AGENDA 21 RADIO

By Roger Morgan, Take Back America Campaign

In October 2015, the California legislature passed the MMRSA laws, to commercialize “medical marijuana” on a for-profit basis. Subsequently, the citizens of California elected to legalize marijuana for recreational use in November 2016.

Since the passage of both measures, numerous things have surfaced that suggest implementation of these laws will pose a serious threat to public health and safety, and to the environment and wildlife. For the following reasons, we suggest that these laws should be delayed until the public is adequately informed, if implemented at all.

LEGISLATIVE ANALYSIS FOR PROP 64
The State of California has made no effort to enlighten the public on the harms of marijuana. The legislative analysis for Prop 64 was simply fraudulent, stating “…Although research on the health effects of marijuana use is limited, there is some evidence that smoking marijuana has harmful effect….” This is a ridiculous statement, suggesting the author, and those who approved the verbiage, either didn’t do their jobs or were influenced by other factors. Public records reveal that over $33 million was spent to convince voters to approve Prop 64, $22 million from out of state billionaires and $11 million by instate drug interests. There appears to be just cause for an independent investigation into the corruptive influence of money on our elected leaders.

MARIJUANA IS NOT MEDICINE

Marijuana, unlike any other drug, is a complex fat-soluble drug that stays in the body and brain for a month or more, compounding with additional use. While there may be some chronically ill people for whom the benefits may outweigh the harms, for the vast majority of people the opposite it true. Calling marijuana medicine doesn’t mean it is. Calling users “patients” doesn’t mean they are. Real medicines have known compounds, dosage, and potency and must be reproducible in a uniform manner. Marijuana being marketed as marijuana in California ranges in potency from about 20% in smoked form, to as high as 98% as wax or oils using in vaping and dabbing. It is responsible for a massive rise in ER visits, and psychotic breaks which have to violent acts and suicides.

THE HUMAN HARMS OF MARIJUANA

The harms have been well documented by over 27,000 medical reports spanning half a century, even at low potency levels. The potency of today’s marijuana has escalated to levels heretofore unknown. The adverse impacts on humans have escalated as well, as follows:

Permanent Brain Damage to the brain for anyone under 25, even 30 years old. That includes shrinking the hippocampus, the memory, learning and cognition center of the brain. Loss of IQ from adolescent use has been documented by as much as 8 points by mid-life. Stopping did not reverse the damage. The American Society of Addictive medicines warns that no one under 25 should consume marijuana, and yet California will continue to allow it for anyone 18 or older with a doctor’s recommendation (easily obtained for any reason), and 21 for recreational use ….. all below the threshold of a mature brain.

Psychotic Breaks leading to violent acts and suicides, made worse by today’s highly potent marijuana. People hear voices telling them to kill, or take their own lives. Almost all of the perpetrators of the mass murders worldwide, were heavy marijuana users. Marijuana adversely impacts the brain of some leading to dramatic harm and death to others.

Mental Illness – Young people who consume cannabis are 5 times more likely to develop psychosis, including schizophrenia, paranoia and bipolar disorder. It also increases the chance of committing suicide by 7 times owing to acute depression. Of those developing a substance use problem with marijuana, 47% will go to on develop schizophrenia or bi-polar disease.

Addiction – 17% of those who use marijuana under age 17 will become addicted, 9% of those who begin over 18. Addicts and those who are mentally ill can’t work effectively, if at all. So they turn to crime, expand the homeless population and burden every aspect of public service. Nationally, 7100 people start using pot daily, 4000 of them under age 17. Taking an average of 13%, that equates to 336,895 new addicts annually. Based on population alone, 13% of those will be in California, which equates to almost 44,000 new addicts annually. They will increase our crime rate, enlarge the homeless population, cause more mental illness, exacerbate the high school dropout rate, et. al. Sacramento is a good example, with 30 licensed dispensaries and number one ranking in the US for increase in violent crime. 59% of those arrested for any crime test positive for marijuana, 83% for any drug. (ADAMII Report – ONDCP) More marijuana means more crime, negatively impacting everyone.

Birth Defects – Marijuana causes mutations to sperm and ova which cause DNA damage and chromosomal abnormalities. This can be caused by either parent and lead to gastroschisis in a newborn, where the intestines extend outside the body through a hole next to the belly button. Research from 50 years ago, when the potency of pot was only ½ to 2%, showed it could also lead to anencephaly, where the skull never develops and the brain is totally exposed. (Dr. Susan Delterio, U of Texas). Even worse, the effects can be mutagenic, meaning the physical and mental harms can skip one generation and adversely affect fetuses four generations in the future. Additional research by Dr. Stuart Reece in Australia, Dr. Adams in Pueblo, Colorado and Dr. Bertha Madras at Harvard University have shown marijuana use by either parent can lead to a higher propensity to use opioids in future generations.

