# News & Current Events > U.S. Political News >  Boogity-boogity Evil Weed propaganda

## tod evans

From Drudge;

*Marijuana playing larger role in fatal crashes*

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...ents/10219119/

As more states are poised to legalize medicinal marijuana, it's looking like dope is playing a larger role as a cause of fatal traffic accidents.

Columbia University researchers performing a toxicology examination of nearly 24,000 driving fatalities concluded that marijuana contributed to 12% of traffic deaths in 2010, tripled from a decade earlier.

NHTSA studies have found drugged driving to be particularly prevalent among younger motorists. One in eight high school seniors responding to a 2010 survey admitted to driving after smoking marijuana. Nearly a quarter of drivers killed in drug-related car crashes were younger than 25. Likewise, nearly half of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana were younger than 25.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that 4% of drivers were high during the day and more than 6% at night, and that nighttime figure more than doubled on weekends.

Colorado has seen a spike in driving fatalities in which marijuana alone was involved, according to Insurance.com. The trend started in 2009  the year medical marijuana dispensaries were effectively legalized at the state level.

NHTSA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse are now in the final months of a three-year, half-million-dollar cooperative study to determine the impact of inhaled marijuana on driving performance. Tests observe participants who ingest a low dose of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, a high dose and a placebo to assess the effects on performance, decision-making, motor control, risk-taking behavior and divided-attention tasks.

The study is being performed using what NHTSA calls "the world's most advanced driving simulator," the University of Iowa's National Advanced Driving Simulator, which was previously used to study the effects of alcohol on driving.

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## Bern

It's only logical that, as the percentage of people exposed to marijuana increase, the percentage of people in any endeavor exposed to marijuana will also increase.  The statement "it's looking like dope is playing a larger role *as a cause* of fatal traffic accidents" assumes causality from correlation though.  The article mentions the NHTSA/NIoDA study, but offers no insight on what results they have found so far.

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## Root

> NHTSA studies have found drugged driving to be particularly prevalent among younger motorists. One in eight high school seniors responding to a 2010 survey admitted to driving after smoking marijuana. Nearly a quarter of drivers killed in drug-related car crashes were younger than 25. Likewise, nearly half of fatally injured drivers who tested positive for marijuana were younger than 25.


Drivel.  Cannabis can stay in the system for a month.  They could have used cannabis a week before the accident.

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## tod evans

From Drudge;

*A Mercedes-Benz convertible drove into the Georgia headquarters early Friday morning, shattering the lobby's glass, and the driver was taken into custody.*

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...atlanta-711691

The Mercedes-Benz convertible with a Florida license plate drove into the north side of the Georgia headquarters downtown near Marietta St. and Centennial Olympic Park Drive at around 4:15 a.m., shattering the lobby's glass. It came to rest in the middle of the lobby, several yards away from any of CNN's offices.
CNN Newsource noted the news via Twitter (and the aforementioned pun) that there with no injuries.
A man and woman were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash, according to local news source WSB-TV, and *officers found the driver in possession of marijuana. The driver admitted to the police that he had smoked marijuana before the crash occurred.* Atlanta police officer John Chafee says the driver is being charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and marijuana possession.
Video footage shows the car being backed out of the lobby. The convertible was then loaded onto a tow truck. By 7 a.m., workers were sweeping up glass shards. A section of glass of around 10 feet high and about 15 feet long was completely gone.

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## tod evans

//

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## tod evans

Ol' Matt is still at it.....From Drudge;



*In bag of fast food, a surprise: Marijuana*

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/new...03059238a.html

A trip to Sonic intended as a treat ended with a surprise twist for a Frederick woman.
Carla McFarland said she went to Sonic on Guilford Drive on Wednesday with her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son after a trip to the library and a morning spent packing boxes. After passing chicken strips and fries to her children, McFarland, 35, reached into the bag for her own food and found a small plastic bag containing what appeared to be marijuana in a third container holding her own fries.
I just kind of sat there in my car in shock, McFarland said Thursday. I kept thinking, what if my kids had eaten it?
McFarland contacted Sonic's management and called police. McFarland said a manager also called police and told her that an employee took responsibility for the bag, saying that it must have slipped from her apron. The manager told her the employee had been fired. 
Franchisee John Louderback, who operates the location with his wife, confirmed the employee no longer works there. He said the incident was under investigation.
"As this time, we believe that concludes the issue," Louderback said. He would not comment about drug-testing policies involving employees.
McFarland said Sonic's management was apologetic. McFarland said her meal was remade and she was not charged for it. The Sonic franchise opened in May. It is the popular drive-in chain's only location in Frederick County.
I definitely can't say that they didn't go out of their way, McFarland said. I honestly think they were more in shock than I was.
Frederick County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Bailey said the case is under investigation and no arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon. A deputy seized the suspected marijuana, but it was not clear if it had been tested and confirmed as the drug, Bailey said. She said the employee's name would not be made public unless charges are filed.
For McFarland, the trip to Sonic was meant as a treat during a difficult few months for her family. Her husband has been in Georgetown University Hospital after surgery in May, and the family now faces eviction from its condo. The family has fallen behind on rent, with McFarland unable to work with two children. 
The nonprofit Patty Pollatos Fund Inc. is stepping in to help the McFarland family with an online fundraiser planned to begin sometime next week, founder Debbie Williams said.
The discovery prompted a discussion about drugs and scared her daughter, who had already eaten one of her own fries before McFarland told her children to stop eating, she said.
McFarland said she posted about the discovery on Facebook, prompting laughs from some friends. Others urged her to go public. She doesn't believe the situation is a laughing matter.
I think that's why everyone thinks it's so funny, because it's marijuana and it's going to be legalized, she said. It could have been crack. It could have been cocaine in that little baggie.

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## Acala

People should stick to alcohol.  It NEVER contributes to traffic accidents.  If it did, it would be illegal!

