The War on Drugs

[Crafty_Dog]

https://fee.org/articles/i-was-sentenced-to-life-without-parole-for-a-non-violent-first-drug-offense/?utm_source=zapier&fbclid=IwAR3KELfId9MRchVcOd5hdSRaTFFxyWuVxSLKNXz3gKmlVQc7TVXuz0ZxHbs

[DougMacG]

That seems terrible.  Maybe he will get out with a Trump pardon.  My proposal is to rate all the prisoners on all the factors, for prison budget and space purposes if nothing else, and let one out for every new one we put in.  How bad was their offense?  How bad was their prior record?  How long have they served?  How likely are they to re-commit? etc.  What is the cost/benefit of holding them longer.  This is just one more example of what government does badly.

On the other side of it, I am amazed at how small the penalties are for certain crimes.  This man sitting in a cell for decades shows us that no one is really looking at the big picture or the details or the consistency of it over time.

[ccp]

http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2019-09-11.html#read_more

It took Coulter to state the obvious .

Anyone born after 2000 would never know anything she reminds about listening to the leftist do gooders now.
 (and including Jarrod)

now of course many place all this in the addiction is a disease category

if violent crime stays down it will because the criminals are moving to electronic modes of crime instead.

[G M]

Violent crime isn't staying down.

http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2019-09-11.html#read_more

It took Coulter to state the obvious .

Anyone born after 2000 would never know anything she reminds about listening to the leftist do gooders now.
 (and including Jarrod)

now of course many place all this in the addiction is a disease category

if violent crime stays down it will because the criminals are moving to electronic modes of crime instead.

[DougMacG]

http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2019-09-11.html#read_more
It took Coulter to state the obvious.
...

Yes.  We got tough on crime in black neighborhoods to protect black victims.  Someone has to correct Democrats on their false memory syndrome.  Next is for someone to expose the Democrats massive welfare system's role in perpetuating poverty that leads to drugs and violence.  We've only known about the connection for about 50 years.

[Crafty_Dog]

Does Getting Stoned Help You Get Toned? Gym Rats Embrace Marijuana
Fitness junkies are making weed a part of their workout routines; ‘feel the blood flow through each specific muscle’
Nutritionist Pauline Nordin says cannabis cookies help her recover from her punishing workouts. Photo: Pauline Nordin
By Rob Copeland
Sept. 29, 2019 1:13 pm ET

Pauline Nordin is a trainer, model and licensed nutritionist. Earlier this year, she replaced the frozen peas in her freezer with 2,000 cookies.

The shortbread treats are laden with cannabis—the equivalent of about 1,500 joints. Ms. Nordin, 37 years old, says she can’t recover from her punishing workouts without them. She eats two each night before turning in.

“My lifestyle is a Ferrari and my body is a well-tuned machine,” she says. “I would never do something destructive.”

As marijuana moves into the mainstream, more athletes and fitness junkies are making weed a part of their workout routines. The burning question: Are they onto something—or just on something?
Workout aid?

Many workout fiends insist that a few drags add an extra hit to their workouts. They say it helps them ignore pain, stem off boredom and concentrate on small muscle groups that require repetitive movements.

Eleven states have legalized marijuana for adults, while twice as many allow it to treat certain medical conditions. Canada last year legalized it countrywide.

In May, a nonprofit representing more than 100 former professional athletes, including boxer Mike Tyson and cyclist Floyd Landis, petitioned the world antidoping authority to remove marijuana from its list of banned substances. Some ultramarathoners say it helps them through long races. The aroma of weed is common these days at San Francisco boot-camp fitness classes, Denver climbing walls and jiu jitsu tournaments.

“I’ll have a toke before the gym,” says Peter Kloczko, 29, of London, Ontario, “and it’s like, damn, I’m on point today.”
Share Your Thoughts

Weed and weights: Good idea or ridiculous? Join the discussion below.

Los Angeleno Artemus Dolgin, 35, at times smokes as many as 14 joints a day, many on the stoop of his gym or at home while bench pressing. Mr. Dolgin, who describes his profession as “hustler,” says it pumps up his biceps, and his self-confidence.

“You definitely feel the blood flow through each specific muscle,” he says. “The epitome of muscle building is the mind-muscle connection, which doesn’t come right away. Weed really enhances that.”

Keith Humphreys, a professor of behavioral sciences at Stanford University who specializes in addiction, says: “There’s no evidence of that whatsoever. Sort of by definition, we are not good at observing our behavior when we are under the influence of a drug.”
Sam Moses says he switched from dietary supplements and even steroids to marijuana. Photo: Sam Moses

Harvard University researchers have found that smoking marijuana raises the resting heart rate and carries other health risks.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, based in Montreal, includes marijuana on its list of banned substances for athletes competing in the Olympics and other international competitions. “Cannabis can cause muscle relaxation and reduce pain during post-workout recovery. It can also decrease anxiety and tension, resulting in better sport performance under pressure,” the agency says on its website.

The other reason WADA is harsh on weed: It might contribute to injury. The drug, it says, “can increase focus and risk-taking behaviors, allowing athletes to forget bad falls or previous trauma in sport, and push themselves past those fears in competition.”

Sam Moses of Daytona Beach, Fla., can relate. He says he was regularly using dietary supplements and even steroids when his deceased sister appeared to him in a dream. “She said, ‘Don’t worry about it, it’s just weed. It’s natural. You know your limits,’ ” says Mr. Moses, 26.

Mr. Moses, an emergency-medicine student and dedicated powerlifter, took that as a green light to switch to grass. One problem: He began getting confused about balancing weight evenly across a barbell. He recently was squatting 315 pounds of weight when he heard a crack and felt a whoosh of pain at his waist. “And that’s about when I went: F—- it, I’m getting more stoned,” he says.

Former athletes looking to reverse the ban argue that many stoners have it wrong: Weed doesn’t provide a sporting edge. While marijuana and other cannibanoids support wellness “by aiding in pain relief and rest,” the athletes wrote in a petition, “there is no evidence that they enhance sport performance.”

A series of Brazilian jiu jitsu tournaments, dubbed “High Rollerz BJJ,” aren’t waiting around for a reversal. The organization requires opponents to smoke a joint together before the start of each match. The tournament prize is a brick of pot. The audience is encouraged to light up, too.
Paul Roney says he works out right away after getting high so he doesn’t fall asleep. Photo: Paul Roney

Electrician Paul Roney discovered yet another risk to mixing weed and weights. A few weeks ago, the 45-year-old consumed a bit more than usual and then ran into a buddy at the gym. He wound up forgetting to exercise altogether.

“You have to go straightaway if you smoke a fattie,” he advises. “Wait an hour and you’re just going to be asleep on the floor.”

One thing he likes, though, is that it gives him the munchies when it’s time to load up on healthy fare such as egg whites, boiled chicken and oat bran. “You can eat all of your diet food,” he says.

Ms. Nordin, the nutritionist who emptied her freezer for the habit, estimates that 5% of her daily calorie intake is cannabis cookies, sold under the brand Dr. Norm’s.

The siblings who run the company say they named it after their late father, a dermatologist. They say they have no idea what he thought about the benefits of marijuana. He did believe, however, that laughter was the best medicine.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/22/vicente-fox-legalizing-drugs-is-the-way-to-combat-cartels.html?__source=sharebar%7Cfacebook&par=sharebar&fbclid=IwAR39DcmqhNynQ2U9sqBMNEeHkrUjNgCh8nrHHx426RMJI_Ocnu-SAFSPQCY

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.cato.org/blog/more-evidence-pours-cold-water-false-narrative-prescriptions-caused-opioid-crisis?fbclid=IwAR11pxyx8lNkK74AMIKtCuaqMhEv7jmj8E9VPDeIYlA4HWNA-eoxoGAITwE

[Crafty_Dog]

The Vaping-Marijuana Nexus
Another unintended consequence of celebrating pot use.
By The Editorial Board
Dec. 25, 2019 1:43 pm ET
Opinion: Vaping and Marijuana Are a Dangerous Combination

As marijuana use has become more socially accepted in the United States, those pushing for legalization should examine the recent harm that vaping has inflicted on thousands of people, many of whom were using marijuana products. Image: Tony Dejack/AP

A surge in vaping related lung illnesses this year caught the medical community by surprise, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting more than 2,500 lung illnesses and 54 deaths. Politicians are targeting e-cigarettes, but the CDC reported last week that marijuana is so far the greatest common denominator.

This is another reminder that America is undertaking a risky social experiment by legalizing and especially destigmatizing cannabis, and the potential effects are hard to foresee or control. The same political culture that is in a fury over legal opioids, and is trying to bankrupt drug companies as compensation, seems to have no problem celebrating a drug that may be damaging young brains for a lifetime.

In October the CDC reported that 86% of 867 patients with available data had used products containing THC shortly before the onset of their symptoms while 64% reported using nicotine products. Only 11% reported using exclusively nicotine e-cigarettes. The CDC has also found that Vitamin E acetate, which is often added as a thickener to marijuana vaping fluids, is a “very strong culprit.”

Democratic Governors such as New York’s Andrew Cuomo and California’s Gavin Newsom, who have supported legalizing marijuana, are attacking nicotine e-cigarettes while ignoring the striking links to marijuana. Yet pot products unlike those with nicotine are only lightly regulated by the 11 states where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use.

One vaping-related death last month was linked to a device purchased from a legal pot shop in Oregon. A state audit this year found only 3% of recreational marijuana retailers had been inspected, and state marijuana production is seven times higher than consumption. The implication is that most pot grown in Oregon is exported to states where it is illegal.

One argument for legalizing and regulating pot is that it would shrink the black market, but there’s little evidence that it has. The California Department of Food and Agriculture found that only 16% of the 15.5 million pounds of marijuana produced in the state each year is also consumed in the state.

An audit by the United Cannabis Business Association this year turned up 2,835 unlicensed dispensaries in California—more than three times the number that are licensed. The California Department of Public Health since June has linked more than 120 cases of lung illness to recently purchased vape-pens including many bought at unlicensed shops.

Teens can’t legally purchase pot in any state, but a survey by Monitoring the Future this month found that youth marijuana vaping has nearly tripled since 2017. While overall pot use has remained flat for the past two years, daily use has increased by two-thirds. This is especially troubling since chronic use of marijuana in adolescents has been linked to cognitive impairment, anxiety and psychosis later in life.

About 95% of heroin and cocaine users report first using pot, and studies show that marijuana users require more opioid medication to cope with pain than non-users. Like all drugs, marijuana has different effects on different users that are still not well understood. While some say pot helps them relax, it can cause paranoid tendencies in others.

Older generations don’t realize that the pot grown and sold today is on average four to five times more potent than what they smoked in college. There’s also a misconception that pot is no more addictive than alcohol. About 40% of people who used pot in the last month used it daily compared to 10% of alcohol drinkers.

