Getting Blacks a Seat at the D.C. Cannabis Table

Micha Green

Now that recreational marijuana use is legal for D.C. residents 21 and older, various business opportunities have emerged within the cannabis industry. Entrepreneurs hoping to benefit from the new legislation are working to create even opportunities.

Thousands of residents attended the second annual National Cannabis Festival on April 22 at the RFK festival grounds in D.C. (Courtesy photo)

Since the passing of Initiative 71, which legalized recreational use of cannabis, hydroponic stores, classes to grow the plant, paraphernalia shops, and medical marijuana dispensaries are popping up throughout the city. However, because Initiative 71 did not provide for a way to legally purchase marijuana for non-medical use the only way to buy marijuana in D.C. is with a medical card.


Forbes reported in January that legal marijuana sales in the US increased 30 percent last year to $6.7 billion. It is hard to pinpoint how much money is being made in D.C. from marijuana since its legalization. Nonetheless, cannabis industry insiders contend that the Black community has the ability to be part of this multi-billion dollar business.

According to the 2016 Census, there are 48.3 percent of Blacks living in Washington, D.C.—almost half of the city. Two of the top five medical marijuana dispensaries listed in D.C., Metropolitan Wellness Center and Capital City Care, are Black owned.

While that may seem like a lot, 40 percent of the market, it is actually not very much in a small industry with an even smaller demographic of Black owned shops.

At the recent National Cannabis Festival, representatives from both Capital City Care and Metropolitan Wellness Center, all of whom were of color, implied that Black people can and should be making more money in the cannabis industry.

Corey Barnette, an owner of Metropolitan Wellness Center and District Growers, which cultivates marijuana plants and makes cannabis infused edibles, contends that a good way for Blacks to enter the weed industry is through growing. “For years our community has suffered the brunt of a very vicious, attacking, and destructive drug war. Now you have an entire industry being built from the ground up and that ground starts with actually growing,” Barnette told the AFRO.

According to D.C. law, adults can grow up to six plants in private homes, but only three at a time can be mature. As growing is legal, Barnette said he thinks it’s the best way to enter in the cannabis business as it continues to flourish. “If we’re going to have an industry be born, we [Blacks] as a community have the opportunity to actually participate in the birth of an industry that we could be dominant in,” he said.

While Barnette is established and continuing to grow both literally and within the industry, other Blacks are starting to take note of the opportunities in the cannabis business.

In Southeast D.C., Good Hope Hydroponics is owned by two cousins of European descent, but has clientele that matches the community – predominantly Black. A majority of the store’s patrons are Black and male.

Dezo El, a Black man who started Buttermilk 420 Farms, a business that teaches people how to grow and offers cannabis infused items, told the AFRO he was visiting Good Hope Hydroponics even before officially moving to D.C. El said he relocated from Brooklyn to capitalize on the cannabis industry in D.C. and has learned the way to make money legally.

“. . . so many of us was arrested and thrown in jail for smoking a joint, having a joint, selling a joint or whatever, but the system here is different,” he said. “D.C. Initiative 71 is about more donations where they initialized the thought of everybody growing on their own, but they don’t want people selling to each other. So I can donate some weed to you, but literally there’s supposed to be no money transfer . . . So that’s what we do now.”

El and Barnette said they believe that even when one knows how to work the system the legalities surrounding weed can get tricky. “Well right now you have a city that has not set up a legal framework that allows the efficient sale of cannabis in a way that benefits both the city and the entrepreneurs,” Barnette said. “So right now a lot of what’s happening in D.C. is really happening in the Black market. That should not be the case. With all of the talent and with all of the capability that we have in our communities here in D.C., we should be able to open up store fronts. We should be able to supply existing store fronts, and we should be able to participate in a formal market the way that every other business does.”

Because of the caveats that lead to setbacks in growth within the cannabis industry, Sabria Still of Metropolitan Wellness Center said, the Black community first needs to be present when decisions are getting made. “We’re not there at the table when these laws are written. We’re not there with the city hall when people are asking whether or not they want medical marijuana in their county or city or state,” she told the AFRO.

Still, 24, argues that it is up to those who are already involved in the cannabis industry to educate and serve as a representative to the Black community to get involved. “I feel like it’s my duty, since I’ve been involved, to get others involved and kind of let them know the importance of cannabis,” she added.

For now, industry insiders are emphasizing the importance of educating the Black community on all the integral aspects of cannabis and the business surrounding it. “I think that a lot of people in the African-American community in D.C. haven’t been given access to the education and the information on how to become viable cannabis business owners or activists,” Caroline Phillips, founder and executive producer of the National Cannabis Festival, told the AFRO. The festival was held in D.C. on April 22.

The morality of marijuana

By SARAH BAIN

Religious leaders adapting legally, spiritually to growing interest in pot products

A few years ago, a student asked Shelley Bryan Wee, Lutheran Campus pastor at Eastern Washington University, if it was OK, as a Christian, to bring pot to a friend in a state where it was illegal.

This conversation likely wouldn’t have happened before Washington legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, but as its use becomes more prevalent, questions from the faithful about the appropriate boundaries around bud are inevitable.

According to historical records, cannabis actually has had a fairly consistent presence for almost 5,000 years, appearing in many countries and cultures for medicinal or ceremonial purposes. Some scholars have suggested that the anointing oil passed from God to Moses may have even been infused with cannabis.

Before the U.S. Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which essentially banned its use and sale domestically, the plant was present in tinctures and health remedies, with nary a question about ethics or morality.

It was simply “medicine.”

So it is only really in the last 75 years that cannabis has been the center of moral debates that create passionate responses from supporters and from opponents.

A year ago, in a Senate hearing discussing whether or not the Department of Justice had adequately enforced its duties on marijuana, then Sen. Jeff Sessions, now Attorney General, said “…good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

Sessions’ words reflect and perhaps even perplex religious leaders in states where cannabis is legal, prompting the question: Can you be a good Christian/follower of other religions and also smoke marijuana?

“Yes. Absolutely,” said Lena Davidson, a Seattle resident with five years of experience in the medical and legal cannabis industries. “Cannabis is an interior experience; a reflective and delicate one when consumed responsibly. Anything that brings us into a more intimate connection with ourselves serves the spiritual life, Christian or otherwise.”

Rabbi Dr. Elizabeth W. Goldstein, assistant professor of religious studies at Gonzaga University, said that in Judaism the answer comes down to: “Are you in violation of a law or are you not?”

When something is legal at the state level but illegal federally, Jewish legal scholars must ask themselves which law has more sway.

“I personally have not researched the answer, but I think if the state says it’s OK, then it’s probably OK,” Goldstein stated. “If states have the right to make their own laws, then most moderate rabbis would say if you aren’t breaking the law of the land, and in moderation, it would be acceptable.”

But when you’re talking about something as personal as spirituality, there’s no shortage of opinions.
For instance, while many churches minister to the downtrodden, most also don’t want to condone practices that can be seen as spiritually unhealthy, such as substance use.

Some objections to marijuana among Spokane-area faithful are actually less about theoretical spiritual pros and cons of morality, and more about specific concerns such as zoning laws that govern the distances between marijuana retailers and churches.

Beth Jarrett, a Lutheran pastor who speaks with young people about marijuana and the stigmas surrounding its use, believes moderation is key.

“To my knowledge, there is nothing scripturally in the Bible that states cannabis is forbidden. There are, of course, many passages that express moderation in consumption of things like wine and food,” Jarrett stated.

It’s similar to the outlook of Wee at EWU.

“Marijuana is legal in Washington. Therefore, I think it is lawful to use it. I think people can use and misuse marijuana the same as they can use and misuse alcohol or any other drug. Lawfully and ethically it’s OK as long as it is in moderation and doesn’t negatively affect their life or others.”