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## Root

> For McFarland, the trip to Sonic was meant as a treat during a difficult few months for her family. Her husband has been in Georgetown University Hospital after surgery in May, and the family now faces eviction from its condo. The family has fallen behind on rent, with McFarland unable to work with two children.


Oh, of course....  

The food from Sonic is probably less healthy than the cannabis.

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## COpatriot

I wish Drudge wouldn't link to this horse$#@!. The hysteria and ignorance on this issue are just incredible. I would bet you that if you showed some of these people Reefer Madness they would believe it.

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## Suzanimal

> “I just kind of sat there in my car in shock,” McFarland said Thursday. “I kept thinking, what if my kids had eaten it?”


 I would hope at 6 and 8 they would know that a bag of weed wasn't a french fry. They may not know it's weed but they wouldn't just eat it....boogity boogity.

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## dannno

> It's only logical that, as the percentage of people exposed to marijuana increase, the percentage of people in any endeavor exposed to marijuana will also increase.  The statement "it's looking like dope is playing a larger role *as a cause* of fatal traffic accidents" assumes causality from correlation though.  The article mentions the NHTSA/NIoDA study, but offers no insight on what results they have found so far.


Thanks for getting it right on the first reply, +rep

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## dannno

> From Drudge;
> 
> *A Mercedes-Benz convertible drove into the Georgia headquarters early Friday morning, shattering the lobby's glass, and the driver was taken into custody.*
> 
> http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...atlanta-711691
> 
> The Mercedes-Benz convertible with a Florida license plate drove into the north side of the Georgia headquarters downtown near Marietta St. and Centennial Olympic Park Drive at around 4:15 a.m., shattering the lobby's glass. It came to rest in the middle of the lobby, several yards away from any of CNN's offices.
> CNN Newsource noted the news via Twitter (and the aforementioned pun) that there with no injuries.
> A man and woman were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash, according to local news source WSB-TV, and *officers found the driver in possession of marijuana. The driver admitted to the police that he had smoked marijuana before the crash occurred.* Atlanta police officer John Chafee says the driver is being charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving and marijuana possession.
> Video footage shows the car being backed out of the lobby. The convertible was then loaded onto a tow truck. By 7 a.m., workers were sweeping up glass shards. A section of glass of around 10 feet high and about 15 feet long was completely gone.


Well, that's impossible. Marijuana makes you lazy, how could anybody who smokes marijuana possibly own a Mercedes convertible??

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## tod evans

> Well, that's impossible. Marijuana makes you lazy, how could anybody who smokes marijuana possibly own a Mercedes convertible??


Surely they stole it.........

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## Acala

> Surely they stole it.........


They forgot that it wasn't theirs, man.

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## Noob

Boogity-boogity boo!!

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## tod evans

From Drudge, again;


*Pot plants slurp up California's water supply*

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101816232

California cannabis growers may be making millions, but their thirsty plants are sucking up a priceless resource: water. Now scientists say that if no action is taken in the drought-wracked state, the consequences for fisheries and wildlife will be dire.

"If this activity continues on the trajectory it's on, we're looking at potentially streams going dry, streams that harbor endangered fish species like salmon, steelhead," said Scott Bauer of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Studying aerial photographs of four watersheds within Northern California's so-called Emerald Triangle, Bauer found that the area under marijuana cultivation doubled between 2009 and 2012. It continues to grow, with increasing environmental consequences.

Bauer presented data to CNBC indicating that growers are drawing more than 156,000 gallons of water from a single tributary of the Eel River, in Mendocino County, every day.

The average marijuana plant needs about 6 gallons of water a day, depending on its size and whether it's grown inside or outside, according to a local report that cited research. Pot growers object to that number, saying that the actual water use of a pot plant is much less.

Although the marijuana business has helped revive the local economy, residents may now be feeling the effects of living alongside growers. And, as growerssome legal, some notface an ongoing, severe drought, local law enforcement officers expect the fight over natural resources to intensify.

"I never want to see crime increase, but I have a feeling it will, because of the commodities that are up here," said Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey. "When we get to the end of the grow season, which is August and September, the need for enhanced water availability is gonna be there, and I don't think the water's going to be there, so you're going to see people, I believe, having some conflict over water rights."
Stream water rules in California are the same for growers of marijuana as they are for growers of any crop: Growers should divert no more than 10 percent of a stream's flow, and they should halt diversion altogether during late summer, when fish are most vulnerable to low water levels. But Bauer pointed out that those rules apply to permit holders, and most marijuana growers haven't bothered to get permits.

With so much of California's cannabis business operating in the more lucrative underground market, and with so many growers across the region (see the map below), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Humboldt County Sheriff's office say they lack the resources to eradicate all offenders. So they target the most egregious.

"We get those calls daily. People are upset. Somebody has dried up a stream, somebody is building a road across sensitive fish and wildlife habitat, so that is happening on a daily basis," Bauer said. "And we do our best with the personnel we have to respond to those calls."

Sheriff Downey concurred with Bauer about the manpower challenge authorities face.

"We have a very active marijuana unit that is out there, especially during the grow season. But we have so many grows here that we have a hard time keeping up or making a valiant dent in the marijuana growing in the county," said Downey.

"With the increase in water usage and pressure upon that, that lucrative business becomes even more lucrative because the price of the marijuana, the value of it, goes up even though we've had a glut on the market the last few years," he added.

One increasingly popular solution among some growers is the collection of rain water during the wetter, winter months that they can use to water crops during the dry, summer season.

"As long as cannabis farms remain small and decentralized, there's no reason why we can't grow everything we need to meet the state's demands using all stored rain water," says Hezekiah Allen, an environmental consultant and director of public affairs for the Emerald Growers Association. 
And for some, it's a business opportunity.

"I've heard people shut down their grow operations, bought water trucks and have changed from growing to supplying waters to the other growers," said Chip Perry, a consultant for MC2, a service that helps people obtain medical marijuana cards.

