STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — A new report shows a correlation between the
legalization of recreational marijuana and an uptick in emergency room
visits for complications associated with the drug’s use, particularly in
Routt County.
The Colorado Department of Health and Environment's report,
"Monitoring Health Concerns related to Marijuana in Colorado in 2016"
was released in late January and uses marijuana-related hospital billing
codes to count the number of visits related to use of marijuana, which
was legalized recreationally in 2014.
According to the report, 74 people visited an emergency room in Routt
County between 2011 and 2013 for something related to marijuana
consumption, a rate of 17 per 1,000 people, the second-highest rate
among Colorado, counties behind Summit County, according to the report.
In 2014 and through September 2015, another 40 people visited the
emergency room for marijuana use, a number the report concluded led to a
higher rate of visits than between 2011 and 2013.
"The typical incidents tend to overwhelmingly involve tourists, but
locals do have problems, too," said Dr. David Wilkinson, medical
director of the Emergency Department at Yampa Valley Medical Center.
Wilkinson said nearly all the incidents involve edible marijuana, and
he's personally never seen anyone enter the ED for a marijuana-related
issue that didn't involve edible marijuana products.
Wilkinson described a typical visit by using an example of two
couples in their 60s who visited Steamboat Springs from out of state to
try marijuana.
"There's clearly a marijuana destination component to Steamboat Springs," Wilkinson said.
One woman came into the ED with paranoia after becoming more high
than she intended, Wilkinson said, and the woman's husband was
distraught because he had "killed his wife."
Meanwhile, the other couple was sitting down eating ice cream, Wilkinson said.
Most people who come to the ED with a negative reaction to marijuana
are often naïve users, who become paranoid after not understanding
what's happening to their body.
"They get extremely anxious, they're hyperventilating, they're over-emotional," Wilkinson said.
While he doesn’t advocate against marijuana use, Wilkinson said he
thinks the community has a responsibility to more thoroughly educate
people, particularly children, about the drug.
Due to recreational legalization, children are making judgments at an
earlier age about what they think of marijuana and whether they'll try
it, Wilkinson said.
"There's clearly a community and a public responsibility to begin to
provide some funding for education, especially in the middle and
elementary schools," he said. "I really, really am committed to the idea
that this community needs to provide education," Wilkinson said. "We
have an opportunity to put the message out."
RENO, Nev. — One of the world's largest marijuana festivals, which is
expected to be held this week on tribal land outside of Las Vegas, has
been facing a possible shutdown for the past two weeks, according to a letter sent by federal officials earlier this month.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden,
based in Las Vegas, sent a Feb. 16 letter to the Moapa Paiute Tribe
reminding the tribe that the transport, possession, use and distribution
of marijuana is illegal under federal law. The marijuana trade show and
festival, planned for March 4 and 5, would be in violation of that law,
according to the letter obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal.
"I am informed that the tribal council is moving forward with the planned marijuana event referred to as the 2017 High Times
Cannabis Cup because it is under the impression that the so-called
'Cole Memorandum' and subsequent memoranda from the Department of
Justice permit marijuana use, possession and distribution on tribal
lands when the state law also permits it. Unfortunately, this is an
incorrect interpretation of the Department's position on this issue."
The
Cole Memorandum provides guidance to federal officials in states that
have legalized marijuana in some form. In 2011, then-Deputy Attorney
James Cole directed all U.S. attorneys to take into account local laws
when looking at marijuana enforcement, which allowed officials to give
lesser priority to marijuana crimes.
Another memo, the Guidance
Memorandum, indicates that tribal governments and U.S. attorneys should
consult government-to-government as issues arise.
"Nothing in the
Guidance Memorandum or the Cole Memorandum alters the authority or
jurisdiction of the United States to enforce federal law in Indian
Country or elsewhere," Bogden wrote in the letter.
The tribe has since been working with the U.S. Attorney's Office
in Nevada to resolve the conflict, according to tribal chairman Darren
Daboda. The U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed the letter, but declined
comment.
If
federal officials were to intervene, it would be one of the first
indicators that the White House is indeed going to crack down on
marijuana crimes in states where recreational marijuana is legal.
Thus
far, only spotty, vague statements have been released so far, but no
clear plan of action has been revealed by the new administration.
"To
us, we’re looking at it as utilizing our sovereignty," Daboda said. "As
long as (marijuana) is not visible, we’re told it will be OK."
The Cannabis Cup is produced by the High Times,
a cannabis-centric magazine that has been published since 1974. The
publication, whose representatives were not available for
comment Monday, describes the event as the world’s leading marijuana
trade show, "celebrating the world of ganja through competitions,
instructional seminars, expositions, celebrity appearances, concerts and
product showcases."
For about three decades, the gathering
convened in Amsterdam, until Colorado and Washington legalized
recreational marijuana and Denver hosted a cup in 2013. Anywhere from
7,000 to 35,000 attendees have been reported at the giant hemp
rendezvous.
This year's Las Vegas event is headlined by rapper Ludacris, who is known for Rollout but also has recorded tracks such as Blueberry Yum Yum (Smoke Weed Everyday). The
gathering will also feature samplings and pairings of edible cannabis
products, spa treatments with cannabis oils and a wide array of vendors
marketing their latest marijuana-geared products, according to the High
Times website.
"The tribe is promoting it as a vendors' crafts,
food and concert event. We're not promoting the distributor or selling
(marijuana)," Daboda said.
The event will be held in a fenced-in,
secured area and the event is only for ticketholders aged 21 and over.
Hired security will be at the event, and tribal law enforcement will be
available if needed. Daboda was not sure whether federal law enforcement
would be present at the event.
While the Cannabis Cup is
scheduled for several venues this year; the Las Vegas event kicks off
the series and will be somewhat of an inaugural celebration of Nevada's
recent passage of marijuana legalization in November.
Fifty-four
percent of voters marked 'Yes' on Question 2, which allows anyone 21 and
over to possess up to 1 ounce of recreational pot, though public
consumption still is prohibited. The herb is not yet on the market in
Nevada for recreational users, although medical marijuana dispensaries
around the state are poised to begin selling recreational product as
soon as July.
The passage of Question 2, however, put tribes in a
predicament since many American Indian tribes' budgets rely heavily on
federal funding. Daboda said that, while the tribal council was
concerned about federal funding being pulled from the Moapa Band of
Paiutes, the council passed its own regulations to be applied on the
reservation and also has been speaking regularly with the U.S.
Attorney's Office in teleconferences to keep in good standing with
federal officials.
Daboda did not
know what percentage of the tribe's budget came from the federal
government, nor did he disclose how much money the tribe was making off
of the Cannabis Cup.
Sen. Tick Segerblom,
D-Las Vegas, will be proposing a bill later this legislative session to
address recreational marijuana policies for tribes in-state.
"This
is the kind of event that we’d like to see in Nevada. This could be a
huge boost for the tourism industry,” said Segerblom, a staunch advocate
for marijuana.
Even if the event is carried out as planned, the
tribe is uncertain whether it will pursue further involvement with the
cannabis industry because the White House recently suggested that it
would have "greater enforcement" of the federal prohibition of
marijuana.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer
said last week that federal officials would focus their efforts toward
enforcing the recreational marijuana prohibition, but federal officials
would not come after those in the medical marijuana industry. Sessions
this week, however, stated that states can pass laws, though the federal
government has the right to enforce federal law as well.
Eight
states, including Nevada, and the District of Columbia have legalized
recreational marijuana, and more than two dozen states have legalized
medical marijuana.
Asked whether cannabis would be present at the Cannabis Cup this weekend, Daboda said he was not sure.
In the US, legalization and
the growing industry for medical and recreational marijuana have paved
the way for dramatically more potent pot than the contraband stuff that
older generations recall from their youth. That’s why pediatricians are
warning parents: This stuff isn’t for everyone.
Parents may indulge themselves—or have fond memories of getting high
in their youth—but they should still treat childhood and teen marijuana
use as a serious problem, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP) report released yesterday.
