Last year Washington Governor Jay Inslee, above, called for increased funding to treat mental illness, an outgrowth of marijuana legalization. In the US, Washington leads the states with the greatest percentage of fatal accidents involving drivers under the influence of marijuana. (Read our previous article)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently wrote letters to Governor Jay Inslee (top), Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado and the attorney generals of both states, asking how they propose to address their failed marijuana regulation.
“[T]he medical market [for marijuana] is considered `grey’ due to the lack of regulation and oversight” and, furthermore, aspects of Washington’s regulatory structure for the “medical market” have “unintentionally led to the growth of black market enterprises”;
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The “recreationally licensed” marijuana market also is incompletely regulated: the leading regulatory violation in that market has been the “failure to utilize and/or maintain traceability” of marijuana products;
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“Since legalization in 2012, Washington State marijuana has been found to have been destined for 43 different states”;
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90% of public safety violations of the state’s marijuana “regulatory structures” for “recreational licensees” involved minors, according to data from the first year of Washington’s “recreational marijuana” laws. Violations include, for example, sales to minors and employment of minors;
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“One in five 10th grade students reported riding with a driver who had used marijuana — 9% reported driving within three hours of consumption,” according to the most recent data in the report;
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“49% of young adult drivers who used marijuana in the past month had driven a car within three hours after using marijuana” and 64% of marijuana DUIs in Spokane Valley involved youth, according to data from the first year of Washington’s “recreational marijuana” laws;
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“61.9% of drivers do not believe marijuana makes a difference in their driving ability” and “[d]rivers with active THC in their blood involved in a fatal driving accident have increased 133.2% from 2010 (16) to 2014 (23)”;
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In 2014 alone, 17 THC extraction labs exploded; and
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There was a 54% increase in the number of marijuana calls to the State Poison Center from 2012-2014. These findings are relevant to the policy debate concerning marijuana legalization. I appreciate your offer to engage in a continuing dialogue on this important issue. To that end, please advise as to how Washington plans to address the findings in the Northwest HIDTA report, including efforts to ensure that all marijuana activity is compliant with state marijuana
laws, to combat diversion of marijuana, to protect public health and safety, and to prevent marijuana use by minors.
I also am open to suggestions on marijuana policy and related matters as we work to carry out our duties to effectively and faithfully execute the laws of the United States. You may direct your response and suggestions to the Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison within the Office of Legislative Affairs, which can help coordinate any communications logistics. I look forward to your response.
3 deaths that occurred in hash oil labs and grow sites
Mass murders caused by heavy marijuana users. For example, Arcan Cetin killed 5 at the Cascades Mall and Jaylen Fryburg killed 4, plus himself, at the high school in Marysville.
Despite the incredible problems from legalizing weed, a video from Huffington Post chooses to call reminders of these problems “Reefer Madness.”
A stoned driver killed high school senior Cheyllyn Ranae Collinsworth, 18, on May 17, 2017. “Chey,” as she was called, would have graduated as one of the top 25 students at Centralia High School. She planned to attend Central Washington University and pursue her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher.
A crash on May 17, 2017 in Thurston County killed Cherllyn Collinsworth,18. The other driver – under the influence of marijuana – had crossed the center lane of Old Highway 99.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who bragged that he will defend Washington’s marijuana program should be sorry, too. He said, “My office will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that the federal government does not undermine Washington’s successful, unified system for regulating recreational and medical marijuana.”
However, another family must live with a big hole in their hearts.
Other Marijuana Driving Victims in Washington
Cheryllyn’s death adds to a growing list of victims in Washington who are also young people. Since Washington legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, drivers under the influence of marijuana killed these students (and perhaps others).
Cadence Boyer, 7 (killed from accident on sidewalk on Halloween)
High School Students
Jenna Farley, 14,
Kassidy Clark, 16
Luther Stroudermire, 18
Shane Ormiston, 18
Gabriel Anderson, 15
Cheyllyn Collinsworth, 18
Marijuana contributed to other deaths in Washington:
In Washington the percentage of traffic deaths involving stoned drivers is nearly the same as those involving those under the influence of alcohol, 27% vs. 29%. It is unbelievable that any state would add to the problem of drunk driving by calling for a policy that increases stoned driving and results in a higher rate of traffic deaths.
