IDIOT ALERT - Hey Snoop Lion, You Make Smoking look so Cool you should change your name to Snoop Camel. IDIOT!

Lets Hope we don't have to learn from Marijuana what we had to learn from Tobacco

CNN: Stoned Drivers Test Skills

NADCP Releases Position Statement on Marijuana

Review of Research Leads to Stand Against Marijuana Legalization of the use of Smoked Marijuana as “Medicine”

 

Every dangerous and addictive drug was once believed to be safe and medicinal.  Cocaine, heroin and nicotine were once advertised as being good for you, or at least not harmful.  In every instance, we learned otherwise -- the hard way.  Marijuana is the newest “safe” and “medicinal” drug to reenact this tragic drama.  Just as scientific research is documenting the unequivocal public-health and public-safety dangers of marijuana, states are moving rapidly towards legalization or decriminalization.

 

Drug Courts serve seriously addicted individuals with long criminal records who have alienated nearly everyone they love.  In every case, they tell us it began with marijuana.  Convinced that marijuana was safe, they learned it is, in fact, addictive, causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory disease, triggers mental illness and addiction to more serious drugs, and alienates friends, family and coworkers.

 

NADCP has long been committed to guiding the Drug Court field and the broader criminal justice and treatment communities with science, not ideology.  After thoroughly reviewing the research regarding the safety of recreational marijuana use and the efficacy of “medical” marijuana, NADCP unequivocally stands against the legalization of marijuana and the use of smoked marijuana as “medicine.”  Our reasons for doing so are thoroughly explained and cited in the attached Position Statement.

 

Unfortunately, the public discourse concerning drug policy in the U.S. has degenerated into a false-choice between incarceration and legalization.  Both of these extreme positions are dangerous, costly and ineffective.  But research proves there is a middle ground.  It is possible to reduce the devastating consequences of addiction and treat those already affected without overreacting and wasting public tax dollars. 

 

Pick up any current issue of a scientific journal in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, counseling or criminology, and you will find studies documenting a new danger of marijuana.  But that same journal will also contain studies documenting the curative effects of Drug Courts and dozens of other treatment programs.  We can and must do better.  Science, not ideology, must be our guide to rational and informed public policy.

 

 

West Huddleston

CEO

National Association of Drug Court Professionals

- National Center for DWI Courts

- National Drug Court Institute

- Justice for Vets

AHA: Smoking Marijuana Associated with Higher Stroke Risk in Young Adults

February 06, 2013 

This news release is featured in a news conference at 7 a.m. HT, Wednesday, Feb. 6.

Study Highlights:

• Marijuana use may double the risk of stroke in young adults.
• The New Zealand findings are the first from a case-controlled study to indicate a potential link between marijuana and stroke.

HONOLULU, Feb. 6, 2013 —Marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug, may double stroke risk in young adults, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2013.

In a New Zealand study, ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients were 2.3 times more likely to have cannabis, also known as marijuana, detected in urine tests as other age and sex matched patients, researchers said.

“This is the first case-controlled study to show a possible link to the increased risk of stroke from cannabis,” said P. Alan Barber, Ph.D., M.D., study lead investigator and professor of clinical neurology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “Cannabis has been thought by the public to be a relatively safe, although illegal substance. This study shows this might not be the case; it may lead to stroke.”

The study included 160 ischemic stroke/TIA patients 18-55 years old who had urine screens upon admission to the hospital. Among the patients, 150 had ischemic stroke and 10 had TIAs. Sixteen percent of patients had positive drug screens, mostly male who also smoked tobacco.

Only 8.1 percent of controls tested positive for cannabis in urine samples. Researchers found no differences in age, stroke mechanism or most vascular risk factors between marijuana users and non-users.

In previous case reports, ischemic stroke and TIAs developed hours after cannabis use, Barber said. “These patients usually had no other vascular risk factors apart from tobacco, alcohol and other drug usage.”

It’s challenging to perform prospective studies involving illegal substances such as cannabis because “questioning stroke and control patients about cannabis use is likely to obtain unreliable responses,” Barber said.

In the study, the regional ethics committee allowed researchers to use urine samples from other hospitalized patients. But researchers knew only the age, sex and ethnicity for matching due to a lack of consent.

The study provides the strongest evidence to date of an association between cannabis and stroke, Barber said. But the association is confounded because all but one of the stroke patients who were cannabis users also used tobacco regularly.

“We believe it is the cannabis and not tobacco,” said Barber, who hopes to conduct another study to determine whether there’s an association between cannabis and stroke independent of tobacco use. “This may prove difficult given the risks of bias and ethical strictures of studying the use of an illegal substance,” he said. “However, the high prevalence of cannabis use in this cohort of younger stroke patients makes this research imperative.”

Physicians should test young people who come in with stroke for cannabis use, Barber said.

“People need to think twice about using cannabis,” because it can affect brain development and result in emphysema, heart attack and now stroke, he said.

Co-authors are: Heidi Pridmore, M.D.; Venkatesh Krishnamurthy, M.D.; Sally Roberts, M.D.; David A. Spriggs, M.D.; Kristie Carter, Ph.D.; and Neil E. Anderson, M.D. Author disclosures and funding information are on the abstract.

Follow news from the ASA International Stroke Conference 2013 via Twitter @HeartNews; #ISC13.

Statements and conclusions of study authors that are presented at American Stroke Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position.  The association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events.  The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content.  Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available atwww.heart.org/corporatefunding.

60 Minutes Covers Colorado Amendment 64, which would Legalize Marijuana for Recreational Use Under State Law in Violation of Federal Law

Medical Marijuana Cultivation In California’s Central Valley Poses Serious Risk to Public Health (Video)

Medical Marijuana May Expose Consumers to Dangerous Bacteria and Fungus; Doctors Should Be Held Accountable

Los Angeles, September 17, 2012 – Following a two-day tour with Lieutenant Rick Ko of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, Alexandra Datig has given her eyewitness account of California’s Central Valley marijuana grows.  Today, Datig released a documented account of what she saw on the opinion page “Nip It In The Bud USA” (www.nipitinthebudusa.org).  The short documentary is also available on YouTube.

Datig said; “California’s medical marijuana laws have been exposed as a scam.  Under existing laws, no one is held accountable, while California has become the marijuana trafficking capitol of the United States.   Ninety percent of California’s marijuana is being exported to other states and other countries.  All this, made possible mostly through recommendations by California doctors.” 

John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officer’s Association and the California Police Chiefs Associations saw the footage and said; “Every policy maker should be required to see it.”

Calvina Fay, Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs had this to say:  “This video reveals very specific public health risks associated with the cultivation of marijuana.  It shows that patients may be unknowingly ingesting dangerous toxins.  We definitely need more resources like this video to help educate the public about the widespread contamination caused by these criminal enterprises.”

Former Los Angeles City Councilman and California State Senator Nate Holden, who served on the Board of Public Safety with the City of Los Angeles for eight years, saw the presentation and said; “The FDA and the USDA is now aware how medical marijuana is being cultivated in an unsafe and unhealthy environment.  They should immediately take action to protect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and eradicate these marijuana grows and jail the cultivators who put in jeopardy our health, safety and welfare.”  

Smoking Kills (The Bryan Curtis story)