“Parents also should not feel that they have to share all of their
experiences with their children or that they cannot voice disapproval of
their teen’s use because they have used marijuana themselves,” said
Sheryl A. Ryan, lead author of the report and chairperson of the AAP
Committee on Substance Use and Prevention.
Marijuana
products available today can be more than three to five times stronger
than what was available even a decade ago, the report says. The
concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive
substance in the marijuana plant, has increased considerably, from
approximately 4% in the early 1980s to upward of 12% in 2012. This
increases the risk of adverse effects and the potential for addiction,
the report says.
The drug has been legalized
(PDF) for recreational use in eight states and for medical use in 28
states. (These figures include Washington, DC.) Additionally, marijuana
has been decriminalized in 22 states, where its use is considered a
misdemeanor or infraction. Minors can get medical marijuana with
parents’ written permission in most states that have legalized medical
marijuana.
The AAP report expresses concerns that legitimizing marijuana as a
medication may lead teens to think its a safe drug, regardless of
whether it’s prescribed or not. The report shares a list of adverse
effects and points out that data only supports prescribing it to
children in extremely limited circumstances—for decreasing seizures in
specific epilepsy conditions, such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet
syndrome.
And the growing range of marijuana products create new risks, the
report says, including “accidental pot poisoning from an increasing
array of edible marijuana products such as pot-infused candies, baked
goods and beverages that contain high amounts of THC yet are often
indistinguishable from ordinary treats.”
“In addition, being ‘high’ on marijuana interferes with a parent’s
ability provide a safe environment, especially for younger children,”
Ryan said in a release on the report.
The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that of 22.2 million marijuana users, 1.8 million were adolescents
(PDF). The survey also found that the percentage of adolescents in 2015
who were current marijuana users hasn’t increased much in recent years.
Growth in marijuana users was primarily driven by adults over age 26
and to a lesser extent, those between age 18 to 25.
“It’s one of the most frightening issues of our time. It’s also one of the most important." --- Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo
Editor’s note: Anecdotes and statistics agree,
Wilmington is suffering an epidemic of opioid drug use. What remains
unclear –– and what this series hopes to clarify –– are fundamental
questions about the epidemic.
The epidemic does not have one single narrative but, instead,
intertwining threads. Street heroin has a different, but related, story
to prescription drugs. Likewise, there is not a stereotypical opioid
user. Rather, users come from varied backgrounds. To this complicated
mix of people and drugs is added the different relationships among law
enforcement, health care, and treatment and recovery.
This is not to say there are no answers, only that there are no
easy answers. This series will present those intertwining threads of the
epidemic in an effort to help area residents to better engage
with the crisis going on around them, to understand its origins,to
better understand the current state of affairs and what can be done
about it.
Part I – The epidemic, by the numbers
An epidemic is, by definition, a crisis defined by facts and figures,
a story told in numbers. And there is one number that paints in sharp
relief the opioid crisis in this area: in New Hanover County there was
only one recorded death from heroin overdose in 1999.
Things have changed.
The opioid epidemic that has developed over that last 15 years is
complicated and multi-faceted. The numbers can be staggering – and
sometimes unclear. In some cases, these numbers answer provide answers.
But, more often, they only beg further questions.
But if it is difficult to understand the crisis solely in terms of
these numbers, it is impossible to understand it without them. For that
reason, Port City Daily’s month-long series on opioids starts with the
numbers.
It’s no secret that drug fatalities statewide have increased, often
lumped together under the umbrella category of ‘opioids.’ In these
reports, opioids refers to everything from naturally occurring opium to
derivatives, like prescription oxycodone and illicit heroin, to lab-made
synthetics, some which are hundreds – or thousands – of times more
powerful than morphine.
Between 1999 and 2014, opioid fatalities in New Hanover County grew from one to 24.
Then, in only a year, the rate ballooned, nearly doubling to 45. These
overdoses did not result only heroin, they came increasingly from
prescription opiates and synthetic painkillers. In fact, prescription
medication killed more than twice as many people as heroin in 2015. In
North Carolina, 738 were killed by prescription medication, some of it
stolen.
Poisoning from all opiates, including legal prescriptions and illegal street drugs, has increased dramatically.
Statewide, the North Carolina Department of Justice notes that
cocaine arrests are down and marijuana arrests have remained stable.
Meanwhile, according to the DOJ’s State Bureau of Investigation, arrests
for possession of synthetic opiates – one of the leading factors in
spiking overdose rates – have risen 132 percent (more than doubled)
between 2000 and 2011. Sale and manufacturing arrests have risen 251
percent (more than tripled).
Law enforcement has reacted consistently to the changing nature of
the opioid crisis. However, groups like the North Carolina Harm
Reduction Coalition are quick to point out that, judging by the
exponential increase in addiction cases, law enforcement cannot arrest
its way out of the crisis. In Wilmington, where the crisis is acutely
felt, this is especially true, NC Harm Reduction says.
At the current rate, the Department of Health expects
(opioid related) deaths to eclipse both firearm violence and motor
vehicle accidents in North Carolina to become the number one killer in
the state.
North Carolina’s overdose death rate increased by 14 percent between
2014 and 2015, one of the most severe increases in the nation, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Within the state,
the Wilmington area has experienced even more drastic rates.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health, overdose rates
have increased statewide by nearly 400 percent over the last 15 years.
However, in the tri-county area of Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender,
these rates have increasing by closer to 1000 percent. At the current
rate, the Department of Health expects these deaths to eclipse both
firearm violence and motor vehicle accidents in North Carolina to become
the number one killer in the state.
Per capita, New Hanover in 2015 had nearly four times the overdose fatalities as Wake or Mecklenburg counties.
For every death, there are nearly 200 hospitalizations. New Hanover
Regional Medical Center currently reports approximately three
opiate-related hospital visits every day. That’s over 1,000 every year,
more than five times that of other entire counties, according to the
N.C. Department of Health.
From 2014 to 2015, the New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s EMT
department reported a 30 percent increase in overdose reversals using
Narcan and Nalaxone – drugs that inhibit the effect of opioids. Last
year that rate increased again by 17 percent.
These numbers translate into a massive economic impact. Last year’s oft-cited Castlight Health Inc. study
reported an estimated $10 billion loss in productivity in workplaces
nationwide due to opioid abuse. That study cited Wilmington as the
fourth most severe abuser of prescription drugs; the study claims more
than half the available workforce in the city has lost time or
productivity due to prescription drug abuse.
The Castlight study also named Wilmington the number one abuser of opioids in general.
From Castlight’s ‘The opioid crisis in America’s workforce’ report. (Courtesy of Castlight Health)
It seems clear that Wilmington and the surrounding areas are more
than just part of the national tragedy of drug abuse, the area is at the
heart of it. The epidemic topped the issues for candidates on both
sides of the political aisle during last year’s New Hanover County
Commissioner election.
Many, like Commissioner Woody White, believe the
area plays a central role in the regional drug trade. White said,
“Wilmington is on the front line of trafficking.”
Mayor Saffo making his case to state representatives. (Photo Benjamin Schachtman)
At a legislative meeting on Monday, Feb. 27, Mayor Bill Saffo asked
state representatives from New Hanover area – including Representatives
Ted Davis, Holly Grange and Deb Butler, and Senator Michael Lee – to
consider a pilot program in the city. The program would be aimed at
getting more of the areas opioid abusers into treatment, especially
after being treated for overdoses by first responders. While details of
the program are still being worked out, the willingness to keep the
issue non-partisan was clear.
“It’s one of the most frightening issues of our time. It’s also one
of the most important,” Saffo said. “I don’t care what your politics
are, there’s no daylight between us on this.”
(CNSNews.com) - Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, invoked
states’ rights on Sunday, when he was asked if Attorney General Jeff
Sessions might enforce federal law against the recreational use of
marijuana.
