Podcast: The Eddie Martinez Story

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A Young Eddie Martinez.
Eddie-Martinez
Eddie Today.

 

One of Parents Opposed to Pot’s biggest fans in Facebook is an ex-convict who now shares his story. Eddie Martinez was a marijuana smoker at a very young age, which led to his joining a gang, dealing drugs and being in and out of prison for many years.

marijuana-testimony
Use of marijuana opens you up to taking just about any drug, in Eddie’s experience. “It all started with the pot,” he said.

Eddie tells his story today, in hopes of changing the minds of young people who think marijuana is cool. He also wants to encourage parents as they work to set a good example and teach their children the pitfalls of getting swept up in today’s pro-drug culture. His marijuana testimony is powerful and persuasive against going down the drug road.  Fortunately, he turned his life around.

For those who are casting a vote this year on the marijuana issue, we urge you to consider the impact on the poor, and communities of color. This immigrant’s story is an example of how drugs derail the American dream, leading to unthinkable outcomes after the drugs are introduced into his life.

This YouTube video podcast contains a slide show of Eddie’s personal photos.

If you have a testimony to share about how drugs have hurt you or your child, we encourage you to contact [email protected]. We are happy to  publish your story anonymously. In this case, Eddie was willing to use his full name.

Eddie-Martinez-Ex-Con
This is a meme Eddie helped us make when we first started PopPot.

Despite studies, marijuana is still correlated with harmful teen problems

On May 29th, Kevin Sabet, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), published a new article which debunked recent studies that seem to say that marijuana usage is not harmful to teens. From the SAM blog:

Earlier this week, the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry(JAACAP), released a study that claims a 24 percent decline in marijuana-related problems among teenagers, such as becoming dependent on the drug or having trouble in school and in relationships. The researchers also claim there is an association between drops in problems related to cannabis and reductions in behavioral issues, such as fighting, property crimes and selling drugs.

Pro-marijuana bloggers have picked this up as “proof” that legalization is not harmful to kids, but an editorial in the very same journal says that “no such inference is warranted.”

At first blush this study seems encouraging, however, there are several facts that are not consistent with media headlines and interpretations:

  • The study examines data from 2002 to 2013, and thus does not examine any time period with retail marijuana legalization even though researchers state that they did look at legalization policies. Legalization was not in place until late 2012 in two states only, and retail sales started in 2014. Also, data show that marijuana use declined from 2002 to 2009, but increased after.
  • The findings of this study contradict data from the US Department of Health and Human Services, National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and the US Monitoring the Future Study which all show an increase in kids using marijuana and needing treatment.
  • The article lumps together all states and does not differentiate between those with less restrictive “medical” marijuana policies and those with stricter controls.
  • Finally, as Hopfer discusses in his editorial, it is possible “a decrease in conduct problems accounted for the decrease in the development of marijuana use disorders. Although this is not proof of a causal effect, one potential inference is that as marijuana use becomes more acceptable, more individuals without conduct or adult antisocial problems will use marijuana and that the risk of developing a use disorder is lower in individuals without comorbid conduct or adult antisocial problems.”

The legalization lobby will try and tout this research as proving that legalization works. In reality, legalization is ushering in the advent of marijuana candies and other kid-friendly items by big business. Colorado is the top state in the nation for youth marijuana use.

Problems related to marijuana in Colorado and Washington are  mounting, as evidenced here, with an out-of-control marijuana industry focused on hooking kids and retaining lifelong customers. The World Health Organization report on marijuana found several negative effects for teens, including “several components of cognitive function, with the most robust effects on short term episodic and working memory, planning and decision-making, response speed, accuracy and latency.” The report also detailed studies that found “heavy cannabis use over several decades produced substantial declines in cognitive performance that may not be wholly reversible… (and) an association between poorer verbal memory and sustained daily use of cannabis throughout adult life.”

 

Watering Down the Truth

by Randy Philbrick, Director, Smart Approaches to Marijuana – Oregon. In the information age you have to be careful what information you put out there. Anything you say can quickly be fact checked with a quick Google search. With that said, you may see pro-marijuana groups and journalists put out articles with stats that really make marijuana and legalization look pretty harmless.

When you look at the NORML or Marijuana Policy Project Facebook pages you will see things like “Teen use down despite legalization” or “Marijuana is the safest drug out there.” Then they will back up their claims with what looks like very good evidence, but is it really that good?

