The federal government’s incredibly poor, misleading argument for marijuana prohibition

By Christopher Ingraham 

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, left, shakes hands with clerk Pam Fenstermacher after purchasing marijuana at Cannabis City on July 8, 2014, in Seattle, on the first day that sales of recreational pot became legal in the state. (Elaine Thompson/AP)

 

The New York Times editorial board is making news with a week-long series advocating for the full legalization of marijuana in the United States. In response, the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) published a blog post Monday purporting to lay out the federal government's case against marijuana reform.
That case, as it turns out, it surprisingly weak. It's built on half-truths and radically decontextualized facts, curated from social science research that is otherwise quite solid. I've gone through the ONDCP's arguments, and the research behind them, below.
The irony here is that with the coming wave of deregulation and legalization, we really do need a sane national discussion of the costs and benefits of widespread marijuana use. But the ONDCP's ideological insistence on prohibition prevents them from taking part in that conversation.
Here's what they have to say:

Marijuana use affects the developing brain. A recent study in Brain reveals impairment of the development of structures in some regions of the brain following prolonged marijuana use that began in adolescence or young adulthood.

The same is true for alcohol and tobacco. This is a great argument for restricting young peoples' access to the drugs (as Washington and Colorado have done with marijuana), but a poor one for banning it completely.
Moreover, the study cited was of a group of 59 individuals who had been heavy marijuana smokers for 16 years, and who had smoked an average of 4.5 joints every single day over that period.

This is far outside the realm of normal, moderate use. A recent Colorado Department of Revenue report found, for instance, that the majority of users in that state smoked five or fewer times per month. Again, what we have is not an argument against marijuana use, but an argument against overdoing it.

Marijuana use is associated with cognitive impairment, including lower IQ among adult chronic users who began using marijuana at an early age.

The same is true for alcohol and tobacco. The study cited by the ONDCP looked at changes in IQ among heavy marijuana users, defined in this case as those who smoked marijuana at least four times a week. In general, the authors found a "small" IQ effect for people who had used marijuana heavily at some point in their lives, with the exception of those who showed consistent heavy use over a period of 20 years, for whom the negative effect was "medium." Again, a solid argument for a minimum age and moderate use.

Substance use in school age children has a detrimental effect on their academic achievement. Students who earned D’s or F’s were more likely to be current users of marijuana than those who earned A’s (45% vs. 10%).

This comes from a CDC fact sheet. ONDCP doesn't report that students who earned D's or F's are also more likely to be current drinkers of alcohol than those who earned A's (62 percent vs. 32 percent). Setting aside that there's zero causality implied in these findings, the only argument here is, again, for keeping marijuana and alcohol out of the hands of minors.

Marijuana is addictive. Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana. This number increases to about 17 percent among those who start young and to 25-50 percent among people who use marijuana daily.

This is from a 20-year-old paper on the addictiveness of various substances. Taking these findings at face value, the important thing to note is that the 9 percent addiction rate for marijuana users is substantially lower than the 15 percent addiction rate for alcohol drinkers and the 33 percent addiction rate for tobacco users. This comports with more recent research showing that marijuana is a relatively non-addictive substance.
Or, to put it another way, marijuana is about as addictive as video gaming.

Drugged driving is a threat to our roadways. Marijuana significantly impairs coordination and reaction time and is the illicit drug most frequently found to be involved in automobile accidents, including fatal ones.

Undoubtedly true, and a strong argument for legalization and regulation to keep stoned drivers off the road. One important point in the study: Marijuana was a factor in about 12 percent of the fatal crashes studied in 2010. Alcohol was a factor in nearly 40 percent of fatal crashes throughout the study period. Distracted driving was the cause of 18 percent of all fatal crashes, on the other hand.
There are plenty of things that it is stupid to do behind the wheel, from being tired to texting. But that's a case for not doing stupid things when you drive — not a case for outlawing those things altogether.

Addictive substances like alcohol and tobacco, which are legal and taxed, already result in much higher social costs than the revenue they generate. The cost to society of alcohol alone is estimated to be more than 15 times the revenue gained by its taxation.