What Does it Take to Admit the Failures of Legalizing Pot?
The explosion began on North Kerby Avenue, Portland on Monday afternoon. Two men died. The Oregonian/Oregonlive published these photos which were courtesy of the public, Samantha Matsumoto and Olivia Dimmer.
This past week a butane explosion rocked a North Portland neighborhood killing two men, the home owner and a man working on the home. The force of the explosion was so great that it leveled the home, damaged the two adjacent homes and threw debris across the street into a park where children were playing. When will Oregonians say “Enough is enough”? Legalization may not have caused this deadly incident, but it sure did contribute to it.
Oregon’s beautiful city, Portland, gained fame through the TV series Portlandia. People are nice and the drivers are generally more polite there. Although most major cities saw declines in real estate values during the recession, Portland’s real estate values rose very high. With its food culture, microbreweries and movie theaters, Portland has become the place “young people go to retire.” How long will the reputation last?
Marijuana labs — sometimes called hash oil labs or BHO labs — were exploding before legalization, but the problem grew bigger after marijuana possession became legal in July 2015. The number of burn victims rose from 7 to 30 within a year. Today marijuana users can buy “wax” or “dabs” from licensed dispensaries, but it is cheaper to make at home using butane. Unlicensed chemists who run the marijuana labs may be trying to sell their own supply to undercut the legal market. Or they be so addicted that risking death is not enough to stop them.
(Washington and Colorado outlawed the BHO labs after legalization; Oregon and California passed laws against the practice before legalizing weed. Since those laws aren’t working, some places in California are banning the sale of butane.)
What about mental health care?
The Vermont legislature failed to legalize pot this year. Vermont’s savvy governor probably recognized the need for more mental health care before legalizing a substance that assaults the brain. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who makes mental health care his mission, had been warning of this problem. Oregon illustrates the problem of not having a rock solid, foolproof mental health care system in place before legalizing marijuana.
Twice this year, psychotic stoners brought knives onto the public transportation in Portland and terrified the public. On May 26, Jeremy Christian killed two men who were defending the Muslim women he was attacking. He had declared his love for cannabis on Facebook. Christian’s behavior was consistent with marijuana-induced psychosis.
On May 10, a 24-year-old in a mental health crisis terrified a group of people on the train, including a 17-year-old. Unfortunately a policeman shot Terrell Johnson to death. An investigation has cleared the officer of wrongdoing. Johnson began smoking pot at age 12 or 13. He was a healthy, “normal” young guy before THC assaulted his brain. The police officer had no choice when the guy pursued him. Anthony Bonofiglio, a man on a train the night before the final incident, described Johnson’s bizarre behavior in the police report. Johnson was in full-blown psychosis! His toxicology report revealed marijuana and a small amount of alcohol.
Psychosis is not a condition that the brain can just snap out of once it’s triggered. A hospital in the state of Washington gets one or two new psychosis patients every day. The medical staff at Providence St. Peter’s in Olympia stabilizes the patients with a drug Risperdal to stop the psychosis. It’s a temporary treatment which doesn’t solve the problem.
Other Accidents and Lawsuits in Portlandia
Elizabeth Kemble was the first victim of a stoned driver after recreational pot shops opened in October, 2015. Photo: The Oregonian
A stoned driver killed pedestrian Elizabeth Kemble within a week of the opening of commercial pot stores. Two months later, a driver high on pot killed bicyclist Martin Greenough in Portland. His family is suing the city of Portland. Furthermore, a construction worker who was burned in a hash oil explosion at a legal marijuana facility in Oregon is suing also. The District Attorney of Clatsop County Oregon, Josh Marquis, warned ahead of time that only the lawyers would benefit from legalization.
