Posted on 09/07/2019 4:37:12 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
Colorado's experiment with marijuana legalization has been an epic disaster, according to one doctor seeing its effects on the front lines.
Dr. Karen Randall, an emergency room physician certified in "cannabis science and medicine," said the legalization of marijuana has damaged, rather than helped, her home state. Randall, who spoke alongside former White House drug czar John Walters at the right-leaning Hudson Institute on Friday, said the public is being misled about the effects of recreational marijuana.
"I think the public needs to know that we are not okay," Randall said. "The grand experiment is not going so well. I don't think the public is hearing about this as they should be."
In 2012, Colorado and Washington become the first states in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The Centennial State is often pointed to as a success story with more than $1 billion in tax revenues generated since legalization. Eight more states followed in approving recreational use.
While the country has plowed ahead with marijuana legalization, less attention has been paid to potential downsides of the weed market. Randall said legalization has brought with it high-potency dope: The average joint in Colorado, she says, now contains 20 milligrams of THC, 10 times as much as the average joint at Woodstock. Concentrated products, sometimes called "shatter," can be up to 99 percent THC.
"My fellow physicians don't understand, they don't understand the potency that we're dealing with in Colorado at this point," Randall said. "The potency has dramatically increased."
Randall has seen a "marked increase in medical problems" at the emergency room she works at in Pueblo, Colo. She's experienced increased admissions for cannabis-related nausea and cardiac issues. Dr. Randall is likely not alone. One recent study found a three-fold increase in marijuana-related admissions in the aftermath of legalization.
At the same time many patients use legal marijuana heavily under the misguided impression that it has medical benefits, according to Dr. Randall. She cited one patient who used marijuana to treat his brain cancer—unsurprisingly, without success.
"Patients routinely use a gram a day, five grams a day," she said. "Why? It's okay, it's legal, it's healthy, the industry has said it will cure all kinds of diseases."
The Colorado state government is also working to perpetuate this belief. Randall cited the state's recent decision to add Autism Spectrum Disorder to the list of conditions eligible for treatment with medical marijuana, which specifically permits the drug's use by minors. The Autism Science Foundation says there is "limited research, and no evidence, on the potential short-term, long-term or neurodevelopmental risks and benefits of medical marijuana or its related compounds in ASD."
There is, however, evidence that marijuana adversely affects developing brains. The U.S. surgeon general warned that chronic teen marijuana use negatively affects IQ, school performance, and is even linked to psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.
Randall said the state government has not only ignored scientific findings about marijuana's effects to push sales, but failed in the regulatory responsibility it promised would accompany legalization. The surgeon general's report noted that marijuana use during pregnancy is linked to "adverse outcomes, including lower birth weight." A recent study of Colorado dispensaries found that 69 percent recommended women use marijuana anyway, with some actually discouraging mothers from telling their doctors about their drug use.
Randall pointed to other commonly cited effects of legalization, including a historic increase in homelessness and a growing population of chronic, marijuana-dependent users. All of these, she suggested, have gone unreported in spite of the toll they are taking on her community.
The glittering image of post-legalization Colorado—with billions in tax revenue and a happy populace—runs up against the uncomfortable reality of poor regulation and patients dangerously misguided about the risks and benefits of marijuana use.
"There are a whole host of us who are speaking out about it, and people need to start listening and looking to the future," Randall said. "This is going to be a crisis with potential long-term consequences that will far outpace the opioid crisis, with lasting damages and lasting injuries, as well as a significant cost to the public."
The surgeon general’s report noted that marijuana use during pregnancy is linked to “adverse outcomes, including lower birth weight.”
A recent study of Colorado dispensaries found that 69 percent recommended women use marijuana anyway, with some actually discouraging mothers from telling their doctors about their drug use.
The glittering image of post-legalization Colorado—with billions in tax revenue and a happy populace—runs up against the uncomfortable reality of poor regulation and patients dangerously misguided about the risks and benefits of marijuana use.
Randall said, “This is going to be a crisis with potential long-term consequences that will far outpace the opioid crisis, with lasting damages and lasting injuries, as well as a significant cost to the public.”
Oh brother! Just what we need, a bunch of stoned out autistics. Yeah, that will help. </sarc>
OK, I'm failing to see the downside, here. A stupid does stupid, in the belief that it is some magic nostrum, because pot smoke numbs you to dying, and is given to cancer patients, and he still dies. Advantage, civilization.
Isn't that rather like the bank robber who smeared his face with lemon juice, an invisible ink, in the belief it would make him invisible?
Sorry. They are just too stupid to be allowed to live. However, this Drug War thing is a flat failure. Social engineering doesn't work.
The most frightening thing is the permanent damage to young brains. You have to wonder if this has anything to do with the mass shootings.
For your interest.
There is also a problem with vaping causing lung diseases, which have led to death in several cases across the country. There seems to be an association with vaping marijuana extracts.
Marijuana legalization advocates love to claim that marijuana does not kill or have adverse effects, and that it is far safer than alcohol. The LD50 of THC is far lower than that of alcohol, meaning that it takes only a few milliers of THC to kill, versus at least a liter of alcohol.
Before the big push to legalize, there was almost no research on marijuana because few researchers cared to go through the hassle of procuring a DEA license for a substance that is not legal and has no medical use. Thus, we knew very little about its deleterious effects. Now, we are experimenting with human populations, even children, through legalization. This is not the best way to learn about the bad effects of marijuana, and is likely to leave issues that will be problems for decades—like marijuana babies.
When the state first legalized marijuana, my gut instinct is that this would turn out bad. And it has. Marijuana is not a harmless drug. And what about all the accidents that happened while driving stoned?
And increases in Dim ballots...
When this business of legalizing marijuana all started, it seemed obvious that it was mostly a scheme to secure more tax dollars for the state. The sale of this stuff in one state also causes big problems for neighboring states where it is not legal. Never could figure out how a state could legalize something that was still considered illegal nationally. My understanding of the situation.
There doesn’t seem to be any such thing as board certification in “cannabis science and medicine”.
Mind you, she is probably spending the overwhelming majority of her time treating illegals for free and has no problem with that.
If I dug deeper what do you think the odds she believes that medical concerns compel the banning of firearms? 90%? Higher?
Keeping up with the Stoneses is easier. In the land of the blasted the one brain cell man is king.
It is only a failure if you define success as the complete elimination of drug abuse. What we are seeing with marijuana is the effect of giving up the “war.”
We have never eliminated an activity by making it illegal; the best we can do is to keep it at a low level. Legalizing an activity causes the number of people engaging in that activity to skyrocket.
I say, keep up the war on drugs. I do not want to live in a society marred with huge numbers of addicts, plagued with rampant problems like crime and homelessness.
...and 100% of the Lottery was going to fund schools...
> Never could figure out how a state could legalize something that was still considered illegal nationally.
That’s where the issue of the Constitution nowhere authorizing the feds to be involved comes in. Also the fact that prohibition laws openly defy the will of the people is quite relevant as well.
> It is only a failure if you define success as the complete elimination of drug abuse.
It’s a failure by any definition unless the goal was to corrupt law enforcement and piss a trillion dollars down the toilet.
Inhaling smoke of any kind into the lungs as a habit is a bad idea and unhealthy including marijuana. On the other hand CBD oil poses far less danger and is proving highly beneficial in medical treatments.
LD 50 of THC. You can have all kinds of reasons for opposing the use of THC but I wouldn’t continue to cite that as one of them. As far as the LD 50 THC is probably the safest drug ever discovered.
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