***
Political leaders and cultural trend-setters have removed the social stigma around pot use, so it is socially acceptable even where it remains illegal. Rarely can you take a walk in New York City without marijuana smoke wafting into your nostrils.

While tobacco and e-cigarettes are denounced, smoking a joint is chill, man, and young people get the message. A mere 30.3% of 12th graders this year said smoking pot regularly was risky, down from 77.8% in 1990 and 52.4% a decade ago, according to the Monitoring the Future study. Teens say pot is less risky than e-cigarettes (38%) and easier to obtain (78.4%) than regular cigarettes (72.4%).

A large business lobby is now pushing for pot legalization. The rash of vaping deaths and illnesses shows that pot is more dangerous than people realize, and Americans should pause on the rush to legalize until we understand how much medical and social harm it is doing.

[G M]

Our finest Libertarian theorists told us this was UNPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!

The Vaping-Marijuana Nexus
Another unintended consequence of celebrating pot use.
By The Editorial Board
Dec. 25, 2019 1:43 pm ET
Opinion: Vaping and Marijuana Are a Dangerous Combination

As marijuana use has become more socially accepted in the United States, those pushing for legalization should examine the recent harm that vaping has inflicted on thousands of people, many of whom were using marijuana products. Image: Tony Dejack/AP

A surge in vaping related lung illnesses this year caught the medical community by surprise, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting more than 2,500 lung illnesses and 54 deaths. Politicians are targeting e-cigarettes, but the CDC reported last week that marijuana is so far the greatest common denominator.

This is another reminder that America is undertaking a risky social experiment by legalizing and especially destigmatizing cannabis, and the potential effects are hard to foresee or control. The same political culture that is in a fury over legal opioids, and is trying to bankrupt drug companies as compensation, seems to have no problem celebrating a drug that may be damaging young brains for a lifetime.

In October the CDC reported that 86% of 867 patients with available data had used products containing THC shortly before the onset of their symptoms while 64% reported using nicotine products. Only 11% reported using exclusively nicotine e-cigarettes. The CDC has also found that Vitamin E acetate, which is often added as a thickener to marijuana vaping fluids, is a “very strong culprit.”

Democratic Governors such as New York’s Andrew Cuomo and California’s Gavin Newsom, who have supported legalizing marijuana, are attacking nicotine e-cigarettes while ignoring the striking links to marijuana. Yet pot products unlike those with nicotine are only lightly regulated by the 11 states where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use.

One vaping-related death last month was linked to a device purchased from a legal pot shop in Oregon. A state audit this year found only 3% of recreational marijuana retailers had been inspected, and state marijuana production is seven times higher than consumption. The implication is that most pot grown in Oregon is exported to states where it is illegal.

One argument for legalizing and regulating pot is that it would shrink the black market, but there’s little evidence that it has. The California Department of Food and Agriculture found that only 16% of the 15.5 million pounds of marijuana produced in the state each year is also consumed in the state.

An audit by the United Cannabis Business Association this year turned up 2,835 unlicensed dispensaries in California—more than three times the number that are licensed. The California Department of Public Health since June has linked more than 120 cases of lung illness to recently purchased vape-pens including many bought at unlicensed shops.

Teens can’t legally purchase pot in any state, but a survey by Monitoring the Future this month found that youth marijuana vaping has nearly tripled since 2017. While overall pot use has remained flat for the past two years, daily use has increased by two-thirds. This is especially troubling since chronic use of marijuana in adolescents has been linked to cognitive impairment, anxiety and psychosis later in life.

About 95% of heroin and cocaine users report first using pot, and studies show that marijuana users require more opioid medication to cope with pain than non-users. Like all drugs, marijuana has different effects on different users that are still not well understood. While some say pot helps them relax, it can cause paranoid tendencies in others.

Older generations don’t realize that the pot grown and sold today is on average four to five times more potent than what they smoked in college. There’s also a misconception that pot is no more addictive than alcohol. About 40% of people who used pot in the last month used it daily compared to 10% of alcohol drinkers.

***
Political leaders and cultural trend-setters have removed the social stigma around pot use, so it is socially acceptable even where it remains illegal. Rarely can you take a walk in New York City without marijuana smoke wafting into your nostrils.

While tobacco and e-cigarettes are denounced, smoking a joint is chill, man, and young people get the message. A mere 30.3% of 12th graders this year said smoking pot regularly was risky, down from 77.8% in 1990 and 52.4% a decade ago, according to the Monitoring the Future study. Teens say pot is less risky than e-cigarettes (38%) and easier to obtain (78.4%) than regular cigarettes (72.4%).

A large business lobby is now pushing for pot legalization. The rash of vaping deaths and illnesses shows that pot is more dangerous than people realize, and Americans should pause on the rush to legalize until we understand how much medical and social harm it is doing.

[ccp]

I like e cigarettes for people who have trouble quitting smoking cigarettes
but not for kids being cool

We have had nicotrol inhalers by prescription for many yrs

Allowing them over the counter has made  more problems than solving problems it seems.

But probably another good way to tax the shit out of people which is the ultimate source of power for those "who serve" in government.

[ccp]

legalize all drugs

https://disrn.com/news/pete-buttigieg-calls-for-decriminalization-of-all-drugs

[DougMacG]

legalize all drugs

https://disrn.com/news/pete-buttigieg-calls-for-decriminalization-of-all-drugs

I wonder if Little Peter has thought through the consequences of legalizing prescription drugs - isn't that part of 'all' drugs?  Maybe decriminalize other 'medical' treatments by street and sidewalk professionals as well.  Let the market sort it out.

I kind of like the idea; it would break down the entire medical cabal, no offense to our ccp.

My point is, this will never happen.  Pete hasn't thought that far through it.  He is just blowing smoke and pandering for votes. 

Cooking up a little meth for friends and family has HUGE environmental, health and safety risks, is a form of vandalism in that it can get a house condemned - and we are going to legalize it??  Maybe we can save money by building prisons with no doors, locks or guards, make attendance voluntary - right while we make government service mandatory. 

The idea that we are "over-incarcerating" is a myth.  These people aren't doing life for minor possession of harmless substances.  Turning the supply chain over to the government is not legalizing it.  Decriminalizing small amounts has not taking organized crime or violence out of the business.

Require people to take responsibility for their own heathcare before we start encouraging reckless body and brain experimentation.

Securing the border would do more than any of these ideas to get the crime out of the drug trade.

[ccp]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexico-el-chapos-daughter-ties-205755559.html

[Crafty_Dog]

Los Angeles to Dismiss 66,000 Marijuana Convictions
Largest such move in California comes amid nationwide push for criminal-justice reform and relaxing drug laws

California voters legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016.
PHOTO: JOSH EDELSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Christine Mai-Duc and Dan Frosch
Updated Feb. 13, 2020 5:00 pm ET

Los Angeles County will vacate nearly 66,000 marijuana convictions dating back to the 1960s, part of a growing national effort to reduce drug convictions.

The move, announced Thursday by Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, will dismiss convictions for tens of thousands of individuals, the majority of whom are black or Latino.

“As a result of our actions, these convictions should no longer burden those who have struggled to find a job or a place to live because of their criminal record,” Ms. Lacey said in a press conference Thursday.

She said she believed it is the largest mass dismissal of cannabis cases to date in California.

Of the cases, about 62,000 were felony convictions that prosecutors asked a Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss this week. Another 3,700 were misdemeanor possession charges stemming from 10 L.A. County cities.

California voters legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016 with a ballot measure that also made individuals previously convicted of growing, possessing, selling or transporting marijuana eligible for reduced sentences.

But the process for seeking relief from courts has been criticized by advocates as onerous and so far only about 3% of those eligible statewide have received it, according to nonprofit group Code for America.

A state law signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 required the California Department of Justice to compile a database of individuals who may be eligible to have their old marijuana pot cases reviewed—a number the department estimates to be about 190,000 individuals. Under the law, counties are also required to review those cases by July of this year, though not necessarily to dismiss any.

Ms. Lacey, who runs the country’s largest district attorney’s office, had previously said her team wouldn’t automatically clear drug convictions. In a statement after Proposition 64’s passage, Ms. Lacey encouraged those affected to petition the courts “rather than wait for my office to go through tens of thousands of case files.”

But the process has moved more quickly since her office began working with Code for America, which developed software that identifies people who may be eligible to have past convictions overturned in states where marijuana is now legal or will be legal. For more than a year, the group has worked with five California counties—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Contra Costa—as part of a pilot program to review old pot cases.

In 2019, then San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said his office cleared 8,132 marijuana-related convictions as a result of the pilot program. Last month, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton said that her office would dismiss 3,264 marijuana convictions.

The L.A. County cases that were overturned resulted in approximately 53,000 people being cleared. Of those, 32% are African-American, 20% are white, 45% are Latino and 3% are other or unknown, Ms. Lacey and Code for America said.

With the pilot program done, Code for America has made its software available to all of California’s 58 counties.

The group is also teaming up with the top prosecutor in Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, to review old marijuana convictions there.

Ms. Lacey is running for re-election in a race in which her leading opponent is Mr. Gascón, who left his San Francisco office last year. He has said that she is not active enough on criminal-justice reform, a key plank of his campaign.

A spokesman for Ms. Lacey’s campaign said that Ms. Lacey began the program that led to Thursday’s dismissals last April. “The facts and the timeline show that this decision was based on seeking justice for all, not politics,” he said.

[Crafty_Dog]

Psychedelics-Drug Startup Raises $24 Million Ahead of IPO
Drugmaker is pursuing trials of hallucinogen’s efficacy for treating addiction, other mental-health conditions

JR Rahn, co-founder of MindMed, which is pursuing trials of a nonhallucinogenic treatment for addiction derived from the psychoactive compound ibogaine.
PHOTO: MINDMED
By Shalini Ramachandran
Feb. 27, 2020 11:49 am ET

Mind Medicine Inc., a psychedelics-based medicine startup backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, closed a $24.2 million funding round ahead of plans to go public next week.

It is the first among a new crop of companies pursuing psychedelics-based therapies to go public, in a test of investors’ appetite to back drugs that have shown promise in treating mental-health ailments but remain illegal in many countries including the U.S.

Co-founded by JR Rahn, a former Uber employee and Y-Combinator alumnus, MindMed will make a direct listing March 3 through a reverse takeover of Broadway Gold Mining on the NEO Exchange, based in Toronto.

Mr. Rahn says MindMed is developing what he hopes will become the “antibiotic for addiction,” based on a nonhallucinogenic derivative of ibogaine, a psychoactive compound that has been used for more than 50 years to treat addiction.

