Colorado politicians ignore major pot problems

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Colorado politicians ignore major pot problems

If Hickenlooper and Gardner cared to lead on this issue, they would tell the world about the rate of pot-involved traffic fatalities that began soaring in their state in direct correlation with the emergence of legal recreational pot and Big Marijuana. They would talk about Colorado's status as a national leader in the growth of homelessness, which all major homeless shelter operators attribute to commercialized, recreational pot.

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Who is really in Prison for Marijuana?

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Who is really in Prison for Marijuana?

Many of those in prison for marijuana entered a guilty plea to a marijuana charge to avoid a more serious charge. In the US, just 1.6 percent of the state inmate population were held for offenses involving only marijuana, and less than one percent of all state prisoners (0.7 percent) were incarcerated with marijuana possession as the only charge.

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Mexican drug cartels may use legal marijuana to take over Northern California pot trade.→

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Mexican drug cartels may use legal marijuana to take over Northern California pot trade.

Part of the legalization argument is that regulating and taxing marijuana could give California enforcement agencies the funds they need to eradicate illegal farms. But Gabriel thinks it will take years before enforcement can put a dent in the illegal grows that he estimates pop up by the hundreds every year. He points to Humboldt County, about five hours northwest of Calaveras, where authorities are combing through 2,300 applications for growers who want to start selling in California’s recreational market. But there are also an estimated 12,700 illegal farms in the county.

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The dirty tricks of Big Marijuana→

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The dirty tricks of Big Marijuana

Although supporters of recreational pot had the gall to argue that legalisation would lead to decreased use by teenagers, regular use of marijuana among children between 12 and 17 has been above the national average and is rising faster than the national average.

Nor did legalization reduce black market marijuana activity in Colorado. Last year the state’s Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman, told the media: “The criminals are still selling on the black market. ... We have plenty of cartel activity in Colorado (and) plenty of illegal activity that has not decreased at all.”

Homelessness has surged by 50 percent from the time recreational pot was legalized. Surveys at Denver shelters estimate that about 20 to 30 percent of newcomers have moved to Colorado so that they can have easy access to the drug.  

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As legalization of pot ramps up in California what should citizens be considering?

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As legalization of pot ramps up in California what should citizens be considering?

The “medipot” industry has been lawless. Those willing to break the law are not likely to obey new, weak and unenforced regulations. Local law enforcement throughout the state, including our own Chief Zimmerman pled for banning commercial pot drug dealing operations. Most jurisdictions in the state have listened. Sadly several cities, including San Diego City, have not.

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Smoking cannabis DOES make people more violent: Project confirms for the first time that using the drug is the cause of crimes→

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Smoking cannabis DOES make people more violent: Project confirms for the first time that using the drug is the cause of crimes

  • Cannabis users more likely to commit violent crimes, research has shown

  • Study found there was a ‘more constant relationship’ between cannabis and violence than between alcohol or cocaine use and violence

  • More than 20 US states have legalised cannabis for medical purposes

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How marijuana promoters bypass the law — and the public good

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How marijuana promoters bypass the law — and the public good

When I graduated from pharmacy school, I voluntarily pledged to use my knowledge, experience, and skills to the best of my ability to ensure optimal drug therapy outcomes for the patients I serve, and to consider the welfare of humanity with the full realization of the responsibility entrusted by the public.

To me this means that we, as pharmacists, must step up and speak the truth when it comes to claims about “medical” marijuana.

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City Council Supports Big Marijuana, Ignores Communities, Mayor, and Police Chief

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City Council Supports Big Marijuana, Ignores Communities, Mayor, and Police Chief

6 councilmembers ignored the police chief’s and mayors concerns. They ignored the facts and figures from Colorado showing the true cost of that state’s marijuana industry. They ignored the recommendation of their own city staff. Six councilmembers ignored their own constituents, the regular people from underserved communities who took the time off from their jobs and from their families to speak out at City Hall.

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Big profits, extra pot fuel illegal butane hash oil labs→

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Big profits, extra pot fuel illegal butane hash oil labs

The midday explosion that convulsed a quiet North Portland neighborhood last month showered the street with glass and debris and hurled a 150-pound door into nearby Peninsula Park.

It blasted a 91-year-old home to pieces, scattering glass and scraps of the roof. The two men inside died. The sheer force of the blast suggested someone, maybe a contractor, nicked a natural gas line.

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Traffic fatalities linked to marijuana are up sharply in Colorado. Is legalization to blame?→

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Traffic fatalities linked to marijuana are up sharply in Colorado. Is legalization to blame?

The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado who tested positive for marijuana has risen sharply each year since 2013, more than doubling in that time, federal and state data show. A Denver Post analysis of the data and coroner reports provides the most comprehensive look yet into whether roads in the state have become more dangerous since the drug’s legalization.

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Marijuana devastated Colorado, don’t legalize it nationally→

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Marijuana devastated Colorado, don’t legalize it nationally

Our country is facing a drug epidemic. Legalizing recreational marijuana will do nothing that Senator Booker expects. We heard many of these same promises in 2012 when Colorado legalized recreational marijuana.

In the years since, Colorado has seen an increase in marijuana related traffic deaths, poison control calls, and emergency room visits. The marijuana black market has increased in Colorado, not decreased. And, numerous Colorado marijuana regulators have been indicted for corruption.

In 2012, we were promised funds from marijuana taxes would benefit our communities, particularly schools. Dr. Harry Bull, the Superintendent of Cherry Creek Schools, one of the largest school districts in the state, said, "So far, the only thing that the legalization of marijuana has brought to our schools has been marijuana."

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Toxic waste from U.S. pot farms alarms experts→

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Toxic waste from U.S. pot farms alarms experts

WEAVERVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) - Pollution from illegal marijuana farms deep in California's national forests is far worse than previously thought, and has turned thousands of acres into waste dumps so toxic that simply touching plants has landed law enforcement officers in the hospital.

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What Does it Take to Admit the Failures of Legalizing Pot?→

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What Does it Take to Admit the Failures of Legalizing Pot?

Marijuana labs — sometimes called hash oil labs or BHO labs — were exploding before legalization, but the problem grew bigger after marijuana possession became legal in July 2015.  The number of burn victims rose from 7 to 30 within a year.  Today marijuana users can buy“wax” or “dabs” from licensed dispensaries, but it is cheaper to make at home using butane.   Unlicensed chemists who run the marijuana labs may be trying to sell their own supply to undercut the legal market. Or they be so addicted that risking death is not enough to stop them.

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Legal weed isn't living up to all of its promises. We need to shut it down→

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Legal weed isn't living up to all of its promises. We need to shut it down

Today, a growing class of well-heeled lobbyists intent on commercializing marijuana are doing everything they can to sell legal weed as a panacea for every contemporary challenge we face in America. Over the past several years we've been barraged by claims that legal pot can cure the opioid crisis, cure cancer, eliminate international drug cartels, and even solve climate change.

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Economy Needs Workers, but Drug Tests Take a Toll→

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Economy Needs Workers, but Drug Tests Take a Toll

It’s not that local workers lack the skills for these positions, many of which do not even require a high school diploma but pay $15 to $25 an hour and offer full benefits. Rather, the problem is that too many applicants — nearly half, in some cases — fail a drug test.

The fallout is not limited to the workers or their immediate families. Each quarter, Columbiana Boiler, a local company, forgoes roughly $200,000 worth of orders for its galvanized containers and kettles because of the manpower shortage, it says, with foreign rivals picking up the slack.

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