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## tod evans

From Drudge;

*Bakersfield Police Find $76 Million in Marijuana in U-Haul Truck*

http://ktla.com/2014/07/10/bakersfie...-u-haul-truck/

Bakersfield police discovered more than $76 million worth of marijuana crammed inside a U-Haul truck this week after the driver reportedly ran a red light.

Daniel Ruiz, 22, and Jose Alcarez, 24, both of Bakersfield, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and of transporting and possessing marijuana for sale after police discovered more than three tons of pot inside the moving van, the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement.

Officers stopped the U-Haul about 5:32 a.m. Wednesday after it ran a red light at Bernard Street and Wendall Avenue, police said.

After stopping the truck officers smelled what they believed was marijuana, so they called in a police dog trained in narcotics detection.

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## tod evans

///

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## tod evans

Another gem from Drudge;

*More Colorado drivers in fatal crashes positive for pot, study says*

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_2...tive-pot-study

Two new University of Colorado studies paint an ominous picture of the direction of the state since marijuana commercialization, but neither provides conclusive evidence that legal pot is causing harm.

One study shows more drivers involved in fatal car accidents in Colorado are testing positive for marijuana  and that Colorado has a higher percentage of such drivers testing positive for pot than other states even when controlled for several variables. But the data the researchers use does not reveal whether those drivers were impaired at the time of the crash or whether they were at fault.

"The primary result of this study may simply reflect a general increase in marijuana use during this ... time period in Colorado," the study's authors write.

The other study shows that perceptions of marijuana's risk have decreased across all age groups with the boom in marijuana businesses in the state. The study also finds that near-daily marijuana use among adults increased significantly starting in 2009, relative to states without medical marijuana laws. But the study's authors acknowledge that they cannot show Colorado's marijuana laws are the reason for the shifts in attitudes and use.

"Even though causality cannot be established, Colorado would be wise to implement prevention efforts regarding marijuana and make treatment for those with marijuana use disorders more broadly available," the study concludes.

Both studies received federal funding and were published online last month at the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. They mark the latest attempts to answer vexatious questions about how legal, commercially sold marijuana will impact the state.

Quantifying problems with stoned driving has particularly stumped Colorado authorities, making the new study on fatal crashes  led by CU School of Medicine researcher Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel  especially notable.

The study found that, in 2011, the proportion of drivers in fatal crashes in Colorado testing positive for marijuana had risen to 10 percent  up from 5.9 percent in early 2009. In states without medical marijuana laws, 4.1 percent of fatal-crash drivers tested positive in 2011  almost identical to the numbers from early 2009. Overall traffic fatalities in Colorado fell slightly during that period.

The Colorado State Patrol only just this year began keeping track of marijuana-impaired driving arrests. So far this year, 228 people have been cited in impaired-driving cases involving marijuana. Those cases make up about 13 percent of total impaired-driving citations issued by the State Patrol.

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## tod evans

From Drudge;

*
Black market boom lays bare a social divide in Colorados marijuana market*

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...a-black-market


Nascent cannabis industry splits between wealthy with clean criminal records and those who turn to less than legal methods.

In these, the curious, infant days of Colorados legalisation of recreational marijuana, of shiny dispensaries and touch-screen ordering and suburban parties where joints are passed like appetisers over granite countertops, no one would notice the duplex. Plain brick, patchy grass behind chain link, it appears weary, resigned to what the tenant calls the hood and others might call left-behind Denver, untouched by the frenzy of investment that has returned to downtown.

The front door of the duplex stays closed. Sheer white curtains cover the living room window. A basement filtering system vents air scrubbed of the sweet funky smell of the pot growing in the basement. The tenant keeps his grow operation here small. Its his home. Thats his grandson upstairs watching TV with strict instructions not to open the door if someone knocks. Should the cops inquire, theyd find a frail-looking, middle-age Latino with diabetes and heart problems, talking about his pension and his Medicaid and waving his medical marijuana registry card.

The red card  part of the states legal landscape since 2000 when voters approved the sale of marijuana for medical use  allows the grower to cultivate a doctor-prescribed 16 plants. It does not allow him to sell what he does not consume to the underground market. It does not allow him a second grow operation in another rented house where he and a partner grew 55 plants until the landlord grew suspicious. It does not allow him to run his own little corner of a black market that still exists in the state with Americas most permissive legal pot sales.

The grower says he recently sold more than 9kg of his weed  Blue Dream for the mellow, Green Crack for the perk  to middlemen who flipped it for almost double the price.

I try to keep it legal, he says, but sometimes its illegal.

Camouflaged amid the legal medicinal and recreational marijuana market, the underground market thrives. Some in law enforcement and on the street say it may be as strong as its ever been, so great is the unmet local and visitor demand.

That the black market bustles in the emerging days of legalisation is not unexpected. By some reckonings, it will continue as long as residents of other states look to Colorado  and now Washington state  as the nations giant cannabis cookie jar. And, they add, as long as its legal retail competition keeps prices high and is taxed by state and local government at rates surpassing 30%.

I dont know who is buying for recreational use at dispensaries unless its white, middle-class people and out-of-towners, said Rudy Reddog Balles, a longtime community activist and mediator. Everyone I know still has the guy on the street that they hook up with.

This black market boom, the state argues, is a temporary situation. As more legal recreational dispensaries and growers enter the market, the market will adjust. Prices will fall. The illegal market will shrink.

In any case, these first curious months of the legal recreational market have laid bare a socioeconomic faultline. Resentment bubbles in the neighbourhoods where marijuana has always been easy to get.

The resentment goes something like: we Latinos and African Americans from the hood were stigmatised for marijuana use, disdained and disproportionately prosecuted in the war on drugs. We grew up in the culture of marijuana, with grandmothers who made oil from the plants and rubbed it on arthritic hands. We sold it as medicine. We sold it for profit and pleasure.

Now pot is legalised and who benefits? Rich people with their money to invest and their clean criminal records. And here we are again: on the outskirts of opportunity. A legion of entrepreneurs with big plans and rewired basements chafes with every monthly state tax revenue report.