Ibogaine comes from iboga, a West African plant whose yellowish root bark induces powerful psychedelic experiences. Hallmarks of ibogaine trips include vivid autobiographical recalls with intense visions. Iboga has been used for centuries as part of rites of passages and healing ceremonies among various African peoples.

Ibogaine centers for addiction treatment exist outside the U.S. It has been illegal in the U.S. for more than 50 years.

Some investors are biting, including Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, Bail Capital, Cannell Capital and Grey House Partners, all of whom participated in the pre-public funding round.

Mr. O’Leary said he agreed to invest only after Mr. Rahn promised MindMed wouldn’t look to create recreational drugs and would focus solely on medicinal use. “If this can actually cure opioid addiction, that is a big, big opportunity,” Mr. O’Leary said. “Why wouldn’t I want a piece of that?”

But it will be a battle to appeal to a wider investor base, given the hurdles to getting psychedelic-inspired drugs in the hands of patients. Some investors who haven’t invested in psychedelic-based drug companies said they were wary of the governance and management issues that have plagued some Canada-listed cannabis companies, and cannabis stocks have fallen sharply in recent months. Investors also worry that access to capital will be strained as long as psychedelics remain federally illegal.

Still, MindMed sees opportunity. The company last year acquired a team developing 18-MC, an ibogaine derivative without the hallucinogenic effects. Its lead researcher, Dr. Stanley Glick, discovered 18-MC in the 1990s but struggled to find funding to test the drug on humans, even though animal trials showed promise for curing addiction.

Later this year, MindMed hopes to test 18-MC’s effectiveness on human patients suffering from opioid withdrawal in New York. The company says its Phase I trial demonstrated that 18-MC doesn’t have the negative cardiac effects that have been associated with ibogaine.

MindMed is also preparing a Phase II clinical trial in Europe to test how microdosing LSD relates to increased focus for adults with ADHD. Phase II trials test efficacy and safety. “We plan to build the largest portfolio of clinical trials for psychedelics,” Mr. Rahn said. The company says it is anticipating a valuation of $63.9 million when it goes public.

Among MindMed’s rivals are ATAI Life Sciences, which also is exploring an ibogaine-based drug treatment for addiction. The path to developing psychedelics-inspired drugs is costly. Investors believe that such companies will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on clinical trials, and it could take years to get federal approval.

—Gabe Johnson contributed to this article.

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com

[Crafty_Dog]

second post

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/psychedelics-michael-ehlers?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/the-secret-lives-of-fungi?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Magazine_051820&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9d3fa3f92a40469e2d85c&cndid=50142053&hasha=52f016547a40edbdd6de69b8a7728bbf&hashb=e02b3c0e6e0f3888e0288d6e52a57eccde1bfd75&hashc=9aab918d394ee25f13d70b69b378385abe4212016409c8a7a709eca50e71c1bc&esrc=Auto_Subs&utm_term=TNY_Magazine

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/18/us/forced-entry-warrant-drug-raid.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

[ccp]

even pushers now charged with misdemeanor offense :

https://www.westernjournal.com/oregon-decriminalizes-hard-drugs-heroin-crack-meth-possession-no-longer-considered-criminal/

My expectation is drug use will go up a lot.

If someone wants to sell heroin - go to Oregon
    safe haven state for drug dealers now

[ccp]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/03/nyregion/nj-marijuana-legalization.html

has been for 50 yrs anyway
only difference is this is
another source of taxation

[Crafty_Dog]

The War on Drugs appears to be over.  Drugs have won.

[Tordislung]

The War on Drugs appears to be over.  Drugs have won.

I'd submit that Freedom won.

[Crafty_Dog]

But apparently my effort at wit did not.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.popsci.com/story/health/psilocybin-hallucinogens-spiritual-science/?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&tp=i-1NGB-Et-Rku-1AZCwi-1c-16U2a-1c-1AYX7x-l5KJzKA0Au-2BUppN

[G M]

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/01/dea-gang-that-sold-millions-worth-of-colorado-grown-pot-outside-state-not-unusual/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-china-cartels-specialreport-idUSKBN28D1M4?utm_source=pocket-newtab&fbclid=IwAR2OVQ9olkBYbxKbIXwfa2KQlsE7owvIo_lkesNFUkw3R8PeLGz-6hy-S_8

[G M]

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/02/15/Teen-pot-use-increases-with-adult-recreational-legalization-study-finds/2251613421785/

[ccp]

https://dailycaller.com/2021/02/19/columbia-university-professor-carl-hart-heroin-work-life-balance-recreational-drug-use-decriminalization/

probably has tenure

does not need to go to jail
just needs help

[G M]

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/02/15/Teen-pot-use-increases-with-adult-recreational-legalization-study-finds/2251613421785/

https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/homicides/las-vegas-man-faces-murder-charge-in-marijuana-sale-slaying-2235085/

[Crafty_Dog]

ASSESSMENTS
The Impact of Mexican Cannabis Legalization
8 MIN READApr 20, 2021 | 09:00 GMT





View of a cannabis plant planted by the Mexican Cannabis Movement on March 10, 2021, in front of the Mexican Senate in Mexico City.
View of a cannabis plant planted by the Mexican Cannabis Movement on March 10, 2021, in front of the Mexican Senate in Mexico City.

(CLAUDIO CRUZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Editor's Note: ­This security-focused assessment is a part of one of many such analyses found at Stratfor Threat Lens, a unique protective intelligence product designed with corporate security leaders in mind. Threat Lens enables industry professionals and organizations to anticipate, identify, measure and mitigate emerging threats to people, assets and intellectual property the world over. Threat Lens is the only unified solution that analyzes and forecasts security risk from a holistic perspective, bringing all the most relevant global insights into a single, interactive threat dashboard.

Mexico is on the cusp of legalizing cannabis amid a shifting economic relationship with the United States and lingering internal security concerns. A proposed law making its way from the House to the Senate that would legalize marijuana stands to soon make Mexico only the third country in the world to permit all aspects of cannabis production and distribution. The measure represents a sweeping change to governmental policy on cannabis, and may pressure U.S. officials to open a legal avenue to the U.S. market. With a population of approximately 125 million, Mexico will become the world's largest fully legal marijuana market, followed by Canada and Uruguay; the medical use of the drug is legal in dozens more countries. The bill, which Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has indicated he will sign into law, had been expected to be approved during an April 2021 legislative vote, although recent senatorial maneuvering most likely will delay the vote until the September 2021 session.

The Mexican Supreme Court issued two rulings in late 2018 that, along with three previous rulings dating back to 2015, effectively declared the country's ban on recreational use of marijuana unconstitutional.

The country’s current General Health Law allows a person to legally possess 5 grams of marijuana; the new law will officially legalize recreational use and allow adults 18 years and older to possess up to 28 grams and to grow as many as eight plants for personal use.

Commercial production will also become legal with governmental regulatory approval to issue licenses to cultivate, research and export cannabis.
Current U.S. Status of Cannabis

With 16 states and the District of Columbia allowing recreational use of marijuana and 36 states allowing some form of medical use, an expanding U.S. market may provide Mexico with a large and rich nearby customer. The United States could become Mexico's largest consumer of cannabis if it moves toward cannabis legalization, or even decriminalization, and Mexican growers are allowed to export across the border. Soon to be sandwiched on both the northern and southern borders between two of the three legal marijuana markets in the world, the United States will experience significant pressure to move to some form of legalization.                                               

Three out of four U.S. states that border Mexico have approved, or will approve, recreational marijuana use, pressuring neighboring states and opening convenient lanes of trade despite the current U.S. federal ban.

California has been at the forefront of U.S. cannabis legalization efforts by passing the Compassionate Use Act in 1996 to authorize medical use and the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in 2016 to legalize recreational use. California also hosts a thriving state-regulated cultivation and production industry.


Arizona permanently legalized medical marijuana in 2010, with recreational use following in 2020.

New Mexico approved medical use in 2019. On April 12, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law to fully legalize, regulate and tax cannabis for adults 21 and older, making New Mexico the newest state to do so.

Texas is an outlier compared to most other border states in its outlook toward cannabis legalization; little indicates this will change soon. While medical use is technically legal, the current restrictions on what conditions qualify for a cannabis prescription severely limit medical approval. Texas legislators have over 40 cannabis-related bills in the current congressional session, which range from proposals for decriminalization to medical use, but none that has a chance of significantly expanding legal cannabis use is likely to pass.

Nearby states with more permissive positions on cannabis, which eventually could result in a changed Texas policy on legalization through constituency pressure and/or after evaluating the potential tax revenue. Colorado was one of the first states, along with Washington, to fully legalize cannabis and has maintained a sustained commercial market. New Mexico is on the cusp of recreational and commercial legalization. Oklahoma approved medical use in 2018 and, although a prescription currently requires state residency, a proposed bill would make it legal to prescribe to out-of-state customers. If it passes, the Oklahoma medical marijuana market would suddenly be within easy driving distance to politically connected cities like Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.
A Map Showing the Legal Status of Marijuana in North America

Over 40% of Americans currently live in states with full legalization, and a Gallup poll in November of 2020 showed that over 68% of the country supports national legalization, an all-time high. While cannabis is still prohibited at the U.S. federal level, national legalization, or at least decriminalization, is a realistic possibility with Democratic control of both Congress and the White House.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer signaled in an interview with Politico on April 3 that he is ready to bring national marijuana reform legislation to a vote and is currently crafting a bill with Democratic senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden.
Schumer appears confident that U.S. President Joe Biden will be open to discussion of the matter. Although Biden has not indicated whether he will sign off on national legalization, he said during his campaign that he was willing to hear experts weigh in on rescheduling cannabis.

With Democratic control to bring bills to the floor and marked national popularity for legalization, repealing cannabis prohibition may be an issue with at least partial bipartisan support.

Mexican National Security Issues and Cartel Response to Legalization

Mexican marijuana legalization will not lessen crime, rampant corruption and cartel violence, disappointing advocates who hoped legalization would be a significant step toward decreasing the cartels' grip on the country. Cartels have taken steps to diversify from drug trafficking and are otherwise poised to exploit potential opportunities. As these entrenched criminal organizations take advantage of a burgeoning new market, they could contribute to a risk of increased crime and violence. Mexico would have to impose broad governmental reforms to combat corruption before a decrease in overall cartel control would diminish in the country. Large cartels are prepared for marijuana legalization through other illegal income streams, and in some cases are well prepared to take advantage of new opportunities legal cannabis will provide. As small to midsize cartels shift strategies to fill gaps left by larger organizations or compete for a share of a diminished illicit marijuana market in the wake of federal cannabis legalization, related criminal activities are likely to increase.

