Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marijuana. Show all posts

Sunday, January 27, 2019

MARIJUANA, MENTAL ILLNESS, and VIOLENCE

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on January 15, 2019, at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.

Seventy miles northwest of New York City is a hospital that looks like a prison, its drab brick buildings wrapped in layers of fencing and barbed wire. This grim facility is called the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Institute. It’s one of three places the state of New York sends the criminally mentally ill—defendants judged not guilty by reason of insanity.

Until recently, my wife Jackie­—Dr. Jacqueline Berenson—was a senior psychiatrist there. Many of Mid-Hudson’s 300 patients are killers and arsonists. At least one is a cannibal. Most have been diagnosed with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia that provoked them to violence against family members or strangers.

A couple of years ago, Jackie was telling me about a patient. In passing, she said something like, Of course he’d been smoking pot his whole life.

Of course? I said.

Yes, they all smoke.

So marijuana causes schizophrenia?

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Friday, October 13, 2017

Colorado facing big problems after legalizing recreational marijuana in 2013

Despite lofty promises from the marijuana industry, legalizing recreational marijuana has been detrimental to Colorado.
     
A recent conference in the Phoenix area, “Legalized Marijuana: The Unintended Consequences,” organized by MATFORCE and Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, highlighted the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana. One of the sessions at the conference focused specifically on the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana in Colorado.

For this week’s 5 Minutes for Families, I wanted to outline some of the problems Colorado is facing after legalizing recreational marijuana in 2013.
  
Increase in Marijuana-Related Traffic Deaths:
 from 55 deaths in 2013 to 123 deaths in 2016. 
 in the four-year average (2013-2016) since legalizing recreational marijuana compared to three-year average (2009-2012) prior to legalization.
·  In 2009, 9% of all traffic fatalities in Colorado involved operators testing positive for marijuana. By 2016, the number doubled to 20%.
·  Marijuana, as a percent of all Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Driving Under the Influence of Drugs cases is increasing since legalization: 12.2% (2014), 13.4% (2015), and 17.2% (2016)
.
Increase in Youth Marijuana Use:
·  Since Colorado legalized marijuana the youth past month marijuana use increased by 20%
 in the two-year average (2013-2014) compared to the two-year average prior to legalization (2011-2012).
·  The latest 2014-2015 results show that Colorado youth ranked #1 in the nation for past month marijuana use
.
·  Colorado youth past month marijuana use for 2014-2015 was 55% higher
 than the national average, compared to 39% higher in 2011-2012.
since legalization: 1,766 (2012), 1,980 (2013), and 2,363 (2014). 

Increase in Marijuana-Related Health Emergencies:
: 8,197 (2011), 9,982 (2012), 14,148 (2013), and 18,255 (2014).
: 6,305 (2011), 6,715 (2012), 8,272 (2013), and 11,439 (2014). 
 from 43 (2009-2012) to 134 (2013-2016) after legalization. 
o    The number of marijuana-related poison control calls involving children under 9 years of age
increased 206% post-legalization: 16 (2012), 26 (2013), 44 (2014), and 49 (2015).
·  Children’s Hospital Colorado reported 1 marijuana ingestion among children
under 9 years old in 2009 compared to 16 in 2015.
 has increased post legalization: 13.5% (2006-2008), 13.8% (2009-2011), and 16% (2012-2014). 

Increase in Marijuana Culture:
·  As of June 2017, Colorado has 491 retail marijuana stores
 compared to 392 Starbucks and 208 McDonald’s.
·  The percentage of adults 26 years of age and older using marijuana is steadily increasing each year since legalization: 7.63% (2011-2012), 10.13% (2012-2013), 12.45% (2013-2014), and 14.65% (2014-2015).  
·  In 2012, out-of-state residents accounted for 78 of every 100,000 emergency room visits due to marijuana-related symptoms. By 2014, the number increased to 163 of every 100,000 visits, a 109% increase.   
 has increase 914% post legalization, from 97 pounds (2009-2012) to 984 pounds (2013-2016).
 has increased from 184 in 2013 to 752 in 2015.
·  Legalization of marijuana may have contributed to increase of homelessness in Denver, from 28,000 accommodations per month in 2012 to 42,000 accommodations per month in November 2015. 

The above numbers make clear that legalizing recreational marijuana is bad public policy. It might please marijuana users and fatten the wallet of the marijuana industry, but it puts families and children at risk. To be sure, Colorado has benefitted from tax revenues from the medical and recreational marijuana industry, but is .8% of the state’s budget worth all the harm it has caused its citizens.

For additional reports tracking the consequences of legalizing marijuana in Colorado see Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

(RMHIDTA).



Thursday, December 03, 2015

Planned Parenthood Killer Was a Deranged Pothead

Accuracy in Media has been virtually alone over the last several years in uncovering and publicizing evidence of a marijuana connection to several high-profile acts of crime and terrorism, including the Boston Marathon bombings. Our column, “Can Marijuana Fuel Jihad?,” looked at how the Russian terrorists in Boston were members of a marijuana smuggling ring.
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Marijuana Is Harmful: Debunking 7 Myths Arguing It’s Fine

Don’t believe the hype: marijuana legalization poses too many risks to public health and public safety. Based on almost two decades of research, community-based work, and policy practice across three presidential administrations, my new book “Reefer Sanity” discusses some widely held myths about marijuana:
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[Just think of the "Choomg Gang" ...and how great our country is doing right now...NOT!]

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Wonder if this applies to pot smokers...

How to get high for free?

Study: Third-Hand Smoke Exposure As Deadly As Smoking

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Are you an intolerant weedophobe?

Or are you sitting in Bill Maher's hot tub?

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Getting High with Barry: The Complete Guide


The Week (5/25/12):

'The Choom Gang': 9 juiciest details from Barack Obama's days as a pothead

ABC News (5/25/12):

Obama and His Pot-Smoking ‘Choom Gang’

The Washington Post (5/25/12):

The Choom Gang: President Obama’s pot-smoking high school days detailed in Maraniss book

BuzzFeed (5/25/12):

A User's Guide To Smoking Pot With Barack Obama

The Blaze (5/26/12):

The Top Headlines About Barack Obama’s Pot-Smoking High School ‘Choom Gang’

Real Clear Politics - The Washington Post (5/27/12):

The Choom Gang: Obama's Pot-Smoking Days

Communities - Washington Times (5/29/12):

Lessons from the Choom gang: Don't air your dirty laundry

United Liberty (6/12/12):

For Choom, the Bell Tolls

Obama's long-haired gay homeless hippie pizza-guy drug dealer, Ray:



Monday, April 23, 2012

Collusion in California?

From a company in Aliso Viejo:
Pot Dispensing Machines Hit the California Streets

And who benefits?