Ask someone who buys and sells in the underground market how it has responded to legalisation and the question is likely to be tossed back with defiance. You mean, Whos been shut out of the legal market? asks Miguel Lopez, chief community organiser of the states 420 Rally, which calls for legalisation of marijuana nationally.

Its kind of like we made all the sacrifices and they packed it up and are making all the money, says Cisco Gallardo, a well-known gang outreach worker who once sold drugs as a gang member. For the record, he does not partake. It rattles him a little, he says, to see the young people with whom he works shed their NFL and rapper dreams for the next big thing: their own marijuana dispensary.

In this light, taxation is seen as a blunt instrument of exclusion, driving precisely the groups most prosecuted in the war on drug further into the arms of the black market. In one Denver dispensary, a $30 purchase of one-eighth of the Trinity strain of cannabis includes $7.38 in state and local taxes  a near 33% rate. As Larisa Bolivar, one of the citys most well-known proponents of decriminalising marijuana, puts it: that $7 buys someone lunch.

Its simple, she says. A high tax rate drives black market growth. Its an incentive for risky behaviour.

There may be an argument there, says Lieutenant James Henning, who heads Denver police departments vice/drug bureau, but one, dont expect much sympathy and two, you have to follow the law. If you want to sell marijuana, find a way to sell it legally.

Until then, theres Junior.

Hes visiting the duplex basement, standing amid the Cool-Bloom, the Rapid Grow, the bags of Coco, sharing an e-cig loaded with a hash oil cartridge with the grower. Both men insist on anonymity, for fear of being targeted by law enforcement.

Dude, its way too hot in here, Junior says, examining a yellowing plant. It should be, like, 80. The digital thermometer on the wall reads 97F (36C). The portable AC broke, the grower says.

Junior, round-cheeked, soft-spoken, a once-upon-a-time gang member, recently lost his job in the oil industry, so hes returned to an old pastime. Would I prefer he had his legitimate job, still? his wife says. Yes, but when he did he was never home and now he is.

You have pot to sell, Junior will find you a buyer. You want to buy? Hell find you product. He prefers to deal in bulk, taking a small commission, usually $100 a pound (450 grams). Every once in a while, when hes got extra bills to pay, he sells it himself. Thats much riskier, felony risky, kids-visiting-dad-at-the-jailhouse risky. But profit tempts from all directions. Two thousand dollars a pound in Colorado is $3,200 in Oklahoma or Kansas City and $5,500 in New York City.

A July study of Colorados marijuana market and demand for the Colorado department of revenue estimates total adult demand, including out-of-state visitors, at about 130 tonnes in 2014. Of that, licensed retailers are expected to supply 77 tonnes, most of it from medical marijuana outlets. That leaves what the report calls a sales gap of about 53 tonnes of projected unmet demand. Enter the licensed home growers, the people buying legally and reselling illegally, the illegal grow and distribution networks. Marijuana production in the state is like a shoe factory, Balles says. Youve got the ones that go to Nike and the ones that go to the flea market. One way or another, it all gets sold.

Seven months of legality is too early to tell anything, and what is now may not be in another seven months.

What exists now, however, is profit.

The grower says he cleared $30,000 on his last big deal. Thats the kind of math I want to be doing, Junior says. He has plans to start his own grow op in his stepdads house. He dreams of opening his own dispensary and is now interviewing for a job at one.

A lot of people they look at me, the grower says, and they go: Damn, must be nice baller, driving that new car, driving that motorcycle, taking your boat out on Sunday. I say I worked hard for it. Oh, yeah, we know, youre working hard, watering plants. I call them my money trees.

They say money dont grow on trees, Junior says. Theyre lying.

The grower laughs. They say, Whats that smell? I say, Money.

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## phill4paul

> From Drudge;
> 
> *
> Black market boom lays bare a social divide in Colorados marijuana market*


  Good. As always decriminalization > legalization.

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## tod evans

Drudge again;

*Cooking Marijuana Into Hash Oil Causing Disastrous Fires*

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/201...trous-fires-2/

Across the country, emergency responders are warning people about a drug called hash oil. Its a dangerous recipe: marijuana leaves and extremely flammable butane that can cause explosions and fires.
While a helmet camera rolled, firefighters raced into an apartment building engulfed in flames, the disastrous end of cooking hash oil.
Hash oil, also called honey oil, is a concentrated form of marijuana. The drug is nothing new, but authorities say its surging again in popularity, with instructions spread on YouTube.
Hash oil is made by dissolving marijuana leaves in liquid butane, then cooking it. It hardens into a thick waxy dose of highly concentrated THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. When it is reheated, the vapor emitted can be much stronger than marijuana.
It takes much less, said one woman. Just a little dab will do you.
Thats why users call it dabbing. Some use an electronic cigarette. One woman described four or five drops, and I think I took four or five puffs off of it, and I was gone.
Others heat it with a butane torch.
A buildup of butane gas can explode. Like, her skin was hanging off of her arm, described one woman who witnessed a fire. You couldnt touch anything. It was so horrible.
Hash oil explosions have been reported in at least eight states. In Colorado, where marijuana is legal, there have been more than a dozen fires and explosions since the beginning of the year.
One witness, Fay Berryman, said, I heard this loud explosion that shook my house and it almost felt like a gas line exploded.
Major Christopher Eckert works in the State Fire Marshals Office in New Jersey. A single canister of butane produces quite a lot of gas, Eckert said. Many times, the people that do this are impaired by the drugs themselves.
Major Eckert says this is something that can potentially put anyone in jeopardy.
*You dont know what your neighbors are doing, Eckert said. You dont know whats going on till the walls come tumbling down, basically.*
While there have been no reports of hash oil fires here, emergency responders warn that a butane hash oil lab can be as dangerous as a meth lab.

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## acptulsa

> From Drudge;
> 
> *Bakersfield Police Find $76 Million in Marijuana in U-Haul Truck*


LOL U-Haul doesn't have anything big enough to hold that.

U-Haul is hard pressed to rent you something that can hold that much cash.