This is a weak argument for alcohol prohibition, and a terrible one for marijuana prohibition. The study ONDCP cites estimates the total societal cost of excessive drinking to be $223.5 billion. On the other hand, the alcoholic beverage industry estimates it generates about $400 billion in economic activity. And since marijuana is widely regarded to be a less harmful substance than alcohol, the economic cost of marijuana legalization would be even lower than for alcohol.

Reports from the nonpartisan RAND Institute found that the potential economic benefits from legalization had been overstated, citing that:
Marijuana legalization would not eliminate the black market for marijuana.
Dramatically lowered prices could mean substantially lower potential tax revenue for states.

For starters, these two statements are at odds with each other — if marijuana legalization results in dramatically lowered prices, how would there be an incentive for black market trade?
The RAND black market study looks at the effect that legalization in Calfornia, and California only, would have on drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. Not surprisingly the effect they find is small — the study assumes continued black market demand in all 49 other states, and notes that marijuana trafficking makes up a small proportion of Mexican cartels' overall export revenue.
But the study says absolutely nothing — literally nothing! — about the effects of national legalization, nor about the impact that legalization would have on domestic black markets. The study never even purports to make those types of conclusions. It's hard to see how the ONDCP's citation of this study to claim that "marijuana legalization would not eliminate the black market for marijuana" is anything other than a deliberate attempt to mislead.

Facts About D.C.’s New Marijuana Laws

The real facts about marijuana laws in Washington, D.C. (credit: Stefan Zaklin and ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images)

LANHAM, Md. (WNEW) — If you think marijuana is now legal in Washington, D.C, think again. Although cannabis has been decriminalized, it is still technically against the law and you still can be arrested for possessing any amount of it in the nation’s capital.
Here are some facts about the new marijuana laws in the District, courtesy of the D.C. Police Department:
Not Subject to Criminal Prosecution

• Possess one ounce or less of marijuana;
• Transfer one ounce or less of marijuana to another person, so long as there is no payment made or any other type of exchange of goods or services;
• Possess marijuana-related drug paraphernalia (bongs, rolling papers, cigar wrappers) that are associated with one ounce or less of marijuana.

How Civil Fines Work

• Anyone in possession of one ounce or less of marijuana can receive a $25 ticket and any visible marijuana or paraphernalia will be seized;
• Anyone given a ticket must provide their name and address. Failure to do so, or giving false information, could result in an arrest, conviction, and $100 fine;

The tickets can be appealed to the Office of Administrative Hearings.
Still A Crime

• Selling any amount of marijuana to another person;
• Operating a vehicle or boat under the influence of marijuana;
• Smoking marijuana or holding or carrying a lighted joint, blunt or other smoking device filled with marijuana in a public space;
• Eating or drinking a substance containing marijuana in a public space;

Anyone arrested for using marijuana in public faces up to 60 days in jail or a fine of up to $500 if convicted.
What Is A Public Space?

• Any street, sidewalk, alley, park, or parking area;
• Inside a vehicle on any street, alley, park, or parking area; or
• Any place to which the public is invited.

Federal Law Trumps Local Law

• Federal law enforcement officers are not subject to local laws and can arrest anyone in D.C for the possession or use of any amount of marijuana. This includes U.S. Park Park Police.

THC (Marijuana) Stops Cancer Tumors Cold

by kavips

Medical Marijuana I thought, originally was just a trick to make smoking it legal ... I thought that ok, perhaps maybe it eased the pain, dulled the mind, or something good like that enabling people in chronic pain to handle it better, but it wasn't what I would call .... real medicine.
I could not have been more wrong...  Why is this knowledge not mainstreamed?  (Oh, yeah, that damned corporate American media... "Don't want to upset our advertisers... we get a lot of cash from pharmaceuticals"..)

THC was proven unequivocally to be the trigger shutting down cancerous tumors from growing further...

Earlier,two researchers found that cannabidiol, a chemical in hemp and marijuana, caused the cancer gene to turn itself off, and return to dividing into normal cells...
Cancer is apparently a gene, that switches on to make cancer, and off, to make normal cells. Most likely it is a vestige from our earliest moments in life, when massive amounts of cells might be needed to be made in order to survive.  Something external retriggers that gene, and we get cancer....
Not only do we know this marijuana derivative does stop cancer. but in great news this week, just published from England, a research team has determined exactly how....

It uses the Cannabinoid receptor..  