Law and ethics aside, what does this mean for the morality of faithful users?

On the one hand, alcohol is a legal drug that our culture has embraced. On the other hand, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol is responsible for an estimated 88,000 deaths annually.

Both Goldstein and Wee said students don’t talk much about cannabis use, but they do share their alcohol experiences.

“I hear about how students are misusing alcohol,” Wee said. “If cannabis is used in a reasonable and prudent manner, I would put it in the same category as alcohol. There are some who should not be smoking pot because they have a tendency to over-use it, and there are some who should not be using alcohol because they have a tendency to over-use it.”

Karen Petersen Finch, an associate professor of theology at Whitworth University, said students generally do not broach the subject of marijuana or alcohol unless she asks.

“Interestingly, students will hide alcohol use from their professors and hide substance abuse, which suggests that students don’t know if it’s morally appropriate or not,” she said.

Finch has greater concerns, however, about the stewardship of the students’ minds, especially young people just learning to be independent.

“It’s the balance of freedom of conscience and the stewardship of life. It’s a balance that adults have to face, and I’m also concerned about that balance young people are making when their brains are not fully developed,” Finch said.

In her way of thinking, everyone is given one brain, by God. Therefore, she questions cannabis as an appropriate substance.

“Is it good stewardship of a young mind if it is hard on brain development?” Finch asked.

“For religious people, yes, life can really suck. We all need practice in turning toward God when life sucks rather than trying to make things softer around the edges by using other substances.”

And for the student who asked Wee if she could bring pot to her friend in another state?

“Ethically, I told her no,” Wee said. “There are many red flags. You could put yourself in jeopardy, you could put yourself in a moral dilemma with the church, you would be breaking the law.”

“So while it’s legal in Washington, but not other states, you have to look at it in a broader perspective, the bigger ethical picture.”

That bigger ethical picture seems to be to obey the law, and if you choose to use marijuana, do so in moderation.

A guide on renters’ rights and the legalization of marijuana

Megan Turchi

Recreational marijuana may be legal in Massachusetts, but you might want to check your lease before lighting up or buying that grow light.

The passage of Question 4 in November made it legal for people in Massachusetts, 21 or older, to use marijuana, allowing possession and home growth. Despite this, using it is still illegal under federal law, so your landlord has the final say on what you can and cannot smoke (or what you can or cannot grow) in your building.

Given the law’s freshness, the rental market here in Massachusetts doesn’t have it all figured out yet.
“One of the areas where problems could arise is landlord-tenant relationships,’’ said Mike

McDonagh, general counsel and director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. “Communication between the landlord and tenant is essential to avoid any misunderstanding about what is and what is not permissible in the apartment.’’

Scott Peterson, general counsel at the Colorado Association of Realtors, emphasized that the marijuana user, even one who uses it for medical reasons, is not a protected class. “You can discriminate against users, medical or recreational, if you are a landlord,’’ Peterson said.

Recreational marijuana first became legal in Colorado in 2012. Peterson, who has taught several classes for realtors on the subject, wants landlords to be preemptive.

“I encourage landlords to put a clause in the lease that says: ‘Despite Colorado law, marijuana is an illegal substance,’ ’’ Peterson said.

One issue in Colorado has been illegal grow operations.

Last fall, federal agents and local authorities in that state seized more than 22,400 pounds of marijuana plants and products in raids on illegal grow houses. In Massachusetts and Colorado, each person can grow up to six plants for recreational use. The problem is, some people grow way more and sell it out of state.

In that raid last fall, authorities searched 12 properties. Ten of them were rentals.

“What we have seen is that Colorado has become an attractive place in the illegal marijuana industry,’’ Peterson said. “People from surrounding states rent a home here in Colorado and pay two years of rent, and then they go and turn it into a massive illegal grow operation.’’

Grow operations like these have also led to fires, other kinds of structural damage, and crime. “Homes are not built for commercial grow operations,’’ Peterson added.

But what’s in store for Massachusetts landlords?

Douglas Quattrochi, executive director of MassLandlords Inc., a nonprofit that helps owners rent their property and serves as a legislative advocate, said he is generally in favor of the new law as long as tenants don’t violate nonsmoking rules.

“That’s the major issue,’’ Quattrochi said, “because the law as it’s written doesn’t allow usage in public. So if a landlord has a nonsmoking policy, there is nowhere you can legally smoke.’’

Edibles may be the solution for tenants who want to partake, he said.

Quattrochi has updated the rental forms he provides to member landlords to make it clear that growing is not allowed in apartments.

“It might require extra electrical,’’ he said. Landlords are “worried about fires and mold from the humidity required.’’

Given the discontinuity between federal and local laws, Quattrochi said, some landlords who receive federal funding may fear punishment if they are “cannabis friendly.’’

“If you are known to be a provider or safe haven for drug use, especially if people are selling, the federal government can come in and take property,’’ Quattrochi said.

In a 2011 memo, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development emphasized that marijuana use, even for medicinal purposes, is banned in public housing. The resident could be evicted.

On the other hand, Quattrochi speculated, other landlords, ones who do not receive federal funding, could advertise their apartments as cannabis-friendly.

In Colorado, the site Weed Rentals is there to do just that. It handles only vacation rentals and hopes to expand to long-term leases this summer. (The site says it will be offering Massachusetts properties this spring.) Some Colorado landlords have added questions to their rental applications inquiring about tenants’ marijuana needs.

Brad Butler, a property manager in Colorado, told TV station KRDO that he asks prospective tenants in rental applications whether they are interested in growing, distributing, or cultivating marijuana.

But many landlords are fearful of damage to their property.

Bobbie Baca, director of property casualty and title and consumer services for the Colorado Division of Insurance, said she received a complaint in which a tenant’s grow operation damaged a house.

Insurance can be tricky in the world of legal marijuana. Each insurer can decide whether or not to cover related damage. In this case, the Colorado landlord lucked out.

“The damages that were caused were covered as vandalism and water damage,’’ Baca said. “He had a dwelling fire policy (also called a landlord policy).’’

But are the tenant’s possessions covered?

“If those renters had a renter’s insurance policy, it would cover the bed and the clothes,’’ Baca noted, “but wouldn’t cover the stuff related to the marijuana.’’

So let’s say a landlord allows marijuana use in his or her building. It is pretty unlikely that every tenant will embrace it.

Nancy Burke, vice president of government affairs for the Colorado Apartment Association, said if a landlord allows marijuana, other tenants might object. What if “you are in a drafty apartment and right next door is another apartment [with a] baby?’’ Burke asked.

McDonagh said the earlier landlords discuss the topic with their tenants, the better, “so these types of problems don’t arise.’’

What can I do if my neighbours are smoking cannabis? Read what action you can take

Should you call police and what happens if you do? Read our handy guide...

ByJon Lewis

Thousands of cannabis smokers recently gathered in London's Hyde Park to defy police and light up joints.

Despite warnings not to smoke drugs in the park, pot enthusiasts descended in their thousands for the annual pro-marijuana rally.

The smokey protest is held each year on April 20 because the date is 4.20, which smokers also claim is the 'perfect' time to spark up a joint.

The activists are calling on the Government to legalise the Class B drug and risked arrest by using the illegal drug at the event.

But what can you do if you step outside your home and get a whiff of something not exactly legal from your neighbours?

 

Here’s a handy guide compiled by Devon Live.

Can people smoke cannabis on their own property legally?

Absolutely not. Any suggestion that you can is an urban myth. A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said: “The possession of cannabis is an offence and will be dealt with by police. It is a widespread issue across the county and we are focusing our resources to target those connected with the cultivation and dealing of the drug to help crackdown on the issue. We would encourage anyone who suspects drug activity in their community to contact us.”