> Another gem from Drudge;
> 
> *More Colorado drivers in fatal crashes positive for pot, study says*
> 
> ...The Colorado State Patrol only just this year began keeping track of marijuana-impaired driving arrests...


The first year of testing revealed that more drivers tested positive than the year before?  Who'd have ever thunk it?




> Drudge again;
> 
> *Cooking Marijuana Into “Hash Oil” Causing Disastrous Fires*


Cooking ramen noodles can cause a disastrous fire, too, but I don't see anything about _that_ on Drudge.

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## FindLiberty

EAT MORE BEEF because MILK was the gateway substance that was probably used LONG before
 97.3% of these scofflaws grew up and moved on to commit these heinous acts.

It's a known fact that excessive MILK and liquid consumption fuels bed wetters who may
or may not grow up to write propaganda for the state.

Slow down and think to help prevent unintended consequences!

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## Mani

OMG!  Marijuana is legal!!!  WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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## AuH20

People with addictive personalities abusing marijuana? Shocking news... I guess if it's not marijuana it will be glue.

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## tod evans

*Student shared pot-laced lollipops with classmates, police say*

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/09/26...cmp=latestnews

 A police chief in Connecticut says a girl handed out marijuana-laced lollipops to classmates at her high school, and one student was hospitalized.

Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza tells the Journal Inquirer that the Enfield High student acknowledged sharing the tainted lollipops, which were laced with THC, an active ingredient in marijuana. She said she received the candy in the mail from California.

The police chief says a 16-year-old girl was hospitalized overnight Monday after consuming one of the lollipops. But he says the student who brought the tainted lollipops to school denied giving any to her.

Because the student is being charged is a juvenile, she will not be arrested. Sferrazza says she'll instead be referred to juvenile court.

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## ZENemy

Here is just one article pointing out various studies.

I mean, cant we actually do some studies on the subject instead of screaming "DRIVING WHILE HIGH IS BAD!!!!" It seems to me that most of the studies that try to prove driving while high is dangerous ends up proving the opposite. 








> According to 4autoinsurance.com, the Top 10 reasons marijuana users are safer drivers are as follows:
> 
> 1. Drivers who had been using marijuana were found to drive slower, according to a 1983 NHTSA study.
> 
> 2. *Marijuana users were able to drive straight and didn't have trouble staying in their own lanes*, according to a 1993 NHTSA study done in the Netherlands. The same study concluded that marijuana had very little effect on overall driving ability.
> 
> 3. Drivers who had smoked marijuana were less likely to try to pass other cars and were more likely to drive at a steady speed, according to a University of Adelaide study done in Australia. The study showed no danger from marijuana and driving unless the drivers had also been using alcohol.
> 
> 4.* Drivers high on marijuana are less likely to drive recklessly, according to a study done in the United Kingdom in 2000 by the UK Transport Research Lab. The study was actually undertaken to prove that pot impairs driving, but instead it showed the opposite -- that stoned drivers were actually safer than many other drivers on the road.
> ...






http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/04..._are_safer.php

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## Kotin

Dumbest argument ever.. Alcohol which we know causes many traffic accidents that are fatal is LEGAL so stfu dumb mother $#@!er.

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## surf

very dated -  Tuesday, December 26 2000: stoned drivers are safe drivers http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1775.html

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## Occam's Banana

> Putting aside the bogus "gateway" argument which is completely laughable, wouldn't marijuana being laced with other drugs be an argument in favor of legalization and getting it off the streets?  The whole "laced with fentanyl" thing is basically a myth in the first place, but even if it were true that would be an argument for legalization, not against it.
> 
> What an idiot.


Exactly. Just like adulterated "bathtub gin" was a symptom of Prohibition.

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## tod evans

*EXCLUSIVE: How California's legal cannabis dream became a public health nightmare: It's a class B drug in the UK - but in the US state it's led to spiralling addiction, psychotic illnesses and hospitals facing a deluge of poisonings*

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...nightmare.html

I spot one pot  a snip at $43, or roughly £35  that is specifically designed for 'replenishing and rejuvenating' tissues in the, er, vagina. Alongside me, expensively dressed customers peruse the goods, clutching colourful iced smoothies and juices.


I'm in upmarket Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, California, in one of the area's many so-called 'wellness' shops, just a stone's throw from designer boutiques such as Gucci and Saint Laurent. It's a far cry from Holland & Barrett, not least because all the products here at the Serra boutique contain high-grade, genetically engineered cannabis.

There are balms and lotions, things to eat and, of course, to smoke. One display cabinet showcases dozens of dried cannabis flowers, each bud sitting in its own pretty porcelain dish, labelled according to its supposed benefit: happiness, creativity, relaxation.

In another cabinet is a perfect grid of individual chocolate truffles, priced up to £5 a pop, a bit like something you'd find in the food hall in a department store. Only these sweet treats are laced with 10mg of THC, the psychoactive component in the marijuana plant.

Recreational use of cannabis, which is classified as a class B drug in the UK, possession of which could land you with up to five years in prison, has been legal in California since 2016. Two decades earlier it was made available to buy, via a doctor's prescription, to treat a variety of minor ailments from back pain to anxiety.

Today, about one in five people in California use cannabis regularly, and it has become something of a health trend  not simply legal and above board but, judging by the stylish throng at Serra when I visited, practically de rigueur.

The sales assistants  who all look like Hollywood star turned health guru Gwyneth Paltrow  tell me of the variety of uses: aching muscles, headaches, anxiety, insomnia, arthritic pain and many more.

'I take a very small dose every day, just to calm any nerves I might be feeling,' one willowy, tanned brunette tells me. 'It's definitely changed my life for the better.'

Out on the streets, billboards advertising cannabis shops, or dispensaries as they are officially known, which makes them sound very medical, are on every corner, inviting customers to try 'alternative healing'.

Some shops are also art galleries, while others sell hipster favourites such as artisan coffee.

And you don't have to smoke the cannabis. You can eat, drink and bathe in it, rub it on your sore spots and even brush your teeth with cannabis toothpaste.

