(Alexandria, Va) – There are now twice as many daily or near daily marijuana users in the US than just a decade ago, according to the most comprehensive survey on drug use released today by the federal government. There are also now 8,300 new marijuana users each day, and 22% of 18 to 25 year olds are currently using the drug–the highest number for all three stats in recent memory. Continue reading Heavy Marijuana Use Skyrockets According to Government Survey→
By Sue B It doesn’t strike people down like pills or heroin does. It doesn’t make the heart explode like cocaine or methamphetamine can. A person in withdrawal from marijuana isn’t screaming in pain. So what makes weed the most dangerous?
Simply because so many people believe that it is harmless. As Richard Adamski, a 30-year marijuana user, put it, “In my strong opinion, cannabis is the most dangerous drug because most people think it isn’t.” Now that he’s stopped consuming cannabis, he says, “I am 66 now and nothing to show for what I’ve done in my life because of marijuana.”
Photo from Dallas News, Ashley Landis, Staff Photographer
Police say they found “fresh burnt marijuana as well as a haze of smoke in the apartment,” and blood in multiple areas of the apartment. Ness started his attack inside and then continued outside in a courtyard. A neighbor shot the father in his leg to stop the killing.
Death Highlights Cannabis’ role in Texas child-abuse death
In March, Texas released its report on child abuse deaths, finding half the 172 child abuse deaths in 2017 coupled with substance abuse. Marijuana was the most-used substance connected to child abuse and neglect deaths, followed by alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine. In one terrible case last year, Cynthia Randolph left her 1-year old and 2-year-old in the car while she smoked pot. Both children died.
According to the report, of the deaths caused by parent or caregiver substance abuse, 56 used marijuana; 23 used alcohol; 16 involved cocaine; 14 were linked to methamphetamine, 2 involved opiates and 1 was connected to heroin. Many abusers were co-abusing substances, such as combining marijuana and cocaine.
Those who say that marijuana makes people calm misunderstand how cannabis works on their brain. People who advocate for “responsible” use of marijuana need to cut out the delusion and misrepresentation. Popular magazines such as Oprah, Allure and Cosmopolitan present marijuana use as glamorous or at the cutting edge of our culture. A California company MedMen, aka The Mad Men of Marijuana, aggressively tries to rebrand the stoner image.
In Atlantic Magazine last week, Annie Lowrey wrote an article exposing the truth about marijuana addiction. While the author tells the truth about addiction, she opines that marijuana is relatively benign compared to alcohol and tobacco. She may be basing her belief on old information, when 3 or 4% of the population used weed, vs. 65% using alcohol. Marijuana is far more toxic to the brain than tobacco.
Meanwhile, our country focuses on opiate addiction, instead of poly-drug abuse.
Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. “Marijuana…Know the Truth” is a new campaign of the Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. Its producers designed two videos to educate the public about the real consequences of marijuana use. The initiative begins with public service announcements (PSAs) that examine the connection between marijuana use and opioid abuse and overdose. A thirty-second commercial begins this week and will run in select movie theaters throughout the country for 10 weeks. The video features a mother, Karen Bailey, who tells the story of how her son started smoking marijuana in middle school. His marijuana use turned into an opioid addiction that ultimately took his life.
Please share the video on your social media and with your contacts.
Drug Free America targets the commercial to cities and states that have been hard hit by drugs and overdose deaths. By a long shot, drugs cause far more accidental deaths in the US than both guns and traffic incidents. To drive home that point, the campaign will run digital PSAs, too. The theater PSAs appear in CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, and WV. For theater information, contact Amy at [email protected].
The Drug Free America Foundation has a longer version of the video on their homepage. In this video, Karen Bailey explains in more detail the gripping story of how her son’s marijuana use transitioned into an opiate pill problem.