Cartels have significant resources dedicated to the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs. They have also diversified their income streams into other activities such as fuel theft, cargo theft, heroin production and cocaine trafficking.
Even though cannabis smuggling was once a significant source of cartel income, marijuana trafficking offenses in the United States have nonetheless steadily decreased by over 50% from 2015-2019 as cartels diversified to other avenues of criminality and the United States refocused law enforcement resources to combat cocaine, heroin and synthetic drug smuggling and human trafficking.

An uptick in cartel-related crime will likely have the most noticeable human toll at border areas with the United States, possibly affecting diplomatic decisions between the Biden and Obrador administrations. Asylum seekers and migrants held up in border areas would face increased risks of spillover violence and exploitation as human smuggling and extortion expand as criminal organizations ramp up such operations.

A Chart and Map Showing Mexican Cartel Control of Border Cities

The two largest cartels, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and Sinaloa, have well-diversified narcotic revenue streams that will reduce the impact of cannabis legalization and have steadily decreased their reliance on cross-border marijuana smuggling for income. Even though the Sinaloa Cartel has traditionally been more dependent on cannabis smuggling for revenue than the CJNG, both cartels have many other avenues of illicit income from drug smuggling. Cartels continue to produce and traffic large quantities of other narcotics besides cannabis, including South American cocaine and Mexican heroin, with large portions of drug smuggling profits coming from synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl. The CJNG is particularly insulated from any significant revenue dip that legalization would potentially cause, as the cartel's dependence on illicit marijuana for income has been relatively minor compared to that of the Sinaloa.

[ccp]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/president-biden-marijuana-policy-white-house-shacarri-richardson-suspension-183640381.html

imho
he was correct

the decision is up to the Olympic Committee
  typical American arrogance to claim he should intervene
  into an international body on behalf of one person

[Crafty_Dog]

Posting this does not necessarily mean that I agree, but the search for Truth means that it should be considered:


https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/08/libertarians-were-wrong-about-marijuana-legalization/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%20New%202021-08-14&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart

[ccp]

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-fentanyl-dangerous-illicit-drug-120507501.html

[ccp]

From deep down in the USA article

"He said drug increases are likely due to a massive increase to illegal migration."

that should be in headline

[Crafty_Dog]

Tucker had a really strong segment on this last night.

Must say that this aspect of my libertarian proclivities continues to recede.

[ccp]

https://nypost.com/2022/04/28/james-molinaros-grandson-busted-with-100-pounds-of-pot/

I really confused
we have other states legalizing it
every quack in the world telling how much it is good for us
and people telling how it treats pain , depression , anxiety
insomnia seizures etc
and probably anything else one can dream of to throw in the mix

we have the Biden people allowing fentanyl to run rampant
and yet this kid is suddenly the biggest drug ho in the world .

I just don't get it.

[ccp]

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm

does not get the attention it deserves

not even listed here :

https://www.finder.com/what-are-the-top-20-causes-of-death-in-united-states

[G M]

https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2022/07/its-always-about-reefer-madness.html?m=1

[Crafty_Dog]

Interesting article but I do note it does not seem to grasp that higher potency can be and often is offset by lesser consumption.

=======================

How Modern Marijuana Changes the Brain
BY HEALTH 1+1 AND MARINA ZHANG TIMEAUGUST 1, 2022 PRINT

Big things are happening for the humble marijuana (or cannabis) plant. On July 21, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill to legalize marijuana at the federal level with Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

Booker released a statement on the bill on July 21, saying this can undo the damage done by the War on Drugs.

Meanwhile anti-legalization advocates like Kevin A. Sabet are doing all they can to prevent the bill from passing the Senate and becoming law.

However, regardless of the outcome, this bill is likely to change the discourse around cannabis for years to come.

State legalization and subsequent commercialization of marijuana has given the drug a glow up. The drug, once associated with potheads, illicit dealings, and pungent herbal smells is fast becoming a legal, family-friendly, trendy, and Instagram-worthy herbal medicine.

The expectation was that after legalization, marijuana would become more controlled and safe. The states that have made moves to legalize first medical marijuana, then recreational marijuana, however, observed increases in illicit dealings, hospital admission rates, and cannabis addiction and use.



Potency and concentration of cannabis and its derivatives, car crashes involving cannabis and abuse, and use in young people have also met new highs.

Marijuana is getting a foothold into medicine and households. It has been the most-consumed illicit drug globally and in the United States (pdf) for decades, though marijuana use is still far behind alcohol and tobacco.

The two words cannabis and marijuana are often used interchangeably, but there are differences in nuance. Cannabis generally refers to the entire cannabis plant, while marijuana refers to products made from cannabis such as dried leaves, or flowers. The word marijuana also implies that it is a cannabis product high in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main constituent and the psychoactive derivative of cannabis.

Since legalization and commercialization, the THC content of cannabis products has been increasing. It has gone up from less than 2 percent (prior to the 1990s) to the current levels of 17 percent, and possibly even 30 percent as consumers seek bigger highs.


Recreational Marijuana: A Changed Product

Some parents’, grandparents’, and educators’ memory of recreational weed is that of its humbler eras of 2 to 4 percent THC. There is a mismatch in perception, as high-THC level products are being packaged into innocent-looking gummies, candies, vapes, drinks, and many more. Though these are only legal for adult consumption, younger people are using it more than ever. Teenagers and young adults, whose brains are still in development, are consuming marijuana at unprecedented potencies. Marijuana use is linked with mental disorders, and memory and cognitive decline, with younger people the most at risk.

To add the cherry on top, researchers such as psychiatrist and professor Dr. Deepak D’Souza from Yale University, believes the high potencies, longer periods of use, may make findings from studies in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s irrelevant to the current marijuana landscape.

“It’s the potency…the weed that’s available now [is] so different from what it was in the 1960s,” D’Souza told The Epoch Times.

Back then, weed was less accessible, less potent, and most people used it sporadically. Today, marijuana is more accessible, easily obtained in both licensed and unlicensed stores, increasingly potent, with an increased demographic of people taking the drug in the long-term.

“Studies done in the past would suggest that only about one in 10 people would develop a cannabis use disorder (addiction to cannabis),” D’Souza said. “I think more recent studies … in the current landscape of marijuana would suggest that that number is actually a lot higher than we previously thought.”


How Marijuana Works
Marijuana acts on the endocannabinoid system that exists in the brain and spinal cord.

Researchers are not exactly sure how marijuana creates its euphoric effects, but studies suggest that it is the binding of THC to the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain that creates euphoria. There are two endocannabinoid receptors, CB1 receptors are in the brain and CB2 receptors are in the spinal cord. THC and most cannabinoids can bind to both.

Apart from THC, there is also another common cannabinoid: cannabidiol (CBD).

CBD, the second most common cannabinoid, also interacts with the endocannabinoid system, though its actions are more complex. CBD, however, does not give users the high found in THC. CBD is generally the active ingredient in medicinal marijuana, and there are many studies linking the cannabinoid with therapeutic properties including pain and seizures.

Since the 1900s, the potency of THC in recreational marijuana has been increasing, while CBD percentage has decreased. One can find 99 percent THC oils being dispensed. Consumers can add this to their vapes, or for other forms of consumption.

Recreational Marijuana: The Young and Mental Health
Though the general advice for younger people is to stay off the drug until adulthood, D’Souza senses that an increasing number of younger people are using weed recreationally, often unaware of the exact implications of consumption.

“More and more young people … are using cannabis, and they are getting younger,” he said. “And they’re using more potent forms.”

He is not wrong. Cannabis use in young people is reaching record rates, increasing from 37 percent in 2014 to 43 percent in 2019. Teenagers of today are also more likely to consume marijuana than tobacco.

Many studies have suggested that cannabis, especially its THC component, may affect neurodevelopment in growing brains, as it disrupt processes in the brain. The brain only completes its full maturation at about the age of 25 to 26. Some studies suggest maturation may come even later than that. During adolescence, brains go through “pruning,” which is a process where necessary brain cells and connections are strengthened and the unnecessary neurons are removed.

“The process of pruning is important, it’s really important in preparing the brain for the demands of adulthood,” D’Souza said.

The endocannabinoid system is also important in neurodevelopment. In our bodies we produce two chemicals that can bind to CB1 and CB2 receptors.

“One is called anandamide, named after the Sanskrit word meaning bliss,” he said. “And the other is called 2-AG.”

When the endocannabinoid system is activated, these chemicals will be released and bind to the receptors.  The chemicals are specific. They act on a small targeted area and “produce the effects for just milliseconds before…they are inactivated.”

Researchers believe that the binding of these chemicals allows the brain to select what neurons will be strengthened and what neurons will be removed in neurodevelopment, according to D’Souza.

Whilst these two natural chemicals act for a very short, transient time, THC does not.

THC in the body can last for minutes to hours, smoked joints give a quick and strong burst in minutes but consumed THC in gummies and other food start slow and last for hours. THC is also non-selective and will bind to all the areas of the brain with these receptors, distorting the targeted communication in the brain.

“The scientific term we use is that THC produces effects that are … non physiological effects, and those … effects may have far reaching consequences.”

If the endocannabinoid system is, as researchers believe, “really important in directing … neurodevelopmental processes, you could imagine that when an adolescent whose brain is still maturing smokes cannabis, it may disrupt that process,” said D’Souza.

The prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain in charge of critical thinking and decision making, is the last area to fully mature. Research suggests that the maturation in this area is what separates teenagers and young adults from fully matured adults.

Brain scans of drug abusers often show a decreased brain matter volume in the prefrontal cortex, suggesting increased in impulsivity and poor decision making.

Since younger people have immature prefrontal cortexes, this may be why early marijuana use increases risks of addiction and brain impairment. A study found 10.7 percent of teenagers between the age of 12 and 17 developed an addiction to cannabis within 12 months of use, and 20.1 percent developed addiction after 3 years.  For young adults aged 18 to 25, 6.4 percent developed addiction in a year, and 10.9 percent in three years.

Cannabis use is also linked to mental health disorders, especially in younger people, particularly those at risk of certain mental health disorders, including depression, psychosis, and schizophrenia.

Though it should be noted that not everyone who uses cannabis will develop mental health disorders and other health conditions, studies in younger people have linked the drug with various mental disorders including psychosis, schizophrenia (some studies suggest a causal link), anxiety, and depression. Some studies also link cannabis consumption with an exacerbation of present psychiatric symptoms. Schizophrenia has lifelong consequences and patients will need to be treated or monitored over their lifetime.

The majority of endocannabinoid receptors in the brain reside in the hippocampus, a seahorse structure deep in the brain important for memory formation and storage. Studies on long-term and short-term effects of cannabis have both found that cannabis affects learning and episodic memory.

Studies on adolescents have also found that cannabis use was associated with a reduced brain matter volume, a 2021 study found that it has been linked with brain aging, especially in the prefrontal cortex. Persistent use of cannabis in adolescence has also been associated with permanently reduced IQ by 5 to 13 points.