Though complicated for the lay person, it goes something like this... Cannabinoid receptor CB2 and GPR55 are overexpressed in cancer cells and control cell fate... The CB2 and GPR55 are both a G- protein.  G- proteins constitute a large protein family of receptors that sense molecules outside the cell and activate inside "signal transduction pathways" and, ultimately, cellular responses.

Basically these are the fiber optic lines feeding data into our individual cells... This special receptor sits in our cell walls looking for Cannabinoids... (The sister of this one, CB1 is embedded in the cell wall looking for THC and is the one responsible for the high we feel upon achieving a certain level).  This CB2 receptor is specialized more towards turning growth on or off in either immature or mature cells... Basically if you pretend you are the president with your hand on the red button to send missiles into enemy airspace, this receptor would be you.

As soon as you sense danger you would begin the process of firing the missiles....
Instead of missiles, the weapon in cancer is unlimited growth...  This CB2 and GPR55 are the eyes and ears of the cell... In early embryonic and infantile growth, a certain chemical could be released, touching that sensor and massive growth suddenly takes off.  Unfortunately perhaps near age 55 or maybe earlier, some alien chemical or another protein close enough to mimic that earlier protein, randomly touches one cell's receptor and boom, the signal is reignited..... "Initiate massive growth" orders go out to all necessary proteins ready and awaiting orders since last shutting down...

The breaking news of this story is that metaphorically, where as we knew that occasionally missiles would fly over our heads taking out cities over practically nothing, we didn't know how that was occurring... What researchers discovered in England relating to these two receptors, is the equivalent of us finding that our commander in chief gets information sent to him along these particular wires, and then he downloads a code to start the missile launching sequence, even if no threat is apparent....

Someone is giving false information to that president along these wires....

So, how can we get access to those same lines to say: "Stop, Mr. President, It's a mistake, Don't fire those missiles"? ... This Research is the equivalent of our noticing that there is always a marijuana smell in the outer office, every time the missiles fly... So by controlling the marijuana or THC to this person, we might make him so high, he forgets to download his false message and we shut down all the missile launches before they transpire....  Or something like that.

 Rodents and petri dishes show astonishing results at stopping cancer with THC or other chemicals found in both Marijuana and hemp. Cancer has been stopped in breast, brain, and prostate cancer cells. We are now awaiting approval of tests on living humans (good idea to test things before trying them out as Common Core advocates are currently discovering should always be done first)... Hopefully the approval will be expedited with this good news.

But we are very close it appears, to having a cure for cancer and it will most likely come from a plant for which many Americans were and still are imprisoned for once having in their possession....

Only in an ignorant, closed-minded Conservative America.could a human being be jailed for life, over something that is not only harmless but may yet save the entire of mankind, pets and livestock, from the ravages of cancer.... What a messed up society Conservatives have given us... Please, you owe it to you, God, and our nation. No matter what state you live in, vote all of them out of office... We need to get rid of cancer...

It's true: Marijuana causes paranoia

A new in-depth study published today in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin, suggests that marijuana can cause certain psychological effects, which may result in paranoid thinking.Previous studies have demonstrated that marijuana’s primary ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), alters the perceptions of marijuana users, inducing paranoid thoughts and other negative effects, such as hallucinations and delusions. 

 

Study leader Prof. Daniel Freeman of the University of Oxford described cannabis-induced paranoia as excessively thinking that others are going to harm them, adding that whether or not to trust people is a common thought process in our life on a day-to-day basis.
However, he said that when our suspicions are wrong, it’s paranoia.

“Many people have a few paranoid thoughts, but few people have many paranoid thoughts,” Prof. Freeman explained.
There were 121 participants, ages 21 to 50, involved in the study. All of them were mentally health and had used marijuana at least once before.
In order to find out how THC affected the participants, and if it triggered paranoid thinking, the research team injected them with the compound.

The participants were divided into a couple of groups, with two thirds of them receiving an amount of THC similar to that of a strong joint. The other third received a placebo, which like the THC, was injected into the participants to guarantee that those receiving the compound had similar amounts in their blood.
Among those injected with THC, the team reported that its effects lasted for an hour and a half, with approximately half of the participants saying that they experienced feelings of paranoia or paranoid thoughts.

