosecutor.  While in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, I drafted a training manual called Narcotics Law which was later used in the office as a manual for Assistant States Attorneys for over a decade and years after I retired.  After I retired I have defended people accused of violating the Cannabis Control Act.  Knowing how the system really works, I can dispel several cannabis myths. It’s like Ronald Reagan said, “It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.”

Myth Number 1: Jail time

First time Cannabis users don’t go to jail or prison.  Defense attorneys game the system to keep clients from being sentenced to jail or prison.  It almost always takes at least five arrests for cannabis violations before jail or prison time is considered.  In Cook County they have what is called Drug School.  First offenders are allowed to go to classes and if they attend, the case is dropped without a conviction. Defense attorneys say their clients like Drug School because it exposes the dealers who were caught on a mere possession charge to new customers.   You can only get Drug School once.

Second misdemeanor cannabis offenders are allowed to get Court Supervision for a year or two.  At the end of the Supervision, the court enters a finding of not guilty.

A third arrest for a cannabis violation usually ends up in 710 Probation which is for first time offenders and is expungable.

A fourth arrest can ends up in a Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC) probation if the defendant claims he has a substance abuse problem.  TASC dispositions are also expungable.   Now cannabis arrestees can ask for “Second Chance Probation” instead of TASC Probation.  At the end of Second Chance Probation the defendant gets discharged.

A fifth arrest ends up in in straight probation with no jail time because the offender is “clean” with no prior convictions.  Occasional errors of omission on rap sheets and criminal histories allow defendants to get these programs more than once.  So only after the fifth arrest will judges start giving out jail or prison because probation did not work.  With a docket of murderers and other violent criminals, judges give away the store rather than be bothered by such relatively innocuous violators. When a defendant is at the end of his rope with these programs the defense attorney will try to win a motion to suppress, win a bench trial, or win jury trial to avoid real jail or prison time.

Every year the Illinois Department of Corrections releases an Annual Report showing what percent of the prison population is in for what type of crimes.   The latest report is for 2014 and it shows that 1.4% of Illinois’ prison population is in prison for violations of the Cannabis Control Act. None of these are mere users.  This 1.4% are the dealers doing time, most on plea bargained reduced charges, where the seizures are measured in pounds or tons.

Myth Number 2: Cannabis is Harmless

The last 20 year of research reveals “what isn’t so.”

Marijuana use has become increasingly prevalent over the years, and the review of marijuana studies summarizes what researchers have learned about the drug’s effects on human health and general well-being over the past two decades. One such peer reviewed academic study was done by Wayne Hall, a professor and director of the Center for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University of Queensland in Australia.  Professor Hall examined scientific evidence on marijuana’s health effects between 1993 and 2013.   He found that adolescents who use cannabis regularly are about twice as likely as their nonuser peers to drop out of school, as well as experience cognitive impairment and psychoses as adults. Moreover, studies have also linked regular cannabis use in adolescence with the use of other illicit drugs

Researchers in the studies debated whether regular marijuana use might actually lead to the use of other drugs.  Professor Hall pointed to longer-term studies and studies of twins in which one used marijuana and the other did not as particularly strong evidence that regular cannabis use may lead to the use of other illicit drugs

The risk of a person suffering a fatal overdose from marijuana is “extremely small,” and there are no reports of fatal overdoses in the scientific literature, according to the review. However, there have been case reports of deaths from heart problems in seemingly otherwise healthy young men after they smoked marijuana, the report said. Professor Hall said, “The perception that cannabis is a safe drug is a mistaken reaction to a past history of exaggeration of its health risks.”

Marijuana use carries some of the same risks as alcohol use, such as an increased risk of accidents, dependence and psychosis, he said.  It’s likely that middle-age people who smoke marijuana regularly are at an increased risk of experiencing a heart attack, according to the report. However, the drug’s “effects on respiratory function and respiratory cancer remain unclear, because most cannabis smokers have smoked or still smoke tobacco,” Professor Hall wrote in the review.