Call the police? Won’t my neighbours find out I’ve done it?

The police say no. A spokeswoman said that Derbyshire police would “never give away a caller’s identity”. She said: “We wouldn’t say information has come from a neighbour as that narrows it down. We’d just say we received a call about x.” She added that officers on patrol might also use tip-offs to inform where they go on patrol. If they were to smell the cannabis themselves, they might knock on the door and broach the subject that way. She added that people could always call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 if they wanted to remain anonymous throughout the process.

What will happen to my neighbours if I call the police about them?

The police spokesman said this could depend on a number of variables, including the amount of cannabis, and whether someone has had any previous convictions.

If they’re renting, what about telling my neighbour’s landlord?

That’s also an option but you’d need to remember that the landlord isn’t bound to avoid giving your identity away in the same way that police are. As long as the tenancy agreement has been drawn up properly, they’ll be in breach of it. But you also need to bear in mind that there are constraints as to what the landlord can do. A spokesman for the National Landlords Association, said that, if landlords suspect cannabis use, they should “arrange for a visit to the property, provided they have given the tenant advance warning”. He said: “If they see or smell what they believe to be evidence of cannabis use, they should remind and warn the tenants that such actions are in violation of the tenancy agreement. If, when they next visit the property, they see the same evidence they may then wish to resort to serving a section 21, or eviction, notice.

I am the landlord. What can I do to stop cannabis being used at my property?

Chris Norris, of the National Landlords Association, said: “While we recommend taking references of prospective tenants from former employers or landlords before offering a tenancy, it can also be necessary to make checks on the property after they have moved in. These should be carried out quarterly if there are any concerns but make sure that you give the tenant or tenants sufficient notice beforehand so as not to disrupt privacy. Lastly, get to know the neighbours and local residents, as they can help alert you should they either see or smell what they suspect to be cannabis use on the property.”

How can I find out who the landlord of a property is?

A good starting point is to find out who the Land Registry have as the owner of the property. It’ll cost a few quid but you can get the information from this website.

Pot smoking during pregnancy causes low birth weight in babies, London research finds

By Dale Carruthers

Women who use marijuana while pregnant are more at risk of giving birth to underweight babies, London researchers say.

The finding announced Thursday is part of the first large-scale study in Canada to establish a link between cannabis use and low birth weights.

The research comes on the heels of the federal government’s introduction of legislation to legalize and regulate marijuana by next year.

Using data from a five-year period at the London Health Sciences Centre, the researchers found pot-using pregnant women are nearly three times more likely than their non-cannabis-using counterparts to have an underweight infant.

Low birth weight — defined in the study as less than 2.5 kg — can lead to a slew of serious health problems, including respiratory problems such as asthma and poor cognitive development during childhood. Low-weight infants also are more at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

The researchers looked at a wide variety of other factors that could contribute to birth outcomes, such as demographics, in a bid to determine whether socio­economic status was related.

But they found socioeconomic status — measured by median neighbourhood income — had minimal influence on birth outcomes.

Researchers from Western University, the Lawson Health Research Institute and Brescia University College collaborated on the study, entitled Socioeconomic status and adverse birth outcomes: A population-based Canadian sample, which was published in the Journal of Biosocial Science.

Marijuana legalization faces uphill battle

Madeleine Behr

APPLETON - While state legislators recently allowed the use of a marijuana extract for specific medical purposes, don't expect marijuana legalization to expand anytime soon.

State Rep. Amanda Stuck told an audience in Appleton on Thursday that Wisconsin is a long way from allowing recreational or widespread medical use of marijuana.

"While (the CBD oil bill) wasn't everything we wanted, it was a step in the right direction," Stuck said. "...Frankly, I don't think we are very close to having fully legalized medical marijuana."

Stuck was joined by Outagamie County Sheriff Brad Gehring, medical professionals, attorneys and a veterans' advocate to discuss marijuana legislation for a Young Professionals Week event.

Gehring said heroin and methamphetamine — not marijuana — are currently "dominating" the attention of law enforcement, Gehring said.

Gehring said the prospect of legalizing marijuana for medical use isn't an issue compared to the potential impact of recreational marijuana use.

For those with chronic illnesses or pain, "the more stability they have in their household" from using medical marijuana could subdue violent tendencies and make them less likely to deal with law enforcement, Gehring said.

"So we understand with the cost and effects that there's some dramatic positives with medical," Gehring said.

But recreational use leads to a very different conversation among law enforcement, he said.

Gehring cited a March 2016 report from Colorado's Department of Public Safety regarding the impact of legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012. The report found:

• Arrests from marijuana possession decreased by nearly 50 percent, while arrests for marijuana production largely stayed the same.
• Burglary was the most common marijuana industry-related crime.
• Driving under the influence charges from marijuana as "the impairing substance" increased from 12 percent to 15 percent of all DUIs.
• Deaths from people driving under the influence of marijuana increased 44 percent. 

If state lawmakers take up the issue of recreational marijuana down the road, law enforcement agencies will make their positions known, Gehring said.

Bills have been introduced in the Legislature over the last decade to allow medical marijuana use, but they have not advanced, Stuck said.

Columbia Professor: The War on Drugs Is a War on Race

by Derek Beres
 

Every 25 seconds in the US, someone is arrested for drug possession. In Manhattan, black people—just 15% of the population—are 11 times more likely to be arrested on drug possession that white people.

For centuries Europeans drank—and for some today, drink—a lot of ale. Numerous accounts of polluted water in the 13th to 18th centuries abound, which apparently forced the citizens of London and Germany to drink plenty of alcohol—one entry from St. Paul’s Cathedral allowed for one bola (gallon) per person every day. Others claim that such an amount was unsustainable on the environment, if not the liver. 

Whether or not the English and Germans drank a gallon a day, it is certain that beer was an integral part of daily life, especially in monasteries. While it was common knowledge that a little alcohol elevates the spirits, it certainly was not considered a drug. At least a portion of the water sources really were contaminated. Even if widespread pollution is a myth, who wouldn’t want to believe it true if the solution meant breakfast with ale? 

Our beliefs about the substances we ingest has always dictated public attitude toward them. “Drug” is a relative term. Ayahuasca has long been medicine for the soul—advocates call it “grandmother medicine,” with the grandfather being peyote. Marijuana’s history as a Schedule One substance is much shorter than its common usage in numerous cultures. Substances that alter consciousness are usually deemed sacraments, not sacrilegious. That changed roughly 50 years ago from a policy perspective. 

That attitude changed for the same reason that the idea of building a wall on our Mexican border persists: racism. Carl Hart, who chairs the Department of Psychology at Columbia University, recently stated that the war on drugs is simply a war on race. This is not mere speculation. Last year an interview was published with a former aide to Richard Nixon in which he stated the war on drugs was specifically waged to put down any chance of minority revolt. 

“Drugs” are simply chemical substances with a physiological effect. Sugar is a drug, as is tobacco and caffeine, all of which have detrimental effects when used in excess. A beer a day might not be a bad thing, but a six-pack (or gallon) daily slowly kills you. Since these are socially acceptable and legal, we tend to gloss over their categorization as drugs. We certainly don’t have moral directives against these substances, save for certain religious groups, such as Mormons opposing alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine—at least in the form of coffee and tea since no sanctions against soda and chocolate exist. As stated, it’s always relative.

The relativity of drugs within groups is one thing. When it affects policy, however, a moral argument is waged against citizens who might not share those morals, and that is a problem. While we are currently undoing five decades of marijuana prohibition Jeff Sessions has recently stated that marijuana is “only slightly less dangerous” than heroin—a provably false claim. Society is waking up from a daze; our attorney general is attempting to keep us in it.