Physical Harms – According to research from Dr. Stuart Reece in Australia, a noted expert on marijuana, marijuana accelerates the aging process. Marijuana clogs every cell in the body, blocking healthy protein, so it weakens the immune system. It can cause testicular cancer in young males, lead to chronic bronchitis, cardiac arrest, and myriad other forms of cancer of the head, neck and respiratory system.

Mental Impairment Leads to Traffic Deaths – Marijuana related traffic deaths have doubled in California, Colorado and every state where marijuana has been legalized for either medicinal or recreational use. Literally everyone who consumes cannabis is mentally impaired to some degree, owing to the fact the THC stays in the brain for extended periods of time. More marijuana use means more danger to the general public, a negative environmental impact.

The first and most important responsibility of government at all levels is to protect the people. Expanding the use of marijuana for any purpose puts the public at greater risk and threatens not only the current generation, but four generations to come. If the public was and/or is made aware of these harms, the vote for Prop 64 could be different. If the legislature and State administration was or is made aware of the harms, as they should be, commercializing marijuana for medicinal use would be forbidden.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Marijuana cultivation is destroying our natural resources, killing wildlife, draining streams killing pristine ecosytems, polluting water tables and leaving behind the need for unfunded reclamation that could already exceed $2 billion. Local law enforcement is overwhelmed. Siskiyou County reports as many 82 illegal marijuana grows in one square mile, with an influx on cultivators that can’t even speak English. Calaveras County reports the same. In both cases, clean up crews have discovered carbofuron, a banned poison used to kill rodents. One third of a teaspoon is adequate to kill a 300 lb bear. Proximity to the poison threatens the clean up crew, while its presence on the products threaten those who use it.

The University of California in Davis has also discovered that marijuana being sold as medicine in California contains pathogens that have actually proven fatal.

Humboldt County reveals that of the 2,000 known cultivators of pot who could apply and receive a permit to grow, only 10% have signed up, suggesting trying to regulate an illicit drug simply doesn’t work.

In urban areas, residents are subjected to the smell of skunk and pesticide drift from neighbors growing marijuana, preventing them from even opening their windows. Many who complain have been threatened with physical harm.

DIVERSION OF POT TO OTHER STATES

If and until this administration declares federal marijuana policy, allowing additional cultivation or distribution of a drug that is illegal by federal law is unwise. Further, the California cannabis industry associations themselves admit that 8 times more marijuana is grown currently than is consumed within the state. Even if the Cole memo of October 2013 continues to be honored, literally all eight conditions for not enforcing federal law have been violated ….particularly diversion of marijuana to other states. Expanding cultivation, as is the plan in many communities, is clearly done with the goal of marketing more marijuana outside the state of California. Knowing the harms of marijuana, this constitutes an assault on all Americans and provides a basis for dramatic action against California by the federal government, including economic sanctions.

THREAT TO CHILDREN

Allowing anyone to grow 6 marijuana plants at their residence with no restriction on minors in the house, directly threatens children and their friends who will have easy access. Marijuana use, according to the Office of National Drug Use, starts on average at 11 years 3 months. In almost all cases, it is the first drug used by all those who graduate to opioids and other drugs. To prevent the human, societal and economic cost of all drug use, one must prevent the onset of marijuana use before it begins. Allowing production in any home will lead to the destruction and death for many more young people.

There is no plausible way to monitor in home grows. Six plants alone grown hydroponically could produce 4 harvest a year, and produce as much as 24 lbs of pot which computes to 24,000 joints. But without adding considerable staff, cities and counties are ill prepared to monitor whether someone is growing 6 or 60 plants. A whole new network of drug dealers will be created. This is a major threat to our youth, the public in general, and the future.

SUMMARY

In summary, based on actual experience since MMRSA was approved, or Prop 64 voted on, there is ample reason to suggest that these laws not be implemented. At a minimum, the public must be informed of the factual, credible scientific evidence of the harmful effects of marijuana, especially to our youth.

The public must also be informed of the irreparable harm being done to our environment, the anticipated cost of cleanup, and the improbability that it will ever happen without sending a force the size of the national guard.

The public must be informed that California has chosen to defy federal law, and international treaties, to grow and sell an illicit drug. The state and local communities are planning their economic future on a drug that harms the very people they were elected to serve.

Because of the congenital defects marijuana can inflict not just on the current generation, but generations for the next four generations (100 years), there is ample cause to pause, until the people can be adequately informed of the known consequences these actions will have. The people’s future is at stake.

Written By Roger Morgan, Take Back America Campaign (916) 434 5629