Hickenlooper told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he
opposed recreational marijuana in 2012, when 55 percent of Colorado
voters approved a state constitutional amendment allowing personal use
of the illegal drug for people over age 21.
"It's in our
constitution," Hickenlooper said on Sunday. "I took a solemn oath to
support our constitution. So, I am -- and it's interesting, it's the
sovereignty -- the states have a sovereignty just like the Indian
tribes, just like the federal government does. So, it's an
interesting--"
"You
don't think it's clear that the federal government could stop you? You
don't think it's a clear-cut case?" host Chuck Todd interrupted.
"Exactly.
I don't think it is," Hickenlooper replied. "And I think it's
certainly -- it's never my choice to be in conflict with federal law.
Let's make that clear.
"That being said, so Senator (Cory) Gardner
(R-Col.) had talked to Mr. Sessions before he was confirmed, Senator
Sessions at that point, and was led to believe that Senator Sessions
said, you know, enforcement of marijuana was not going to be their
primary -- it wasn't worth rising to the top and becoming a priority.
And the implication was you don't have to get -- don't go crazy on this.
"Now,
obviously things might have changed, and we have to see what happens,
but I mean, there are over 60 percent of American people are now in a
state where either medical or recreational marijuana is legalized. This
has become one of the great social experiments of our time."
Hickenlooper
said he's "getting close" to supporting recreational marijuana. "I
mean, I don't think I'm quite there yet, but we have made a lot of
progress. We didn't see a spike in teenage use. If anything, it's come
down in the last year.
"And we're getting anecdotal reports of
less drug dealers. I mean, that's -- if you get rid of that black
market, you got tax revenues to deal with addictions and some of the
unintended consequences of legalized marijuana, maybe this system is
better than what was admittedly a pretty bad system to begin with."
At the White House last week, spokesman Sean Spicer told
reporters, “I do believe you'll see greater enforcement" of federal
marijuana laws.
He said there’s a “big difference” between medical
marijuana and recreational use of the drug, “which is something the
Department of Justice I think will be further looking into.”
Canadian marijuana companies should have first mover advantage
SmallCapPower | February 28, 2017: The ‘Emerging
Cannabis Sector’ was one of the panel discussions that took place at the
recent Cantech Investment Conference 2017 in Toronto. Canadian
marijuana companies, in particular, have been popular among investors
and speculators alike following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge
to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Providing their insights
that day were Cronos Group CEO Michael Gorenstein, CannaRoyalty Corp. (CSE:CRZ) CEO Mark Lustig, AgriNomix President Robert Lando, and CannTrust President & COO Brad Rogers.
Here’s a summary of what was said: Michael Gorenstein:
The current market is nearly $200 billion in revenue representing consumer purchasing habits.
Canada is expected to be the first G7 country to recreational-ize
cannabis consumption and will be the gold standard for compliance.
Canadian companies will be the first movers and then spreading to
other jurisdictions as they come online. As the market continues to
expand there’s incremental cash flow that goes to each of the producers.
There’s a first mover advantage for any producer that already has a
license in Canada and it’s not just domestic but global.
There’s a big gap between demand and supply, and he expects that to
continue for a number of years. Future demand will come from countries
such as Germany, with its population of about 81 million, which will
likely see insurance re-imbursement for cannabis. He thinks it will be
about five to 10 years before supply catches up to demand in the legal
market. As new jurisdictions come online, they will likely look to
Canada for its experience.
Right now there’s just one international producer outside of Canada
that is able to ship internationally to countries such as Germany or
Australia, and the rest are all in Canada.
Mark Lustig:
Our Company is focused on future markets such as cannabis in pharmaceuticals, and other products.
In 2016, the U.S. sold about $7 billion worth of legal cannabis
products and California would account for $5.5 billion of that as a
medical market. In November, California also voted on the recreational
expansion of the market.
Trump says he’s going to leave the marijuana issue in the hands of
the individual states. It’s the fast-growing sector of the economies of
the states that have legalized it and it’s generating a lot of jobs.
Testing of the products is going to be a major part of a legalized marijuana market.
Dealers’ licenses will be a most valuable asset.
Robert Lando:
The lowest cost producer will win in this market.
A lot of technical aspects to growing a crop – it has to be tracked
and traced throughout its entire life, and there’s a lot of movement to a
growing crop.
Brad Rogers:
“This industry is as small as it will ever be right now.”
He believes the Canadian product is the “gold standard” globally.
Critics are ripping into the Trump administration after a spokesman
signaled the president will crack down on state marijuana laws and
claimed weed exacerbates the opioid epidemic.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer fielded questions on
President Donald Trump’s stance on marijuana legalization during a press
conference Thursday, saying the Department of Justice is likely going
to increase enforcement efforts of federal law.
Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level and is lumped into the
same designation category as heroin. This is sparking fears among
officials in states with legal weed that the Justice Department could
upend their local laws. Spicer differentiated between medical and
recreational marijuana, signaling the focus will be on the latter,
reports The Washington Post.
Spicer provoked more criticism after tying the national opioid
epidemic in with recreational marijuana legalization. He claimed
“encouraging people” to use marijuana would be irresponsible in light of
the high rates of heroin and prescription painkiller addiction.
"Contrary to the ‘alternative facts’ deployed from the podium in the
White House press briefing room, several studies clearly show that
states that allow people to legally access marijuana are seeing reduced
opioid problems,” Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, told
The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Far from being a ‘gateway drug,’
marijuana is actually a relatively safe alternative to dangerous
prescription painkillers.”
States throughout the country are currently pushing to expand medical
marijuana programs to include opioid addiction as a qualifying
condition. Many are also advocating offering medical marijuana as an alternative painkiller
for treatment of a variety of conditions. Opioid deaths contributed to
the first drop in U.S. life expectancy since 1993 and eclipsed deaths
from motor vehicle accidents in 2015.
Connecticut is currently conducting two studies, one with federal
funds and another at the state level, investigating marijuana’s
potential benefit as an alternative painkiller in light of the opioid
epidemic.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia studied the
relationship between marijuana-use and mental health and tested its
interaction with different illnesses. The findings, published in
Clinical Psychology Review in November, suggest marijuana is a helpful
tool for those suffering addictions to more harmful substances, like
prescription painkillers.
A separate study
conducted by Dr. Daniel Clauw, a professor at the University of
Michigan, found patients who were treated for chronic pain with both
opioids and marijuana eventually pivot towards higher levels of weed
consumption.
“They noted on average a two-thirds decrease in their opioid dose,”
Clauw told NPR. “They also noted that they just felt a lot better
overall with respect to side-effect profile when their pain was being
controlled largely with cannabinoids.”
The statements from Spicer are adding to anxiety within the industry
over the future of legal weed across the country, specifically now that
Jeff Sessions is attorney general. Sessions is a staunched opponent of
marijuana legalization but has been very vague on the subject since his
confirmation.
If the administration follows through with enforcement of federal
marijuana laws they will be battling against public opinion. The latest
polling from Quinnipiac shows 59 percent of voters support federal marijuana legalization.
“If the administration is looking for ways to become less popular,
cracking down on voter-approved marijuana laws would be a great way to
do it,” Angell told TheDCNF. “On the campaign trail, President Trump
clearly and repeatedly pledged that he would leave decisions on cannabis
policy to the states. With a clear and growing majority of the country
now supporting legalization, reneging on his promises would be a
political disaster and huge distraction from the rest of the president’s
agenda.”
Sessions fielded several questions on federal marijuana policy during
his hearing in January, however, his answers did not go far in
clarifying whether he will be adversarial to state laws on pot.
Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and Washington, D.C., where
it is also legal for recreational use. Voters in Maine, Nevada,
California and Massachusetts all approved measures to legalize marijuana
for recreational use on Election Day. Nearly 20 percent of Americans
now have access to legal pot.
