Legalize marijuana

[JVShocker]

Last year, out of curiosity I took a map of places where pot has been legalized or decriminalized. I ruled out places where pot has been voted in for medical use, but not legalized or decriminalized.

Then I found a map of the homelessness crisis and marked the states that have > 11 homeless people per 10,000 population.

I then superimposed them best I could.

Every single state except Florida that has a homelessness problem, is either:

a) A legalized and/or decriminalized state, or

b) Shares it's border with four or more states that have legalized/decriminalized





Blue: Legalized and/or decriminalized but not a homelessness problem (yet)
Yellow: Homelessness of > 11 per 10,000.
Green: BOTH Homelessness problem AND legalized/decriminalized state
Grey: Neither

Please for the love of God, do not ever vote to legalize in Kansas. And draft up some laws with strong consequences of bussing in homeless from other states that have legalized.

Not that it's front page news, but UMOpen Door Ministries had LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS out doing counts of the homeless population in Wichita and surrounding areas this past week. I have news, it's not good. I think they would agree and like your comment as most of the homeless have substance abuse issues.

[Atxshoxfan]

Maybe?

I made an assumption that states that have approved for medical use only don't have dispensaries on every corner and therefore much, much more limited access by the general public. But I wasn't sure.

I wanted to see what clear and abundant access did to a state, so it was conservative to rule out medical use.

In my ares of Oklahoma there are dispensaries all over the place. On a 15 mile trip through one small town enroute to Arkansas, I pass 5 in Oklahoma alone. Getting a medical card is as easy as calling a doctor who only prescribes medical marijuana cards. They don't do anything else. It's about a 10-15:minute call and $100 bucks to the doctor, then more money to the state to process. Not sure how that works.
But according to folks I know it is so simple, a caveman can do it.

[WuDrWu]

In my ares of Oklahoma there are dispensaries all over the place. On a 15 mile trip through one small town enroute to Arkansas, I pass 5 in Oklahoma alone. Getting a medical card is as easy as calling a doctor who only prescribes medical marijuana cards. They don't do anything else. It's about a 10-15:minute call and $100 bucks to the doctor, then more money to the state to process. Not sure how that works.
But according to folks I know it is so simple, a caveman can do it.

Thank you.

I say again, there is NO such thing as medical marijuana. It's a money grab and a high grab. In my work, I bet I came across at least 100 people that were in possession of prescription weed. Exactly zero of them were using (when confronted, every single one seemed to think it was legal and "ok" to smoke it in Kansas) for any treatment. It was all recreational.

It's EMBARRASSING that political leaders vote this as being "ok". It's a farce.

[Atxshoxfan]

Thank you.

I say again, there is NO such thing as medical marijuana. It's a money grab and a high grab. In my work, I bet I came across at least 100 people that were in possession of prescription weed. Exactly zero of them were using (when confronted, every single one seemed to think it was legal and "ok" to smoke it in Kansas) for any treatment. It was all recreational.

It's EMBARRASSING that political leaders vote this as being "ok". It's a farce.

Growing up in the 60s and 70s I knew very few people my age who didn't smoke pot. I grew up when I had a family to take care of and quit. I never really saw a problem with it if used sensibly. Problem is young folks don't have allot of sense. And some folks never grow up to have any sense.
I currently have a good friend who smokes it before going to bed because he says he gets a better sleep. He's a great guy and very respected by everyone. But I know a couple of people who smoke at every opportunity and their lives are generally not too good. Can't hold jobs, always have money issues, etc.. Like alcohol, it requires good judgment in its use.

[WuDrWu]

Growing up in the 60s and 70s I knew very few people my age who didn't smoke pot. I grew up when I had a family to take care of and quit. I never really saw a problem with it if used sensibly. Problem is young folks don't have allot of sense. And some folks never grow up to have any sense.
I currently have a good friend who smokes it before going to bed because he says he gets a better sleep. He's a great guy and very respected by everyone. But I know a couple of people who smoke at every opportunity and their lives are generally not too good. Can't hold jobs, always have money issues, etc.. Like alcohol, it requires good judgment in its use.

All fair and good points. Unfortunately, while alcohol generally hasn't changed all that much, pot is being made more and more potent all the time. No doubt, some people can use responsibly. Most cannot. MANY will become useless wards of the state. Don't we have enough of those folks already? And for what....there is almost no upside and the downside is terrible.

