National Marijuana Summit 2013, Hosted by the Drug Free America Foundation's Executive Director Calvina Fay

I was deeply honored to stand alongside Paul SigEp Chabot, Founding Principal of the Coalition for a Drug Free California and bestow Assembly Member Chris Holden's certificate of recognition to Calvina Fay, Executive Director of the Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs, our nation's leading drug policy expert. Assembly Member Chris Holden is the son of California State Senator and Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden who served 32 years in public office. This photo was taken at the 2013 National Marijuana Summit on February 18, 2013.— at The University of Tampa.

At this very important, national gathering, California's major problems with illegal marijuana cultivation in California's Central Valley was presented with the extended presentation below on Fresno County's out-of-control problem with marijuana cultivation interlaced in organic food crops.

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Marijuana 101: 99 Plants = 179,784 Doses

News Flash: Obama's Own Drug Czar Is Now Publicly Criticizing Him for Not Responding to Legal Pot in Colorado and Washington

Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske—Obama's own drug czar—says his boss's administration "has not done a particularly good job of talking about...where we should be headed on our drug policy." 

Full Article: Reason.com

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.

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Dear Beyonce…You’re a Mom Now, Please Put Some Pants On

Photo shows Beyonce left 2004 Super Bowl, middle 2012 baby bump announcement, right 2013 Super Bowl   

Dear Beyonce, this is a Girl to Girl note.

I have always admired your amazing voice and have liked your music dating all the way back to Destiny’s Child.  You have come a long way and will go even farther but I do think it's time you considered "taming the flames of Sasha."  I want you to know that I wish you great success in all your future endeavors, but there is something I really want you to keep in mind, especially now that you’re a 31-year old mother.

I want to take you back in time for a moment and tell you about the time I was in my late teens and early twenties.  The great female pop-culture icon in my day was Madonna.  She had some of the greatest songs, wore the coolest clothes, did the craziest things and more than anything, she didn’t give a damn about what people really thought of her.  By the way, today, I don’t think that is such a great thing anymore, but back then I thought it was “cool.”

I absolutely loved Madonna and for me she was someone I idolized.  I began to dress like her, wearing corsets and leather jackets with crosses and pearls.  I smoked cigarettes like her, danced alone at clubs like she did in her videos, and made myself into this “untouchable sexual revolutionary” like Madonna was, and still is today. 

Madonna made marriage into a sport and having a daughter into a hobby.  Today, her daughter smokes just like she does, which brings me to my point.  

Your performance at the SuperBowl looked like you worked very hard.  The choreography was fabulous, you and your dancers and band mates looked amazing, but quite honestly; was it really necessary to flash your crotch at the audience and at the cameras?  Little children and senior citizens watch the Super Bowl and I’m pretty sure not everyone wanted to see you flash your coochie at the camera.  

I loved your outfit, but thought now that you’re a mom, shouldn’t you be wearing pants or maybe shorts?  I mean, you just had your baby and I remember how great you looked in that sequin jacket and the long pants when you first showed off you baby bump.  I thought that outfit showed you have class.

Personally, I like to see you doing things your way but I also think there’s a time and place for everything.  By the way, I no longer emulate Madonna today and I don’t look back at my behavior back then with fond memories of idolizing such a socially irresponsible woman.  As a matter of fact, I think I was rather foolish to think I had any of her qualities.  I think as one of the great female icons out there, you have an opportunity to guide young women who are watching very carefully what you do. 

They watch what you wear, how you do your hair, your nails, how you move, where you go and who you go with.  They watch who your husband is and how he treats you and they look at who he was before he married you and what he was about back then.  It is important that you realize you have the power to help him be a more classy icon as well, if you lead like a lady.  To your credit, at least since he's married you and now has a daughter, he has promised not to refer to women a "bitches and ho's" anymore in his music. I guess we can all thank God for that.

I do think if you keep on performing like you were twenty years old when in fact you are now a 31-year old mom, you might end up like Madonna.  Which isn’t bad, Madonna still rocks, but is that what you want?   I look back to the time you sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl of 2004.  When I think of your future, that is how I see you.  I hope you do too, for the sake of your daughter and all the young women out there who look to you for answers.

Sincerely,

Alexandra

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