Sessions, who also champions Nancy Reagan’s failed war on drugs—the same racially motivated drug search Nixon, in a lineage kicked off by Harry Anslinger, initiated—is partaking in the same form of verbal gymnastics his forebears used. In his imagination, marijuana is a gateway drug. Reagan went a step further when she personified drugs:

Drugs steal away so much. They take and take. Drugs take away the dream from every child’s heart and replace it with a nightmare.

Trade one boogeyman for another, in this case the “other” races in our nation. Hart argues that such language confuses the public. It's not only the drug that is vilified, but the ethnicities most associated with using that drug—an approach that recently hit a roadblock with the opioid epidemic. 

Oxycontin, a commonly prescribed opioid, and a flowering cannabis plant. 

Strangely, we’ve never had a marijuana epidemic. Yet no substance has been used to incarcerate more Americans. Marijuana is not being and has never been treated as an issue of rehabilitation, as is occurring in communities plagued by opioids. Hart believes this strikes at the heart of the race issue. Discussing other nations with more sensible drug policies, he says:

They do this all around the world, because their first concern is keeping people safe, and not morality. 

Why are morals not being used to combat opioids, especially considering numerous people use marijuana for the very same reason—pain relief? In 2015, 52,000 people died from overdoses; two-thirds of those were associated with opiates such as fentanyl and OxyContin. This has prompted Senator Claire McCaskill to ask pharmaceutical companies to release literature they use to influence doctors to prescribe their drugs. 

As long as drugs like marijuana remain Schedule One and no national legislation addresses legality (as is happening in the states), such a question remains impossible to ask. But it does show the different approach politicians are taking to this particular drug problem. Sessions has never discussed opioids as a gateway drug; he has even called data showing legalized marijuana helps combat opioid addiction “stupid.”

As Saralyn Lyons reports in Johns Hopkins University's HUB:

To keep drug policy in America from being hijacked by morality and exaggeration, Hart encouraged a reframing of the conversation: Drug users should "come out of the closet" to change the narrative that users are inherently abusers. "Drug users are me," he said.

Personifying certain drugs as evil while calling opioid users “victims” strikes at the root of this linguistic (and psychological) posturing. Hart suggests a more compassionate approach, not one sponsored only by a “white face,” to deal with our actual drug problems—this includes crack cocaine in minority communities, another drug treated as a crime and not a tragedy. This means removing morality from the picture to investigate the real effects of each drug and how we’re addressing them. 

And that means being honest with data.

Israeli, U.S. Scientists Link Pot With Teen Schizophrenia

Discovery comes in experiments done on mice, links outbreak with marijuana, hashish and a synthetic drug known as 'Nice Guy'

Ido Efrati













Use of marijuana during adolescence significantly increases the risk of schizophrenia among young people with a genetic predisposition to the disease, according to a new study by Israeli and American researchers.

The study was recently published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

During the research, which was done on mice, the scientists identified the biological mechanism that contributes to the outbreak of the illness while using marijuana, hashish and a synthetic drug known as “Nice Guy.” The study was conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University, Geha Psychiatric Hospital and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Schizophrenia, a chronic mental illness, affects nearly 1 percent of the population, meaning some 80,000 Israelis suffer from it. The neurological reasons for the development of the disease are still not clear, and studies from recent years have shown that more than a hundred different genes are involved in its appearance.

“Schizophrenia is a serious disease that appears during adolescence, apparently on a background of genetics and environmental damage,” said Prof. Daniel Offen of TAU, one of the researchers.

“Unfortunately the range of genes that are liable to trigger schizophrenia is still not clear, but it’s known that a number of genes, when mutated, may raise the risk of the disease. One of those genes is called DISC-1. In the study we examined whether use of THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – could advance the onset of the disease or worsen it.”

The researchers used young mice with a defective DISC-1 gene and treated them with THC for a few days. Afterward the mice went through a number of behavioral and biochemical tests. A control group of mice whose DISC-1 gene was undamaged was given identical THC treatment.

“Among the young mice with the damaged gene that were exposed to THC, we saw a significant increase in behavioral symptoms linked to schizophrenia, including impaired brain function,” said Hadar Segal Gavish, a research student on the TAU team.

“We know from previous studies that adolescence is a critical period for the onset of the disease. In the new study we found that at a young age, the combination of genetic predisposition and use of THC worsens the symptoms.”

The researchers also found that while healthy mice could increase their production of a brain protein called BDNF to neutralize the effects of THC, in the mice with the defective gene the levels of BDNF remained the same. At another stage the researchers injected BDNF into the brain’s hippocampus (the area that creates new memories) and demonstrated that an increased presence of the protein blocked the damage caused by THC.

Claim of link not new

The claim of a link between marijuana consumption in teens and the risk of developing mental illnesses like schizophrenia is not new. Use of marijuana, cocaine and LSD are recognized risk factors for their onset. According to Dr. Ran Barzilay, one of the TAU researchers who is also a pediatric psychiatrist at Geha, the new research is consistent with clinical findings.

“As someone who works with teenagers, I see a lot of young people aged 15 to 25 who suffered outbreaks of the disease in proximity to their use of cannabis or synthetic cannabis,” he said. “Over the past two years there have been large studies, particularly in England, that showed a connection between the quantity and strength of the material and the age of use, and the onset of illnesses like schizophrenia. The stress is on adolescence, which is a particularly vulnerable window of time. Our study tried to imitate in a mouse model the clinical picture we were seeing in patients.”

Barzilay added: “There are young people with a certain genetic profile who could live peacefully until 120, but if those same young people are exposed to marijuana, hashish or ‘nice guy,’ the chances of schizophrenia presenting itself are very high.”

The impact of marijuana use on young people has been occupying scientists and law enforcement officials in Israel and elsewhere, especially since teens today are less likely to consider marijuana a risky drug. A survey of 14,000 teens in Israel in 2014 by the Anti-Drug Authority and Bar-Ilan University showed that in only three years (from 2011 to 2014), there was a more than 60 percent increase in the ratio of 10th graders who had tried marijuana, reaching a total of 8.8 percent of secular Jewish 10th graders and 11 percent of Arab 10th graders.

Public Safety, Marijuana Bills Pass Major Hurdle

By Paul Nelson

Tuesday night marked a deadline when bills either had to pass their house of origin, or die. 

The Assembly passed 248 bills, alone, with a couple hundred more coming from the Senate.  Two of the Assembly bills included public safety.  AB485 passed 40-2, which would require all new school buses to have shoulder-harness seatbelts, starting in July of 2019.  AB334 passed 35-7, which would prohibit slow drivers from using the left lane on a highway.

"They should be traveling in the right-hand lane unless they're going to be passing somebody," Assem. Mike Sprinkle, D-Sparks said. "So, public safety is really important and then, of course, we know seatbelts work. Seatbelts keep people where they need to be. My other job as a paramedic, I see it all the time, when people don't wear their seatbelts, how catastrophic it can be."

"Seatbelts on school buses is kind of obvious," Assem. Jim Wheeler, R-Gardnerville said. "Seatbelts save lives. Why wouldn't we let our kids wear them, as well?"

Several marijuana bills passed the Senate and Assembly. SB334, SB375 and SB396 each passed with a unanimous vote.  SB334 would regulate the packaging of marijuana products, hoping to make it unappealing to children. SB375 would address regulations for recreational marijuana on tribal land. 

SB396 would authorize growth and handling of marijuana.  SB236 and SB374 passed along party lines, which could grant permits for marijuana use in some businesses, and authorize health care providers to prescribe medical marijuana to treat opioid abuse.