As of January 2017, recreational
marijuana is officially legal in Maine for those who are twenty-one and
older. Although recreational marijuana’s previous illicit status never
deterred people from using it, people can now smoke marijuana without
the usual obstacles of accessibility and unlawfulness (so long as a
person does not possess more than two-and-a-half ounces).
Experts and civilians alike generally agree marijuana is not the
gateway drug staunch opponents of its use make it out to be, but
research has emerged that heavy use can potentially pose cognitive
risks, particularly for those who have mental health conditions, such as
schizophrenia, and those whose family histories predispose them to
mental health conditions.
Rikki Miller, a research psychologist and lecturer at USM, has
studied the effects of marijuana on the brain. From 2007 to 2010, Miller
conducted research on the effects of cannabinoids (using analogs of THC
created by chemists) on the attention and memory of rats, as well as on
their eating habits, at Edinboro University. She spoke to the Free
Press about what she has gleaned from her research.
“Much of the pros and cons publicized
on this issue often enhance the facts that suit the argument [either
side] wants to support,” Miller remarked. “Marijuana is neither a
deadly, dangerous drug nor a harmless plant.”
In regards to its use among those with mental health conditions,
studies and anecdotal testimonies point in both directions: that
marijuana is helpful and provides relief to those with mental health
conditions, and that heavy marijuana use can also lead to the
exacerbation of symptoms and to cognitive impairment. Because this
debate could continue endlessly, Miller has recommended ignoring the
anecdotal testimonies and, instead, looking at the facts.
“The major documented risk of using
marijuana,” Miller said, “is its impact on the brain’s ability to store
long-term memories while under the influence.”
According to Miller, while under the
influence of marijuana, the brain’s ability to form long-term memories
is impaired. This impairment is due to marijuana’s impact on the
hippocampus, which is the region of the brain responsible for long-term
memory formation and the only place in the brain where new neurons are
formed. Heavy marijuana use can impair the formation of long-term
memories and negatively impact neurogenesis, or the growth of new
neurons. When neurogenesis is inhibited, an individual’s ability to
learn suffers.
With that in mind, research has shown
that heavy marijuana use, particularly during adolescence, can
potentially aggravate mental health conditions, with one study involving
an Australian cohort showing a connection between marijuana use and an
exacerbation of symptoms among those genetically predisposed to develop
schizophrenia. Another year-long study, involving 69 schizophrenia
patients who occasionally used marijuana and 24 who were heavy marijuana
users, showed a correlation between heavy marijuana use and psychotic
relapse.
Additionally, a study found that, within certain genetic subgroups,
schizophrenia patients who used marijuana frequently had smaller
frontotemporal white matter volumes than schizophrenia patients who used
marijuana infrequently, suggesting a correlation between heavy
marijuana use and increased cognitive impairment among schizophrenia
patients with certain genes.
Yet while this research indicates that
it is possible that, in some cases, marijuana can exacerbate symptoms
and lead to cognitive impairment, a sufficient number of studies have
not been conducted, with large enough sample group sizes, to
conclusively support or disprove this.
“There are multiple factors to consider,” Miller said, “such as the
reverse that individuals [who] have a predisposition to mental illness
could be more likely to use marijuana, and that the use of marijuana can
interact with medications used to treat psychological disorders or
other medical conditions.”
Marijuana is also not always the cause
of symptoms but can be, rather, a source of alleviation. Those with
mental health conditions use marijuana to mitigate symptoms, sometimes
in conjunction with their medications. Some of these self-medicating
individuals find relief in the relaxing effects marijuana imparts.
However, those taking stimulant drugs, such as Adderall or Concerta, for
ADHD/ADD would benefit from knowing that marijuana has the opposite
effect of their medications, so using marijuana and stimulant drugs
concurrently is counterintuitive.
Another related concern for anyone using marijuana is that its use
can result in psychological addiction. Psychological addiction is
different from physical addiction. When someone is physically addicted
to a substance, their body has adapted to the presence of that
substance, and without it, the individual experiences withdrawal
symptoms. With psychological addiction, there is a perceived need for
the substance.
“Marijuana is psychologically
addictive, causing people to think they can not function without the
substance,” Miller said.“’I use it to sleep,’ ‘I use it to calm my
anxiety,’ ‘It is the only thing that gets rid of my headache,’ et
cetera.”
This psychological addiction to
marijuana can lead to more frequent use, resulting in further inhibition
of long-term memory formation and neurogenesis. The long-term effects
of marijuana on brains of adolescents and young adults could pose a
threat to brain development, particularly among those who have mental
health conditions, but more research will need to be done before a
clearer connection can be made.
By approving Proposition 64 in November, California voters made clear
they no longer wished to squander public resources criminalizing
recreational marijuana.
The measure laid the foundation for
regulation of commercial marijuana activity, removed criminal penalties
for possession and authorized the growing of up to six plants for
personal use in one’s own home.
Prop. 64 provides local
governments discretion in how they apply the measure. Though police may
not arrest people for simple possession or personal cultivation, local
governments do have the authority to restrict commercial activity. They
also have the power to “reasonably regulate,” without prohibiting, the
cultivation of marijuana in anyone’s home for their own use.
The measure does not require cities and counties to “reasonably
regulate” personal cultivation, however, and local governments are free
to simply allow people to grow marijuana for their own use in their own
homes without inserting themselves into the equation.
Governments
being governments, however, some Inland cities have decided to involve
themselves in people’s personal choices via the favored tool of local
busybodies: the permit. Ostensibly, permits ensure the health, safety
and welfare of the public by providing a level of oversight — whether
they actually accomplish anything other than giving government workers
something to do isn’t clear.
In the case of personal marijuana cultivation, some cities have
chosen to require permits to grow marijuana in one’s own home. Indian
Wells, Fontana and San Jacinto have pursued permitting.
In Indian Wells,
the city rushed to impose a permit requirement within weeks of Prop.
64’s passage. So far, no one has taken the city up on its $141 permit,
background check and home inspection requirements.
Last month,
Fontana and San Jacinto decided to get involved. Fontana is requiring a
$411 permit fee, with a background check and on-site visit requirements.
“This town has been a town of safety,” Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren
told the Orange County Register. “And we’re trying with this initiative
to make sure that we keep our residents safe — particularly our young
people.”
San Jacinto approved similar requirements. Applicants may be
subject to Live Scan fingerprinting and cannot have any outstanding
payments due to the city. Fines may be imposed and permits revoked for
any violations of the conditions of the permit system.
It will
likely come as no surprise that not very many people will come forward
and agree to subject themselves to superfluous paperwork just to grow
marijuana in their own homes.
And fundamentally, this is a matter
that doesn’t require government involvement. If someone wants to grow
marijuana in their own home, without harming anyone or depriving anyone
of their freedom, they should be free to do so.
In a free society, adults shouldn’t need government permission to
do what they wish in their own homes. Fortunately, most cities haven’t
required permits for personal cultivation. “Hemet does not intend to
require a permit for such growers,” reported The Press-Enterprise, “as
assistant city attorney Erica Vega said the permit process will be hard
to enforce and open the city to litigation.”
So long as the
federal government maintains a hands-off approach to states making their
own marijuana laws, we may soon approach the point that we should have
long ago where marijuana isn’t such a big deal.
We’ve wasted billions of dollars fighting a losing battle against
an intoxicant no more consequential than alcohol. It’s time we let go
of our outdated, oversized fear of a plant.
Pediatricians need to be able to speak directly and frankly with teens and their parents
about the potential harmful effects of marijuana and cannabis products, especially
in light of new laws legalizing both recreational and medicinal use of marijuana products,
according to a new AAP clinical report.
Counseling Parents and Teens about Marijuana Use in the Era of Legalization of Marijuana, from the AAP Committee on Substance Use and Prevention, addresses the specific content
that pediatricians should be including in conversations about cannabis products.
The topic is especially relevant now that more states have passed laws to legalize
both recreational use of marijuana for adults and medicinal marijuana for both children
and adults. Currently, recreational marijuana use by adults is legal in seven states
plus the District of Columbia, and 28 states have legalized some form of medicinal
marijuana for a wide variety of conditions.
