There might be no better example of the malevolent power of money in politics than the marijuana pro-legalization movement. Funded by billionaires who get their way by spending so heavily they drown out other voices, it wields the sort of unfair influence Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was speaking of on "Face the Nation" when he said, "The power of money over the political process is horrendous." However, Sanders said that in September and now supports the legalization of marijuana, which means he's siding with one of the moneyed interests he excoriates. [continues 389 words]
During last week's Democratic debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said the United States should model its social policies on Sweden, Norway and Denmark - countries that provide free health care, free college and paid family leave. But by saying he'd vote to legalize marijuana, Sanders made it much harder to convince Americans to adopt these programs. Swedish history shows why. In the 1970s, Sweden did what we're doing now: told police to ignore drug possession and only pursue serious crime. But drug abuse soared, so the country reversed course. Today, Sweden and its neighbors have some of the world's toughest drug laws, including tough marijuana laws. [continues 406 words]
According to news reports, Canadian scientists often feel pressured to support bad science and harmful government decisions, especially regarding climate change. Has something similar happened with marijuana? One year ago, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released its Cannabis Policy Framework recommending that Canada legalize marijuana. CAMH said the report was based on scientific evidence, but it actually relies on statements that are either deceptive or provably false - which is shocking coming from a reputable research centre. First, the provably false: the CAMH report says that "cannabis use alone does not increase the likelihood that a person will progress to using other illegal substances." That's not true. A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in April 2010, found that teenagers who use marijuana regularly are seven times as likely to use other illicit drugs later in life. [continues 567 words]
Advocates for legalizing recreational marijuana in Arizona say it could provide $40 million for education. Reaping $40 million in marijuana taxes sounds good until you consider all the costs. Extrapolating from a Rand Corporation study, Arizona spends $20 million each year for schizophrenia hospitalizations caused by marijuana. That comes out of the state budget. Then consider the cost of drugged driving arrests and injuries, increased need for drug treatment, and policing underage use. That $40 million gets eaten up fast and the state ends up in the red. Just like alcohol and tobacco, legal marijuana would drain state coffers. - - Prescott [end]
State legislatures across the country are legalizing medical marijuana, but the nation's physicians aren't requesting these laws. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Addiction Medicine are both against medical marijuana laws. The American Medical Association doesn't support them either. Groups representing patients aren't behind these laws. The American Cancer Society hasn't demanded them, and the Glaucoma Foundation even warns patients against using the drug. Instead, the demand comes from groups like the Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project. These are not medical organizations. They are part of a pro-legalization lobby supported by pro-marijuana billionaires. And they've apparently convinced state legislators to ignore some very serious problems. [continues 663 words]
Legalization Makes It Easier for Teens to Get It, and We Have Other Drug Options. Legislatures across the country are legalizing medical marijuana, but the nation's physicians aren't requesting these laws. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Addiction Medicine are both against medical marijuana laws. The American Medical Association doesn't support them either. Groups representing patients aren't behind these laws. The American Cancer Society hasn't demanded them, and the Glaucoma Foundation even warns patients against using the drug. [continues 705 words]
State legislatures across the country are legalizing medical marijuana, but the nation's physicians aren't requesting these laws. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Addiction Medicine are both against medical marijuana laws. The American Medical Association doesn't support them either. Associated Press Groups representing patients aren't behind these laws. The American Cancer Society hasn't demanded them, and the Glaucoma Foundation even warns patients against using the drug. Instead, the demand comes from groups like the Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project. These are not medical organizations. They are part of a pro-legalization lobby supported by pro-marijuana billionaires. And they've apparently convinced state legislators to ignore some very serious problems. [continues 662 words]
Pot Harms Kids, and I Won't Support Legalizers of Either Party A lobby funded by billionaires who are libertarian on social issues subsidizes an extreme tea party movement and takes control of a political party. But this time it's not the Koch brothers dictating the Republican agenda. I'm talking about pro-marijuana billionaires Peter Lewis and George Soros, and a leftwing tea party that smokes its tea. Marijuana money is corrupting the Democratic Party just like oil money has corrupted the Republicans. How powerful is the marijuana lobby? [continues 696 words]