It's an industry that turns over roughly £8 billion  and rakes in more than £2.5 billion in tax revenue  every year.

And I must admit, the way it's all sold, as some kind of divine health-giving elixir, certainly makes the idea of dabbling more palatable. But I am not here to partake. Because behind the shiny pots and serenely smiling assistants, a far more disturbing picture is emerging.

Over the past few years, doctors in California have begun to voice concerns about the repercussions of increasing cannabis use. In particular, how the laissez-faire approach is fuelling a surge in addiction and mental illness.

Many are particularly concerned about Los Angeles, where teenagers use the drug more often than in any other Californian city.

I spent a week travelling across LA and beyond, meeting emergency doctors in the eye of the storm, as well as devastated parents who say their families have been torn apart by cannabis.

Part of my journey followed in the footsteps of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who recently visited a number of LA's dispensaries on a 'fact finding mission'. He announced that a new group would be set up to look at the benefits of legalising cannabis in the UK, although Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed the suggestion, saying he had 'no powers' to make any such changes.

Perhaps Khan would benefit from a chat with Dr Roneet Lev, an emergency doctor at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, who tells me: 'We've been seeing the problems for a while now: depressive breakdowns, psychosis, suicidal thoughts, all related to cannabis. The patients are regular people, not down-and-outs.

'I want people to know the truth about this drug. We've been sold a lie, that cannabis use is harmless and even has a multitude of health benefits. It is exactly the same as what happened with tobacco. The industry told the public it was good for their health at first, before it was proven to be deadly.'

In California, hospital admissions for cannabis-related complications have shot up  from 1,400 in 2005 to 16,000 by 2019. In California, and the other 18 states that have legalised cannabis, rates of addiction are nearly 40 per cent higher than states without legal cannabis, according to research by Columbia University.

A study published on Thursday suggested recreational marijuana users were 25 per cent more likely to end up needing emergency hospital treatment. And, according to data from the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the risk of being involved in a cannabis-related accident is significantly higher in states where the drug is legal.

There are other concerns too, not least about the black market that has grown by nearly 100 per cent since cannabis laws were relaxed, as bootleggers sell products at a lower price, undercutting the registered shops.

Experts say these problems are mostly down to record levels of cannabis use  with roughly 40 per cent of Californians now saying they've dabbled at least once, according to a California Department of Public Health survey.

UK laws around the medical use of cannabis were relaxed four years ago, allowing specialist doctors to prescribe medicine made from the drug to some patients with epilepsy, or to treat vomiting related to cancer treatment and symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Just last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed that 9,000 Britons are regularly prescribed the drug by private doctors, in some cases outside of official rules.

Pro-drug legalisation campaigners have long seen medical use as a way to gain a foothold in public acceptance. And perhaps it's working. Polls show that between 30 and 40 per cent of Britons are in favour of full legalisation  with research suggesting six million would smoke cannabis if it was legalised.

As it is, about a third of Britons say that they've used cannabis, according to data by research firm Statista.

California became the first US state to authorise the sale of cannabis for medical reasons in 1996 after a handful of studies showed small doses of the drug were beneficial for patients suffering cancer pain. 

At the time, health chiefs were desperate to find a solution to the record-high numbers of Americans addicted to prescription painkillers: opioids such as oxycodone and methadone. Cannabis was touted as a less harmful alternative.

'Suddenly it became a health product which doctors were giving out, and people trust doctors,' says Scott Chipman, chairman of American lobby group Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana.

'People thought, well if it helps people who are dying of cancer and in pain, we support the use of it.

'The state ruled that doctors who prescribed it would have to have a special licence, but no one checked. Within two years we had 240 stores in San Diego prescribing and selling medical cannabis, and not one of them had a licence. It meant anyone could walk in and get a prescription if they said they had insomnia, anxiety or even an ingrown toenail.'

Other experts I spoke to describe similar scenarios, with private doctors offering 'medical marijuana cards' which entitled patients to walk into any dispensary and buy the drug, no questions asked.

When full legalisation came into force a decade later, the 'health halo' of cannabis spread further.

'Dispensaries look like Apple stores now,' says Chipman. 'They are a very nice place to be.'

The benefits of cannabis are said to be down to two key elements. First, cannabidiol, or CBD, extracted and put into body oils, candles and a host of other wellness products available in the UK. Then there's tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, which affects brain chemicals and is responsible for the 'high'.

It's a fact
Last year, 27,304 Britons were treated on the NHS for cannabis misuse, according to Government figures. 
The UK is the world's largest producer of cannabis for medical and scientific uses, harvesting 320 tons in 2019, a UN report revealed. 
Last month a major review of 25 studies concluded there was insufficient evidence for the long-term pain-relieving effect of cannabis.

As for mental health, a 2020 review by psychiatrists at the University of Melbourne concluded the evidence is 'too weak' to prove cannabis helps anxiety, depression or insomnia.

Scientists overwhelmingly conclude that frequent use of the drug is not worth the risks.

THC stimulates areas of the brain involved with mood, attention and memory, while triggering the release of the hormone dopamine, responsible for feelings of reward and pleasure.

Small, infrequent doses have little long-term impact, according to studies. But with prolonged, regular use, signals in these key brain areas can start to go awry.

Studies have shown that frequent ingestion of cannabis can increase the risk of serious mental illness like psychosis and schizophrenia, as well as insomnia, social anxiety disorder and suicidal thoughts.

'We are seeing a lot more patients who have gone from smoking once every few months to using cannabis every day, and they don't realise the harms,' says Dr Ziva Cooper, who runs the Center For Cannabis And Cannabinoids at the University of California in Los Angeles.

'Frequent and heavy use is becoming so normalised in LA, those who are addicted or have complications might not realise it because all their friends are the same.'

Experts say another serious consequence of legalisation is the increasing potency of cannabis. 

Plants are bred and chemically treated so they contain ever more THC. While an organic cannabis plant produces flowers with about four per cent THC, the items in most dispensaries today range from about ten to 98 per cent.

