Keep up with the latest news on the fight against marijuana in California and around the country.
Extraordinary times we live in — not least because supposedly responsible people are promoting drug abuse, which everyone knows cascades into addiction, drug-crime, overdoses — that are killing us. So what gives? No one wants to stand up and take responsibility for saying — stop this madness, and fix the crisis. America’s greatness depends on a lot of things — and stopping the rolling, expansive, destructive drug crisis is one
Read MoreNo one wants to read about drug addiction, abuse, overdose numbers and young death. Why should they? Why should anyone who is steady, healthy and cogent enough to be combing a newspaper, or scanning news on their iPhone care much about someone who — all the world assumes — lost their own future, made avoidable mistakes? Not my lane. Not my worry. Not my world, right? Wrong.
Read MoreRecently, I was pointed to some “pro-marijuana” websites that essentially claim that smoking cannabis was safe during pregnancy. I was flabbergasted. Marijuana and pregnancy (or while breastfeeding) is a bad combination–it is probably not very safe to the fetus or neonate. That’s very clear.
Read MoreThe drug cartels enjoy vast new markets with every legalization vote. Are the drug cartels weaker? To the contrary, they are not only doing amazingly well, they are now happy to satisfy the exploding new demand for heroine.
Read MoreNever before in American history has our country faced a drug abuse, drug crime, and drug overdose crisis of the magnitude now confronting our society. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced that more than 50,000 Americans last year died from drug overdoses. That is a surge of death around us.
Read MoreHow is it that we have, collectively, forgotten to keep watch over those entrusted to our watch – especially from high office? Last year, 47,055 Americans, most of them young, were lost to drug abuse – just statistics now. Why?
In part, because so many Americans have heard a mixed message from their leaders – with devastating effects. Led to believe drugs are “recreation,” something not different from beer or wine, kids try and soon die. Synthetic opioids, heroin, cocaine, high potency marijuana – and then a trip to the ER, or not even, on the way to a mortuary. Numbers do not lie.
Read MoreIt is clear that California is no longer the Golden State. California does poorly in education and in measures of children’s well-being. With only 12 percent of the nation’s population, California has 33 percent of those on the nation’s welfare rolls. Homelessness and drug use are skyrocketing and the two are connected. None of these issues will be improved with more pot commercialization and use. Other problems of the state will be made worse as well.
Read More“This is the worst possible message we could send to our citizens, children and other states,” warns Scott Chipman, Southern California Chair of CALM. “For at least a generation California like Colorado will be burdening their communities and children with the scourge that is marijuana. The negative impacts of legalization and commercialization will be regular headlines in the news and in the lives of Californians.”
Read MoreAs former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration, we write to ask you, the State’s highest level and most visible political leader, to take a position on Proposition 64 before the election next Tuesday. For the reasons set out below, we urge you to oppose Prop 64. Your voice, Governor, is critical.
Read MoreIt is curious that Governor Brown said while being interviewed by “Meet the Press,” March 2, 2014, “The problem with anything, a certain amount is OK. But there is a tendency to go to extremes, and all of a sudden, if there is advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great State.” Carla Lowe, Founder, Co-chair, Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM)said, “He then turned his back on Californians 4 days later and accepted over $108,000 from Sean Parker and his wife, both financial backers of Prop 64. We believe he further put California in jeopardy, maybe forever, by allowing it to become the world’s largest producer of marijuana by not demanding enforcement of federal law.
Read MoreThe marijuana of today comes in numerous forms; smoked, vaporized, butters, waxes, oils, and edibles. What they all have in common is their THC potency (THC is the psychoactive, intoxicating and addictive cannabinoid in marijuana) which is 10-40x greater than the marijuana of the 1960’s. Today’s marijuana has been genetically engineered to maximize THC and minimize CBD (the non-psychoactive, non-intoxicating, non-addictive; cannabinoid with potentially therapeutic value).
Read MoreIt's bad enough that we already lose so many Americans to cigarettes, alcoholism, and drunken driving. Do we really want to endorse the loss of millions more potentially productive Americans via Marijuana?
Read MoreAs Colorado “celebrates” its third year of marijuana legalization, reporters and marijuana enthusiasts gloat of the state’s sweeping success. “Live and let live,” they naively remark, with all the wisdom of a 1970s hippie fresh out of Woodstock. But perhaps the cannabis devotees should pause and ask themselves by what metric success ought be measured.
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Two recent measures of educational performance, one at the national level (National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NEAP) and one among 11 regional states and the District of Columbia showed not only poor and deteriorating performance for all students, but staggering differences between white students and black students.
At the national level, the NEAP reported that 66 percent of all 8th graders were “not proficient” in reading, rising to 67 percent in math. But for black 8th graders, fully 84 percent were “not proficient” in reading, with 87 percent “not proficient” in math.
And the report on students in the District of Columbia revealed an educational disaster. In 3rd through 8th grade, only 79 percent of whites were “proficient” in English, with 70 percent so for math. For black students, proficiency in either skill fell to 17 percent.
