- Details
- Hits: 2014
The rationale for legalization varies, from achieving “social justice” (even though racial disparities in arrests persist in legalized states like Colorado or Washington) to more blatant appeals to greed. The global legal market has been estimated at $9.5 billion for 2017, with investor testimonials projecting future markets at values between $300 and $500 billion in a few short years.
But not all signs are rosy. The evidence to date—such as the consequences in states like Colorado where legalized regimes have operated long enough to generate reliable data—is that the progress of legalization across the states is less like a victorious procession and more like a nip-and-tuck race between salesmanship and disaster.
Advocates feel the need to proselytize in new states, and do it quickly, in order to keep ahead of the growing damage in already legalized states. From the perspective of broken promises, the legalization movement represents not so much the arc of history as a classic Ponzi scheme.
- Details
- Hits: 1972
Former ‘Budtender’ from the Marijuana Industry Speaks Out about the Harms and Shocking Deception – But Officials Aren’t Listening: WHY?
- Details
- Hits: 1929
BOSTON – A consortium of clinicians and scientists from across Massachusetts has joined together to publicly release a "Satement of Concern” expressing their disagreement with how marijuana policy is being shaped in the Commonwealth.
According to the Statement of Concern, marijuana is being governed and regulated as if it were an “ordinary commodity”, rather than following a Public Health Framework. This is of concern because scientific evidence clearly establishes that marijuana (and specifically the psychoactive chemical THC) has the potential to do significant harm to public health. Harmful effects include, but are not limited to, the risk of addiction, impaired cognitive function, and increased risk of mental illness (including psychosis).
You can read the full Statement of Concern here.
- Details
- Hits: 1932
“I want to die,” he wrote before hanging himself at the age of 31. “My soul is already dead. Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain.”
Andy wanted to quit. He couldn't
A new study shows he's not alone
The peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet last month published a major study that found people who use high-potency marijuana daily are five times more likely to develop psychosis than those who never partake. The researchers compared data for more than 2,100 people in multiple countries.
Read more commentary:
Marijuana needs warning labels like tobacco for associated mental, physical health risks
Mental illness in the family raises marijuana risks. Parents, please talk to your teens.
Sally Schindel lives in Prescott. She is co-founder of MomsStrong.org and a member of the Marijuana Victims Alliance. For complete story go to USA Today April 28th 2019
- Details
- Hits: 1867
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Cannabis for medicinal and/or recreational purposes has been decriminalized in 28 states as of the 2016 election. In the remaining states, cannabis remains the most commonly used illicit drug. Cardiovascular effects of cannabis use are not well established due to a limited number of studies. We therefore utilized a large national database to examine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and events amongst patients with cannabis use.
RESULTS:
Prevalence of heart failure, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), coronary artery disease, sudden cardiac death, and hypertension were significantly higher in patients with cannabis use. After multivariate regression adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, tobacco use, and alcohol use, cannabis use remained an independent predictor of both heart failure (odds ratio = 1.1, 1.03-1.18, P < 0.01) and CVA (odds ratio = 1.24, 1.14-1.34, P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION:
Cannabis use independently predicted the risks of heart failure and CVA in individuals 18-55 years old. With continued legalization of cannabis, potential cardiovascular effects and their underlying mechanisms need to be further investigated.