Regular cannabis users also double their risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms and disorders such as disordered thinking, hallucinations and delusions — from about seven in 1,000 cases among nonusers to 14 in 1,000 among regular marijuana users, the review said. And, in a study of more than 50,000 young men in Sweden, those who had used marijuana 10 or more times by age 18 were about two times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia within the next 15 years than those who had not used the drug.

Critics argue that other variables besides marijuana use may be at work in the increased risk of mental health problems, and that it’s possible that people with mental health problems are more likely to use marijuana to begin with, Hall wrote in the review. However, other studies have since attempted to sort out the findings, he wrote, citing a 27-year follow-up of the Swedish cohort, in which researchers found “a dose–response relationship between frequency of cannabis use at age 18 and risk of schizophrenia during the whole follow-up period.”  In the same study, the investigators estimated that 13 percent of schizophrenia cases diagnosed in the study “could be averted if all cannabis use had been prevented in the cohort,” Professor Hall reported.

As for the effects of cannabis use in pregnant women, the drug may slightly reduce the birth weight of the baby, according to the review.

The effects of euphoria that cannabis users seek from the drug come primarily from its psychoactive ingredient, called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, Hall wrote in the review. During the past 30 years, the THC content of marijuana in the United States has jumped from less than 2 percent in 1980 to 8.5 percent in 2006. The THC content of the drug has also likely increased in other developed countries, Hall wrote in the report.

Some argue that there would be no increase in harm, if users adjusted their doses of the drug and used less of the more potent cannabis products to get the same psychological effects they seek, Professor Hall said.   However, “the limited evidence suggests that users do not completely adjust dose for potency, and so probably get larger doses of THC than used to be the case,” Hall said.

Studies on the use of alcohol — and, to a lesser extent, other drugs such as opioids — have also shown that more potent forms of these substances increase users’ level of intoxication, as well as their risk of accidents and developing dependence, he added. People who drive under the influence of marijuana double their risk of being in a car crash, and about one in 10 daily marijuana users becomes dependent on the drug, according to a new review.

With cannabis use not deterred by law enforcement efforts as currently practiced, the deleterious effects of cannabis use, especially on our youth will increase over time.

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Ed is a former Will County and Cook County Assistant State Attorney with 30 years of prosecutorial experience. He also recently served two terms as Will County Republican Chairman.

Written by Michael Medved

A massive new study sponsored jointly by Duke University, the University of California at Davis and other research institutions shows that marijuana is hardly a harmless diversion.

The long-term focus on heavy users shows that those who smoke marijuana four times a week or more suffer serious consequences in terms of economic and career success. About a third of non-users improve their economic standing dramatically after twenty years, but only 7 percent of the pot smokers do. And a majority of the pot smokers slide down the career ladder, while only 15 percent of others do. These associations remain even when controlled for race, education level, family background and other factors.

This doesn’t prove that marijuana is more addictive or physiologically harmful than legal substances like tobacco and alcohol, but it does indicate that long-term, heavy use – especially when begun in adolescence – carries powerful risks.

Contact Your Lawmakers to Oppose HB 4357 & SB 2228!

Children at Risk

State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) has introduced HB 4357 in the Illinois House and State Senator Heather Steans has introduced SB 2228 in the Illinois Senate. Both bills would decriminalize marijuana, giving tacit consent to using and dealing, especially to children.

Under HB 4357 and SB 2228 possessing more than 10 grams of marijuana (25 joints) carries a mere $100 to $200 fine and a Civil Law Violation. There is no limit to the number of Civil Law Violations a person can receive, and in addition, their records will be expunged every January 1 and July 1.

If passed, having in your possession 10 grams of marijuana will carry negligible risks and consequences. Marijuana is already the most popular drug in the United States, and the passage of this bill will likely increase the number of adults and children who use and deal marijuana.