Epoch Times Photo
Topographical overlap between age-related thinning, cannabis effect, and cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor availability (courtesy of Dr. Matthew D. Albaugh and the Journal of the American Medical Association)
Though parenting plays a role in preventing teens from abusing cannabis and severe adverse effects, it can be hard for parents and educators to make the connection when their image of cannabis is mostly benign.

The industry is also trying to make cannabis appealing to the younger generations despite regulations prohibiting minor use.

D’Souza argued that the age limit that has been set is “disingenuous,” due to the investment in products that are enticing to pre-teens and teenagers.

“Companies are making gummy bears, gummy bears, I would hardly think that adults would be interested in gummy bears. That’s just a disingenuous way of marketing to young adults below the age,” D’Souza said.

“We really have done a poor job at educating the public.”

Marijuana is weighed at a medical marijuana dispensary
Marijuana is weighed at a medical marijuana dispensary in Vancouver, Feb. 5, 2015. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)
Medical Cannabis: A Ticket to Becoming Recreational?
Studies shown that medicinal cannabis does have therapeutic effects against pain, chemo-therapy induced nausea and vomiting, and spasticity from multiple sclerosis.

There is also anecdotal evidence of the drug’s effects against seizures in neurodegenerative diseases and epilepsy.

However, regulation of medicinal marijuana use varies drastically across different states.

Connecticut, for example, approves medicinal marijuana use for over 40 conditions including cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and many others. New York sets no limit on the number and type of conditions.

There are also states with strict laws; Wyoming only approved CBD-oils in 2015 and limited its use to seizures only.

Some studies also suggest benefits in Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and depression, but “for the overwhelming majority of those conditions, there is very little evidence to support the benefits of marijuana for these conditions, with some exceptions,” said D’Souza.

Studies also found that most (around 90 percent) people taking medical marijuana reported that it reduced their symptoms, and two-thirds of them used less prescription medicines.

For the medical marijuana users that report addiction, around 80 percent use recreational marijuana.

Medical marijuana has helped people, but D’Souza argued that there are political motivations behind medicinal marijuana legalization. “Those who wanted to legalize marijuana realized and planned very early on that if they could get the public at large to accept medical marijuana, then it would be a very short step from there to make marijuana completely legal.”

“And that is exactly what is happening.”

Currently, 38 states have approved medical marijuana and 18 of these states also approved recreational marijuana use in adults.

The states first to approve marijuana medically were often also the first to approve it recreationally, with some exceptions:

Colorado and California were leaders in approving medical marijuana, doing so long before the movement for legalization gained momentum. Recreational approval only came after the movement gained momentum, thus these two states took 12 and 20 years respectively to legalize recreational marijuana. There are also states that were late to the overall medical marijuana program, but quickly approved recreational use, such as Massachusetts, and the district Washington DC. They legalized medical marijuana just ahead of the push for legal recreational marijuana use, and it took these two states only around 4 years to approve recreational marijuana.

Full legalization of cannabis often opened doors to commercialization. Each new policy further opened the doors for cannabis access, but these are not without health implications.

A study on youths from 2008 to 2016 in four states that legalized recreational cannabis (Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon) found that cannabis addictions reported in teenagers 12 to 17 increased from 2.18 to 2.72 percent—a 25 percent increase.

Colorado: A Case Study
Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000, and was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, before commercializing it in 2014.

Since its legalization, it saw increases in marijuana-involved traffic accidents, use and abuse in teenagers, hospital presentation from cannabis adverse effects, and poison center presentation for children and pets who unwittingly ingested cannabis from medicinal cabinets.

Hospitalizations for cannabis related adverse effects increased by 45 percent (pdf) between 2006 and 2008 (pre-commercialization of medical marijuana) to 2009 to 2012.

From Colorado’s post-commercialization period to 2013 to 2014 (legalization and commercialization period for recreational marijuana), hospitalizations for cannabis-related conditions increased by another 66 percent (pdf).

These hospitalizations do not come without repercussions, and hospitals are reporting financial losses from cannabis-related treatments. A study (pdf) examining one hospital in a municipality in Colorado found that from 2009 to 2014, hospitalizations from cannabis-related bills increased by 375 percent and emergency department (ED) submissions increased from 9 percent to 15.3 percent.

It should be noted that the municipality did not legalize cannabis under Amendment 64, however the hospital saw an increasing presentation to the ED for people experiencing adverse effects from marijuana, with the majority of hospitalizations mental health involved, including suicide ideation, depression, and so on.

From 2009 to 2014, the hospital incurred at least $20 million in losses from cannabis patients not paying their bills. Other studies examining hospital presentations in Colorado found that from 2000 to 2015, hospitalization rates with marijuana-related billing codes doubled from 274 in 2000 to 593 per 100,000 hospitalizations in 2015. ED visits from mental illness were five times higher for bills that had marijuana-related codes than bills without.

A study on poison center reports in Colorado found that child reports of cannabis ingestion doubled from 1.2 per 100 000 population in 2009 to 2.3 per 100,000 population in 2015, and half of these reports were from children ingesting cannabis-containing gummies, and brownies, both of which are appealing to children. Though arguably, the reports are less than crayon poisoning reports every year, however as legalization invariably increases marijuana exposures, poisoning from cannabis in children is only going to increase as the drug becomes increasingly socially acceptable.

Additionally, traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana also increased since legalization of recreational marijuana. Traffic deaths involving marijuana more than doubled from 55 people killed in 2013 to 115 in 2018. In 2019, there were 163 alcohol-impaired traffic deaths in Colorado.

Cannabis use in teenagers and young adults in Colorado have also mostly showed an increasing trend. In 2019, 15.5 percent of teenagers aged 15 and younger consumed cannabis in the past 30 days, compared to 15.4 percent in 2013. Teenagers aged 16 to 17, and 18 and older also saw general increases, reaching 24.4 and 27.5 percent respectively as compared to 22.5 and 25.3 percent in 2013.

D’Souza likened the popularity among the younger generation and commercialism of cannabis with tobacco and alcohol. “Even though alcohol is supposed to be sold only to people over the age of 21, it’s very easy for young people, adolescents to get their hands on alcohol, and likewise I would expect no different…with cannabis.”

Correction: A previous version of this article marked the 2009 to 2012 period as “(post-commercialization)” under the section Colorado: A Case Study. The terminology quoted from the report caused confusion and has since been removed. Colorado legalized recreational marijuana use in 2012 and state-licensed retail sales, or commercialization, in 2014.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.

[DougMacG]

"Interesting article but I do note it does not seem to grasp that higher potency can be and often is offset by lesser consumption."

   - Agree and good point. The article is filled with data and science but seems to raise more questions than it answers. Some of the usage numbers have small increases but don't mention self reports of use get more honest with legalization.  The traffic death numbers are relatively small, don't identify levels or causation and don't mention they likely test more for thc after legalization than before. Addiction is not defined and use and abuse, micro-dosing and heavy usage are, in part, used interchangeably.

They don't mention the product itself becoming safer from impurities with legalization and seed to dispensary control, cf paraquot. "Medical" and "recreational" are the same product taxed differently, at least in Colo.

Noted, the brain isn't fully developed until well into the 20s but we let them drive, including mountain roads in blizzards (article focuses on Colo) at 16, vote at 18, enlist and go to war at 18?

M. use surpasses tobacco use with the young, but isn't tobacco use down?  Maybe not with young people vaping.

Numbers of children eating presumably their parents gummies is low but terrible.  Couldn't that be addressed in law by not selling legal edibles in candy form?

Back to the article :
"Cannabis use is also linked to mental health disorders, especially in younger people, particularly those at risk of certain mental health disorders, including depression, psychosis, and schizophrenia."

Doug:  The individual odds on this are small, young people having psychotic breaks, but I think this  the greatest danger.)

"Persistent use of cannabis in adolescence has also been associated with permanently reduced IQ by 5 to 13 points."

Doug:  This seems like a hard thing to measure, your intelligence versus what it would have been.

[Crafty_Dog]

No cease-fire talks in war on drugs with furious China

Flood of fentanyl means more overdose deaths

BY BILL GERTZ THE WASHINGTON TIMES

China’s decision to suspend counternarcotics cooperation with the United States to protest House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is fueling fears of a sharp increase in overdose deaths from Chinese-supplied stocks of fentanyl.

The Chinese suspension of the bilateral talks was announced Aug. 5, and current and former U.S. officials are warning of the fallout from increased drug trafficking into the country by Mexican cartels working with Chinese criminal gangs to move fentanyl, the chemicals used to make it and other illicit drugs.

Fentanyl seizures were already soaring before the talks ended, according to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In July, a total of 2,130 pounds of fentanyl was seized. That was nearly as much fentanyl seized for all of 2019.

White House drug czar Rahul Gupta warned of more drug shipments and called on China last week to resume the talks. Unless Beijing does more, “fentanyl and methamphetamine synthesized with

precursors made in China will continue to flood the world,” Dr. Gupta told The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Gupta called China’s suspension of the talks “unfortunate” and noted that the Chinese government in May 2019 cracked down on fentanyl-related exports. The amount of the drug reaching U.S. shores sharply declined.

“But since those actions, North America has been flooded with precursor chemicals from China, stifling international efforts,” he said.

Dr. Gupta made no mention of whether the lack of controls on the border and influx of illegal immigrants are partly to blame.

China’s halt in the narcotics talks was among eight canceled or suspended bilateral exchanges with the United States in response to Mrs. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Beijing said the Democratic delegation’s visit violated the long-standing “one China” policy regarding the island’s status.

“At a time when the overdose epidemic continues to claim a life every five minutes, it’s unacceptable that the PRC is withholding its cooperation that would help to bring to justice individuals who traffic these illicit drugs and who engage in this global criminal enterprise,” Dr. Gupta said earlier on Twitter, referring to the official People’s Republic of China moniker.

David L. Asher, a former State Department official, said the Chinese action will lead to even more fentanyl precursor shipments to Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. Those criminal groups are working with chemical manufacturers producing fentanyl in China.

“Based on their actions, communist China is in a covert opioid war with the U.S., and PRC operatives have taken over money laundering across the U.S. and Canada,” said Mr. Asher, now with the Hudson Institute’s China Center. “That, alone should be the basis for a [racketeering] prosecution, but the Justice Department and Office of National Drug Control Policy instead are relying on cooperation from China that is a total ‘dead letter item,’” he said.

In 2018, the Chinese government cracked down on direct shipments of fentanyl into the United States through the mail and inside backpacks of so-called drug mules. The slowdown followed a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump and an agreement by China to curb fentanyl and related exports.

Within 90 days of the December 2018 agreement, which was reached during the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, direct Chinese fentanyl shipments to the United States nearly ended, former U.S. counternarcotics officials said.