Interestingly, 30 percent of the participants receiving the placebo also reported having paranoid thoughts even though the injections they received did not contain THC or any other mood-altering ingredient.
The results also showed that feelings of paranoia began to diminish once the effects of THC wore off and left the body.
The team noted that THC also triggered other negative effects, such as feelings of anxiousness, lowered mood and a negative perception of self, not to mention changes in perception (e.g. noises being louder, colors appearing brighter, losing track of time, etc.)

After the researchers conducted a statistical analysis of the study’s results, they found that the cause of such altered perceptions and negative effects may, in fact, be due to these changed perceptions and negative feelings themselves, which induce feelings of paranoia in marijuana users.
Indeed, the researchers said that the results of the study convincingly prove that marijuana can trigger brief periods of paranoia, which they also believe could explain how the mind incites feelings of paranoia, especially when the user is feeling worried and having negative thoughts or otherwise having altered perceptions that leave them unsettled.

The researchers findings identify several very likely explanations for why the mind encourages paranoid thinking, according to Prof. Freeman. For example, when people are worried, it tends to color their perception of everything around them, causing them to focus on real or imagined threats.
In the same manner, Prof. Freeman notes that just thinking less of ourselves can make us feel more vulnerable to harm – and that even slight changes in our perception can lead us to feel more afraid and suspicious that something bad is going to happen.

He pointed out that spending less time worrying and more time being confident about ourselves will go a long way toward helping us feel less paranoid when we experience altered perceptions that feel unusual to us. In other words, it’s important to not make mountains out of molehills.

Everything You Need To Know About Marijuana Decriminalization In D.C.

Starting at midnight tonight, the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in D.C. will be treated as a minor offense punishable by a $25 fine. Here's everything you need to know about marijuana decriminalization in the nation's capital.

Where did this come from?

Last year, the ACLU published a report in which it said that African-American residents in D.C. accounted for 91 percent of all arrests for marijuana possession. The report prompted Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) to introduce a measure decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana, which was passed by the D.C. Council in March and signed by Mayor Vincent Gray later that month. The 60-day congressional review period of the bill ends tomorrow.

What does the law actually say?

As of the stroke of midnight tonight, anyone caught with less than one ounce of marijuana will be cited and issued a $25 ticket. Under existing law, possession carries a criminal penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
If you're caught, a police officer will confiscate any marijuana and drug paraphernalia, ask for your name and address and issue you a ticket. You can be arrested if you refuse to provide a name and address, though you do not have to provide an ID.

Anything more than one ounce remains illegal, and the law does not allow anyone to sell the one ounce they can possess. (A transfer without remuneration is legal, though.) Public smoking will remain an arrestable offense, as will operating a motor vehicle under the influence of the drug.
And remember: geography matters. As was made clear during a House hearing on the D.C. decriminalization bill in May, the city's new law only applies to the Metropolitan Police Department. Other police forces — such as the U.S. Park Police, U.S.

Capitol Police or Secret Service — are charged with enforcing federal law in the areas of the city's they have jurisdiction over (roughly 22 percent of the city's land), and they will still arrest anyone for possessing marijuana, regardless of what D.C.'s law says.
D.C. police have produced handy wallet-sized cards that include all the information you need on the law.

Wait, didn't Congress stop D.C. from implementing marijuana decriminalization?

Kind of.
Last month, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) inserted a provision in a bill funding the D.C. government that would stop police from spending any money on implementing the decriminalization law. The full spending bill hits the House floor today, but it hasn't made it through the Senate or been signed by President Obama. Even if it gets to his desk, Obama has said that he would likely veto the bill if the provision remained in it.

Last week, Harris did say he would withdraw his objections if D.C. legislators rewrote the decriminalization law so that it mirrors Maryland's, which requires substance abuse treatment for anyone under the age of 21 who is caught possessing marijuana. Wells has said that he is willing to make the change.
But even if Harris' budget rider does become law and D.C. is prevented from implementing the decriminalization law, some lawyers have said that it might actually have broader consequences.

Because of how the provision is written, they say, it might actually stop police from enforcing any marijuana laws, resulting in a de facto legalization of the drug.

Isn't full legalization next?

Maybe. There's a good chance that D.C. residents will be voting on a marijuana legalization ballot initiative in November, though don't expect Colorado-style retail sales if it passes. The initiative would merely drop all penalties for the possession of less than two ounces of marijuana by anyone over the age of 21. It would also allow residents to grow up to six plants in their homes.
Council member David Grosso (I-At Large) has also introduced a bill that would allow the city to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana at retail outlets, but that has yet to make its way through the legislative process.

