Weekend News Update
With all the major news this weekend, specifically the tragic shooting at Santa Fe High School and the Royal wedding, it could be easy to lose sight on what is going on in the cannabis industry and it’s understandable. Let’s get you caught up this morning with a couple of stories that popped up over the last few days.
All right, every advocate can relate to the first sentence of this article. When can we count on our politicians to actually pay attention to the studies, polls, and science that is supporting cannabis as a social benefit, not only medically, but in a recreational setting as well. It’s starting become less annoying and more disgusting, to think we elect individuals who have no ability to stand up for what is right and just! Are the good people in Charlotte more progressive than us here in Connecticut? Time will only tell. – Dabbin Dad
Best way to combat opioid abuse? Cannabis
By Adie Wilson-Poe
What’s it going to take for us to recognize the value of cannabis in combating the opioid epidemic?
Two recent studies published in the American Medical Association’s peer-reviewed journal demonstrate that opioid use is lower in states where doctors can recommend medical cannabis. The findings back up previous studies showing these same states have seen a 25 percent reduction in opioid overdose deaths, and 23 percent fewer non-fatal opioid hospitalizations. When patients have access to cannabis, they fill fewer opioid prescriptions, consume fewer opioids, overdose less and stay alive. No other policy, clinical intervention, law or pharmaceutical therapy has the kind of impact that cannabis does when it comes to opioid use.
There are 115 opioid-related deaths every day in this country — almost five a day in North Carolina. Opioid-related emergency room visits have climbed by about 30 percent in less than a year. In February, North Carolina’s emergency rooms recorded 397 opioid overdose visits. More than 2.5 million people across the country are suffering from opioid addiction, yet action and interventions have been stalled. This crisis drains $500 billion annually from our national economy, but even that isn’t enough to bring cannabis into the discussion. Read More.
Yes!!! This only makes sense, people. We should not kid ourselves, past cannabis crimes should be expunged. We need to right the wrongs, at the same time we legalize cannabis. – Dabbin Dad
The Movement To Expunge Cannabis Convictions In Legalization States Picks Up Steam
By Clarence Walker
As marijuana legalization spreads into various states, some are allowing people who’d been previously been convicted of possession of a small amount of pot to clear their records.
They have their convictions either wiped off their record forever under state expungement laws or, in some cases, have low-level felony marijuana convictions be reduced to misdemeanors. In another variation, a marijuana conviction can be sealed from public view pursuant to a court order under a state’s nondisclosure law.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance, over 574,000 American citizens were charged with simple possession in 2016.
“It really makes sense to not burden these people with a lifelong criminal record,” Kate Bell, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project in Maryland, recently told the Washington Post.
Approximately 12 more states are considering marijuana legalization this year, with possibly more hopping on the express train as the continuing quest for marijuana legalization continue to roll down the tracks at full speed, making 2018 a pivotal year in the ever-growing movement to convince lawmakers to legalize pot in all 50 states. Read More.
Come again? What was that? … Do politicians have to leave office before they can be truthful to the public. I mean, am I wrong? Thank you for being honest Mr. Holder. Cannabis should be removed as Controlled Substance and legalized. Talk is cheap, it’s time for action. – Dabbin Dad
Marijuana Isn’t Addictive, Former A.G. Eric Holder Says
By Tom Angell
The nation’s former top law enforcement officer is not worried that the legalization of marijuana will lead to addiction.
“I’ve never seen any scientific evidence that points you to concerns about addiction through the use of marijuana,” former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an interview published on Friday by NY1.
The comments by the former A.G. call into question cannabis’s current status as a Schedule I drug. That category is supposed to be reserved only for substances with no medical value and a high potential for abuse. In fact, it would mean that marijuana should be moved to at least Schedule III, where drugs with “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence” are categorized.
Although Holder did not move to reclassify cannabis when he had the power to do so as attorney general, he did specifically endorse such a change just months after leaving office.
“I certainly think it ought to be rescheduled,” he said in a 2015 interview with PBS. Read More.
H/T: Charlotte Observer, WeedNews, Marijuana Moment
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