The flow of Chinese-produced fentanyl, a synthetic opioid blamed for the overdose deaths of 100,000 people in the U.S. last year, instead shifted to Mexico.

The Biden administration’s troubles securing the southern border have allowed Mexican drug cartels to ship massive amounts of fentanyl into the United States, former officials said.

James Carroll, a White House drug czar under Mr. Trump, said his agreement with Mr. Xi resulted in a sharp decline in direct fentanyl shipments, only to have the supply routes redirected to Mexico.

Mr. Carroll said the diminished shipments of fentanyl from China show that Beijing can stop the illicit trade if it wants. “[The Chinese] denied they were sending it to Mexico,” he said in an interview.

The failure to control the border with Mexico is a major factor in the increased fentanyl imports. “Almost all the fentanyl that is in the U.S. has come across the southwest border,” Mr. Carroll said.

Uttam Dhillon, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration during the Trump administration, predicted that the suspension of counternarcotics talks would lead to an increase in fentanyl shipments and a rise in overdose deaths of Americans.

“Any lack of cooperation with any country — but especially with a country like China that is already providing the Mexican drug cartels with enormous amounts of fentanyl, fentanyl precursors and methamphetamine precursors — will almost certainly result in an increase in the ability of the Mexican drug cartels to produce and distribute those drugs in the United States,” Mr. Dhillon said.

Large seizures of fentanyl indicate that traffickers are moving larger quantities of the drug into the United States than in previous years, he said.

The former acting DEA chief said the problem of Chinese drug trafficking has been compounded by a significant deterioration in the level of U.S.-Mexican law enforcement cooperation under President Biden and leftist Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Mexico’s government enacted legislation restricting DEA agents’ work and now requires the U.S. drug agency to disclose all aspects of its counternarcotics efforts to Mexican officials.

Given the corruption and links between Mexican law enforcement and drug organizations, the law has made it difficult for the DEA to work in the country, Mr. Dhillon said.

Extraditions from Mexico for drugrelated prosecutions also have sharply declined, and Mexico City has halted DEA aircraft operations in the country.

“So the combination of China basically telling the U.S. they are no longer going to cooperate on drug trafficking issues, and the ability of Mexican drug traffickers to operate undeterred in Mexico without concerns about U.S. law enforcement, you’re creating a perfect storm for far more drugs entering this country,” Mr. Dhillon said.

Drug cartels control transportation corridors throughout Mexico and up to U.S. borders, he said.

The increase in illicit drug trafficking is not limited to fentanyl. The cartels also are increasing shipments of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

“Almost certainly, you’ll see drug overdose deaths in all of those categories going up,” Mr. Dhillon said.

Mr. Carroll, the former drug czar, said the Biden administration did not appear to be putting pressure on China to crack down on fentanyl shipments to Mexico even before the cutoff of talks. The White House national drug control strategy issued in April emphasized bilateral engagement and multilateral cooperation as keys to dealing with the drug crisis.

A Congressional Research Service report issued last month said the Biden administration’s policy toward China in countering drugs seeks increased collaboration and continued engagement to reduce fentanyl precursor shipments.

After its cooperation, the Chinese government has voiced frustration that its efforts have not led to progress in other areas of its ties with the U.S., such as lowering trade tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump.

China also is upset by Treasury Department sanctions on 20 Chinese and Hong Kong entities linked to fentanyl trafficking.

Beijing threatened to cut off cooperation after the Institute of Forensic Science, a unit of the Ministry of Public Security, the federal police and intelligence service, was added to the Commerce Department’s trading blacklist in May 2020. The blacklisting was imposed in response to the institute’s reported role in the repression of ethnic Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province.

Chinese counternarcotics cooperation appears to have been in trouble since before the Pelosi delegation’s Taiwan visit on Aug. 2.

The Chinese government announced in September 2021 that the U.S. move to sanction the Ministry of Public Security institute “seriously affected China’s examination and identification of fentanyl substances and hindered the operation of its fentanyl monitoring system.” The government said the action “greatly affected China’s goodwill to help” in counternarcotics.

The Congressional Research Service report said some U.S. goals for cooperation with China on curbing fentanyl “remain unmet.”

After controlling some fentanyl precursors, China failed to take action to control other chemical precursors, including those identified as 4-AP, 1-boc-4-AP and norfentanyl.

Pandemic restrictions also prevented in-person meetings with the two U.S.China forums that are the main conduits for the now-suspended talks, the Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group and the Counternarcotics Working Group.

A former State Department official said recent Chinese cooperation on counternarcotics was limited to dialogue, without action from Beijing.

“China wanted to do something abstract without taking specific actions,” the former official said. “Beijing is hostile to the U.S. and, therefore, the cooperation talks sought to neutralize political elites while allowing fentanyl to do harmful things to the United States.”

China has dismissed official U.S. concerns about the lack of counterdrug cooperation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the United States is to blame for the breakdown in anti-drug cooperation.

“The responsibility of undermining China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation rests entirely with the U.S. side,” Mr. Wang told reporters Aug. 12.

Mr. Wang said the sanctions on the MPS Institute of Forensic Science undermined cooperation because the institute is in charge of detecting and controlling fentanyl-like substances.

The ending of counternarcotics talks was among eight punitive actions the Chinese government announced after the Pelosi visit to Taiwan. Beijing launched large-scale war games shortly after the visit that U.S. officials said appeared to be practice for an invasion of the self-ruled island state.

In addition to halting counternarcotics talks, the Chinese canceled three forums for U.S.-Chinese military talks.

Chinese cooperation on repatriating illegal immigrants and on transnational crime and talks on climate change were also suspended.

Mr. Carroll said the U.S. government needs to take greater action to identify and stop shipments of fentanyl, which he called a “weapon of mass destruction.”

“We’re on track to have the highest record of fatal overdoses in the history of our country,” he said. “We need to attack the supply problem because we are making great strides in the U.S. on the demand side.”

Progress is being made in treating addiction, but stopping drug imports must be a key element of a counterdrug strategy. “We need to hold China and Mexico accountable,” he said.

Said Mr. Dhillon, the former acting DEA administrator: “In order to effectively attack America’s drug overdose problem, we need a secure southwest border, and Mexico must be forced to reengage and allow U.S. law enforcement to operate in Mexico effectively.”

[Crafty_Dog]

Biden’s Marijuana Pardon Won’t Release a Single Inmate
Incarceration rates are driven by violent crime, not drug crime. Democrats don’t like that story.
Jason L. Riley hedcutBy Jason L. RileyFollow
Oct. 11, 2022 6:26 pm ET



Even Democrats who sympathize with President Biden’s decision to pardon thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law might question his timing.

...
Republican candidates across the country have made crime control a major issue in this year’s midterm elections, and Mr. Biden’s order could inadvertently help the GOP advance a narrative that Democrats are preoccupied with coddling criminals.

What trumps that concern for the White House, however, is that Democrats have their own narrative to push, which is that the war on drugs has led to the mass incarceration of people who are disproportionately black and is therefore racist. Following the White House announcement, an NAACP official told National Public Radio, “We’ve seen since the 1970s that marijuana policy was intentionally and malevolently constructed to target the African-American community.” President Obama made a similar claim in 2015. “Over the last few decades, we’ve also locked up more and more nonviolent drug offenders than ever before, for longer than ever before,” he said. “And that is the real reason our prison population is so high.”

What civil-rights activists often conveniently omit from this history is the role that black community leaders and the black press played a half-century ago in getting tougher drug laws passed. They also leave out the key role of black lawmakers in advancing legislation that created sentencing disparities for drug offenses. The fight in Congress in the 1980s and ’90s was led by black liberal Democrats, including Harlem’s Rep. Charles Rangel and Brooklyn’s Rep. Major Owens. A majority of the Congressional Black Caucus voted in favor of the law that created much harsher penalties for crack-cocaine offenses than for powder-cocaine offenses.

Whatever you think of the wisdom of this approach in hindsight, the claim that the initial war on drugs and subsequent escalations were motivated by racial animus toward blacks is nonsense.


There are strong libertarian arguments that the drug war, much like alcohol prohibition in the past, has on balance been a failure and that it’s time to cut our losses. Given that polls now show a majority of Americans, including about half of Republican voters, favor decriminalizing pot, the White House announcement might resonate with people in both parties. But if the goal is to address mass incarceration and racial imbalance in the prison system, then focusing on drug offenders is the wrong approach.

Even Mr. Biden had to concede that no one is in federal prison for simple marijuana possession. What he didn’t say is that even among those housed in state prisons—which hold about 90% of the country’s incarcerated population—a relatively small percentage is there on drug offenses, and almost all of those were convicted of trafficking, not for being caught with small amounts of drugs for personal use. “As a percentage of our nation’s incarcerated population, those possessing small amounts of marijuana barely register,” writes Yale law professor and former District of Columbia public defender James Forman in his book, “Locking Up Our Own.” “For every ten thousand people behind bars in America, only six are there because of marijuana possession.”

The reality is that what drives incarceration rates is violent crimes, not drug crimes. According to the Justice Department, as of 2019 some 58% of people imprisoned by states had been sentenced for violent offenses, 15% for property offenses, 14% for drug offenses and only 4% for drug possession. Put another way, drug offenders are less than a quarter of the violent offenders, and more than 85% of the prison population is there for something other than a drug offense. The U.S. regularly tops the list of advanced countries with the largest prison population, but if we sent home every incarcerated drug offender tomorrow, we’d still top the list.

Nor would releasing drug offenders do much of anything to address the racial imbalance among inmates, which results primarily from the fact that blacks are about 13% of the U.S. population yet are responsible for almost two-thirds of the nation’s violent crime. So long as this racial gap in violent offenses persists, so will the racial gap in incarceration rates. “The racial disparities in prison populations would barely budge if all the people serving time for drug crimes were immediately released,” writes John Pfaff, a professor of criminal law at Fordham University, in his book, “Locked In.” And “it seems likely that scaling back the drug war would not on its own necessarily alter offending or enforcement patterns enough to bring about real change.”

Messrs. Forman and Pfaff are not indifferent to the problems of mass incarceration and racial inequality. What distinguishes both scholars is a desire to have an honest debate about what’s driving the phenomenon and, as important, what isn’t. Which is more than can be said about the Biden administration.

[G M]

https://nypost.com/2022/10/22/san-diego-er-seeing-up-to-37-marijuana-cases-a-day/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.aier.org/article/dea-whistleblower-claims-mass-fraud-and-corruption-is-anyone-surprised/

[ccp]

how demoralizing to read

like serpico
most are on the take and all simply look the other way

good vs evil

evil winning

once asked an old friend from a different gov agency  if he knew any FBI agents who could help us

he got back to me and said the agents who he  spoke to could not with 100% confidence be sure that anyone  would not turn around and accept bribes to rip us off

i have small faith in humanity left anymore

after he looked

[DougMacG]

"good vs evil

evil winning"


   - That could be the name of the documentary of our time here.