Marijuana is already popular and adults have a right to do what they want with their bodies. These popular arguments reveal how little our society cares about the young, mostly males, who go psychotic from marijuana. If they die or lose their minds, it was their choice to use substances, the legalizers say.
On the other hand, how long can we persist in ignoring the rights of others who are affected by this failed experiment? Marijuana labs do affect the neighbors, and they overwhelm our fire departments and burn centers.
Other marijuana-related emergency visits overwhelm the hospitals. All of us must pay for it in some way. We know marijuana legalization is not working in Washington, Colorado or California.
Recently a woman in Portland sparked outrage by posting on Facebook a photo of breastfeeding while smoking from a bong. Maybe that image will wake people up to the fact that pot addiction really does affect others. It is no paradise in Portlandia.
I am a mother with a hole in her heart, one who mourns the loss of her beloved child every day. My son, Carlos Castellanos, died at age 23 from a drug overdose, just three weeks after walking me down the aisle at my wedding and two days before Christmas. He had been clean from an opioid addiction for ten months and was happy, healthy and loving life. My son had a job and was expected to get a promotion the following month, loved his girlfriend dearly and was planning to resume taking college courses. Carlos’ dream was to become an aerospace engineer and to work for a company that would enable him to be part of the Engineers Without Borders program so that he could help others. He was sensitive, humble, kind, love and precious to all who knew him.
Smart and witty with a great sense of humor, Carlos was very musically gifted; he played drums and guitar since the age of seven. But he was also a perfectionist and constantly doubted himself and his abilities. Despite having much success academically and in his musical pursuits, my son never felt worthy of the honors and accolades he received. He also craved the love of support of his “absentee” father and often expressed anxiety about what he could do to make his dad want to spend time with him. Those feelings of inadequacy are what caused him to start smoking marijuana at age 15. Very quickly, though, he moved on to cocaine, heroin and other drugs. At age 18, just months before his high school graduation, Carlos suffered a grand mal seizure. He had attended a “pharm party” the night before (where teens mix prescription drugs into a bowl and take turns ingesting them), and then took crystal meth the next morning. I remember getting that heart-stopping call from the friend who dropped off my son at the entrance to the hospital ER and hearing the doctor tell me to contact our family so they could say goodbye to Carlos. By the grace of God, Carlos miraculously recovered from that trauma, but he did sustain some short-term memory loss. He vowed to stay clean and thought that he could do it on his own, without any program or support. Within weeks however, he was quickly drawn back into the drug world.
Just before high school graduation, Carlos was arrested outside our home for carrying a quantity of marijuana that was just over the limit for a misdemeanor charge. Since he was an adult, he received a felony conviction, which made him ineligible for a college scholarship at a prestigious university. In Carlos’ mind, his dream to become an engineer died with the loss of that opportunity; he had been selected as one of a small group of freshman to enter the engineering program usually just open to college juniors. So, Carlos went to his place of escape once again – drugs – this time, with a vengeance.
Hidden Dangers That I didn’t Know
My son was in and out of rehab facilities and intensive outpatient programs multiple times from age 16. His most successful clean period was for 20 months, during which time he participated actively in AA/NA meetings and surrounded himself with those who were dedicated to addiction recovery. He volunteered at a local rehab and facilitated recovery sessions for other young people who were fighting to stay clean like he was. During this time, Carlos and I talked openly about his drug use. It seems I had only known the tip of the iceberg. I listened in horror as he told me about the types and quantities of drugs he had ingested and cried when he said that a dealer had held a gun to his chest when he didn’t have enough money to pay for the drugs he wanted to use. He sold off almost everything that was dear to him during his periods of heavy use – his beloved guitars, computers, suitcases full of his clothes. He lost friends who didn’t know how to deal with the significant changes in him. He pulled away from family because he was ashamed about who he felt he had become.