"We have an institutional criminalization of marijuana and that has permeated through other aspects of our laws and we had to clean those up," Sen. Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas said.

"Now by recreational, new laws have to be written in that respect," Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden said. "Especially, when it comes to driving under the influence and things of that nature."

Several bills were passed, regarding women's health.  AB113 would require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide a private, clean place for women to express milk.  SB253 would outlaw businesses with more than 15 employees from discriminating against pregnant women.  The senate passed it, unanimously.

"We really want to support and foster a culture of life and supporting pregnant women and women who are pregnant when they're applying for a job is right in line with that," Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno said.

AB249 requires insurance to cover all forms of contraception, including up to a year's supply of birth control pills. It passed 40-2.  SB122 would establish a revenue stream for family-planning clinics, which passed along party lines, 12-9.

"Most of what we do here is bipartisan and then there's just those handful of issues where we just have a philosophical point of view," Sen. Julia Ratti, D-Sparks said.

Ratti says she is particularly happy that SB305 passed, which gives children in foster care legal counsel.  She says it has worked well in other states with similar laws.

"They have better outcomes," Ratti said. "You see better school performance. You see reunited with families more often. You see better health care. So, I'm really excited that bill is moving forward.

SB130 and AB431 both passed unanimously.  Each bill would more than double the amount of beer that a Nevada brewery can produce.  Current law allows 15,000 barrels of production per year. 

While the bills are similar, there are differences.  If they both pass the other chamber, the two bills would be voted on. The one receiving the most votes would become law.

"A lot of times, as you're growing through a business, you hit a point where you're busy getting much larger or you continue to be stagnated at the size you're at, and that was why it was important to give them enough elbow room to allow these small businesses to grow," Settelmeyer said.

SB105 authorizes and requests that the governor proclaim "Indigenous Peoples Day".  The bill originally would have replaced Columbus Day, but lawmakers said that would have pushed aside historical contributions made by Italians in the U.S.  They chose August 9 as the date instead.

5 Nanogram THC Limit Coming To California?

Two DUII Bills Pass Out of Committee

By William Stash Jones

Tom Angell, through his Marijuana Moment newsletter, brought our attention to a couple of bills that passed out of committee in California that would make it an infraction to have a 5 ng/ml blood level for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol to drive a vehicle, and also a zero tolerance of persons under 21.

The bills (Senate Bill 65 and Senate Bill 698) passed out of the Committee on Public Safety without a single no vote (2 abstained on one of the bills). The bill now moves to the Committee on Appropriations.

The DUII bills were introduced by California’s Senator Hill, and are supported by all the usual suspects in the law enforcement industry, which is large in California. 20 or 30 sheriff, police and district attorney associations endorsed the bills. SB 65 was heavily amended and the requirement for drug treatment was pulled from the bill before passing. No drug treatment was included in SB 698, either, which covers those under 21 years of age who are found with any detectable THC in their system.

In the support of the bills the author explains, “There’s no standard for marijuana impairment like the .08 blood alcohol content threshold used for drunk driving because technology for a roadside test of marijuana use is still being developed…SB 65 would make it an infraction for anyone to smoke or consume marijuana in any form while driving a vehicle, consistent with the law on drinking while operating a vehicle.”

The California Police Chiefs Association stated, in support of the 5ng/ml limit, “The current lack of tools for law enforcement to both identify and measure marijuana-impaired driving, coupled with the lack of statute addressing drugged driving, sends the message to the public that drugged driving is not as serious of an issue as drunk driving.”

The ACLU, who opposes the use of a the impairment blood test, explains in opposition, “we do not believe that the roadside chemical tests for the presence of marijuana are sufficiently reliable to serve as the basis for a license suspension and other legal consequences…To our knowledge, these tests cannot distinguish between trace levels of marijuana that might be the result of second hand smoke and levels that would be indicative that the driver himself or herself consumed the marijuana within a short period of time.”

Congress needs to stop Sessions from prosecuting growers in states where marijuana is legal.

By David Feige

Friday could be a very bad day for marijuana growers. That’s because, tucked into the vast spending bill Congress needs to pass to avoid yet another government shutdown, is the extension of a provision designed to prevent the federal government from prosecuting marijuana growers in states that have legalized cannabis. If it’s removed, it would allow more than a dozen currently stalled federal prosecutions of weed growers up and down the West Coast to go through.

The provision, known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, prevents the U.S. Department of Justice from spending money that could interfere with laws in a number of states concerning “the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” It was designed as a response to the Hobson’s choice marijuana growers faced in states that had legalized the use of medical and/or recreational pot: Though consumption was OK, production existed in a legal gray area in which state and federal laws were at odds. Of course, marijuana is still considered illegal by the federal government—retaining its place next to drugs such as heroin, LSD, and bath salts (really) on Schedule 1 of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. And while the feds have generally left the prosecution of marijuana smokers to the states (except in cases involving federal land or other obvious federal jurisdiction), they have spent decades aggressively prosecuting those who produce and sell the plant.

Between 2001 and 2010 alone, more than 8.2 million Americans were arrested for marijuana crimes.

Partly in response to this, an increasing number of states have begun to roll back their enforcement and regulation of weed. Medical marijuana is legal in 29 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico, while recreational marijuana is legal in eight states. In 2014, after six failed attempts, the federal government finally joined in, albeit in a roundabout and muted way. A provision, originally called the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, passed the House and made its way into an appropriations bill. Designed to ameliorate the legally nonsensical situation that had been created by the states’ legalization, the amendment aimed to roll back the costly and foolish encroachments of the federal government in favor of a greater respect for state decisions about marijuana production and usage.

The amendment was subsequently renewed several times with broad bipartisan support. (Because Farr has retired from Congress, the proposal has since become known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer after representative Earl Blumenauer.)

But with Attorney General Jeff Sessions comparing marijuana with heroin, the executive branch has signaled that despite the states’ rights rhetoric generally favored by Republicans, when it comes to weed, the president intends to be anything but deferential.

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It’s strange that in a time when dilapidated greenhouses in Salinas County, California, are selling to marijuana entrepreneurs for millions, and most Americans support legalization for both medical and recreational purposes, there are still people facing life in prison without the possibility of parole for growing cannabis. But that is precisely the situation facing dozens of people, including Jerad Kynaston and his co-defendant, Sam Doyle—both growers from Spokane, Washington, who are set to go to trial on June 5 on federal charges that they possessed hundreds of plants and many pounds of harvested marijuana. 

These are the sorts of arguments that make normal people hate lawyers, and for good reason.

Surprisingly, Kynaston and Doyle’s prosecution, like those of many others, has proceeded, albeit slowly, despite the restrictions imposed by the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment. That’s because at first, the Department of Justice simply ignored the amendment by claiming—to howls of protest from Rohrabacher and Farr—that the law was never intended to prevent federal prosecutions of marijuana violations. But when a number of growers appealed last August—in a case that consolidated 10 different prosecutions from California and Washington state—the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dealt the Department of Justice a serious setback, ruling that the DOJ cannot spend money on these prosecutions. Quite simply, as Judge Charles Breyer (also Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s brother) wrote in a similar case: The government’s reading of the law “tortures the plain meaning of the statute.”

Theoretically, without funds to prosecute, and with state legislatures working hard to bring marijuana cultivation, distribution, and consumption into the daylight, one might think that the Department of Justice might finally dismiss the cases or at least make plea offers designed to induce a resolution. Neither of these things have happened. Instead, in Doyle’s case, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tim Ohms and Patrick Cashman have shifted tactics, claiming (with some support from the 9^th Circuit) that they are only barred from prosecuting cases in which the defendants were in compliance with state laws. And since it is the government’s position that Doyle was not in compliance—an argument that rests on an assertion that Doyle was growing too many plants to be in compliance, despite the fact that Washington law contains no specific numerical cap on the number of allowable plants—the Department of Justice claims it is free to pay Ohms and Cashman to prosecute Doyle until such a time as Doyle can prove he was in compliance.

