Category: Marijuana

A.G. Rejects Another Marijuana Measure

Yesterday Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office rejected another ballot proposal legalizing marijuana.

The proposal by Mary Berry of Summit would amend the Arkansas Constitution to legalize “the cultivation, production, distribution, sale, possession, and use of the cannabis plant (genus cannabis) and all products derived from the cannabis plant” in Arkansas.

The amendment would allow adult individuals to grow up to 36 marijuana plants at a time, provided they first pay the state for a license to grow and use marijuana; it prevents the State of Arkansas from levying more than a five percent excise tax on marijuana; and it allows children to use marijuana for so-called “medical” purposes, provided the child has a “written recommendation” from a doctor.

It also releases all currently incarcerated prisoners whose only violation is a marijuana-related offense.

The amendment’s ballot title concludes, “Voters should note that the listed activities with respect to the cannabis plant are unlawful under federal law and that the amendment can have no effect on federal law.”

This proposal would write marijuana into Arkansas’ constitution. Like many past proposals, it lets people grow marijuana at home; and like virtually every marijuana law we know, it let’s children use “medical” marijuana with a doctor’s note despite the lack of evidence that marijuana is effective treating certain illnesses.

Just yesterday we shared a column about the negative effects of marijuana.

Marijuana has been shown to interfere with cognitive functions as well as portions of the brain that manage reward-responses and interpersonal relationships.

We have written before how under federal law marijuana cannot be prescribed by a doctor through a pharmacy–that’s why these proposals either legalize marijuana outright or make “medical” marijuana available with a note from a doctor rather than a prescription.

A growing body of scientific research says marijuana-use during younger years is associated with adult-onset schizophrenia.

Marijuana-related accidents are killing and injuring more and more Americans.

And far from quashing the black market, marijuana legalization seems to fuel illegal drug sales.

Allowing people to grow, use, and sell marijuana is reckless policy, plain and simple.

Photo Credit: “Cannabis Plant” by Cannabis Training University – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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Created for Something Higher than Getting High

Our friends at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview have published an excellent commentary on the negative effects of Marijuana-use.

John Stonestreet writes how, amid the national conversation about legalizing so-called “medical” and “recreational” Marijuana, one significant fact is being overlooked: Marijuana’s negative side-effects.

Stonestreet notes that, among other things:

• 1 in 11 young adults who begins smoking Marijuana will become addicted;
• Marijuana-use impairs working memory even when users are not acutely high;
• Marijuana negatively impacts brain receptors involved in memory recall, metabolism regulation, and similar functions;

This commentary comes as news agencies in Arkansas report a young man shot himself playing Russian roulette after smoking Marijuana.

Marijuana advocates like to claim Marijuana has never killed anyone, but this is misleading; we have documented time and again how many people have died as a result of driving while high; as a result of heart attack or stroke caused by heavy Marijuana-use; and so on.

Claiming Marijuana did not kill these people is a little like blaming lung cancer for a smoker’s death while ignoring tobacco. There’s simply no doubt anymore. Marijuana is a dangerous substance.

Stonestreet concludes his commentary on this dangerous drug by writing,

“So if you don’t care about eating, learning, remembering things, forming healthy relationships or having a happy life, by all means, light up!  And, I should add, in light of all of these concerns, it’s reckless for policymakers and the voting public to jump on the weed bandwagon simply in the name of more ‘freedom’ and tax dollars.

“Friends, we were created for something higher than getting high.”

You can read Stonestreet’s full column here or listen to it below.

[audio:http://www.breakpoint.org/images/content/breakpoint/audio/2015/102615_BP.mp3|titles=Marijuana Madness by John Stonestreet]

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Study Finds Marijuana “Dosing” Unpredictable

We have written repeatedly how “medical” marijuana is difficult to dose accurately. Because marijuana’s potency varies from plant to plant–depending on a host of factors, including growing conditions–there is no guarantee two samples of marijuana will contain identical levels of active ingredients.

This is simply one reason we feel “medical” marijuana is really a misnomer.

Earlier this year the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study analyzing “dose accuracy of labels from edible medical cannabis products dispensed in 3 U.S. cities.”

Researchers analyzed 75 food products infused with marijuana, checking the levels of THC and cannabidiol in each item.

Of the marijuana edibles they tested, only 17% were accurately labeled. 23% were under-labeled, meaning there was more drug content in the edible than indicated on the label; 60% were over-labeled, meaning there was less marijuana in the product than indicated on the label.

The fact that edible marijuana often is not properly labeled is significant. Many cases of marijuana poisoning and marijuana overdose cited in the news have been the result of people eating marijuana-infused food without realizing just how much marijuana the food contained. If marijuana products are not properly labeled, how can people possibly know how much of the drug they are ingesting?

Of course, inaccurate labeling would not be a problem if marijuana were as harmless as many of its supporters claim, but it isn’t. Researchers increasingly link marijuana use to a variety of negative side-effects ranging from paranoia and reduction in IQ to even stroke, heart attack, and latent schizophrenia.

Uniformity in dosing is a hallmark of modern medicine. Imagine opening a bottle of Tylenol only to find some tablets contained more acetaminophen than others. It would be unthinkable, and yet that’s what we seem to find with “medical” marijuana.

As we keep saying, inconsistency in dosing is just one more reason “medical” marijuana is a misnomer.

You can read the JAMA article here.

Photo Credit: “Cannabis Plant” by Cannabis Training University – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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