Jerry Cox – Page 883 – Family Council

Group Says Amendment Opens the Door to Recreational Marijuana in Arkansas

Jul 29, 2016Jerry CoxMarijuanaMarijuana

The following is a press release from the Family Council Action Committee.

On Thursday the Arkansas Secretary of State announced supporters of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment would have an additional thirty days to collect petition signatures to place their proposal on the ballot this November.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is recreational marijuana by another name. This amendment establishes a powerful marijuana industry in Arkansas, and it puts that industry largely beyond the reach of Arkansas’ lawmakers and citizens.”

Cox said the amendment does not adequately regulate marijuana farming, production, and consumption. “If this amendment passes, the Arkansas Constitution will authorize a handful of people to grow and sell marijuana to just about anyone in Arkansas. Any healthy adult claiming a minor ailment like pain or nausea will be able to use marijuana. Children will be able to use marijuana with parental consent. Marijuana won’t be prescribed by a doctor and dispensed through a pharmacy the way actual medicine is. Arkansans will use a note from a doctor to get a marijuana card from the State of Arkansas, letting them buy marijuana at stores in our communities.”

Cox said medical marijuana is rooted in junk science. “Clinical trials are underway right now testing whether the ingredients in the marijuana plant can be extracted or synthesized to produce actual, helpful medicine. The idea that it’s healthy to smoke marijuana, however, is junk science. Nationwide, ophthalmologists, oncologists, HIV specialists, palliative care physicians, public health officials, and other experts largely are not backing marijuana. That’s because marijuana itself is not medicine. The main people saying otherwise are a few celebrity doctors and folks looking to get into the marijuana industry.”

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Why the Sudden Attack on the Hyde Amendment?

Jul 28, 2016Jerry Cox1 CommentAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Joint Session of the United States Congress

In 1976, just 3 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade abortion decision, Congress attached a rider called “the Hyde Amendment” to its annual funding appropriation legislation.

The Hyde Amendment is named after Congressman Hyde of Illinois, and it has appeared in some form or fashion on every annual appropriation bill Congress has passed since 1976.

Although the specific wording has varied from year to year, generally speaking, the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, except in certain situations, such as cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.

The Hyde Amendment has long been viewed as a delicate compromise between pro-life advocates and abortion advocates. For example, Arkansas’ constitution prohibits public funding of abortion. In the spring of 1996, following a lengthy legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Arkansas’ policy against public funding of abortion was constitutional, but also decided that under the Hyde Amendment Arkansas still had to use Medicaid funds to pay for abortions in cases rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother, if the mother qualified for Medicaid (Dalton v. Family Planning Services, 1996).

In other words, while the Hyde Amendment does not prohibit all federal funding of abortion, is does prohibit it most of the time. But lately there seems to be an attack brewing against the Hyde Amendment.

For example, the Democratic National Committee put language in the 2016 Democratic Platform saying,

We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people. We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.

It’s important to point out that recent public opinion polling shows most Americans think abortion ought to be illegal in some or all cases, and the majority (62%) oppose paying for abortions with taxpayer dollars.

That aside, the 2016 Democratic Platform differs from the party’s past platforms, which repeatedly called for making abortion “safe, legal, and rare.”

At a recent political gathering, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards called for the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, saying, “[A]bortion is a right, and it’s no good to have a right if you can’t exercise it. And that means we have to repeal the Hyde Amendment.”

It’s baffling why there is seemingly a sudden interest in repealing the Hyde Amendment. This is a bipartisan budget provision that’s been on the books 40 years, and all it does is prevent Americans from being forced to subsidize abortions with their tax dollars.

Even the Obama Administration, whose track record on abortion is by no means pro-life, has not come out in favor of repealing the Hyde Amendment. In fact, President Obama signed an executive order in 2010 applying the Hyde Amendment to the Affordable Care Act to address some of the concerns about public funding of abortion under Obamacare.

Abortion advocates have often repeated the mantra, “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” Without the Hyde Amendment, however, even if you don’t like abortion and don’t have an abortion, you could still be forced to pay for an abortion with your taxes.

Teen Calls 911 After Friend Reacts to Marijuana Edible

Jul 28, 2016Jerry CoxMarijuanaMarijuana

According to news reports, a Massachusetts teen called 911 last week after his friend began reacting negatively to marijuana-laced candy.

Police responding to the call said the two teens were conscious, but impaired, when they arrived. Authorities say the pair had eaten marijuana-laced candy that appeared to have come from a medical-marijuana supplier. The two teens reportedly were sent to the hospital.