These are the sorts of arguments that make normal people hate lawyers, and for good reason.

And while the government’s shifting positions do indeed offer a frightening lesson in how malleable legal rules can be, they also highlight just how complicated and dangerous it can still be to attempt to “legally” harvest marijuana in America. It’s worth noting that Doyle says that in order to show that he was growing too much weed, the government included root balls, immature plants, and even empty pots.

And what if they do convict him? While he’s facing more than 60 years in prison, actuarially speaking, Doyle is likely to live just shy of 50 more years. Using conservative estimates of federal incarceration costs, it would cost taxpayers more than $1.5 million to imprison him for that time.

With dozens of defendants in similar circumstances (including Kynaston, who is facing life without parole), Trump and Sessions appear eager to spend tens of millions of dollars to incarcerate people for possession of marijuana in states where using it is already legal.

Consider that legal marijuana is a $7 billion-a-year business and is projected to grow to $50 billion by 2026. Estimates are that a mature marijuana industry could generate up to $28 billion in tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments. Given the scale and growth of the industry, attempting to thwart it by prosecuting people like Doyle is like trying to repair a breached levee with small pack of sponges. And while it’s likely that the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment will find its way into this current spending bill, it’s high time that Congress send a strong, clear, and bipartisan message to the Trump administration about the foolish prosecutorial priorities of the Sessions Justice
Department. Not only should it renew Rohrabacher-Blumenauer, but it should make the amendment permanent and once and for all specify in a clear and unambiguous bill that not a dime can be spent prosecuting marijuana crimes in states that have legalized its sale and possession. It simply can’t be that the Republican mantra of states’ rights only applies to the rights they like.

Drugged driving now bigger highway threat than drunk driving

By James T. Mulder

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Drugged driving has surpassed drunk driving as a highway safety issue as more states legalize marijuana and record numbers of people die from drug overdoses.

Forty-three percent of drivers killed in traffic accidents nationwide tested positive for drugs in 2015, according to a report released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility.

By comparison, 37 percent of drivers in fatal accidents tested positive for alcohol.

Marijuana was the most common drug found in fatally-injured drivers. More than one third -- 36.5 percent -- tested positive for marijuana and 9.3 percent tested positive for amphetamines.

The reported cited a study which found heavy marijuana use can double the risk of motor vehicle crashes resulting in serious injury or death.

Medical marijuana is legal in New York state. Massachusetts recently legalized marijuana for recreational use.

While driving under the influence of drugs is illegal in every state, drugged driving laws are difficult to enforce and prosecute, the report says.

Identifying drivers impaired by drugs is more complicated and takes longer than identifying drunk drivers, according to the report. Many police officers are not trained to identify drugged drivers.

Also, there is no valid roadside device police can use to test for marijuana and other drugs the way they use breathalyzers to test for alcohol.

The report recommends states track data on drugged and drunk driving separately so they can estimate the size of the drugged driving problem.

The report says some police officers in New York enter data on drugged driving on computer tablets at the scene of investigations, then transfer that data into a central data system.

Marijuana is becoming more potent, but also more popular, UMD study says

A man smokes marijuana.
(File Photo/The Diamondback)

By Jack Roscoe

While the number of people who view marijuana as posing "no risk" increases, highly potent forms of the drug are becoming more common, which may cause greater negative effects, according to a 2017 report by this university's public health school.

The percent of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that causes a high, has increased from 4 percent to 12 percent in the 19-year period between 1995 and 2014, according to the study, which was conducted in collaboration with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.

Synthetic marijuana, which can have THC concentrations of up to 80 percent, has also "increased dramatically in popularity," as well as a new method of consumption called "dabbing," in which vapor from heating a concentrated oil or wax form of marijuana is inhaled by the user, according to the report.

The study claims using higher-potency marijuana carries a higher risk of negative outcomes, such as "cognitive problems, underachievement in school and risk for dependence, especially for youth," compared to traditional forms of marijuana.

Users of synthetic cannabis are 30 times more likely to visit the emergency room than users of traditional forms of cannabis, and users of high-potency marijuana are five times more likely to experience a psychotic disorder than those who don't, according to the report.

Even though these new forms of consuming high-potency marijuana potentially carry higher health risks, they are increasing in popularity.

"The percentage of adults and adolescents who believe regular use of marijuana poses 'no risk' tripled from 5 percent in 2004 to 15.3 percent in 2014," the report states.

Yusuf Mahmood, president of this university's Young Americans for Liberty chapter, said the perception marijuana is harmless "is a consequence of irresponsible campaigning" by some advocates of the drug's legalization.

Young Americans for Liberty advocates the legalization of drugs not because they are safe, but because keeping them illegal puts no checks on their potency and encourages drug-related violence, said Mahmood, a sophomore economics and philosophy major.

Ronald Lyles, a sophomore history major, said marijuana use poses no risks. A handful of other students smoking cigarettes outside of McKeldin Library Wednesday afternoon nodded in agreement. Seeing the positive effects of medical marijuana helps people have a better perception of the drug, he added.

Stephen Barber, founder of Washington cannabis news source Capital Canna News, said the perception regular marijuana use poses no risk "is a true one," even with cannabis oils that have 97 percent THC concentration.

"You can't bullshit people forever, and I think that the government was successfully able to bullshit people for a very long time," Barber said. "The vast majority of the American public who have simply been exposed to cannabis and … information about its benefits can see that all this 'Reefer Madness' and 'Just say no' stuff about cannabis is no more than a pack of lies."

Mahmood said people smoke it or see others smoking it and find out some of the things the government has said about marijuana aren't true, leading them to make "false conclusions that everything the government has said about marijuana is a lie," or that it's completely harmless.

Studies on marijuana have been historically difficult to conduct because of the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, Mahmood said. According to the act, drugs which have a high potential for abuse, have no accepted medical use and are unsafe under medical supervision qualify for Schedule I classification.

Heroin, LSD and ecstasy also fall under this classification. The government has rejected appeals to reclassify marijuana.

Because Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse, the Drug Enforcement Agency requires researchers to apply for a government license to study them. This can prevent long-term studies on marijuana and other Schedule I drugs from being carried out, Mahmood said.

"The only real issue that people possibly have by consuming large amounts of high purity cannabis is that they will simply go to sleep or need to take a nap," Barber said. "There's no sign of any risk of any long-term health impairments or any immediate medical dangers that can come from smoking highly potent marijuana."

Mahmood said drug education should be approached in the same way as modern sex education. 

Rather than preaching complete abstinence from drug use, adolescents should learn in school the risks of drug use and how to safely consume drugs. This won't happen as long as drugs are illegal, he added.

"People need jargon-free, scientifically accurate, and personally relevant information to make an informed decision about any health issue," Cynthia Baur, director of the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy and professor in the public health school, wrote in an email.

Does Marijuana Have Dangerous Side Effects? Daily Weed Smoking Linked To More Suicidal Thoughts

By Dana Dovey

For the most part, marijuana makes users feel, well, good. The drug elicits feelings of euphoria, can help numb pain, and may control nausea. However, a new study has suggested a potential risk: frequent and heavy marijuana use is linked to more suicidal thoughts.

The study, now published online in Psychiatry Research, found that among marijuana users, though who are heavy daily users report having more suicidal thoughts than less frequent users, Broadly reported. In addition, daily users reported they felt more alienated and like they were a burden to others than lighter users.