California voters passed the country's first medical-marijuana law in 1996, but many are having second thoughts. Last year, five California cities voted on initiatives to allow marijuana dispensaries, and all five voted no. Oregon also voted down dispensaries. These liberal West Coast states have seen medical marijuana up close, and learned it's barely medical at all. That shouldn't surprise anyone. The idea that smoking pot is medicine didn't come from doctors or groups representing the seriously ill. Neither the American Cancer Society nor the National Multiple Sclerosis Society supports it, and the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics strongly oppose it. [continues 652 words]
A recent Liberty Mutual survey found that most teenagers believe they drive better, or at least no worse, high on marijuana. Research shows the opposite, that smoking pot impairs driving and can be as deadly behind the wheel as alcohol, but teens don't read scientific journals. Apparently, neither do the pundits who repeat pro-marijuana talking points even when those points have been proved wrong. The latest is syndicated columnist Froma Harrop, proclaiming legalization will boost state-tax revenue ("Marijuana sales sprouting taxes, savings for Colo.," Opinions, April 30). [continues 385 words]
PRESCOTT, Ariz. - TUESDAY'S election was a victory for the marijuana lobby: Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize recreational use, while Massachusetts will now allow doctors to recommend it as medicine. It's a movement around which many Democrats have coalesced. In Colorado, legalization was part of the state party's platform. And last year, in Montana, Republicans voted to overturn the state's medical marijuana law, but the Democratic governor saved it with a veto. But Democrats should think twice about becoming the party of pot. I'm a lifelong partisan Democrat, but I've also spent 25 years as a doctor treating drug abusers, and I know their games. They're excellent con artists. [continues 688 words]
Since California passed the country's first "medical" marijuana law in 1996, 15 other states have passed similar laws. However, many in these same states are now fighting to repeal or restrict these laws. Citing increased crime and decreased property values, cities in California are fighting for the right to ban dispensaries. Washington and Delaware just halted their dispensary programs. Colorado passed a law requiring doctors to actually evaluate their patients before prescribing marijuana. Hawaiian legislators are considering several bills to eliminate the worst abuses of their marijuana law. And in Montana, the Legislature voted to repeal their law. It was only spared by the governor's veto. [continues 709 words]
Arizona's medical-marijuana law has been in effect for three months and registered more than 7,500 patients, and the numbers suggest they're almost all recreational users. Proposition 203 was sold to Arizona with ads about cancer victims, but most medical-marijuana patients don't have major diseases. Only 18 percent of cardholders got marijuana for cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis, Crohn's disease or HIV. Instead, 85 percent got their pot for chronic pain. (There's some overlap.) Pain is a common medical problem that requires treatment, but as every practicing physician knows, it's also the favorite complaint of drug addicts. [continues 422 words]
At the secretary of state forum in Chino Valley recently, a representative of the Marijuana Policy Project blurted out, during time allocated to a different proposition, that taxes from medical marijuana could make up Arizona's budget shortfall. I asked for equal time but the secretary of state official would not let me speak, so I'd like to respond here. Proposition 203, which takes up 11 pages in the secretary of state's publicity pamphlet, includes language that makes marijuana dispensaries tax exempt. And unlike similar laws in other states, Arizona's law has no provisions for charging fees for marijuana cards. In other words, medical marijuana will not provide Arizona one penny in tax dollars. [continues 95 words]
This November Arizona will vote on medical marijuana, and even supporters have reason to dislike Proposition 203. These laws are supposedly for diseases like cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. But according to the Billings Gazette, only 3 percent of Montana's medical marijuana patients have those serious illnesses. In San Diego, it's only 2 percent. The other 98 percent have minor complaints. In states with these laws, the most common diagnosis is pain, accounting for 90 percent of all marijuana patients in Montana. Pain is every drug abuser's favorite complaint. It's easily faked and impossible to disprove. [continues 655 words]
To the Editor: Re "Reefer Madness," by Bill Keller (column, Nov. 30): Research on traffic fatalities shows that in accidents not involving alcohol, marijuana is the most likely drug to be involved, at least three times more likely than cocaine. As an addiction psychiatrist, I see many daily pot smokers, who usually come with relationship problems, including domestic violence. When my cannabis-dependent patients get treatment and quit smoking pot, their relationships improve and the domestic violence stops. Marijuana does not cause violence or impaired driving in occasional users who take reasonable precautions, but it does in people who are addicted. [continues 81 words]
You got pretty testy defending marijuana in a recent Doonesbury comic strip. Over the years, you've made jokes about your own pot-smoking in several panels, but we think your problem may be worse than you've let on. We'll put it to you straight, Zonk: You're in denial. First of all, you're not a convincing advocate for marijuana users - you've never held a real job since leaving Walden College 30 years ago. Baking marijuana brownies for cancer patients this Christmas doesn't count as a real job. [continues 651 words]