More Impaired Drivers

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), “The rate of marijuana involvement in fatal crashes will soon rival alcohol as the No.1 preventable traffic problem.…Drivers with marijuana in medical marijuana states had a 29 percent higher involvement in fatal crashes than non-medical marijuana states.”

In 2014, of the 596 drivers involved in fatal crashes in Illinois, 77 drivers, or 12.92 percent, had marijuana in their systems.

Arbitrary Drug-Testing Standards 

HB 4357 and SB 2228 state that a person shall not drive when the person has, within 2 hours, a THC concentration of 5 nanograms per milliliter of whole blood or 10 nanograms per milliliter of other bodily substance.

According to the British Medical Journal, drivers who consume cannabis within 3 hours of driving are nearly twice as likely to cause a vehicle collision as those who are not under the influence.

When marijuana is smoked, THC moves through the blood rapidly and is deposited in fatty tissues and the liver to be metabolized. After 2 hours, there would only be a trace left, below 5 nanograms, which is HB 4357’s standard for determining a safe driving level.

With edibles, very little THC travels through the blood because it goes directly through the digestive system. Though it takes 1 to 5 hours for the THC level to peak, the THC level in the blood is very low compared to smoking, yet the same standard will apply.

Marijuana-Plagued Workplaces

An increase in marijuana use makes doing business in Illinois more costly and challenging because the pool of drug-free workers will be in decline, employees using marijuana will likely compromise safe working environments, and there will most likely be an increase in absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job-turnover.

Take ACTION!  CLICK HERE to email both your state representative and state senator. Contact them today! Urge them to oppose HB 4357 and SB 2228.

The big pot push is now underway in Illinois with the opening of what proponents call “medical” marijuana dispensaries. But an activist who blames her son’s suicide on his marijuana addiction warns what’s being rolled out in the Land of Lincoln is dangerously potent. What’s next? Recreational pot – just for the buzz of it? See video below:

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By James Arlandson

The number of marijuana users among teens is increasing. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported in 2013:

Marijuana use rose to 7.5% of users aged 12 or older in 2013. This is up from 6.2% of users in 2002.

Additional NSDUH findings on marijuana include:

• 19.8 million (7.5%) people were current (past month) users of marijuana in 2013, making it the most used illicit drug.
• Marijuana use was most prevalent among people age 18 to 25 (with 19.1% using it in the past month).
•  7.1% of people aged 12 to 17 reported using marijuana.
•  A higher percentage of males (9.7%) used marijuana in the past month than females (5.6%).

These numbers will not decrease when more states legalize the drug, because of the widespread availability.

Marijuana is not a harmless drug, as many of the people I talk to believe.

     1. Risk of addiction

Not everyone who smokes marijuana will get addicted, but does a reasonable person want to risk it? A team of medical professionals published their study of cannabis in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), concluding: “Despite some contentious discussions regarding the addictiveness of marijuana, the evidence clearly indicates that long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction.”

     2. Risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease

“There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people,” said Emilie Jouanjus, lead author of the French study, which was also published in the Journal of the American Heart Assn. That evidence, Jouanjus added, should prompt cardiologists to consider marijuana use a potential cause of cardiovascular disease in patients they see.

(See also here.)

     3. Risk of using harder drugs

Marijuana could be a gateway drug. The authors of the marijuana study reported in the NEJM say: “Epidemiologic and preclinical data suggest that the use of marijuana in adolescence could influence multiple addictive behaviors in adulthood.”

William J. Bennett and Robert A. White insightfully observe that not everyone who smokes marijuana will go on to a harder drug, but nearly everyone on a harder drug began with marijuana (p. 114)

     4. Risk of lung damage

The American Lung Association reports:

Smoking marijuana clearly damages the human lung. Research shows that smoking marijuana causes chronic bronchitis and marijuana smoke has been shown to injure the cell linings of the large airways, which could explain why smoking marijuana leads to symptoms such as chronic cough, phlegm production, wheeze and acute bronchitis.

