Andrew Freedman, Colorado's director of marijuana coordination, said Thursday that most of the money from marijuana is going to the cost of legalization.
“You do not legalize for taxation. It is a myth. You are not going to pave streets. You are not going to be able to pay teachers,” Andrew Freedman, director of Marijuana Coordination for Colorado, said on Boston Herald Radio yesterday. “The big red herring is the whole thing that the tax revenue will solve a bunch of crises. But it won’t.”
Then the Herald asked a Massachusetts lawmaker who wants to legalize marijuana about Freedman's assertions. State Rep. David Rogers maintained that legalization will "raise some revenue." He offered no specifics, according to the paper.
If you're going to legalize pot, Freedman says, legislative action is preferable to a voter initiative like Colorado's.
The link between cannabis use and the development of psychosis is established. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 studies summarizes the evidence of the impact of cannabis use after the onset of psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar if outcome was reported as number of psychotic episodes). Researchers compared the outcomes of those who continued using cannabis, those who stopped, and those who did not have cannabis use.
Irrespective of the stage of the psychotic disorder, continued cannabis use was associated with a greater risk of recurrence of psychosis, compared with people without cannabis use (Cohen’s d=0.36) and those who discontinued use (d=0.28).
Those who continued cannabis use had longer hospital admissions compared with those without cannabis use (d=0.36). People with cannabis use spent an additional 8.5 days per year in the hospital (for psychosis symptoms).
Relapse to psychosis did not differ between those who discontinued cannabis and those without cannabis use (d=0.02).
Continued cannabis use predicted severity of positive psychotic symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, delusions, disorganization), but not negative symptoms (e.g., absent or blunted emotional response, monotone speech, difficulty initiating tasks or thinking, anhedonia, apathy, social withdrawal). Those who discontinued cannabis use showed a better level of functioning.
Written by Marie EllisPublished: Friday 15 April 2016
“Results showed that, compared with the control group, the marijuana users' striatum had lower dopamine release. There was also lower release in subregions that play a role in associative and sensorimotor learning, as well as in the globus pallidus.”
THERE’S a secret addiction sweeping across Australia and we aren’t hearing about it.
We all know the damaging effects of the monster drug ice and other hard narcotics, but what about the substances that are a little easier to get and widely spread?
Marijuana is not something you often associate with the word “addiction” or consider it to be dangerous, but many people are hooked on the drug and it’s a problem experts say we need to take more seriously.
A National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Use and Related Disorders found adults who smoked marijuana were more likely than non-users to also abuse alcohol.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana use is also linked to other addictions like nicotine.
In 2010 National Cannabis Prevention Information Centre director, Professor Jan Copeland, said about 750,000 Australians were smoking cannabis every week and about 70 per cent of people aged between 20 and 29 had at least tried it.
Marijuana addiction is more serious than we think. Sydney’s Jason Hameister had this secret addiction and nobody knew — not even he realised how dependent he was on the drug. He had smoked cannabis for more than 20 years and at the height of his addiction, he could smoke up to 50 cones a day. Despite hiding it from those closest to him, he never really thought it was a problem.
“I’d become dependent on it and it quickly became overused to a point where I would manipulate my day so I could smoke as much as I could,” he said. Mr Hameister would wake up early in the morning before his family so he could smoke marijuana and would stay up late to get a cone in before bed. “If I could sway things in a way that allowed me a moment of time by myself I would do it,” he said. “I was smoking before taking my kids to school and I could easily have a dozen cones.” “I had this perception if nobody saw it, nobody would know. “I thought I wasn’t doing any harm but meanwhile I was basically killing myself slowly.” Mr Hameister, who started smoking when he was 14, had a rough upbringing and wanted to numb his anxiety.
World Federation Against Drugs (W.F.A.D) Dalgarno Institute is a member of this global initiative. For evidence based data on best practice drug policy in the global context.
The Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. is to reduce the use of illegal drugs. We work to achieve this mission by conducting research, promoting ideas that are affordable and scalable...
Drug Free Australia Website. Drug Free Australia is a peak body, representing organizations and individuals who value the health and wellbeing of our nation...
(I.T.F.S.D.P) This international peak body continues to monitor and influence illicit drug policy on the international stage. Dalgarno Institute is a member organisation.
The National Alliance for Action on Alcohol is a national coalition of health and community organisations from across Australia that has been formed with the goal of reducing alcohol-related harm.
RiverMend Health is a premier provider of scientifically driven, specialty behavioral health services to those suffering from alcohol and drug dependency, dual disorders, eating disorders, obesity and chronic pain.