Anything else I need to know?

According to a General Order signed by D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier outlining how officers are supposed to handle the new law, police will not be able to use the odor of marijuana, the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, the possession of marijuana containers, or possession of less than one ounce in proximity to cash or currency as a pretext for an officer to investigate any other offenses or request a search warrant. The only exception is if there is reasonable suspicion that a driver is impaired.

White House Upholds States’ Rights, At Least For Marijuana

  

Jonah Bennett

In reaction to a proposed amendment to block decriminalization of marijuana in D.C., the White House Office of Management and Budget took a strong stance in favor of states’ rights.
Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland introduced an amendment that would prevent the D.C. Council from using any federal funds to enact pot policy changes, calling marijuana “poison to a teenager’s brain.”

The D.C. Council has also released a statement condemning interference from Congress. The current legislation adopted by the Council replaces criminal penalties for marijuana usage with fines.
The marijuana amendment in the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill is just one of the reasons that the White House has announced its intentions to veto the whole bill if it ever passes through the Senate.

The administration has previously refused to engage in legal action against Colorado or Washington for their legalization proposals, despite the fact that marijuana is still illegal on a federal level.
“The Administration strongly opposes the language in the bill preventing the district from using its own local funds to carry out locally-passed marijuana policies, which again undermines the principles of States’ rights and of District home rule.

Furthermore, the language poses legal challenges to the Metropolitan Police Department’s enforcement of all marijuana laws currently in force in the District,” the Office of Management and Budget stated.
Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that Rep. Andy Harris’ justification for hindering the D.C. Council’s marijuana proposals is irrelevant, as the measure does not allow for teen use of marijuana.

“Nobody wants teens using marijuana, but the measure adopted in DC does not allow for teen use. A majority of Americans think that making marijuana legal would be a better approach to preventing teen marijuana use. Prohibition has failed to prevent teens from accessing marijuana and has resulted in hundreds of thousands of responsible consumers being arrested,” Tvert told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“We certainly commend the White House for making it clear that states should have the ability to establish their own marijuana policies. They should not be forced to maintain our federal government’s failed policy of prohibition. Voters in the District of Columbia have made it clear that they support ending marijuana prohibition, and their elected officials have taken action to move in that direction. They should have every right to do so,” Tvert added.

Out of the Blue: FDA to Reconsider Marijuana's Schedule 1 Status

By: Nancy Smith

For the first time in eight years, federal health officials will conduct an analysis of whether marijuana should be reclassified under U.S. law.

Douglas Throckmorton, deputy director for regulatory programs at the Food and Drug Administration, revealed the news during a lightly attended congressional hearing last week.

Leaf Science, a Canadian website covering news and facts about marijuana, reported Saturday that the Drug Enforcement Administration apparently asked the FDA to carry out the review to see if marijuana still meets the status as a Schedule 1 drug -- and it has consented.

"Yes, I heard that," said Kyle Romanoff, a Washington, D.C.-based pharmaceuticals lobbyist. "Word is just beginning to get out."

Romanoff told Sunshine State News late Wednesday, "It will take a little while for the FDA to get around to it. Remember, you're talking about the federal government here. I don't even see it posted on their website yet."

The FDA now officially considers cannabis highly dangerous, with no medical use.

“This has big implications,” said U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who is leading the oversight hearing on marijuana research as part of an examination of changing societal attitudes about the drug.

The FDA has reviewed the plant's status twice since the turn of the century -- in 2001 and 2006 -- both times concluding it should remain in the Schedule 1 category, Throckmorton said.

The DEA has since been petitioned to change marijuana’s classification and “that has been sent to us and we’re in the process of conducting an eight-factor analysis,” Throckmorton told Mica.

The classification is the harshest of the five DEA drug schedules and comes with the most restrictions. Other Schedule 1 drugs include heroin, LSD and MDMA (otherwise known as "ecstasy").

Mica is chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s government operations panel. A change in schedule could help reconcile some of the differences between federal laws and looser state laws. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia permit medical marijuana and two, Washington and Colorado, allow recreational use. (New York became the 23rd this week.)