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 problem is that you can’t stop people from doing stupid things. The best you can do is mitigate the damage.
But if the states are going to legalize marijuana, the feds have to do it as well or it just becomes a nightmare. You end up with federal laws that can’t be enforced. I think Trump is leaning in that direction.
Glad you did not drive/go armed when you were under the influence ( yeah, right, the morally responsible doper).
Being under the influence of such substances automatically defines one as under the influence- so “out of control”. Rationalizing that you never killed anyone meaning you were under control is false.
While I am teachable, I am not so open minded that my brains have fallen out.
End of conversation. Do whatever, I pray the you will never harm anyone else while under the influence of legal or illegal substances, not for your sake but for theirs.
As successful as the war on drugs has been! And a complete waste of time, money and energy...just like the war on drugs!
It is NOT the government’s job to keep me safe from ME!!
Thanks for the tautology, Captain Obvious.
so “out of control”.
Is anyone under the influence to any degree by alcohol also "out of control" and putting others at risk? If so, shouldn't we be working to change, or at least unwaveringly condemning, society's decision that alcohol is legal? Or if you believe that's not true for alcohol but only other drugs, why should we agree with that counterintuitive position?
I agree completely.
Trying to stop people from doing stupid things is folly.
When the government tries it tends to get expensive, and affect those of us not inclined to engage in stupid things.
“The big picture here is it is simply not your call to make”
“mind what is actually your own business”
“You’re not everybody’s mom nor anyone’s master”
WTF are you talking about? Are you stoned as you write?
I am posting about the effects of the drug, not the the policy or law governing it. Maybe you have confused me with someone else.
“From even a casual search this is not typical usage.”
No, of course not. We are estimating what might be fatal ranges, not typical ranges.
The bottom line is that concentrates make it possible to get around the self-limiting factors with marijuana.
People just can’t smoke or eat enough marijuana to fatally overdose on THC. It is possible with concentrates.
Possible. Not likely, or typical.
“People report weeks to months of use from a 1 gram vape pen.”
I’ve got a whiskey bottle that I’ve been working on for the last several years. Someone else might go through it in an afternoon.
Looking through a few comments here (https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/how-long-should-a-dab-wax-last-1-gram.1307279/), they seem to agree that tolerance goes up quickly with regular use, and they typically start to go through a gram in 1-3 days.
I’d guess that most people would space out and stop vaping long before getting into a fatal range, but some fruitcake might rig up something to keep going on its own, or just eat a bunch at once.
There is also bound to be some fraction of people that are more sensitive than average.
I don’t think it will become a common cause of death, like OD is among heroin users (i.e. it will be a rare thing), but if people knew what to look for, and accurately diagnosed and reported every incident, we would likely be seeing actual fatalities from THC already.
> I am posting about the effects of the drug, not the the policy or law governing it.
A statement like this convinces me that you are simply an evil, deceptive and manipulative person.
Do you think your motives are either mysterious or opaque?
It is NOT the Government’s job to keep me safe from ME!
If someone is driving under the influence, then there is already a law against that - arrest them when they drive. But it should not be the Government’s business if someone is sitting in their living room getting drunk, getting high or whatever else! You want the government to set influence and condemn personal actions - I want the government out of my personal business and to leave me the hell alone!
The problem is that people like you have given GOVERNMENT the mantle that YOU should be carrying! You want to influence someone or something, go do it - but DO NOT make that Government’s job - they have a job, this is NOT it!! Just like charity! It is great and good, and I encourage it extensively; however, it is NOT government’s job to FORCE everyone to be charitable (i.e., taxing people to provide welfare programs)!
No, quite the opposite.
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