When Carlos was clean and clear-headed, he would talk regretfully about the experiences that he had missed out on during his years of drug use. For example, although he graduated from high school, he did not attend the actual ceremony and didn’t want a graduation party. He also missed family events, such as birthday parties (he was often too high to attend or to care), an entire Christmas season spent in jail due to drug use, etc. Carlos explained that these “voids” in his life made him very sad and depressed because he would never get that precious time back. Although he didn’t acknowledge it for years while he was using, Carlos eventually started talking about what a major part marijuana had played in his teenage years and on the road to opioids and other mind and body-altering drugs. He acknowledged that pot was indeed a gateway drug for him; after several months of initial use as a high school sophomore, he quickly moved to other drugs, searching for the “ultimate high.”
After relapsing again in winter 2015, my son got and stayed clean for the last 10 months of his life. He seemed to be on a path to what he hoped to achieve and was working on his self-esteem and self-worth. We will never know what caused him to use on December 23, 2016. I will forever have the image of the police detective and officer who rang our doorbell that night, to inform us that Carlos had found dead in my car, from a drug overdose. (We later learned that his drug of choice that afternoon was laced with fentanyl.) No parent should ever have to endure the agony and heartbreak of losing a child. Such a devastating loss crushes your soul and leaves you frozen in your tracks. You don’t know whether you can go on without your precious loved one and it becomes an effort to do the most mundane of everyday tasks. You spend hours and days casting your memory back to the day he was born, the day he learned how to play “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar, the last time he hugged you and you pray that you will be able to remember his voice.
The Gaping Hole in Those of us Left Behind
What about those of us whom Carlos left behind? My husband Mike (his stepfather) and I, Carlos’ sisters and brothers, friends and co-workers? How are we learning to cope when a piece of our lives is missing? The photo albums that we will create as a family going forward will not be filled with pictures of our beautiful son and brother as our wedding album is now. We will never again hear his laughter, see him drumming, singing and playing the guitar or just goofing around with his cat, Simon. My husband, Mike and I will miss having Carlos outlive us – nothing any parent should ever have to endure. His friends have told me that they will miss his quirky sense of humor and his willingness to go out of their way to help him; in one instance, buying a Christmas tree for a family in need. His siblings won’t be able to make new memories with a younger brother whom they adored.
How do we go on? How do we survive without the son, brother, friend who we lost to this terrible disease? For my husband and me, we have chosen to do what Carlos would have done had he lived. We tell his journey – one of an amazing human who thought about others before he thought about himself. Who dreamed of a future without drugs, a future with hope and life and success and love. We share the story of who Carlos was and we preserve his memories by fighting against the disease of drug abuse when he cannot. We want everyone to know that drug addiction is most definitely a primary, chronic disease that alters who you are. It’s a disease that is often progressive and fatal. No one chooses to be addicted to drugs. Carlos recounted that he often asked people “Do you think I choose this life (of addiction), with all of its pain and loss? I want to be healthy and happy just like anyone else and to help others.”
We share Carlos’ story and urge other parents to educate themselves about the signs and symptoms of addiction. We encourage them to get help for their loved one and for themselves. We fight to get laws enacted to help those who struggle with this disease so that they have full access to treatment and care. Most of all, we rest in God’s embrace, knowing that Carlos is our angel and that we will be reunited with him one day when we climb the stairway to heaven.
Pam made a video on Mother’s Day and she asks others to take action:
the aisle at my wedding and two days before Christmas. He had been clean from an opioid addiction for ten months and was happy, healthy and loving life. My son had a job and was expected to get a promotion the following month, loved his girlfriend dearly and was planning to resume taking college courses. Carlos’ dream was to become an aerospace engineer and to work for a company that would enable him to be part of the Engineers Without Borders program so that he could help others. He was sensitive, humble, kind, love and precious to all who knew him.
you frozen in your tracks. You don’t know whether you can go on without your precious loved one and it becomes an effort to do the most mundane of everyday tasks. You spend hours and days casting your memory back to the day he was born, the day he learned how to play “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar, the last time he hugged you and you pray that you will be able to remember his voice.