Before you get too worried about this potential side effect of marijuana use, there were limitations to the study. For example, the researchers don't know for sure whether these heavy users were self-medicating depression with marijuana, or if the marijuana use caused their depression.

In addition, over 76 percent of the volunteers involved in the study were women, who are twice as likely to be depressed as men, and are also more likely to have suicidal thoughts, Bloomberg reported (although, overall, men follow through on the act more than women).







The team plan to further explore this link between heavy marijuana use and suicidal thoughts; they hope to understand whether one causes the other, and if so, what can be done to prevent this.

According to Medical News Today, suicidal thoughts are also known as suicidal ideation. These can range from having a thought-out plan to just having the idea cross your mind. Although the majority of people who have suicidal thoughts do not try to kill themselves, it is still a serious situation, and individuals having these thoughts should seek help.

A family history of mental health conditions may also increase the likeliness of having suicidal thoughts.

Source: Buckner JD, Lemke AW, Walukevich KA. Cannabis use and suicidal ideation: Test of the utility of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide. Psychiatry Research. 2017 

Illegal Marijuana Use, Abuse Rising in States With Legalized Pot, Study Says

Nationwide data suggests illegal marijuana use increased at a "significantly greater rate" in states with medical marijuana laws, according to the study.

By Megan Trimble,

As of November 2016, 28 states had passed medical marijuana laws. (Katarzyna Bialasiewicz via Getty Images)

New findings suggest illegal pot smoking and abuse of the drug are on the rise in states that have legalized medical marijuana – and at a faster rate than in states that have held off on passing similar laws.

A team of researchers reported Wednesday that nationwide data suggests marijuana use and marijuana use disorders – in which people use the drug in unhealthy or abusive ways – increased at a "significantly greater rate" in states with medical marijuana laws than in states without the laws, according to the findings published online in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Twenty-eight states had passed medical marijuana laws as of November 2016, according to the study.

Researchers analyzed data surveyed from nearly 118,500 participants in 39 states between 1991 and 1992, 2001 and 2002 and 2012 and 2013. The rates of illegal pot use increased in all of those states over the course of the study, according to the findings.

The rates of illegal pot use rose from 4.5 percent to 6.7 percent, an increase of 2.2 percentage points, in states without medical marijuana laws. But illicit use rose in states with legalized medical marijuana from 5.6 percent to 9.2 percent, an increase of 3.6 percentage points, according to the study.

Researchers flagged California and Colorado as states that were notable for the reported increase in pot use. Both states have legalized the use of recreational marijuana since the period covered by the study data.

The study also found marijuana use disorders increased more quickly in states that legalized medical marijuana. States without legalized medical marijuana saw an increase in reported disorders from 1.3 percent to 2.3 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point. In states that have passed medical marijuana laws, the disorders rose from 1.5 percent to 3.1 percent, an increase of 1.6 percentage points.

But while the study found the disorders generally increased in adults, other studies have found a decline in the same disorders in teens between 2002 and 2013.

Researches noted a number of limitations in their study, including possible inaccuracies tied to the self-reported data. Some recreational marijuana users, for example, may feel more comfortable reporting their use today than people in the past. Additional studies, after all, have found that most Americans have tried marijuana.

Ultimately, researchers said, more studies are needed to explain why increased pot use could be linked to medical marijuana laws.

Colorado Pot: State House Picks Fight With Feds

The state house voted overwhelmingly to bar public employees from assisting in a federal marijuana crackdown.

By Colin Miner

 

The Colorado State House took a big step toward picking a fight with the federal government over marijuana enforcement. The house voted overwhelmingly to prevent public employees from arrested a resident of the state for doing something that is constitutionally permissible in Colorado.

While the bill does not mention marijuana, legislators made it clear it was introduced in response to a threatened federal crackdown on marijuana use.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said states need to remember that marijuana use is still illegal under federal law.

Also: Ted Cruz on paying for the wall, 19,000 gallon oil spill, winning a baby and more.

 

It will next go to the state senate for consideration.

Colorado is one of the states with the most open-ended marijuana use laws.

The legislature is also considering a bill that would allow recreational marijuana establishments to reclassify as medical marijuana in case of a crackdown.

‘We just try to keep people alive.’ Use of dangerous synthetic marijuana growing among homeless

By Beth Musgrave and Morgan Eads

On March 28, multiple Lexington police officers and firefighters were called to Phoenix Park in downtown Lexington after it was reported a group of people were overdosing.

Three people were taken to the hospital for suspected overdoses of a synthetic drug that has become increasingly popular with the city’s homeless population.

Synthetic marijuana, also known as serenity, ren, K2 or spice, has been around for a while, but over the past year, Lexington officials have seen an uptick in the drug’s use and the number of people overdosing. It is a synthetic chemical compound created to affect the same parts of the brain as THC, the main mind-altering compound in marijuana.

It’s also trickier to treat than heroin — another illicit drug that has seen a surge in popularity— because there is no antidote to counter the effects of serenity. It’s also cheap.

“It’s cheap to make, easily made, it causes hallucinations, paranoia, some anxiety,” Lexington Police Sgt. Jervis Middleton said. “You frequently see people unclothe themselves, and usually when they come out of it, they don’t remember what they’ve done.”

Serenity can have psychological effects similar to marijuana, but it can also cause increased blood pressure and heart rate, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The compound is often sprayed on dried plant material to be smoked or sold as a liquid to be used in an e-cigarette.

People who are using serenity can go into a “standing stupor” for several minutes or, in extreme cases, begin convulsing and vomiting, officer Howard Florence said. Florence is stationed in the downtown entertainment district, where several of the overdoses have been reported. In addition to the March 28 incident, there have been several other incidents where police and fire personnel have been called to parks after several people overdosed on synthetic marijuana at the same time, Florence said.

Steve Polston, the director of the New Life Day Center, a day shelter for the homeless, said a surge in the number of people using synthetic marijuana began about nine months ago.

“There was a wave that hit us — and it seemed to come out of left field — we did not see it coming,” Polston said.

The drug seemed to be everywhere. It was potent and scary, Polston said. People who use it “zombie” out or have seizures, sometimes violent ones, he said.

“Have you seen an Egyptian mummy? That's what they look like,” he said.

Polston said the drug and its effects were so bad, the shelter cooperated with Lexington police.

Shelter workers helped track down known serenity or synthetic marijuana dealers. Police did a raid. Many dealers were arrested.

Since that raid, New Life hasn’t seen as many users.

“That doesn't mean the problem went away, it just moved somewhere else,” Polston said.

Ginny Ramsey, the co-founder of the Catholic Action Center, another day shelter for the homeless, said she too has seen more poor and homeless people turning to synthetic drugs. She knows people who have been taken to the hospital because of the seizures the drug causes. She was also told that a man who frequently smoked synthetic marijuana was found dead — possibly of a heart attack — in mid-March in front of what was once the employment office on High Street.

Lexington Police Chief Mark Barnard said last week the drug's low price — as little as $2 per dose — has made it popular. Police are concerned about panhandlers, in particular, using donations to buy the drug..

“The population that tends to abuse it downtown can be in their 20s or they can be in their 50s or 60s,” Florence said. “They’re just looking for something, some drug to use.”

Barnard said the problem with synthetic drugs like serenity is the drug doesn’t leave users’ bodies. The toxic substances build up.

“It’s stored in the fat cells,” Barnard said.

There was a wave that hit us – and it seemed to come out of left field – we did not see it coming,”
Steve Polston, the director of a day shelter for homeless people.

The state legislature in 2016 passed a law to increase penalties for people convicted of dealing synthetic drugs. Middleton said after the state passed laws making synthetic marijuana illegal, there was a decrease in its use. But in the last six months, another spike occurred.