Sadly, stories about people suffering as a result of marijuana-use are becoming increasingly common. For example:

July, 2016: Police in Arizona arrested a mother for allegedly giving her 11- and 12-year-old children gummy candy infused with marijuana. Police say the marijuana-infused candy was originally purchased by an Arizona medical marijuana user, but was illegally transferred to the mother in question.
July, 2016: Two California teens were hospitalized after eating a marijuana-laced cookie. The teens reported purchasing the cookie from a third teenager who was subsequently arrested.
July, 2016: A Wisconsin teen admitted to using marijuana shortly before his vehicle missed a stop sign and collided with an SUV. The crash killed two people and put a third in the ICU.
July, 2016: A California man was arrested for giving candy laced with marijuana to a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy; the 6-year-old was hospitalized for marijuana poisoning.
June, 2016: Authorities in Arizona believe the woman who caused a deadly crash was driving under the influence of marijuana. Court documents reveal the woman was driving at least 75 MPH in a 40 MPH zone when she crossed the center line, plowing into an oncoming vehicle and killing a man and his daughter.
May, 2016: A Washington man pleaded guilty to giving his 4-year-old daughter a piece of chocolate cake infused with marijuana. The man reportedly went to his daughter’s daycare, where he gave her the cake. The girl later became “extremely lethargic,” and was taken to a local hospital, where she tested positive for THC–the main, active ingredient in marijuana.
May, 2016: Hospitals in Colorado reported a spike in the number of newborns born with marijuana in their systems.
May, 2016: Several churchgoers were sent to the ER after accidentally eating marijuana-infused cookies following church services.
May, 2016: A 7-year-old boy in Washington was paralyzed by a car accident involving a teen believed to be driving under the influence of Marijuana.
April, 2016: A twenty-four year old man and two teenage girls were hospitalized after eating gummy candies containing high levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. One of the girls was even admitted to the ICU. According to investigators, each gummy candy contained 450 Mg of THC, and the three victims experienced negative reactions that included seizures, hallucinations, and vomiting. By contrast, 10 Mg of THC is considered a “standard serving size” for a marijuana edible.
April, 2016: A Utah man was charged with driving under the influence of marijuana following a fatal car crash.
April, 2016: A Georgia woman was arrested after her five year old said he ate a marijuana cake for breakfast. The child was taken to the hospital for treatment following the incident; according to officials, his pulse was measured at over 200 beats per minute. According to the child’s mother, the cake laced with marijuana was given to her by another person.
February, 2016: An eight-year-old Oregon boy was taken to the hospital after eating a marijuana-infused cookie he found. The cookie was sealed and labeled that it contained approximately 50 milligrams of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
February, 2016: A Pennsylvania driver involved in an accident that severely injured a pedestrian tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
October, 2015: A 27-year-old Oregon man admitted to using marijuana shortly before he struck and killed a female pedestrian.
August, 2015: An Indiana woman who tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, crossed the median, striking another car head-on and killing its driver.
August, 2015: A Michigan man drove his car off the road, crashing it into a tree and killing his girlfriend who was a passenger in the vehicle. Officials initially believed the driver was drunk, but later determined the driver had THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system.
June, 2015: A California man involved in a fatal crash tested positive for elevated levels of THC, according to police. The crash killed one woman and injured five other people. Police said the driver was at a local medical marijuana dispensary prior to the crash, that marijuana was found in his car, and that the driver admitted to smoking marijuana at the dispensary before the accident.
May, 2015: An Indiana man who officials say tested positive for THC was involved in a head-on collision that resulted in the death of another driver.
March, 2015: Four high school students were hospitalized after eating brownies laced with marijuana hash oil. One student was actually found unresponsive in a school bathroom after eating a marijuana-laced brownie.
March, 2015: A Virginia man driving under the influence of marijuana collided with an oncoming train, killing a three-year-old child riding in his car, and injuring two other children.
February, 2015: A 20-month-old Canadian toddler overdosed after eating a marijuana-laced cookie authorities say his father baked. The child survived, but suffered seizures and had to be admitted to a hospital.
January, 2015: News outlets in Oregon reported a woman overdosed after she ate three gummy candies laced with marijuana.
December, 2014: Oklahoma authorities reported a man with marijuana both in his system and on his person drove into oncoming traffic, crashing into another vehicle and killing its driver.
December, 2014: A high school teacher in Maryland was hospitalized after a student gave her a brownie containing marijuana.
December, 2014: Two middle school students in Oklahoma were rushed to the hospital after one of them reportedly passed out following marijuana-use at school.
November, 2014: A Connecticut teen was taken to the hospital from school after she started having difficulty breathing following ingestion of a marijuana-laced gummy bear.
October, 2014: Officials say a Washington woman with high levels of THC in her system sped through a stoplight at high speed before broadsiding another car and killing its driver.
June, 2014: According to The Aspen Times, a seven-year-old girl was taken to the hospital after eating marijuana-laced candy her mother brought home from work at an area hotel. The candy was left by a hotel guest–presumably as a tip.
March, 2014: A California man driving at high speeds under the influence of marijuana ran a red light before losing control of his car and striking another vehicle, killing its driver.
March, 2014: A 19-year-old college student jumped to his death after eating a marijuana-laced cookie purchased at a licensed marijuana store in Colorado. Reports indicate the man began shaking, screaming, and throwing objects in his hotel room after eating the marijuana “edible.” He ultimately jumped over the fourth-floor railing, into the lobby of the hotel at which he was staying. According to CBS News, the autopsy report listed marijuana as a “significant contributing factor” to his death.
December, 2013: A two-year-old in Colorado overdosed and was hospitalized after eating a cookie laced with marijuana. News outlet indicate the girl found the cookie in the yard of an apartment complex.