     5. Risk of brain chemistry damage

A study by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and reported in Sciencedaily concludes:

Definitive proof of an adverse effect of chronic marijuana use revealed at SNM’s 58th Annual Meeting could lead to potential drug treatments and aid other research involved in cannabinoid receptors, a neurotransmission system receiving a lot of attention. Scientists used molecular imaging to visualize changes in the brains of heavy marijuana smokers versus non-smokers and found that abuse of the drug led to a decreased number of cannabinoid CB1 receptors, which are involved in not just pleasure, appetite and pain tolerance but a host of other psychological and physiological functions of the body.

     6. Risk of brain structure damage and memory loss

A study conducted by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and reported in the Bulletin of Schizophrenia and a Northwestern news release concludes:

“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it,” said lead study author Matthew Smith, an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “With the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain.”

It should also be noted in that excerpt that the authors of the study urge caution about decriminalizing marijuana.

     7. Risk of schizophrenia

The same study by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine observes:

Chronic use of marijuana may contribute to changes in brain structure that are associated with having schizophrenia, the Northwestern research shows. Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 percent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder. Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.

     8. Risk of an IQ drop among adolescents

The lead IQ study investigator Madeline H. Meier says:

“Our results suggest that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to develop cognitive impairment from cannabis and that the drug, far from being harmless, as many teens and even adults are coming to believe, can have severe neurotoxic effects on the adolescent brain.”

This study was attacked for not considering other factors, like socio-economic class. So a year later Dr. Nora Volkow of the National Institute of Drug Abuse says marijuana use is at least one contributory factor in the IQ drop:

“The message inherent in these and in multiple supporting studies is clear. Regular marijuana use in adolescence is known to be part of a cluster of behaviors that can produce enduring detrimental effects and alter the trajectory of a young person’s life — thwarting his or her potential. Beyond potentially lowering IQ, teen marijuana use is linked to school dropout, other drug use, mental health problems, etc. Given the current number of regular marijuana users (about 1 in 15 high school seniors) and the possibility of this number increasing with marijuana legalization, we cannot afford to divert our focus from the central point: regular marijuana use stands to jeopardize a young person’s chances of success — in school and in life.”

     9. Risk of car crashes

Marijuana slows the motor or movement skills in users, so not surprisingly there is an increase in the incidents of car crashes. USA Today reports the findings:

As more states are poised to legalize medicinal marijuana, it’s looking like dope is playing a larger role as a cause of fatal traffic accidents.

Columbia University researchers performing a toxicology examination of nearly 24,000 driving fatalities concluded that marijuana contributed to 12% of traffic deaths in 2010, tripled from a decade earlier.

NHTSA studies have found drugged driving to be particularly prevalent among younger motorists. One in eight high school seniors responding to a 2010 survey admitted to driving after smoking marijuana. Nearly a quarter of drivers killed in drug-related car crashes were younger than 25. Likewise, nearly half of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana were younger than 25.

Since legalizing marijuana, Colorado has seen an increase:

Colorado has seen a spike in driving fatalities in which marijuana alone was involved, according to Insurance.com. The trend started in 2009 — the year medical marijuana dispensaries were effectively legalized at the state level.

     10. Summary of the risks of altered behavior and diminished achievement

This last point summarizes the general health risks.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry issued this statement:

Use of marijuana can lead to:

• School difficulties
• Problems with memory and concentration
• Increased aggression
• Car accidents
• Use of other drugs or alcohol
• Risky sexual behaviors
• Increased risk of suicide
• Increased risk of psychosis

Long-term use of marijuana can lead to:

• The same breathing problems as smoking cigarettes (coughing, wheezing, trouble
• with physical activity, and lung cancer)
• Decreased motivation or interest
• Lower intelligence
• Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, anger, moodiness, and
• psychosis
• Decreased or lack of response to mental health medication
• increased risk of side effects from mental health medication

Sometimes these studies are contested because they are supposedly sponsored by big corporations or skewed by political pressure put on government institutes. However, the marijuana legalization advocates are also motivated by politics and money. The more users they get, the more money flows their way. It’s a commercial enterprise.