[Shockm]

All fair and good points. Unfortunately, while alcohol generally hasn't changed all that much, pot is being made more and more potent all the time. No doubt, some people can use responsibly. Most cannot. MANY will become useless wards of the state. Don't we have enough of those folks already? And for what....there is almost no upside and the downside is terrible.

Dovetailed on what Doc said on MODERN MARIJUANA and what it does to the under developed YOUNG Adult and TEEN BRAIN (18-25 year old Brains which is what is legal in States where they allow recreational marijuana) and heavy marijuana use.

Marijuana linked to mental health risks in young adults, growing evidence shows

New research, involving millions of people worldwide over decades, adds to worries that heavy use of high-potency cannabis could exacerbate the mental health crisis in the U.S.

"The ideal time to consider using weed — if you’re going to use it — is 26 or later," said Dr. Ryan Sultan, a psychiatrist at Columbia Irving Medical Center.Kate Dehler for NBC News

Over the last decade of diagnosing countless young patients with new psychotic disorders, one striking result has stuck out for New York City psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Sultan.

“Of all the people I’ve diagnosed with a psychotic disorder,” he said, “I can’t think of a single one who wasn’t also positive for cannabis.”

Sultan, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia Irving Medical Center, is one of many experts raising serious concerns about the increasing marijuana use by adolescents and young adults.

And the evidence is growing of marijuana’s association with psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, especially in young men.

New research published this month, involving millions of people worldwide over decades, is adding to worries that heavy use of high-potency cannabis and legalization of recreational weed in many U.S. states could exacerbate the nation's mental health crisis in young adults.

“There is a big sense of urgency not just because more people are smoking marijuana, but because more people are using it in ways that are harmful, with higher and higher concentration of THC,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), said in an interview.

One of the studies, from researchers in Denmark in collaboration with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found evidence of an association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia. The finding was most striking in young men ages 21-30, but was also seen in women of the same age.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/menta...weed-rcna84984

[Shockm]

Libertarians beware of extremes, perhaps, because it doesn't always work for good as they hope? Sometimes the downward slope is inevitable with bad policy?

This is an illicit drug legalization gone wrong tale (not marijuana). However, Kansas is currently entertaining a medical marijuana law (although dipping their toe is more accurate), because many states who have gone all in, have found the water isn't as "WARM" as they though it'd be, and there are problems in states who have legalized marijuana which are discussed above so I thought I'd put it here for now.

A new debate has developed in one of the MOST LIBERAL states in our union over drug legalization. The people of Oregon voted several years ago to legalize small portions of illicit drug (including Fentanyl and Heroin) possession, but many people now think that this was bad policy, and are reversing the policy.

"On Thursday, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to make possession of small amounts of hard drugs a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. The bill, which was the result of months of discussions by lawmakers in both parties, is expected to soon pass the state Senate.

Backers of the 2020 ballot measure, which passed with 58% support, successfully convinced their fellow residents of the left-learning state that decriminalization would mean fewer nonviolent drug addicts in prison and more in treatment.

But while the first part of the prediction proved true, the second didn’t. Without the threat of imprisonment, few people have proved willing to take advantage of the expanded addiction services the measure funded. Instead, public drug use has become rampant, as people can now smoke fentanyl and use other drugs on sidewalks with no consequences.

“What we have tried to do is give law enforcement tools they need to intervene in the moment and hand [addicted people] off to the behavioral health mental world,” said Democratic State Rep. Jason Kropf, co-chair of a committee that produced the bill. “The overarching goal is how do you sometimes give a little bit of a push to treatment.”

Across the solidly Democratic West Coast, voters are demanding tougher policies to address drug use, homelessness and other social ills that have become inescapable in public settings.

The bill’s passage in a 51-7 vote showed most people are fed up with the current approach, said Dwight Holton, chief executive of Lines for Life, a Portland nonprofit that connects people who call a state helpline to treatment services.

“There’s a strong sense that the system of no accountability didn’t work,” said Holton, who didn’t lobby for or against the measure. “The legislature is trying to strike a balance that establishes the criminal-justice system as one bridge to recovery.”