Middleton said the police narcotics unit is working to find synthetic drug suppliers. The police are targeting dealers, not addicts.

Because it’s so difficult to detect, accurate data on overdoses and abuse of synthetic marijuana is difficult to find.

The number of suspected synthetic marijuana overdoses changes based on supply and other factors, Lexington Fire Battalion Chief Brian Wood said. The overdoses are difficult to diagnose and track.

A synthetic marijuana overdose doesn’t look like a heroin overdose; it appears similar to reactions to methamphetamine or bath salts, another synthetic drug, Wood said. While the effects of heroin overdoses can be reversed with naloxone or Narcan, there is nothing available to reverse the effects of serenity.

The number of naloxone doses administered helps the fire department track the heroin problem, Wood said. Without an equivalent way to measure synthetic marijuana use, it’s difficult to monitor.
Paramedics can’t identify a synthetic marijuana overdose in the field unless they’re told by a witness that the patient had been using the drug. They treat the symptoms individually.

“We just try to keep people alive,” Wood said.

Mike Wynn, a spokesman for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, said the medical examiner’s office has not reported any overdoses from synthetic marijuana so far this year. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t dying from the drug.

“Their numbers often lag behind law enforcement, which operates on the front lines,” said Wynn.

Doctors at one of Lexington’s busiest emergency rooms say they have seen an increase in the number of people coming to the hospital after smoking synthetic marijuana.

“We have seen several cases lately of patients presenting in various degrees of distress related to what they report as synthetic marijuana use,” said Dr. Roger Humphries, chairman of Emergency Medicine at University of Kentucky Health Care. “The strange thing about this drug exposure is that the patients can experience a wide spectrum of symptoms.”

Sometimes people are extremely agitated. Others are unresponsive, Humphries said.

“A relatively small percentage of the patients have life-threatening conditions and are admitted to the ICU from the ED but most are observed for a few hours and are discharged to home after they have recovered from the acute intoxication,” Humphries said.

Although the drug’s street name is serenity, it’s anything but, police and fire officials warn.

“Anytime you use a substance that’s not regulated, you’re taking a chance with your life,” Lexington Fire Battalion Chief Joe Best said.

This Is What Smoking Pot Does to People’s Respect for Others

Check out the sky-high piles of trash left by revelers in Denver after its 4/20 'cannabis celebration'

by Leah Jessen

In Colorado last week, pot smokers spent so much time getting high that they apparently “forgot” about other people — and left a completely trashed park in their wake, as officials from the city of Denver made clear.

Several thousand marijuana enthusiasts gathered at Denver’s Civic Center park on April 20 to celebrate cannabis smoking. The area the next day was in a “disrespectful state,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

It’s clear this is what smoking pot does to people’s level of respect for themselves, for others — and for their surroundings.

“Our parks and public spaces are held in the public trust … When you leave one of our parks trashed, you violate that trust,” Hancock, a Democrat, said on Monday.

When Colorado's legalization of pot came up for a vote in 2012, Hancock opposed the measure, but since then has embraced legalization.

“The 4/20 event has evolved over the last decade from an informal protest of marijuana prohibition to an organized festival that exalts in its legalization,” The Denver Post reported.

But beyond the trash left by revelers. “officers cited or arrested 48 event-goers, most of them for public marijuana consumption — a common occurrence in past events,” The Denver Post noted.

Fence-hopping, pot smoking, and delayed trash clean-up allegedly occurred from the 4/20 “weed day” festivities.

“No matter how it gets into your system, it affects almost every organ in your body, and your nervous system and immune system, too,” according to WebMD, an online source of health information.

Marijuana contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a chemical compound responsible for the “high” feeling that pot smokers get from the drug.

“The amount of THC in marijuana has gone up in recent years,” noted WebMD. “Most leaves used to contain between 1 percent and 4 percent THC. Now most have closer to 7 percent. Experts worry this might make it easier to become dependent on or addicted to marijuana — and it also strengthens many of the drug’s mind-altering effects.”

“Nearly 10 percent of people who use it become dependent on it,” an article on the site also added.

Roughly one in eight adults smokes pot, according to a 2016 Gallup poll. For adults under the age of 30, almost one in five adults smokes marijuana.

“If you’re a man, heavy use could lower your testosterone levels, and your sperm count and quality,” WebMD cautioned.

Skowhegan public hearing on banning pot sales turns into blustery debate on town streets

Selectmen agreed to present the pot ban at Town Meeting in June and to hold a public hearing on one-way streets May 23.

By Doug Harlow

SKOWHEGAN — A public hearing was held Tuesday night by selectmen on a proposed ordinance that would ban marijuana retail sales, but the prickly issue of one-way streets between North Avenue and Madison Avenue in Skowhegan took over the discussion when it was over.

Opponents of the plan making Gem and Cowette streets one way and changes to other streets made their voices heard after no one showed up to discuss the marijuana ban.

Selectmen agreed to take the marijuana issues to Town Meeting. They also agreed 5-0 to give Road Commissioner Greg Dore flexibility on what to do with the streets and to hold a public hearing on the matter.

The public hearing to discuss traffic changes on Gem, Cowette, West and Cleveland streets, along with Madison and North avenues, was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. May 23 at the Municipal Building.

On the marijuana issue, selectmen agreed in January to move forward with a local ordinance that would prohibit all types of retail marijuana establishments and retail social clubs under the state’s municipal home rule authority.

The next step was Tuesday’s public hearing leading up to a vote of the people of Skowhegan in June at Town Meeting, when voters will have their say if they want to have retail marijuana shops or social clubs in Skowhegan.

If voters say they want retail marijuana in town, then they will be asked to approve a moratorium so town officials can have time to get the language of the guidelines in place.

Otherwise, if voters agree to the ban, the prohibition ordinance will become local law. The ordinance covers every aspect of possible marijuana sales within the town. It would ban any retail marijuana cultivation facility, retail marijuana stores, product manufacturing and testing and clubs where marijuana is consumed.

All would be “expressly prohibited” in Skowhegan, but the ordinance would not prohibit recreational use of pot as allowed by Maine law or use related to medical marijuana. Skowhegan selectmen in November asked the Planning Board to compose an ordinance draft that would ban marijuana retail sales anywhere in town. That draft is what selectmen accepted in January.

Skowhegan residents voted 2,152-1,879 against Question 1 on the statewide referendum ballot Nov. 8.

With a local controlled-substance facility ordinance already in place regulating methadone clinics and medical marijuana dispensaries, Skowhegan selectmen now want to see if residents will back a measure banning retail marijuana and marijuana social clubs.

A registered facility under the existing controlled-substance ordinance in Skowhegan was adopted in 2011 by voters at Town Meeting and updated to include methadone clinics last June. Such facilities can be located only on U.S. Route 201, on U.S. Route 2 east of downtown and at the Northgate or Southgate industrial parks.

So far, none has been proposed.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. With the passage of Question 1 on Nov. 8, adults 21 and older are allowed under state law to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, grow their own plants and buy marijuana from licensed retail stores. The initiative also allows marijuana social clubs and places a 10 percent sales tax on marijuana.

Marijuana use would be prohibited in public, with violations punishable by a $100 fine.

The marijuana law that Maine voters passed in November now includes a nine-month delay to allow state lawmakers time to create regulations for the sale of the drug and close a loophole that some believed could have allowed people under age 21 to possess the drug legally.

Gov. Paul LePage signed into law a three-month extension of that moratorium. He also pledged to use his authority to move oversight of licensing and enforcement of marijuana sales from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations.

Maine joined eight other states that have lifted prohibitions on the drug.