So can we break the deadlock?

Common sense combined with science is just about all we got. Inhaling smoke of a chemical-laden and brain-tweaking drug defies both.

More importantly, behind these policy statements and scientific findings and hyperskepticism about motives and science are human lives.

Think before you take up this drug. Your quality of life will be negatively affected. If you currently take it, be persuadable and stop.

Given these health risks, states must no longer vote to legalize recreational marijuana — and states that have legalized recreational use must reconsider and reverse their unwise decision.

James Arlandson, Ph.D. (1994), has taught college and university for years. His website is Live as Free People.

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This article was originally posted at AmericanThinker.com

Written by Leah Barkoukis

In the debate over whether marijuana should be legal, for both medicinal and recreational purposes, one thing both sides seem to agree on is that more research needs to be conducted. Thus, advocates and opponents should take note of several articles published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association related to medical marijuana. One analysis of note found there is little evidence from nearly 80 studies that the drug helps many of the illnesses for which it has been approved.

Medical marijuana has not been proven to work for many illnesses that state laws have approved it for, according to the first comprehensive analysis of research on its potential benefits.

The strongest evidence is for chronic pain and for muscle stiffness in multiple sclerosis, according to the review, which evaluated 79 studies involving more than 6,000 patients. Evidence was weak for many other conditions, including anxiety, sleep disorders, and Tourette’s syndrome and the authors recommend more research.

The analysis is among several medical marijuana articles published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. […]

The researchers pooled results from studies that tested marijuana against placebos, usual care or no treatment. That’s the most rigorous kind of research but many studies found no conclusive evidence of any benefit. Side effects were common and included dizziness, dry mouth and sleepiness. A less extensive research review in the journal found similar results.

It’s possible medical marijuana could have widespread benefits, but strong evidence from high-quality studies is lacking, authors of both articles say.

“It’s not a wonder drug but it certainly has some potential,” said Dr. Robert Wolff, a co-author and researcher with Kleijnen Systematic Reviews Ltd., reports the Associated Press.

In an editorial in the journal, two Yale University psychiatrists suggested that widespread use should wait for better research to come out. Medical marijuana laws are on the books in 23 states and D.C. and the editorial’s authors say approval in many cases has been based on ‘poor quality studies, patients’ testimonials, or other nonscientific evidence.’

Researchers are optimistic that they’ll soon “start to get a good science base” for marijuana’s potential medical uses, according to the AP. Colorado, for example, which has approved marijuana for recreational use, has pledged millions in state funds for studies on marijuana’s potential medical benefits.

Time will soon tell.

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This article was originally posted at the Townhall.com website.

 

Written by William J. Bennett and Robert A. White

The great irony, or misfortune, of the national debate over marijuana is that while almost all the science and research is going in one direction—pointing out the dangers of marijuana use—public opinion seems to be going in favor of broad legalization.

For example, last week a new study in the journal Current Addiction Reports found that regular pot use (defined as once a week) among teenagers and young adults led to cognitive decline, poor attention and memory, and decreased IQ. On Aug. 9, the American Psychological Association reported that at its annual convention the ramifications of marijuana legalization was much discussed, with Krista Lisdahl, director of the imaging and neuropsychology lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, saying: “It needs to be emphasized that regular cannabis use, which we consider once a week, is not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage, especially in youth.”

Since few marijuana users limit themselves to use once a week, the actual harm is much worse for developing brains. The APA noted that young people who become addicted to marijuana lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood. A long line of studies have found similar results—in 2012, a decades-long study of more than 1,000 New Zealanders who frequently smoked pot in adolescence pegged the IQ loss at eight points.