This means the subject of marijuana is much more likely to be part of the conversation
between teens and their parents, and the pediatrician is likely to be seen as a source
of accurate information about adverse effects as well as benefits of the many cannabis
products now available. Pediatricians also are far more likely to encounter adolescents
or parents who are using these products, either recreationally or for their therapeutic
effects.
Following are answers to some questions pediatricians might have about cannabis products
and counseling teens and their parents.
Q: Are we seeing an increase in marijuana use among teens now that more states have
legalized recreational and/or medicinal marijuana?
A: Rates of use have remained static overall among adolescents 12-17 years, even in
states with laws permitting recreational or medicinal marijuana use. Among 12th-graders,
however, there has been an increase in rates of marijuana use, with 36% reporting
use within the previous year. This is in direct contrast with reported use of other
illicit substances, alcohol and tobacco, which have been declining significantly since
the late 1990s. Teens also are reporting less concern about the “harmful” effects
of smoking marijuana.
Q: What adverse effects of cannabis products should be mentioned when counseling teens?
A: Many studies have documented adverse effects, including short-term impairment of
memory, attention, concentration and problem-solving skills, as well as motor control,
coordination and reaction time. Development of mental health disorders such as depression
and psychosis also have been reported. New studies evaluating abnormalities in brain
regions involved in memory and executive functioning in teens using marijuana regularly
and/or heavily raise concerns about long-term and lasting effects on brain maturation
and functioning.
Teens also need to know marijuana smoke is toxic, similar to secondhand tobacco smoke,
and use of vaporizers or hookahs does not eliminate the toxic chemicals in marijuana
smoke.
Q: Are there special concerns related to marijuana-infused foods?
A: When marijuana is consumed in an edible or drinkable form, there is a slower rate
of absorption in the system compared with inhalation. Consequently, it takes longer
to appreciate the euphoric effects, and some teens then consume additional “doses.”
This can result in significant toxic side effects when the effect of the product finally
kicks in.
In addition, rates of calls to poison control centers and visits to emergency departments
have increased after young children have ingested products that resemble candy, baked
goods or soda.
Q: Are there any data to support the efficacy of medicinal marijuana in children?
A: Studies in adults support its use in chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting,
spasticity with neuromuscular diseases, and cachexia with certain chronic diseases.
The only data on its effectiveness in pediatric populations are limited to its role
in decreasing seizures in specific epilepsy conditions, such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
and Dravet syndrome.
Q: What should physicians tell parents who are reluctant to advise their teen against
using marijuana since they themselves used it when they were younger?
A: Tell parents that marijuana products available today can be more than three to
five times stronger than what was available even a decade ago. With newer methods,
such as vaporization or “dabbing,” potency is even higher, increasing the risks for
toxic effects. (Dabbing is a method used to convert marijuana into a concentrate for
inhalation; it uses butane to extract tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, from the cannabis
plant.)
Parents also should not feel that they have to share all of their experiences with
their children or that they cannot voice disapproval of their teen’s use because they
have used marijuana themselves. They need to be encouraged to provide accurate information
and express their concerns and values to their children.
Suggestions for pediatricians
Screen all patients for the use of any cannabis products beginning in early adolescence
because the earlier teens begin to use marijuana, the more likely they are to develop
dependence.
If adolescents are not using marijuana, use motivational techniques to support their
decision to abstain.
Adolescents who are using marijuana regularly or heavily are more likely to meet criteria
for a substance use disorder. A brief motivational intervention may be used to reduce
use and continue the conversation with the pediatrician or a mental health or behavioral
counselor.
Counsel about known side effects, as well as the known euphoric effects or medicinal
benefits, so that you can be a source of accurate, scientific information to teens
and their parents.
Speak frankly with parents about the effect that their own use may have on their children
or teens, either through modeling or through their own impairment.
Steamboat Springs has become a tourist attraction for prospective marijuana users, some of whom end up in emergency rooms.
By Teresa Ristow
Steamboat Springs
— A new report shows a correlation between the legalization of
recreational marijuana and an uptick in emergency room visits for
complications associated with the drug's use, particularly in Routt
County.
#The Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s report, “Monitoring Health Concerns related to Marijuana in Colorado in 2016”
was released in late January and uses marijuana-related hospital
billing codes to count the number of visits related to use of marijuana,
which was legalized recreationally in 2014.
#According
to the report, 74 people visited an emergency room in Routt County for
something related to marijuana consumption, a rate of 17 per 1,000
people, the second-highest rate among Colorado, counties behind Summit
County, according to the report.
In 2014 and through September
2015, another 40 people visited the emergency room for marijuana use, a
number the report concluded led to a higher rate of visits than between
2011 and 2013.
#“The
typical incidents tend to overwhelmingly involve tourists, but locals
do have problems, too,” said Dr. David Wilkinson, medical director of
the Emergency Department at Yampa Valley Medical Center.
#Wilkinson
said nearly all the incidents involve edible marijuana, and he’s
personally never seen anyone enter the ED for a marijuana-related issue
that didn’t involve edible marijuana products.
#Wilkinson
described a typical visit by using an example of two couples in their
60s who visited Steamboat Springs from out of state to try marijuana.
#“There’s clearly a marijuana destination component to Steamboat Springs,” Wilkinson said.
#One
woman came into the ED with paranoia after becoming more high than she
intended, Wilkinson said, and the woman’s husband was distraught because
he had “killed his wife.”
#Meanwhile, the other couple was sitting down eating ice cream, Wilkinson said.
#Most
people who come to the ED with a negative reaction to marijuana are
often naïve users, who become paranoid after not understanding what’s
happening to their body.
#“They get extremely anxious, they’re hyperventilating, they’re over-emotional,” Wilkinson said.
#While
he doesn't advocate against marijuana use, Wilkinson said he thinks the
community has a responsibility to more thoroughly educate people,
particularly children, about the drug.
#Due
to recreational legalization, children are making judgments at an
earlier age about what they think of marijuana and whether they’ll try
it, Wilkinson said.
#“There’s
clearly a community and a public responsibility to begin to provide
some funding for education, especially in the middle and elementary
schools,” he said. “I really, really am committed to the idea that this
community needs to provide education,” Wilkinson said. “We have an
opportunity to put the message out.”
The Justice Department will likely ramp up enforcement of federal laws against recreational marijuana
use in states that have already legalized it, Press Secretary Sean
Spicer declared during his daily briefing at the White House Thursday,
Feb. 23.
“I do believe you’ll see greater enforcement of it,” Spicer said, adding that the DOJ would look further into the issue.
So far, eight states across the country — including California,
Colorado and Nevada — have legalized recreational pot use, while 20
others have approved its use for medicinal purposes, according to
TheCannabist.com. A 2017 poll out of Quinnipiac University revealed that
most Americans support marijuana legalization,
with 71 percent saying they don’t believe the U.S. government should
enforce federal laws against pot in states where it has been legalized.
With the “bud’ business slated to become a $24-billion industry by
2020, Spicer’s remarks hinted at the Trump administration’s plans to
take a more hard-line approach to handling the booming industry.
The
press secretary was sure to differentiate between recreational and
medicinal use of the drug, however, noting Trump, “understands the pain
and suffering that many people go through who are facing especially
terminal diseases and the comfort that some of these drugs, including
medical marijuana can bring them.”
Recreational pot use,
on the other hand, was a “very very different subject,” Spicer said. He
added that states with laws allowing medical marijuana use are
protected from government interference under a congressional budget bill
approved in 2014.
While under President Obama’s administration, the Justice Department
adopted a policy of noninterference with state marijuana laws in 2013, according to The Washington Post.
The department, led by Trump pick Jeff Sessions, now has the right to
overturn that policy. However, the DOJ is still bound by legislation
that prohibits it from using its funds to impede marijuana laws in the
28 states that allow it.