[ccp]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/heres-deadliest-drug-related-public-204318219.html

had two separate parents call in the past 2 weeks
who were grieving for lost child due to fentanyl OD

yet only mention is from Fox and conservative media

maybe beady eyed Anderson Cooper mentioned it
but of course never in same sentence with Joe Biden where most of the blame rests.

Can't we call the cartels "terrorists" for this reason among others?

If Mexico can't fix it then we should at least seriously consider this :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Border_War_(1910%E2%80%931919)

[Crafty_Dog]

What Is a Narco-State, and Why Does It Matter?
undefined and Director of Analysis at RANE
Sam Lichtenstein
Director of Analysis at RANE, Stratfor
14 MIN READFeb 10, 2023 | 15:50 GMT





Seized marijuana bricks are incinerated in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Seized marijuana bricks are incinerated in Guadalajara, Mexico.

(ULISES RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The term ''narco-state'' usually brings to mind countries in Latin America where the influence of drug cartels is so vast that they are at least as powerful as the state itself, if not more. In some cases, this is despite the best efforts of a government. But in others, it may be with the direct connivance of top leaders themselves. Prime examples of both phenomena include Panama in 1980s under the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega, Colombia in 1980s and 1990s as cartels violently battled for supremacy, and Mexico in the early 2000s when cartels' influence became so great that the military began a major (and many would say largely failed) crackdown.

In reality, narco-states exist along a spectrum of severity and are far more geographically dispersed. And while each narco-state may look different, all can have major implications — from the strategic level of geopolitics, to the operational one of business activities and to the tactical one of travel security — not only within their borders but often far beyond. With these wide-ranging impacts, it makes sense to review what the ''narco-state'' term means today as the label has become much more fluid and is increasingly featured in media.

A Sliding (Drug) Scale
Definitions of a ''narco-state'' vary. Some focus on the connection between drugs and the economy (i.e. a country where the drug trade makes up a large portion of the economy), others focus on the role of institutions (i.e. complicity in the drug trade by politicians, the judiciary, law enforcement, the military, etc) and still others highlight the level of insecurity (i.e. that the drug trade fuels rampant violence and lawlessness).

To be sure, all three components apply to some of the most notorious examples of narco-states, such as those described above. But surveying the current global security environment reveals a variety of countries that receive the ''narco-state'' label but otherwise have little in common with each other. At one extreme, take North Korea. While most feared for its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs (alongside a variety of other criminal activity like cybercrime, money laundering and arms trafficking), Pyongyang also oversees a thriving business in producing and trafficking illicit drugs and knockoffs of legal pharmaceuticals. Trustworthy profit estimates are scant, though numerous defectors have told a similar story of a regime that generates millions of dollars in much-needed hard currency through selling illegal and counterfeit drugs. It is impossible to know exactly how much revenue this drug business generates for the North Korean economy (for context, one well-regarding firm estimates that Pyongyang raked in at least $1.7 billion via cryptocurrency hacking operations in 2022, dwarfing the estimated value of its legal exports by a factor of 10). But no one would accuse the repressive state of having a problem with drug-linked insecurity. By contrast, North Korea's totalitarian regime directly oversees its drug business and does not permit any sort of competition or dissent that could challenge its authority or lead to violence.

On the other extreme, take the Netherlands and Belgium, two liberal democracies that could not be more different than North Korea. They, too, however, have received warnings — initially from government officials and since then reinforced by media coverage — that they are becoming narco-states amid an uptick in violence linked to the drug trade. The reason for the increase is clear: Rotterdam and Antwerp are Europe's two busiest ports and therefore provide crucial conduits for traffickers to move their goods to the continent. For both countries, the recent wave of brazen attacks is certainly out of the ordinary and no doubt raises real security risks. After all, violence has not been confined merely to criminals attacking each other, but has included public attacks that have killed bystanders. Yet despite these realities, it is hard to seriously consider Belgium or the Netherlands as suffering from rampant violent crime, a complete penetration of state institutions by drug gangs or a drug-dependent economy.

And then of course there are a wide variety of countries that fall somewhere in between these extremes. Ecuador, for example, has seen a dramatic surge in drug-related violence over the past three years, along with allegations of corruption and an increasingly prominent drug trade. Ecuador has always been vulnerable to spillover violence due to its geographic proximity to neighboring Colombia and Peru, the world's two largest cocaine producers. But up until recently, the country had never suffered from the sort of repeated bouts of mass violence that have led the government to institute multiple states of emergency. Observers attribute the dramatic escalation in violence and associated rise in corruption to a variety of factors, including the arrival of Mexican drug cartels and changes in trafficking routes that have made Ecuador's Pacific coast much more attractive. But while certainly far more serious than what has been seen in Belgium and the Netherlands, Ecuador still seems far from being a tragic example of criminal state capture, let alone a scenario in which the state itself directs drug production and trafficking operations.

From Narco Presidents to Street Dealers
The range of these examples illustrates that the ''narco-state'' definition is fluid. In particular, the inclusion of countries in Western Europe, even if at the lower end of the risk spectrum, shows that the impacts of the drug trade are not confined to developing countries or remote areas of the world. In fact, the global nature of the drug trade and the vast sums involved (estimates suggest hundreds of billions of dollars per year) means that the activities of narco-states (no matter where they lie on the spectrum) have vast implications at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.

Start at the strategic level of geopolitics and examine Syria. By some measures, Damascus has become the largest drug dealer in the world. Faced with bleak economic prospects after years of civil war and abetted by massive corruption at the highest levels, the regime has turned to producing and trafficking captagon at an industrial scale. Captagon is a synthetically produced amphetamine stimulant used in everything from boosting the energy of fighters before battle to providing a party high at nightclubs. The drug is commonly found across the Middle East and increasingly beyond. According to a widely cited estimate, $5.7 billion in Syrian captagon was seized in 2021, but the regime likely raked in multiple times that amount since it is safe to assume that, as with all illegal drugs, only a fraction of the captagon was interdicted. For context, Syria's estimated legal exports that year were approximately $900 million, meaning the amount earned from the captagon trade is by far the regime's most valuable export and source of hard currency.

Unsurprisingly, Damascus puts the profits to use to fund its domestic repression and ongoing military campaign to reclaim territory. But the Syrian regime isn't the only one in on the action; a variety of militia forces and rebel groups also make money from the captagon trade. This ensures that there is plenty of cash to fuel the ongoing civil war that continues to be a flashpoint for regional instability amid Russian, Turkish, U.S. and other countries' military involvement. And if that is not concerning enough, even terrorist groups like Islamic State have allegedly used sales of captagon and other drugs to fund their operations.

The captagon trade also shows how the Syrian narco-state has clear regional — and increasingly global — impacts. There is hardly a nearby country that does not seem to be struggling to combat the drug's proliferation, ranging from next door Lebanon (where profits help fund Hezbollah and its Iranian backers) to Saudi Arabia (where experts have accused Syria of using the drug as a crude form of coercion: either give us financial support or we will continue to flood the Saudi market with pills). Illustrating Riyadh's concern over the drug's impact at home, it temporarily banned fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon in 2021 after finding 5.3 million pills hidden in a shipment of pomegranates. The Syrian narco-state is also beginning to attract greater concern beyond the region as seizures of captagon increasingly occur across the world. Illustrating this, the 2023 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act included the Countering Assad's Proliferation, Trafficking and Garnering of Narcotics (CAPTAGON) Act, which requires U.S. authorities to develop an interagency strategy to combat narcotics networks linked to the Assad regime.

Similar narratives can be found across the globe. In Latin America, Venezuela's state-sponsored involvement in the drug trade (both via the direct involvement by top leaders and by providing safe haven to myriad criminal groups) funds its own repression at home and violence elsewhere in the region, most immediately across the border in Colombia. Similarly, in Southeast Asia, recent estimates show a sharp uptick in drug production throughout Myanmar since its coup two years ago; profits are not only helping to finance the junta, rebel forces and ethnic militias, but are also crowding out legitimate commerce as a way for farmers to simply make ends meet. Unsurprisingly, this dynamic is fueling growing concern in neighboring countries like Thailand about the likely spillover impacts.

The pernicious impacts of narco-states also extend down to the operational level of business activities. Aside from bringing violent risks (more on that below), the drug trade creates clear complications for companies operating in or near narco-states. The most obvious is corruption, which accompanies drugs wherever they go. For the drug trade to become influential, let alone institutionalized, there needs to be complicity from people whose jobs are supposed to be doing the opposite. Driven by a mixture of greed and fear, everyone from judges and tax collectors to police officers and customs inspectors (and at times national leaders and industry titans) can be found on the take.

For businesses, the perniciousness of corruption has clear and deleterious impacts. Most obviously, when officials start accepting drug-linked bribes, they also often start making demands of legitimate businesses as a culture of graft takes root. This manifests as everything from demanding small payments to secure local permits to massive fraud involved in awarding government contracts. In some places, this is merely seen as the proverbial cost of doing business, but it nonetheless drains corporate budgets and brings compliance and legal risks. There can also be major reputational considerations, if at all seen to be connected to illicit schemes or helping to prop up corrupt governments — even if only tangentially. Things are even more complicated when foreign companies work through local third parties (which is a common practice, especially when moving into a new market), making proper due diligence all the more difficult. And since other crimes (like human trafficking and money laundering) typically accompany the drug trade, evaluating supply chain risks becomes a lot harder as well.

The drug trade also causes a wide variety of secondary corporate harm that, over time, can have far worse consequences than the immediate complication of confronting corruption. After all, the drug trade can crowd out space for legitimate business activities, redirect potential talent, lower human capital, and reduce productivity — all of which harm a country's attractiveness for investment. Moreover, governments fighting the drug trade have to redirect a lot of resources (not least their attention, but also a lot of money and personnel), which could otherwise go to improving infrastructure, education or other business-friendly pursuits. And for those governments that are in cahoots with criminals, policymaking generally becomes much more opaque and the rule of law erodes, with clear negative consequences for companies. In addition, when the drug trade becomes deeply institutionalized, popular grievances rise and good (or, in some places, any) governance falls — a poor combination for either economic development or political stability. Finally, the drug trade undermines (and sometimes even silences) free and independent media through violent intimidation, making it all that much harder for businesses to understand what is truly happening on the ground.

The third and final way to consider the dangerous impacts of narco-states comes at the tactical level: namely, the drug trade's impact on travelers. It goes without saying that the illegal drug business is a violent one and, even when criminals seek to contain their rivalries and not attract undue attention, the realities of fierce competition mean that bystanders can suffer physical harm or other disruptions to their daily lives.

Take Mexico as an example. While cartels usually try to avoid harming foreigners in their brazen violence, a series of attacks in late 2021 and early 2022 along the Riviera Maya, one of the most important tourist spots in Mexico, illustrated how no location can truly be safe. Among other incidents in this timeframe, two foreign tourists were killed in Tulum in October 2021 during a shootout between rival gang members at a restaurant just off the city's main street. The following month, a dozen gunmen stormed a beach outside a luxury hotel in Cancun, killing two rival gang members and sending foreign tourists scrambling for cover. And in January 2022, a hitman broke into a luxury hotel in Playa del Carmen, where he killed two foreigners and injured a third (though the victims appear to have been involved in drug trade rather than innocent bystanders). 2022 also saw cartels essentially shut down major border cities like Tijuana and Mexicali for multiple days — trapping foreigners and locals alike — as a show of force against the government.

Of course, such violence is not unique to Mexico but tragically haunts many other countries that have received the ''narco-state'' label — raising real safety risks for not only foreign travelers, but the locals who almost always suffer the most. Local residents are usually aware of what areas to avoid, certainly more than tourists. But narco-states are so dangerous precisely because the drug trade cannot simply be separated from mainstream society; it infects everything.

'Just Say No'
Drug liberalization and the rise of synthetics are the two key (and somewhat opposing) global developments that will greatly affect the way these dynamics develop in the future. In recent years, there has been a growing global push to loosen rules around cannabis, and some governments are even making noises about doing the same for hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. More broadly, there is widespread recognition that the ''war on drugs'' will never be won and some sort of a policy rethink is required. Thus, on one hand, there is a force at least somewhat seeking to break criminals' hold over the drug trade by bringing at least a portion of it into the legal or at least gray market.

But on the other hand, there is the rising global popularity of synthetic drugs. Unlike many drugs that are created from otherwise natural substances that can only be grown in certain areas, synthetics are chemical compounds that can be produced in a lab anywhere on the planet. This gives synthetic drugs a number of advantages, including generally being cheaper to produce, easier to hide and capable of having their formulas constantly adjusted to ensure the right potency and skirt regulations — all of which make them much more profitable, but also much more harmful. Look no further than the deadly toll fentanyl and other synthetic opioids — whose precursor chemicals are shipped from China to Mexico before being transported across the border — has taken on the U.S. populace in the past few years.

When evaluating these two forces, the second appears to be much more powerful than the first, indicating that the ''narco-state'' label will likely grow to encompass only more countries in the future. This, of course, bodes ill for geopolitical, operational and security risks — and suggests that the list of future narco-states may very well look different from those today.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/californias-cannabis-market-crashes-northern-counties-brace-for-impact_5240536.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge

California’s Cannabis Market Crashes, Northern Counties Brace for Impact
A cannabis growing operation in the Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara, Calif., on Aug. 6, 2019. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)
A cannabis growing operation in the Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara, Calif., on Aug. 6, 2019. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)
Travis Gillmore
By Travis Gillmore
May 4, 2023Updated: May 5, 2023
biggersmaller Print

0:00
10:42



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California’s cannabis industry is in a free-fall, with some municipalities in the northern part of the state making plans for significantly reduced tax revenues as a result of a collapse in wholesale prices.

Once selling for more than $4,000 per pound, bulk buyers are now shopping in the $300 to $500 range for fresh harvests, according to experts, and some growers reported clearing out their crops for less than $200 per pound for fear of being stuck with product.

The price represents a sharp drop from recent years, according to industry insiders.

“It’s been a steady decline since we got here in 2010, but with the passage of Proposition 64 in 2016, prices accelerated downward quickly,” Rachel Greene, a longtime grower with experience in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties’ cannabis programs, told The Epoch Times. “It was a combination of a lot of people getting in the game and the old corporate warfare model of operating at a loss to drown out the competition.”

Prop. 64—known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act—was passed by voters and made recreational sales legal, creating the beginning of a regulatory framework to manage the industry.

Legitimate and illegitimate family businesses were severely impacted by the plunge in profits and salability of a once easy-to-move commodity, according to farmers.

Epoch Times Photo
Marijuana greenhouses in Carpinteria near Santa Barbara, Calif., on August 6, 2019. (David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)
“I used to pay trimmers $300 to manicure each pound, and now I can’t even sell them for that,” a Mendocino County local who asked to be called Jack, for fear of retaliation, told The Epoch Times. “This was a business that benefited families all over the mountains here, and now there are growers and their helpers looking for work. Nobody knows what to do.”

Farmers are reporting a “perfect storm” of conditions, with inflation causing the cost of doing business to escalate significantly over the last two years, while the saturated market in California has left many growers with few options.

“There were a bunch of pounds composted out here last year, and a lot of hopes and dreams went up in smoke with the crash,” Jack said. “We’re all kind of stunned by how fast it happened, and it’s not just us hurting. Look at all the empty storefronts. We were the lifeblood of this economy.”

Lost Tax Revenues
Plummeting prices are affecting more than just the cannabis market, as rural regions of the state have become reliant on the industry supporting retailers and the taxes generated by increased cashflows in the area.

The city of Ukiah, the county seat of Mendocino, is preparing for an estimated $1 million drop in tax revenues, in part due to the weakened cannabis industry.

Revenues grew steadily year over year until experiencing a dip last year, with the busiest shopping season—the last three months of the year—resulting in a drop of nearly ten percent compared to 2021, according to city records. However, the records don’t specify how much tax revenue was related to cannabis.

“This doesn’t make the impacts any less real, as we’re seeing the declines in numerous types of businesses, but they are difficult to measure,” Shannon Riley, deputy city manager for Ukiah, told The Epoch Times.

Garden supply sales were down nearly 13 percent in Ukiah last year, and sales taxes collected overall were down nearly 6 percent in 2022 compared to the year prior, according to HdL Companies—a firm providing audit, operations, and revenue management services to public agencies.

The state experienced 4 percent growth in overall sales tax revenues during the same period.

Compared to other cities in northern California facing tax revenue declines, Ukiah is uniquely positioned in the area, acting as a hub for surrounding communities, with medical facilities and shopping available for thousands of residents not living in the city, according to the deputy city manager.

“Ukiah is very well prepared for this type of adjustment and will continue to plow ahead with major infrastructure projects, street improvements, recreation programming and events, and more,” Riley said.

Other areas have not fared as well, with small towns in Northern California that once experienced a boom-and-bust moment with the loss of the logging industry now going through similar circumstances.

Epoch Times Photo
Marijuana plants grow at the Green Pearl Organics marijuana dispensary in Desert Hot Springs, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2018. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
From Boom to Bust
Known as the Emerald Triangle for the region’s renowned cannabis production, the counties of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity grew in population and in economic activity following the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, the first in the nation allowing for the plant’s medicinal use.

While census data shows modest growth for each county—approximately 11 percent for Mendocino and Humboldt and more than 20 percent for Trinity—in the 27 years since legalization, residents say those numbers don’t account for the actual number of people that moved in.

The discrepancy lies in the pattern of behavior for many who came to the region to set up their operations from other states, yet never registered to get California driver’s licenses, and returned to their home state once the harvest was complete, according to farmers and local authorities.

In addition, from August to November, a sizable number of people traveled into the area in search of work as trimmers and laborers every year.

“It felt like the population doubled, and we’re a small community so it’s easy to notice the newcomers,” Juan Aguilar of Ukiah told The Epoch Times. “For part of the year during grow season, and especially at harvest, we’d have huge crowds in the grocery stores, people all over town.”

Small businesses flourished in tiny towns up and down Highway 101 during the height of the Green Rush—the term used to describe the thousands of people that flocked to the region in search of opportunity from the industry—with a slew of restaurants and retailers opening and closing in a short time with the quick demise of the local cash cow.

Property prices in the area appear to be correlated with the price of cannabis, as evidenced by the number of transactions, price per acre of raw land, and home sales over the last two years, according to real estate brokers in Mendocino County.

For sale signs can be seen on practically every street, even in areas where demand once far outpaced supply, and the increase in available properties is depressing prices.

Legal vs. Illegal Cannabis
While cannabis remains federally illegal, listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic with no medicinal value, 40 states plus the District of Columbia have medical provisions allowing for personal consumption.

Regulations preventing interstate distribution and limiting advertising hamper the ability for producers to reach potential target markets, according to industry analysts.

All legal cannabis grown in California is required by law to be sold in the state, and the 20 largest farms are capable of producing more than 2.6 million pounds—enough to supply the Golden State’s legal market—according to recent estimates from HdL.

More than 3,000 companies currently hold approximately 7,500 licenses, capable of growing 16 million pounds annually. With the state’s legal commercial market only capable of consuming 15 percent of this capacity, more than 70 percent of licensees are expected to experience net losses this year, based on HdL data.

More than 60 percent of cannabis grown in the state is unlicensed, according to law enforcement estimates, and their totals are not included in the above statistics, adding to the deeply oversaturated market.

Epoch Times Photo
There are roughly 5,000 greenhouses illegally cultivating marijuana in Siskiyou County, Calif., according to the county’s Sheriff’s Department. (Courtesy of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department)
Some of these illegal grows are “massive operations run by cartels,” a detective with decades of experience—who asked to remain anonymous for fear of his family’s safety—told The Epoch Times. “There are two families that control the majority of the production up here, and while we haven’t seen the violence that Mexico has, we know they’re here.”

With the emergence of legal cannabis in the state, it became easier for the cartels to grow in California instead of Mexico, and with no international border crossing needed to move their crops, profit margins increased and incentivized others to move their operations to Northern California, according to the detective.

“We’ve seen a steady influx of young workers from Sinaloa, Mexico coming in over the last few years,” he said. “Things have changed in the community, to say the least, and for every illegal site we take down, three more pop up.”

Taxes at the county and state level add to the financial burden for producers and consumers, according to experts.

“One of my neighbors’ invoices was for $55,000, and what he got back after county and state taxes and distribution fees was close to $6,000,” the once-licensed farmer Greene said. “It was astonishing to see how little he walked away with, and it was disheartening for farmers like us and others that thought we were doing the right thing.”

Greene and others reported feeling let down by the policies designed to regulate the market.

“We thought the state of California was going to have our backs and help us succeed,” she said.

Two Assembly Bills related to the dueling legal and illegal cannabis markets passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on May 2, both attempting to give licensed operators legal recourse against unlicensed competitors.

These proposals come as sales across the state fell by 8.2 percent last year, totaling $5.3 billion, the first drop since the recreational market opened in 2018, but this decline follows a 68 percent increase in 2020 and another 23 percent spike in 2021.

With market forces at play affecting producers and communities, the state’s coffers have benefited from the regulatory structure. As of the fourth quarter of 2022, California has collected $4.6 billion in cannabis tax revenue since 2018, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.