A similar pattern is happening in the UK's illegal market, with average THC levels in cannabis at roughly 14 per cent, according to a King's College London study.

Regular use of quantities above ten per cent are linked to a higher risk of addiction, violent behaviour and a newly recognised condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or 'scromiting'.

'It means screaming and violent vomiting,' says Dr Lev. 'I call it the audible cannabis condition, because I hear the violent screams down the hall before I see the patient.'

Before 2016, Dr Lev rarely saw patients with this problem. Now she sees at least one per shift. Symptoms can continue for days, or weeks, and there is no effective treatment. 

Three young men have died from complications of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome since it was first identified in 2004. In Colorado, emergency admissions for the condition have doubled since cannabis was legalised in 2012.

At the dispensary visited by Mr Khan earlier this year, called Traditional in trendy downtown LA, I'm intrigued by a tiny pot of crystals, which look like broken-up sugar lumps. The shop assistant explains they are called edible cannabis crystalline. According to the label, it is 95 per cent THC. 'This will give you a really intense high, so we wouldn't recommend it for someone who isn't experienced,' they add.

Experts describe these highly concentrated products as 'the crack cocaine of cannabis', and say demand for ever-stronger stuff is another by-product of legalisation.

'Because so many Californians have been using for so long, they develop a tolerance and go in search of more powerful highs,' says Kevin Sabet, a former White House drugs policy adviser who runs the anti-cannabis legalisation group, SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana).

'So the industry has to keep inventing more products to keep them hooked.'

As for the belief that legalisation and regulation will eliminate the criminal element: the illegal cannabis market in California is booming, estimated to be worth £6 billion  twice that of the legal industry. 

Scott Chipman of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana says: 'These operations charge far less for high-potency products because they have no overheads, which is popular with customers.'

Michelle Leopold, 57, from San Francisco, has fallen victim to the worst possible consequences of the normalisation of cannabis use.

In 2019, her 18-year-old son Trevor died after dabbling with prescription painkillers  and unwittingly taking a tablet of powerful opioid Fentanyl  following four years of addiction to cannabis.

'The only reason he touched those pills was because he was searching for stronger highs,' says Michelle, who owns a chain of hardware stores with her husband Jeff, 56. She believes studious nature-lover Trevor would never have smoked in the first place had it not been for the relaxed laws.

When Trevor's habit began in 2014, cannabis was 'everywhere', she says. 'At that time it was permitted for medical reasons  but regulation was a farce. He wasn't yet 16 but he and his friends could log on to a website, say they had anxiety, and get marijuana. I don't think the potential harms were on his radar.'

Within a few weeks, Trevor was smoking most days after school. 'We very quickly realised that this was not the same stuff we'd seen people smoking at college. It didn't make him mellow or relaxed, it made him angry and violent.'

Michelle's 'adorable' son began punching walls during screaming arguments with his parents.

'He broke cell phones and computer screens in anger, ' she adds. 'He started skipping school and his grades plummeted. He was a bright, studious kid before. We tried therapy, raiding his room and tough love. Nothing worked to get him to stop.'

Trevor enrolled in three rehabilitation programmes, at a total cost of more than £100,000, but none worked. Then, in 2019, shortly after Trevor turned 18, a medical marijuana card arrived in the post.

'Trevor suffered with terrible anxiety about his final exams in his last year of high school, and everywhere you look there are messages telling you cannabis helps you de-stress,' says Michelle.

'We obviously confiscated it, but every time we did he'd order another one.'

That September, Trevor began reading business studies at Sonoma State University, just outside San Francisco. On the evening of November 17, 2019, a friend gave Trevor four painkiller pills, one of which was Fentanyl.

The drug carries a high risk of respiratory failure, where patients become so sedated they stop breathing. Trevor's body was found by his roommate the next morning.

Michelle says: 'After it happened, we couldn't be quiet any more  it's a matter of saving lives. The industry is doing its best to drive a false narrative about the raft of health benefits of cannabis. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of parents like me who are losing their children.'

After speaking with Michelle, it is hard to imagine any benefit of legalising cannabis that would be worth the risk. Said benefits are supposedly freeing up police time to deal with more serious crimes, and generating Government income via high taxes on cannabis products. Advocates also say legalisation reduces opioid dependence, as chronic pain patients are self-treating with cannabis instead.

But two 2019 analyses concluded that the tax revenue from Californian dispensaries was 'far lower than expected'.

As for freeing up police time, a 2020 report by the US Department of Justice found legalisation did not have a 'consistently positive' impact on public safety.

I hear first-hand about this when I visit Compton, in the south of Los Angeles. The area is known for its history of drug-related gang warfare and violent crime, and here it remains illegal to sell cannabis.

The area is unique, in that local politicians must ask residents for permission to pass certain laws, regardless of what the state rules. In 2018, the community voted against legal cannabis sales.

Spearheading the anti-weed campaign were lifelong Compton residents James and Charmaine Hays, who I meet at their home.

James, 65, who owns a biomedical firm and ran for local mayor twice, explains: 'The majority of residents here own their home and are bringing up children. They don't want drugs in the neighbourhood.'

He says many still recall the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s which hit Compton badly, killing thousands of young locals.

His concerns about cannabis grew shortly after legalisation came into play in California and drug dealers began operating out of abandoned local shops, posing as legal dispensaries.

'Whenever there are drugs around, there are gangs trying to steal them, and that's when you get the violence,' he says. The father of-two adds: '[Cannabis] has been portrayed as this harmless product with health benefits which doctors give out.

'Residents received leaflets from the local cannabis industry, telling them how much income dispensaries would generate. But there was nothing about the potential harms. When we made clear to neighbours that this was a drug, they voted against.'

I ask him what he makes of the claims of some advocates: that legalisation of cannabis would reduce the number of black and Latino Americans in US prisons, who are more likely to be jailed for cannabis-related crimes.