In an attempt to make the case for harsher enforcement of federal pot
laws, Spicer likened use of the drug to America’s crippling opioid
epidemic.
“When you see something like the opioid-addiction crisis blossoming
in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing
is encouraging people,” he said. “There’s a federal law that we need to
abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of
that nature.”
Some thought Spicer’s comparison was a bit far-reaching, though.
Ethan Nadelmann of the drug policy reform group Drug Policy Alliance
refuted the press secretary’s statements and argued that increased
access to marijuana use has actually resulted in lowered rates of opioid
abuse and overdoses, among other things.
“Spicer has it exactly backward,” Nadelmann said. He and “Trump seem
insistent on throwing the marijuana market back into the hands of
criminals, wiping out taxpaying jobs and eliminating billions of dollars
in taxes.”
The newly elected president took varying positions on marijuana
legalization during his race to the White House, saying in June 2015
that approving recreational pot use was “bad” and that he was “strongly”
against it. Trump then turned around in October and said the issue of
marijuana legalization should be left up to the states.
“If the administration is looking for ways to become less popular,
cracking down on voter-approved marijuana laws would be a great way to
do it,” Tom Angell, chairman of the pro-legalization Marijuana Majority,
told USA Today. “On the campaign trail, President Trump clearly and
repeatedly pledged that he would leave decisions on cannabis policy to
the states. With a clear and growing majority of the country now
supporting legalization, reneging on his promises would be a political
disaster and huge distraction from the rest of the president’s agenda.”
Though Spicer hinted at a crackdown on recreational marijuana use, he
didn’t provide any details on how the federal government would do so.
Just months after California legalized the recreational use of
marijuana, the Trump administration announced that it may be more
strictly enforcing federal laws against recreational drug use.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during his Thursday
press briefing that the Department of Justice will likely enforce the
federal government’s laws against the use of medical marijuana —
President Donald Trump has not commented formally on the matter.
Cannabis is still illegal under the federal law, but some states,
including California, have created laws legalizing the use of marijuana
for both medical and recreational purposes.
During the November election, the recreational use and cultivation of
marijuana was legalized in California under Proposition 64. Under the
proposition, the legalization of marijuana sales for recreational use
will go into effect Jan. 1, 2018, but because the drug is still
federally illegal, the Department of Justice could choose to enforce
federal laws within the states, according to campus political science
lecturer Alan Ross.
“Trump is not overstepping his power. If they went to court, he would win,” Ross said.
Deborah Sadler, manager of Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley, said as a
medical dispensary in the state of California, her dispensary is
protected by the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment — legislation that protects
states with legal medical marijuana from federal interference. Passed in
2014, the amendment prohibits the federal government from using federal
funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws.
During Spicer’s press briefing, he did make a distinction between
medical and recreational uses of cannabis. He said Congress already
decided how they would handle the use of medical marijuana and the
Department of Justice will be further looking into recreational use.
Victor Pinho, a spokesperson for local dispensary Berkeley Patients
Group, said he hopes that as a medical dispensary it is protected from
federal law enforcement and that the Trump Administration will not take
action against medical dispensaries in California. Pinho added that
Spicer’s comparison of medical marijuana to opioids was flawed.
“Spicer tied cannabis use to opioid addiction,” Pinho said. “The facts are flawed for them to wage a war on cannabis.”
Cal Berkeley Democrats Vice President Caiden Nason said he believes
that the enforcement would be more an attack on communities of color,
which are incarcerated at higher rates than their white counterparts,
than an attack on the drug itself.
A spokesperson for Berkeley College Republicans could not be reached for comment.
Ross said if the federal enforcement takes action, the black market
for marijuana would continue to grow, use would not drop and jails and
prisons would be filled with people with drug offenses.
Stephanie Le, campus freshman and avid weed user, said the administration’s potential enforcement won’t affect her use.
“I’m still going to get my weed, except now it would feel more like an act of defiance when it shouldn’t be that way,” Le said.
As neither Trump nor Attorney General Jeff Sessions have commented on
the matter, the administration’s course of action remains unclear. But
Pinho said the Berkeley community “should prepare for everything because
anything is possible with this administration.”
Mayor Jesse Arreguin criticized via a Facebook status the administration’s statement for limiting state’s rights.
“Trump & Sessions want to place greater enforcement against
recreational cannabis use in states where it’s legal. So much for
states’ rights,” Arreguin said.
The epidemic of opioid addiction in the United States has been well documented. A staggering 33,000 people
died in 2015 from overdosing on prescription painkillers, heroin or
similar drugs, on par with the number killed by firearms and in car
accidents.
The epidemic is growing, but its general causes are not in dispute. Nearlyallresearch on the issue shows that excessive and improper prescriptions are what’s causing more people to become addicted.
But
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday appeared to link
the surge in opioid abuse to another factor: recreational marijuana use.
During
a news conference, Spicer said that he expects states to face “greater
enforcement” of federal laws against marijuana under the Trump
administration, even in places where it has been decriminalized, as The
Washington Post reported. As a rationale, he cited the rise in illicit drug use.
“When
you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so
many states around this country,” Spicer said, “the last thing we should
be doing is encouraging people. There’s a federal law that we need to
abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that
nature.”
It was an extraordinary statement for two reasons.
First, marijuana has nowhere near the same addictive or potentially
lethal properties that opioids do. Second, Spicer seemed to imply that
recreational marijuana use could lead people to try more dangerous drugs
— a controversial claim commonly called the “gateway drug” theory.
Spicer’s
remarks drew rebukes from a chorus of outraged marijuana advocates. The
press secretary “contradicted known science and medical research by
tacitly pinning the blame for the country’s heroin problem on
marijuana,” the pro-pot magazine High Times
wrote. The National Cannabis Industry Association had a similar
take. “Science has discredited the idea that marijuana serves as any
kind of gateway drug,” executive director Aaron Smith said, “and the
addiction and death rates associated with opioids simply do not occur in
any way with cannabis.”
Washington
Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Thursday vowed to push back on the
administration’s possible crackdown in his state, which was among the
first to legalize recreational marijuana. In a letter
to the Department of Justice earlier this month, he argued that efforts
to combat the opioid epidemic “will not be helped by a renewed law
enforcement focus on marijuana.”
“To the extent that DOJ chooses
to reallocate anti-drug resources,” he said, “we encourage it to work
even more closely with the states to combat the opioid scourge.”
Little
evidence exists linking marijuana use to the opioid crisis. Indeed, a
growing body of research suggests that decriminalized marijuana is
associated with lower rates of opioid abuse and fewer opioid-related
fatalities.
A recent study from Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health involving data from 18 states found that those
with medical marijuana laws experienced a reduction in opioid
involvement in fatal car accidents, as The Post reported. Researchers
said the conclusion was straightforward: “In states with medical
marijuana laws, fewer individuals are using opioids.”
A more exhaustive study published in the JAMA Internal Medicine
in 2014 found that annual overdose rates were nearly 25 percent lower
in states with medical cannabis laws than those without them. The
analysis of more than a decade of cause of death data showed that “such
laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that
generally strengthened over time,” the study found.
Some advocates have even gone so far as to propose using medical marijuana to treat opioid addiction. Last year, Maine considered allowing cannabis therapy for people experiencing opioid withdrawal. The state’s health department ultimately decided against it, saying there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to support the process. But the notion that marijuana could help alleviate the opioid epidemic is still on the table elsewhere.
In
his news conference, Spicer said President Trump saw a “big difference”
between using marijuana for medical and recreational purposes.
“The
president understands the pain and suffering that many people go
through who are facing, especially terminal diseases,” he said, “and the
comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can
bring to them.”
To Spicer’s credit, the evidence is thinner when
it comes to the potential benefits of recreational marijuana. For one,
it’s harder to research recreational use because marijuana remains
a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. And though the idea
of marijuana as a “gateway drug” is often ridiculed among advocates,
the National Institute on Drug Abuse says it may have some merit.