In high school, it got worse. Only 52 percent of whites were proficient in geometry, compared to four percent of blacks. In English, only 20 percent of black students were proficient, compared to 82 percent of whites.
Importantly, the blame falls not on the expectant students. It falls squarely on the institutions—and the adults—entrusted with the task of educating them. (The District spent $17,953 per pupil, outranking all states but Alaska, in the most recent, reported year.) Teaching youth is the most fundamental operation of any culture, upon which acquisition of other capacities will depend. If they can’t read, write, or calculate, we are failing to render self-sufficient in the tools of daily life the coming generation.
We may not have the power to fix all the things that are wrong with public schools. But surely we have the power, and the responsibility, to not make things worse, particularly for those already struggling. And making things worse is just what the District, and now other places in America, are doing, by making marijuana use more normalized and widespread.
According to the latest results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), marijuana use doubled between the period 2001-2002 and the most recent wave offindings, the years 2012-2013. There was also a near-doubling of “marijuana-related disorders,” such that three-in-ten users now suffer problems.
But an equally troubling finding was what NESARC termed “significant increases across demographic subgroups.” In fact, “Black and Hispanic individuals showed especially notable increases in the prevalence of marijuana use and marijuana use disorders, trends consistent with other studies showing that marijuana use is now more prevalent in black than white individuals.”
These disturbing results for marijuana only add to the bad news, which most affects youth — and perhaps critically affects disadvantaged youth.
No one says that drug use is the single factor “causing” student failure; there are documented institutional and social deficiencies enough for that. But who will not face that marijuana use will most penalize those most at risk? Minority youth are both using more dope and suffering more of the consequences, and the impact hits hardest those without support.
The clear science on adolescent marijuana use and school failure isundeniable. The loss of 8 IQ points from heavy use, the measurable detriment to memory and learning, the risks of depression and psychosis for the vulnerable, the greatly increased risk of school drop-out; these are now well-established associations, and they seem to worsen as marijuana potency skyrockets, while dependency becomes“more severe.”
We can anticipate the objections from legalization advocates. Under the District’s rules, marijuana is still illegal for kids. But there is strongevidence showing that where marijuana is legalized and normalized, youth use soars, damaging learning and bringing addiction to the young.
It could also be that the “causation” is reversed; the reason that those failing in school are turning to marijuana is because they’re already failing in school. It’s possible, and may be true for some facing social disadvantage and psychological co-morbidities.
But surely that is no argument to therefore make dope wall-to-wall. One-in-every-eight high school kids in Colorado is now a current marijuana smoker. Moreover, teachers tell routinely another tale, of the high-performing youth who in a single semester changes dramatically—for the worse—and becomes a “stoner.” And then they lose them.
We should at least examine the true nature of the impact, and plan a response. We could explore programs like in-school screening for at-risk kids; if they’re starting to use drugs, it could be a chance to intervene and bring help.
Fixing this will require serious educational reform. Instead, inexplicably, the District determined to take us in the wrong direction – they legalized.
For education advocates and those of us especially concerned by the worsening failure of at-risk Americans in the classroom, it is time to recognize that the brain-altering effects of marijuana are now a dangerous and growing educational threat.
Colorado was hoped to be the beacon, the proud example, the city on the hill for the pro pot movement. It would stand as a testament to the rest of the country of the wonderful merits of legalizing pot. Instead, Colorado serves as a warning.
Read MoreUnintentional poisonings from marijuana edibles, particularly in children, are an unintended consequence of recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado, two experts say.
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Marijuana adversely affects memory, maturation, motivation and can cause irreversible impact on young brains that aren’t fully developed until roughly age 25. It is a contributing factor in California’s alarming high school drop-out rate which costs taxpayers $45.4 billion dollars each year ($492,000 per drop-out). 2009 UC Santa Barbara Study. Since marijuana has been promoted as a “medicine” it is perceived as harmless and use has gone up (NIDA 2009).
More young people ages 12-17 entered drug treament in 2003 for marijuana dependency than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined. (DEA 2003) States that have legalized the nation lead the nation in youth marijuana use.
“Students who smoke marijuana have twice the odds of being a high school dropout. And have trouble finding jobs, get involved in gangs and crime, and end up on welfare. 80% of prisoners are high school dropouts. “Curbing the nation’s drop-out rate a pressing economic and social imperative. The stakes are too high for our children, for our economy and for our country.””
When Alaska legalized marijuana use for adults (’78-’94), teen use was twice that of any other state. Voters overturned the law. States that have legalized pot lead the nation in teen pot use, most notably Colorado.
“If a young person arrives at age 21 prior to smoking, drinking or using illicit drugs, he/she is virtually certain never to do so.”
Joseph Califano
Columbia University Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
Marijuana is a very pervasive addictive drug wreaking havoc in our teen population. For instance:
