All posts by editor

Medical Marijuana, Testimonies

COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains

My twin daughters were honors students and athletes. They entered senior year of high school in 2019, and earned full scholarships to college.  They were so talented and bright.

Now they’re 21. They dropped out of college, moved a few hours away and broke off relationships with the family. 

They began using medical marijuana when they were 18. Their behavior changed completely.  

COVID hit in the winter of 2020.  Lockdowns began. Essentially the second half of their senior year was remote. The girls were isolated from everything, and they claimed to be depressed. One had a new boyfriend, who —  I later found out — was buying and selling illicit drugs. By all accounts, he seemed like a perfectly normal good kid and you would not expect it from him. Continue reading COVID, ZOOM and how medical marijuana hijacked my twins’ brains →

Uncategorized

Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

A national group of 104 parents and victims wrote to the DEA Administrator and the Attorney General, asking that cannabis not be rescheduled. The greatest number of people signing the letter were in California and Colorado; many asked to sign the letter after it had been mailed on December 2nd.  (A bipartisan group of former states attorneys also sent separately a letter to the DEA and DOJ; SAM put out a press release about the letter.)   Here’s the content of the letter:

Administrator Anne Milgram
Drug Enforcement Agency
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

Honorable Merrick Garland                                                                                         US Department of Justice                                                                                         950 Pennsylvania Avenue                                                                                 Washington, DC 20530 – 0001

Dear Attorney General Garland and Administrator Milgram:

Everyone signing onto this letter has a personal or familial story of permanent damage caused by cannabis (marijuana). For some of us, a loved one died as a direct result of cannabis use. For others, cannabis brought unfathomable damage to mental or physical health. Others were in car crashes caused by THC. For most of us, it was because of the industrial strength pot of today, but we include on this list those harmed by the old-fashioned marijuana of the 20th century. Besides those who lost their lives, there are those living with chronic conditions like permanent Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (Schizophrenia) or Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.

We are Victims of Marijuana even if we did not die from it. We also speak for victims who find speaking out on these issues is too painful.  A small number of the signatories have children who died from fentanyl or another drug, but blame marijuana for starting the loved one on drug use and/or addiction. Continue reading Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis →

California, Teens, Testimonies

From PotHead to Pot Educator

By Bart Bright

I once was pure Libertarian, an ally of Dennis Peron, and especially a Libertarian when it came to marijuana. Here’s how I transformed from a PotHead to a passionate Pot Educator.  My love of children makes this urgent.  ……

 It was in the 1970s, growing up in Marin County, that I became a pothead.  I went to college in San Francisco. My roommates and I grew pot in our apartment. It wasn’t so unusual at the time.  Continue reading From PotHead to Pot Educator →

Teens

Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk

What do parents say?

“I smoked pot in high school and I’m ok, so I won’t make an issue of it now that I found out my teen is doing it. I prefer my kids don’t smoke pot, but it didn’t really harm me, and I don’t want a be hypocrite.”

“At least it’s pot and not opioids or fentanyl.” 

“It’s not addictive.”   

Is this reaction ok?   No it’s not.  Wake up parents; there’s a new landscape today and you had better be concerned.   Do everything in your power to stop it.

A Washington Post article earlier this year warned:  “That sense of disbelief — pot wouldn’t do this — is prevalent among parents who have watched their teenagers become gripped by addiction.”

One of the most impactful side effects of the expanded legalization movement is normalization.   Another outcome is the advertising to youth, and packaging made to imitate popular candies.  And yet another aspect is higher potency THC.

The narrative from the Big Cannabis industry and its special interest lobbyists is that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine…a harmless social vice…an expression of personal freedom…it’s ANYTHING but a dangerous and addictive drug. Continue reading Even ‘Casual’ Marijuana Use Puts Teens at Risk →