Yet in recent weeks and months, much media coverage of the marijuana issue has either tacitly or explicitly supported legalization. A CCN/ORC International survey in January found that a record 55% of Americans support marijuana legalization.

The disconnect between science and public opinion is so great that in a March WSJ/NBC News poll, Americans ranked sugar as more harmful than marijuana. The misinformation campaign appears to be succeeding.

Here’s the truth. The marijuana of today is simply not the same drug it was in the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s, much less the 1930s. It is often at least five times stronger, with the levels of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, averaging about 15% in the marijuana at dispensaries found in the states that have legalized pot for “medicinal” or, in the case of Colorado, recreational use. Often the THC level is 20% or higher.

With increased THC levels come increased health risks. Since Colorado legalized recreational use earlier this year, two deaths in the state have already been linked to marijuana. In both cases it was consumed in edible form, which can result in the user taking in even more THC than when smoking pot. “One man jumped to his death after consuming a large amount of marijuana contained in a cookie,” the Associated Press reported in April, “and in the other case, a man allegedly shot and killed his wife after eating marijuana candy.” Reports are coming out of Colorado in what amounts to a parade of horribles from more intoxicated driving to more emergency hospital admissions due to marijuana exposure and overdose.

Over the past 10 years, study after study has shown the damaging effect of marijuana on the teenage brain. Northwestern School of Medicine researchers reported in the Schizophrenia Bulletin in December that teens who smoked marijuana daily for about three years showed abnormal brain-structure changes. Marijuana use has clearly been linked to teen psychosis as well as decreases in IQ and permanent brain damage.

The response of those who support legalization: Teenagers can be kept away from marijuana. Yet given the dismal record regarding age-restricted use of tobacco and alcohol, success with barring teens from using legalized marijuana would be a first.

The reason such a large number of teens use alcohol and tobacco is precisely because those are legal products. The reason more are now using marijuana is because of its changing legal status—from something that was dangerous and forbidden to a product that is now considered “medicinal,” and in the states of Colorado and Washington recreational. Until recently, the illegality of marijuana, and the stigma of lawbreaking, had kept its use below that of tobacco and alcohol.

Legality is the mother of availability, and availability, as former Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph A. Califano Jr. put it in his 2008 book on substance abuse, “High Society,” is the mother of use. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, currently 2.7 million Americans age 12 and older meet the clinical criteria for marijuana dependence, or addiction.

Mark A.R. Kleiman, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that legalization can be expected to increase marijuana consumption by four to six times. Today’s 2.7 million marijuana dependents (addicts) would thus expand to as many as 16.2 million with nationwide legalization. That should alarm any parent, teacher or policy maker.

There are two conversations about marijuana taking place in this country: One, we fear, is based on an obsolete perception of marijuana as a relatively harmless, low-THC product. The other takes seriously the science of the new marijuana and its effect on teens, whose adulthood will be marred by the irreversible damage to their brains when young.

Supporters of marijuana legalization insist that times are changing and policy should too. But they are the ones stuck in the past—and charting a dangerous future for too many Americans.

Mr. Bennett is a former secretary of education (1985-88) and was the first director of the National Drug Control Policy (1989-90). Mr. White is an attorney in Princeton, N.J. Originally published in the Wall Street Journal.

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The Truth Project

First Annual IFI Worldview Conference
featuring Dr. Del Tackett
April 10-11, 2015

CLICK HERE for Details

Even though the so-called “Medical” Cannabis Pilot Program has yet to begin, State Senator Michael Noland (D-Elgin) has introduced legislation (SB 753) which would legalize the possession of 30 grams of marijuana and 5 plants for anyone over 21 years of age.

In the Illinois House, State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) has introduced legislation (HB 218) which would lessen the criminal penalties of recreational marijuana possession of 30 grams or fewer to a $100 ticket and a petty offense.