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mark...se/ar-BB1jd6D1

[Shockm]

Smoke pot at your risk. Pot smokers have a significantly higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. The higher risk exists with smoking, vaping, and edibles, according to several tests conducted recently. Smoking could be the riskiest because it has the same problems as smoking tobacco.

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/0...ack-and-stroke

[AndShock]

Smoke pot at your risk. Pot smokers have a significantly higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. The higher risk exists with smoking, vaping, and edibles, according to several tests conducted recently. Smoking could be the riskiest because it has the same problems as smoking tobacco.

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/0...ack-and-stroke

I’m sure marijuana users are more likely to get the munchies and be couch-locked than the average person which means an increase in heart attack and stroke risk. I’d be curious to see if healthy users also had the same increases in health problems.

Smoking anything is obviously awful for you so I wouldn’t be surprised by any noted health risks with that but I’d like to see more research on edibles.

[Shockm]

I’m sure marijuana users are more likely to get the munchies and be couch-locked than the average person which means an increase in heart attack and stroke risk. I’d be curious to see if healthy users also had the same increases in health problems.

Smoking anything is obviously awful for you so I wouldn’t be surprised by any noted health risks with that but I’d like to see more research on edibles.

There are a number of articles on this subject. The common factors said that both younger and older people were more susceptible to increase of heart/stroke risk (although older people had a higher risk than younger users), the amount of usage increased the risk (although more usage increased risk factors), and all (smoking, vaping, and edibles) methods of ingestion increased risks although smoking it had a higher risk.

I'm sure more research will be done on this, but the THC seemed to be a factor in the risk that had a similarity to tobacco, but your assumption seems likely to be correct that less healthy people ( who are older and/or exercise less) are more likely to have a higher risk. A lack of exercise is a correlation in heart disease and strokes.

[pogo]

Perhaps this is Natures way of "weeding" out the weak

[Shockm]

Perhaps this is Natures way of "weeding" out the weak

People in “vape” and bong” sales like it too. However, Tobacco sales aren’t as good as they used to be.

[WuDrWu]

Alcohol and tobacco taxes alone (to saying nothing of the health costs over time) have to be THE most regressive taxes in the history of taxation.

Especially with tobacco, one wonders why it's still accepted at all. You can barely market it (this legislation practically bankrupted NASCAR at one point) and literally no new customers beyond the age of about 25. Nobody starts smoking once they've been an adult for just a bit of time. But if they get you...they GOT you.

[Shockm]

Interesting article on Marijuana legalization receiving some opposition from law enforcement and other areas. You can add the usual argument that it's not worse than alcohol, as it isn't mentioned in the article.

KBI chief, Stand Up for Kansas say marijuana’s more menace than medicine

"States that have legalized marijuana — even for “medical” purposes — have inadvertently invited organized criminal enterprises into their communities to exploit new opportunities. Along with that comes increases in human trafficking, homicides, and gang activity. And the data is clear that crime rates have risen - not dropped - where marijuana has been legalized.

Kansans are unaware of the frightening implications marijuana legalization poses to public health, public safety, our society, and our youth. We want to help close that knowledge gap and share a few important findings — derived from research — that we think every Kansan should know.

▪ Marijuana use more than doubles the likelihood of other drug use later in life. In fact, 97% of people who have used cocaine or heroin started with weed. ▪ Marijuana use increases the risk of developing nonmedical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder. States that have legalized medical marijuana have experienced a 22.7% increase in opioid overdose deaths.

▪ Students who use marijuana and THC have poorer educational outcomes than their peers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 17% of 10th graders and over 30% of 12th graders use marijuana. Studies have found marijuana use to be associated with reduced educational attainment, including decreased high school graduation rates.

▪ Consuming marijuana can cause severe mental health outcomes, including depression and psychosis, as well as consequences for physical health. Studies have shown that higher concentrations of THC increase the risk of marijuana addiction, which raises the risk of schizophrenia four-fold. Many Kansans also don’t know that real, FDA-approved medications containing THC already exist and are available by prescription.

Make no mistake: legal weed is fueled by corporate greed — backed by groups that prioritize the creation of an addiction-for-profit scheme over the lives of real people."

https://www.kansas.com/opinion/guest-commentary/article287331345.html

[asiseeit]

Just tax the heck out of it and make it to expensive OR rake in the revenue