But there’s almost no evidence showing recreational marijuana use could drive up opioid abuse.
A 2016 review
of academic studies related to cannabis use dating back more than a
decade found no credible reports tying marijuana use to the “initiation
of use of opioids.” More broadly, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine
has long held “there is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of
marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit
drugs.” A report released last fall even indicated that opioid use had dropped among young people as marijuana use has risen.
For Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the disconnect is clear.
HOUSTON-- How many times have you heard that marijuana is a gateway drug?
Well, there's a new trend in Neuroscience!
According to the study, states where marijuana is legal reported less
opioid use and fewer prescriptions for those types of painkillers.
The study also reports that not only is cannabis unlikely to lead to
harder drug use, weed can actually be useful in the treatment of opioid
addiction.This means that opioid overdoses have gone down all together.
So, let's break it down!
The smart guys doing the research claim one particular component of
the sticky-icky known as Cannibidiol or CBD, shows the most promise in
treating opioid addiction with minimal side effects.
Great news for the more than 90 Americans who die from overdosing everyday.
Of course there is one other option, don’t do any drugs!
The vast majority of U.S. voters support making marijuana legal and
think the federal government should respect state marijuana laws,
according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday morning.
Ninety-three
percent of Americans support medical marijuana use and 59 percent
support legalizing recreational marijuana, according to the poll.
Five
out of seven Americans — including majorities of Republicans,
Democrats, independents, and all age groups — are opposed to the
government enforcing federal prohibition laws in states where marijuana
is legal for medical or adult use.
Nevada legalized recreational
marijuana use during the November election; they legalized medical
marijuana in 2000, although the first medical marijuana dispensaries did
not open until more than a decade later.
The nationwide
survey included 1,323 voters and the results reflected trends similar to
those indicated in national polls released by Gallup and the Pew
Research Center in October. The Gallup and Pew polls found support for
ending marijuana prohibition at 60% and 57%, respectively.
“Americans of all ages and political persuasions can agree that the
federal government has no business interfering in state marijuana laws.
People do not want federal prohibition laws to be enforced in states
that have rejected them," said Mason Tvert, director of communications
for the Marijuana Policy Project. "There appears to be near universal
support for allowing the use of medical marijuana, and the majority in
favor of broader reform is growing quickly. Our country might be divided
on some issues, but more and more it is looking like marijuana policy
is not one of them."
Some investors in the marijuana industry have
been concerned about where President Donald Trump's administration will
stand on marijuana. The new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has
expressed in the past that he considered marijuana a dangerous drug,
though no efforts have been made as of yet to rescind the existing Cole
Memorandum.
The Cole Memorandum establishes an agreement between
the Federal government and states that if state law is followed within
the industry, federal officials will not pursue violations of federal
law that prohibit all uses of marijuana, still considered a Schedule I
drug.
“President Trump said throughout his campaign that he
supported states’ rights to determine their own marijuana policies. We
are hopeful that he will maintain that position, which is clearly in
line with the majority of Americans," Tvert said. "It appears the
administration would face strong criticism from both sides of the aisle
and most people in between if it attempted to interfere in states’
marijuana laws.”
"I do believe you will see greater enforcement of it," Spicer said
He was careful to distinguish between use of medical and recreational marijuana
Washington (CNN)The
White House said Thursday it expects law enforcement agents to enforce
federal marijuana laws when they come into conflict with states where
recreational use of the drug is permitted.
"I
do believe you will see greater enforcement of it," White House press
secretary Sean Spicer said regarding federal drug laws, which still list
marijuana as an illegal substance.
That's a reversal from the Obama
administration's stance, which laid out in an official memo that the
federal government wouldn't interfere in states where nonmedical use of
marijuana is allowed.
That guidance
was issued after two states -- Colorado and Washington -- voted to
legalize recreational use of marijuana. Obama said in the immediate
aftermath of those votes that the federal government had "bigger fish to
fry" than cracking down on marijuana use in states where it's
considered legal.
Most drug
enforcement operations are carried out by state and local authorities,
with little involvement by the federal government. Enforcing marijuana
laws has been considered a lower priority for federal drug agents, who
have remained focused on curbing narcotics trafficking and combating a
nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse.
Spicer
on Thursday, however, linked marijuana use with the widespread abuse of
painkillers, suggesting that allowing recreational use of marijuana
could be interpreted as condoning drug use more widely.
"When
you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so
many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is
encouraging people," Spicer said. "There is still a federal law that we
need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and drugs of
that nature."
He was careful to
distinguish between use of medical marijuana and recreational marijuana.
President Donald Trump, he said, understood that marijuana could help
ease suffering for patients with terminal illnesses.
Trump
took varying positions on marijuana during his campaign for president.
He said during remarks in June 2015 that legal recreational use was
"bad," adding he felt "strongly about it."
But later that year he suggested the issue should be decided by individual states and not by the federal government.
"In
terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state
issue, state-by-state," he said in Nevada in October 2015.
He's
remained staunchly supportive of medical marijuana, telling Fox News
host Bill O'Reilly he was "in favor of medical marijuana 100%."
"I know people that have serious problems and they did that they really -- it really does help them," he said.
The White House has already gone forward with building the
controversial pipeline and has put people in positions of power who
don’t know what the fuck they’re doing; now, as if the world weren’t
already doing badly enough, they’re coming for the weed.
That’s right; they don’t think the world feels the full weight of
this horrible administration, so they are now looking to come after
states that allow recreational use of marijuana.
According to Business Insider,
President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean “Spicy Facts” Spicer,
noted that there will be “greater enforcement” of federal laws regarding
marijuana.
After being asked what the administration plans to do about states
that allow recreational use of marijuana even though it’s illegal on a
federal level, Spicy Facts said, “I think that’s a question for the
Department of Justice. I do believe that you’ll see greater enforcement
of it [marijuana laws].”
Spicy Facts did add that the Justice Department wouldn’t be looking to target medical-marijuana use.
“There’s
a big difference between medical use ... and recreational use, which is
something the Department of Justice will be further looking into,”
Spicer said.
Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, who once joked that the Ku Klux
Klan was all right with him until he learned that they smoked marijuana,
has been an unsurprisingly vocal opponent of legal marijuana in the past.
Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at New York University, told Business Insider in February
that the Justice Department could “destroy the legal market overnight,”
that it would create a “mess” and would be replaced by an “illegal
market.”
“If a state doesn’t want to enforce its cannabis laws, the federal
government really cannot step into those shoes,” Kleiman said.
Spicy Facts then does what he does best, which was confuse opioid addiction with recreational marijuana.
“The
last thing we should be doing is encouraging people,” Spicer said.
“There’s still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to
recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.”
There aren’t any other drugs of that nature, Spicy. In fact, Business Insider notes that smoking weed actually reduces demand for opioid-based painkillers, but when has the truth ever stopped anyone in this administration?
Trump
has reportedly supported recreational use of marijuana in the past, but
the administration has not issued an official position since he took
office.
White House Press
Secretary Sean Spicer suggested that the Trump administration will
likely enforce federal marijuana prohibition, citing America’s opioid
crisis as a reason to do so — a claim that is inconsistent with
available scientific data.
by Alex Kasprak
On 23 February 2017, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, in response
to a question about the Trump Administration’s policy regarding states
that have legalized marijuana in defiance of federal law, suggested that
there would likely be greater enforcement of recreational cannabis in
coming years.
To defend this claim, he cited America’s opioid addiction
crisis as a reason the government should not “encourage” people to do
drugs:
There’s a big difference between [medical] and
recreational marijuana. And I think that when you see something like the
opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this
country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people.
There’s still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to
recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature.
Implicit in this statement is the claim that recreational
marijuana will lead individuals to other, harder drugs, in this case a
class of prescription painkillers called opioids that are closely
related to heroin.
That the United States is suffering through a serious
crisis with opioid addiction and overdoseis well accepted by the federal government.
Fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue
to increase in the United States. The majority of drug overdose deaths
(more than six out of ten) involve an opioid.Since
1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including
prescription opioids and heroin) quadrupled. From 2000 to 2015 more than
half a million people died from drug overdoses. 91 Americans die every
day from an opioid overdose.
We now know that overdoses from prescription opioids are a
driving factor in the 15-year increase in opioid overdose deaths. Since
1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. nearly
quadrupled, yet there has not been an overall change in the amount of
pain that Americans report. Deaths from prescription opioids — drugs
like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone — have more than quadrupled
since 1999.
While these drugs can be both addictive and deadly in
their own right, numerous studies have demonstrated an association
between non-medical (i.e. recreational) prescription drug use and
illicit drug use such as heroin, which has similar chemical properties
to opioids:
From 2002–2013, past month heroin use, past year heroin
use, and heroin addiction have all increased among 18-25 year olds. The
number of people who started to use heroin in the past year is also
trending up. Among new heroin users, approximately three out of four
report abusing prescription opioids prior to using heroin.
The cause of this epidemic is not controversial —
researchers almost universally attribute it to legal prescriptions from
medical doctors that are either used by a patient legally, or illicitly
diverted from a doctor to another individual. A 2016 review in the New England Journal of Medicine is unequivocal on this point:
Two major facts can no longer be questioned. First, opioid
analgesics are widely diverted and improperly used, and the widespread
use of the drugs has resulted in a national epidemic of opioid overdose
deaths and addictions. More than a third (37%) of the 44,000
drug-overdose deaths that were reported in 2013 (the most recent year
for which estimates are available) were attributable to pharmaceutical
opioids; heroin accounted for an additional 19%. At the same time, there
has been a parallel increase in the rate of opioid addiction, affecting
approximately 2.5 million adults in 2014. Second, the major source of
diverted opioids is physician prescriptions.
The increase in opioid painkillers prescriptions stems, most argue,
from an increased demand for better pain medication in the early 1990s,
a campaign that misrepresented their danger, and heavy marketing and
drug development by pharmaceutical companies. Liberalization of cannabis
policy, one will note, is not mentioned as a driving force behind the
opioid crisis.
Perhaps just as pernicious as the falsehood implicit in
Spicer’s press conference regarding the potential link between cannabis
and opioids is his omission (or ignorance) of the fact that studies increasinglysuggest that cannabis legalization results in a reduction of opioid overdoses.
The most exhaustive study on this topic, published in JAMA Internal Medicine
in October 2014, analyzed the cause of death data from all states
between 1999 and 2010, including states that had legalized medical
marijuana during that period. These researchers found that states with
medical marijuana programs had fewer opioid related deaths, and that
these decreases happened in concert with marijuana reform:
States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean
annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without
medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical
cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after
implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a
lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time.
The data predates the legalization of recreational
marijuana in any state, and therefore cannot test the relationship to
full legalization — a distinction that Spicer did make in the press
conference. It is unclear, however, if this distinction holds any
relevance to the opioid epidemic. In January 2017, the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a comprehensive
review
of academic studies concerning cannabis use published since 1999.
Importantly, they found no individual study or credible meta-review
linking cannabis use to increased opioid use.
While the concept of marijuana as a “gateway drug” remains
controversial, there is a near-universal agreement that the opioid
crisis was caused by an influx of legal prescription painkillers and is
thus unrelated to marijuana use.
Spicer A) would be therefore hard-pressed to find evidence
to support his implied connection between recreational cannabis and
opioid addiction, and B) would have to find a way to get around an
increasing number of studies suggesting that less strict marijuana laws
result in fewer opioid deaths.
However, as noted in the the National Academies of Sciencesreview,
the recent adoption of recreational marijuana laws and therefore the
dearth of high quality studies make it impossible (at this time) to
fully reject a connection between recreational pot and opioid addiction. In this respect, we rate the claim as Unproven.
As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use, the long-term
effects of marijuana use —the good and the bad — will continue to have a
significant effect on the law, and in particular, products liability
law. Products liability actions generally come in three strains: (1)
manufacturing defects; (2) design defects; and (3) failures to warn. A
growing issue for those in the chain of distribution will be the
contents of a product’s label and whether it provides for an adequate
warning of the side effects associated with consumption. After all, the
law on products liability has always held that “[p]roviding an
inadequate warning is no better than providing no warning at all.”
This potential for liability has been exacerbated by the recent uptick
of a long-known but oft-forgotten illness associated with heavy and
prolonged marijuana consumption: Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS).
In fact, a recent study conducted at two Colorado hospitals showed that
since 2009, when medical marijuana became widely available, emergency
visits for CHS nearly doubled. Symptoms of CHS include nausea, vomiting,
abdominal pain, dehydration, and kidney failure. Despite the dire
symptoms associated with CHS, the symptoms subside within days of
ceasing marijuana consumption. Nonetheless, CHS goes against the grain
of the commonly held belief that marijuana is a relatively safe
substance; more Americans than ever before believe that marijuana
consumption is harmless.
This commonly held belief may prove to be an Achilles heel for
marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers in terms of the failure
to warn. Making matters worse, the discovery of the side effects
associated with marijuana consumption is in its infancy because the
legalization of recreational marijuana is such a recent phenomenon.
Nevertheless, the duty to stay informed of any side effects discovered
by the scientific community and to ultimately pass such information on
to the consumers so as to assure they are aware of these side effects
will fall on marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers.
Some states with legalized recreational marijuana have attempted to
address these issues through labeling requirements. For example,
Washington requires labels affixed to marijuana products include the
following warnings, among other information: (1) “This product has
intoxicating effects and may be habit forming”; (2) “Smoking is
hazardous to your health”; (3) “There may be health risks associated
with consumption of this product”; and (4) “Should not be used by women
that are pregnant or breast feeding[.]”
It is unclear whether these requirements will be enough to inoculate
marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers from liability under a
failure to warn theory. Courts have imposed liability when faced with a
product that fails to warn of known or reasonably scientifically
knowable risks. Adequacy of a warning is a question of fact,
which is determined on a case-by-case basis. But a product must warn of
specifically known illnesses and diseases that may arise in connection
with the use of the product in a foreseeable manner.
Excessive and prolonged use of a product may be foreseeable and require
warning. Most courts have carved out an exception to liability based on
inadequate warnings when the risk associated with the manner in which
the product is used is generally known and recognized.
Yet,
the perception among a majority of Americans is that marijuana
consumption is harmless. Thus, it is unclear whether this exception will
provide an avenue for escaping liability.
Marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers seeking refuge behind
the regulations espoused by their states may find their efforts
ineffective. Courts have held that, while evidence of a product’s
compliance with appropriate regulations is relevant, such evidence does
not necessarily defeat a products liability action. For
example, in the context of FDA regulations, many courts have treated
such regulations as setting minimum requirements, the compliance with
which does not dispose of the duty to warn of possible side effects or
dangers when there is actual or constructive knowledge.
Consequently, any notion of comfort that may be found by complying with a
state’s marijuana labeling requirements must be balanced with
skepticism.
The recent uptick in CHS occurrences should put marijuana growers,
distributors, and retailers on notice that the landscape of liability in
connection with the sale of recreational marijuana is ever-evolving.
These effects, in turn, will have enormous repercussions on the
liability faced by marijuana growers, distributors, and retailers for
the warnings they affix to their products. All parties involved in the
chain of distribution should not be satisfied with merely complying with
their state’s labeling requirements. The rise of CHS is just the latest
serious side effect discovered with marijuana consumption; however, it
poses the first opportunity for marijuana growers, distributors, and
retailers to go above what their state’s labeling regulations require
and nip potential liability in the bud.
Marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and as such it remains a federal
crime to grow, sell and/or use marijuana. Any content contained herein
is not intended to provide legal advice to assist with violation of any
state or federal law.