Thirty (30) grams of marijuana makes 75 joints. The street value of one gram is $10. Five (5) plants can produce 1,120 grams of marijuana, enough to make 2,800 joints and the street value is approximately $11,200. 

These bills are audacious steps in the process of rolling back drug laws in Illinois and across the nation.  While using marijuana continues to be an offense under federal law, last year President Barack Obama issued a set of directives relaxing federal anti-money laundering statutes and instructed his Justice Department not to prosecute so-called “medical” marijuana dispensaries.

Take ACTION:   The most effective way to stop these bills is by calling your state representative and senator. Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be connected to him/her at (217) 782-2000. Ask them to vote NO to SB 753 and HB 218.

Please also click HERE to send them an email or a fax to tell them that you do not want marijuana legalized or decriminalized in any way, shape or form.  

Background
Colorado legalized “recreational” marijuana a year ago. Despite the frightening evidence from Colorado, some lawmakers are intent on pursuing a reckless agenda in the hopes of realizing a new tax revenue stream. Colorado’s Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper even says it “was a bad idea!”  We could reasonably expect the same negative consequences here in Illinois: an increase in crime, hospitalizations, car accidents and deaths.

Make no mistake, these reckless public policy decisions will create significant problems for families, businesses, and communities throughout Illinois.  Marijuana use leads to greater cognitive deficits, lower IQ’s, loss of fine motor skills, a suppressed immune system, apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation, sensory distortion, mental illness and anxiety.  Absenteeism and dropping out of school are common in marijuana users who start young and use regularly.

Marijuana-infused edibles pose serious dangers to children. Forty five percent of Colorado’s marijuana market is edibles. They are designed to look like products that would appeal to children: lollipops, hard candies, candy bars, brownies and pop tarts.

The onset of action for smoking marijuana is 10-15 seconds and 30-60 minutes for edibles. Smoking gives the user an immediate reaction. With the slow onset of action for edibles, users are prone to repeat the dose and risk taking too much and accumulating lethal amounts of THC in the body.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation and naiveté surrounding marijuana, and even a greater lack of understanding of how this bad public policy will affect society.

One of the more pernicious lies advanced by Leftists asserts that our prisons are filled with and our correctional system are overwhelmed with people arrested for smoking or possessing marijuana. The Office of National Drug Control Policy dispels this myth:

…the vast majority of inmates in state and federal prison for marijuana have been found guilty of much more than simple possession.  Some were convicted for drug trafficking, some for marijuana possession along with one or more other offenses.  And many of those serving time for marijuana pled down to possession in order to avoid prosecution on much more serious charges.

In 1997, the year for which the most recent data are available, just 1.6 percent of the state inmate population were held for offenses involving only marijuana, and less than one percent of all state prisoners (0.7 percent) were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).  An even smaller fraction of state prisoners in 1997 who were convicted just for marijuana possession were first-time offenders (0.3 percent).

There are many more reasons to oppose decriminalization.  The facts speak for themselves:

• Today’s cannabis is five to seven times stronger than in the 1960s and 70s.  This increase in potency has resulted in worse health and addiction outcomes.

• One in six children who use marijuana will become addicted, and with regular use, may suffer the loss of six to eight IQ points.

• Marijuana THC concentrations now exceed an average of 10 percent.  Some marijuana samples show THC concentrations exceeding 30 percent.

• Emergency room admissions for marijuana-related reactions went from 16,251 in 1991 to 374,000 in 2008.

• Marijuana has an addiction rate of one in every eleven adults who have ever tried it – or one in six adolescents who have ever used it.

• Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke.

Read more:

Why Marijuana Legalization Would Compromise Public Health & Public Safety

The Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana Abuse

Media Continue Cover-up of Marijuana-induced Mental Illness

Strong Cannabis Causes One in Four Cases of Psychosis

Odd Byproduct of Legal Marijuana:  Homes That Blow Up

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Please support the work of Illinois Family Institute!
Click HERE to make an online donation.

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 3^rd 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 8^th 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