Let’s look at the “Teen use down despite legalization.” There have been several articles and Facebook posts claiming that teen use is down across the country and they will use the Monitoring the Future survey as their source. When you look at the Monitoring the Future survey it does in fact back up their claim that teen marijuana use is down on the national level. But then there was another survey that was released last fall just after that one from SAMHSA that tells a different story. In this survey they broke it down into a state by state look at teen marijuana use. The results of this survey reported past month use of Marijuana in the 12-17 year old demographic as well as last years results.

1. Colorado 12.56% Up from 11.16%
2. Vermont 11.40% Up from 11.34%
3. Rhode Island 10.64% Down from 12.95%
4. Wash DC 10.56% Up from 9.89%
5. OREGON 10.19% UP FROM 9.59%
6. Washington 10.06% Up from 9.81%

One commonality you see in the list above is that 4 of them have legalized marijuana for recreational use, but all of them have legalized “Medical” marijuana. In fact 22 out of the top 25 states are MMJ states. So what do you think is more damming for legalization, a nation survey or a state by state? I think the state by state is more damming and that’s why legalizers won’t use it.

It’s called watering down the truth.

Legalized Marijuana = + Crime in CO

Another example is “Crime in Colorado has gone down since legalization.” Well when you look at the crime stats for the whole state, yes it fits their claim. There has been a decrease in violent crimes in the past year. But when you look at Colorado you will notice that 55% of the states population is in the Denver Metro area. The rest of the state has a very low population density with some areas having a density of 1 person for every 100 miles. Many of those places are in areas that have opted out of marijuana. Now when you look at the crime rate in the Denver Metro area you will notice that crime has gone up with Homicide going up about 70% in one year.

But again, they have to water down their stats. When you look at the big picture instead of the watered down legalization picture then you start to see a clearer picture. That picture is that with lowered perception of harm and easy access to legalized marijuana use among teens will go up. They have to get the next generation of customers hooked or legalization is a waste of time.

Drugged and Stoned is a Deadly Combination

Marijuana Industry Taking Advantage of Opiate Problem to Entrap More People

Medical marijuana proponents have a nationwide effort to add opiate addiction to the list of conditions for medical marijuana.  They aren’t just saying medical marijuana is a replacement for opiates; they are now pitching it as a medical treatment for opiate addiction.  The marijuana industry’s savvy marketing campaign is bigger, trickier and even more devious than Big Tobacco and Big Pharma ever dreamed.   Yet many people who get addicted to opiates were already addicted to drugs via marijuana.

Mixing marijuana with other drugs is becoming so routine that “drugged and stoned” is a new normal.   Just because another person didn’t die  from doing  “dabs” and mixing it with Xanax doesn’t mean we shouldn’t warn our children of this dangerous practice.

The addiction-for-profit industry, i.e., the marijuana industry, is trying every tactic imaginable to promote drug usage.  The current propaganda that pretends marijuana is treatment to opiate abuse is EVIL.  We condemn those shameless promoters who encourage people to use marijuana based on the theory that it doesn’t cause toxic overdose deaths.   Recent deaths have put a dent into that theory, however.   In Seattle, Hamza Warsame jumped six stories to his death, after he the first time he tried marijuana in December, 2015.

Drugged and Stoned

Many marijuana driving fatalities are caused by drivers on a cocktail of drugs in addition to pot.  The driver that killed two and injured several others in Santa Cruz had marijuana and an unnamed prescription drug.  The driver responsible for a 3-car crash in Indiana had marijuana, Xanax and drug paraphernalia on him.

Demolished building in Philadelphia, July, 2013. Six died and 13 were injured in the accident. Photo: AP
Demolished building in Philadelphia, July, 2013. A crane operator was impaired from mixing marijuana with codeine. Six died and 13 were injured in the accident. Photo: AP

A crane operator in Philadelphia killed 6 people while high on marijuana and a codeine painkiller pill, in July 2013.  This accident highlights the inability to see accurate perception of depth when stoned.  The crane operator hit the wall of the Salvation Army thrift store next to the  building he was demolishing. He had no intention to harm people.  Operating any type of heavy machinery under the influence of drugs puts all of us in danger.

DianeSchuler
Diane Schuler

The worst car accident by a driver in recent memory was caused by a driver who used both marijuana and alcohol.  Driver Diane Schuler killed 8, including 5 children, in the Taconic State Parkway crash in New York on July 26, 2009.   It appears  that the driver was in pain.  Schuler, three of her nieces, her 2-year old daughter and three men in the oncoming minivan died.   Schuler used marijuana regularly to deal with insomnia.  (Insomnia is a condition promoted by medi-pot advocates.)

Marijuana lobbyists try to portray marijuana customers as single drug users.  Multi-substance addiction is the norm today.

Bursting the Bubble of Marijuana Hype