'It is a total lie,' he replies. 'Most people who are in prison for cannabis-related crimes are in jail because they have done something serious. Either they've tried to smuggle tons of it across borders or they have been involved with other illegal drugs.

'Saying to these people, run a shop instead but be subjected to regulation and taxes, won't work.'

Just outside Compton, on the way home, I pull up at traffic lights beside a line of ten abandoned cars at the side of the road.

I open the window and see the vehicles have smashed windows and flat tyres, and are surrounded by a flood of rubbish, with urine marks staining the pavement.

A group of dishevelled men wander along the street. Some hang out of the cars, motionless.

But it isn't the sight that overwhelms me, it is the smell of weed. I roll up the windows and feel relieved to be heading back to good, old sensible Britain in the morning.

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## pcosmar

> [B][SIZE=5]EXCLUSIVE: 
> 
> 'It is a total lie,'


Sums it up.

Come to Longview Wa.  Sit near my favorite store and observe.. You will see Professionals, and Blue collar workers,,and more middle age to elderly than young folks.

It has been a known Health benefit for some time,, and more benefits are being discovered.

I like the scent.

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## jkr

> I like the scent.


love that smell!

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## jct74

Laura fear-mongering over legalization again... to protect us from mass shooters. 

@ 6:00




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDjcTwTqkNY

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## dannno

> *Smoking Gun
> Nixon's Plot to Criminalize Marijuana and Voters*
> 
> 
> Republicans may well try and take away millions of Americans right to vote in the next presidential election by enforcing a federal law called the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), a law enacted by President Nixon in 1970.
> 
> 
> This law was the brainchild of John Ehrlichman, Nixons domestic affairs advisor and John Dean, Nixons general counsel. I was Deans literary agent for Blind Ambition, a best-selling book about his White House years. While working with Dean on the book, he told me about how the act came about.
> 
> ...



https://www.independent.com/2022/06/29/smoking-gun/

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## tod evans

*Highly potent weed creating marijuana addicts worldwide, study says*

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/25/healt...ess/index.html

Higher concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC -- the part of the marijuana plant that makes you high -- are causing more people to become addicted in many parts of the world, a new review of studies found.

The bags look like well-known chips or candies, but what's inside could harm children
The bags look like well-known chips or candies, but what's inside could harm children
Compared with people who use lower-potency products (typically 5 to 10 milligrams per gram of THC), those who use higher-potency cannabis are more likely to experience addiction and mental health outcomes, according to the study published Monday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
Scientists have established a "standard THC unit" of 5 milligrams of THC for research. That amount is said to produce a mild intoxication for nonregular users.
"One of the highest quality studies included in our publication found that use of high potency cannabis, compared to low potency cannabis, was linked to a four-fold increased risk of addiction," said study coauthor Tom Freeman, a senior lecturer in the department of psychology and director of the addiction and mental health group at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, in an email.
In the United States, about 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have cannabis use disorder, the medical term for marijuana addiction, according to the US Centers for Disease and Prevention.
Weed users nearly 25% more likely to need emergency care and hospitalization
Weed users nearly 25% more likely to need emergency care and hospitalization
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found a 76% rise in people entering treatment for cannabis addiction over the past decade, "while cannabis potency continued to rise during the same time," Freeman said.
In addition, "a report by the United Nations found that in the past two decades, the proportion of people seeking treatment for cannabis addiction has risen in all world regions apart from Africa," he said.
A yearly rise in potency
In a gram of herbal cannabis, the dried and harvested tops of female marijuana plants that are typically smoked, THC concentrations increased by approximately 2.9 milligrams each year, according to a 2020 study by Freeman and his team at the University of Bath.
The potency of marijuana has been increasing every year since the 1970s, studies have found.
The potency of marijuana has been increasing every year since the 1970s, studies have found.
In cannabis resin, the sticky brown sap on the plant from which extracts and concentrations are made, THC levels increased by approximately 5.7 milligrams each year from 1975 to 2017, the study found. Concentrated products can reach extremely high levels of THC.
This yearly rise in potency may not be clear to consumers, experts fear. While looking at a product label might tell a person the "precise potency" of THC in a store where marijuana is legally sold, "people buying cannabis illegally may not be able to access reliable information about the potency of the product they are using," Freeman said.
"However, certain types of cannabis are typically more potent than others -- cannabis extracts are typically more potent than cannabis flower," he added.
While people do try to adjust their consumption when the potency of their cannabis varies, "such as by adding less cannabis to their joint or inhaling less deeply," these efforts fail to completely work, Freeman said. That means "higher potency products still deliver a larger dose of THC to consumers than lower potency products," he said.
Mental health affected
As marijuana became more potent, cases of marijuana-associated psychosis rose, the review found. Psychosis is a "loss of contact with reality" that can be characterized by hearing voices and having delusions, Freeman said.
Using marijuana may affect your ability to think and plan, study says
Using marijuana may affect your ability to think and plan, study says
"The evidence linking cannabis potency to addiction and psychosis was very clear," he said.
High-potency weed users appear to have a significant increase in the likelihood of developing generalized anxiety disorder than those who smoke less robust strains of marijuana, a 2020 study had found.
However, the new review of studies found a "more varied" connection between the increase in marijuana potency and depression and anxiety, "meaning that the impact is unclear for these other mental health outcomes," Freeman said.

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## acptulsa

> "meaning that the impact is unclear for these other mental health outcomes,"


The impact of experimental mRNA therapy was unclear, too, but that didn't slow them down any.

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## acptulsa

DP

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## pcosmar

> *Highly potent weed creating marijuana addicts worldwide, study says*


That Could be funny,, Like Reefer Madness.

except for the source.

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## pcosmar

BTW

Today's shopping trip,,Month supply..
(still have some shake)
$54, 
Half Oz of bud,,Half Sativa,half Indica
4 grams of Concentrate 80% range

$54 after the 37% "don't phuck with me Tax".

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## Occam's Banana

> Boogity-boogity Evil Weed *legalization* propaganda


https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1569747998095343617

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