Tag: Marijuana

Despite Legalization, Illicit Marijuana Still a Problem in Many States

Recent news articles highlight how states around the country still wrestle with illicit marijuana despite legalization.

In Maine, The Portland Press Herald writes, “Law enforcement experts say cheap, sometimes tainted weed grown by Chinese criminal groups is getting into the state’s medical market.”

On August 19, California’s Department of Cannabis Control said it executed 17 search warrants across the state, seizing nearly $20 million in illicit drugs from a single site.

The DOJ has said organized crime from Mexico and China may be making millions of dollars from illegal marijuana in states like California, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts — despite legalization.

Unfortunately, marijuana products often carry serious health risks from pesticides — even when they are manufactured legally.

The marijuana plant itself easily absorbs toxins in the soil as well as chemicals or other substances sprayed on the plant. As a result, marijuana may contain pesticides, heavy metals, mold, or other contaminants.

These toxins are passed along into marijuana products — posing serious health risks for marijuana users.

Last year the Wall Street Journal reported that studies have found marijuana users have higher levels of heavy metals in their blood and are more likely to develop fungal infections. These toxins can cause serious — or even life-threatening — illnesses.

Instead of decreasing crime, marijuana legalization has actually emboldened drug cartels and increased the flow of illegal drugs across America.

Some of these illegal marijuana operations are tied to labor trafficking, violent crime, and foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.

Authorities in Arkansas routinely confiscate illegal marijuana grown in other states. Arkansas State Police patrol a “drug pipeline” along Interstate 40 from Oklahoma to Tennessee.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: States like Arkansas should think twice before considering any proposal to legalize marijuana.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Heavy Marijuana Use Raises Oral Cancer Risk 300%+

A new study shows heavy marijuana use is strongly linked to a 325% increased risk in oral cancer.

Heavy marijuana use is associated with memory problems, birth defects, and cancer. Powerful marijuana products and cannabis use disorder are causing such serious health problems that some people have needed treatment in a hospital or emergency room. Researchers writing in Preventive Medicine Reports now say those people may be at greater risk of developing oral cancers.

Researchers collected data and analyzed clinical records from the University of California Health Data Warehouse from 2012 to 2024. The study found that cannabis use disorder — that is, heavy marijuana use or the inability to stop using marijuana despite the negative consequences — was linked to “a more than threefold increase in oral cancer risk over five years.”

Studies like this one should serve as an important warning to Arkansans. In the past five years, there have been multiple efforts to legalize marijuana by writing it into the state constitution or by letting companies manufacture and sell dangerous drugs made from hemp. Fortunately, voters and lawmakers have rejected these bad proposals.

The truth is marijuana is harmful — whether it is marketed as “medical” marijuana or “recreational” marijuana.

Marijuana has been tied to a number of deadly heart problems — including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. In fact, researchers now say marijuana use doubles a person’s risk of death from heart disease.

Marijuana use during pregnancy has been shown time and time again to hurt unborn children and newborns.

Experts have found heavy marijuana use is linked to paranoia, memory loss, schizophrenia, and other serious problems.

Nationwide, marijuana products are sending kids to the emergency room.

And instead of decreasing crime, marijuana legalization has actually emboldened drug cartels and increased the flow of illegal drugs across America.

The tax revenue that states receive from marijuana sales does not justify the damage that marijuana causes.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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