Marijuana Articles, Research and Data

• HLDI
• Colorado

After retail marijuana sales began in Colorado, the increase in collision claim frequency was 14 percent higher than in nearby Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. Washington's estimated increase in claim frequency was 6.2 percent higher than in Montana and Idaho, and Oregon's estimated increase in claim frequency was 4.5 percent higher than in Idaho, Montana and Nevada.

• Morgan

“John is an old friend who shares the same values [of] trying to hold government accountable and make it more efficient,” Corcoran said. “We share that mission.”
Morgan had been the driving force behind the referendum approved by voters last year, and a bill outlining how medical marijuana regulations would work was passed Friday during the Legislature’s special session. 

• college graduation
• alcohol

Abstract

Objective This study examined how freshman year substance use prospectively predicted time to college graduation, and whether delayed graduation predicted postponed adoption of adult roles and future substance use. Participants Participants were part of a longitudinal study that began in 2004. The first analyses focused on freshman year (N = 2,050). The second analyses corresponded to a subset of participants at age 27 (N = 575). Methods Measures included self-reported substance use, adult role adoption, and university reported graduation dates. Results Results indicated that frequent binge drinking and marijuana use during freshman year predicted delayed college graduation. Those who took longer to graduate were more likely to have lower incomes and were less likely to obtain a graduate degree. Taking 5-6 years to graduate was associated with greater likelihood of alcohol-related problems. Conclusions Findings support the importance of interventions during freshman year of college to decrease substance use and promote timely graduation.

• County commissioner
• miller
• zoning

“The pill mills were everywhere,” said Teresa Miller. We had our van stolen from our front yard one Saturday night, and it was abandoned in Brooksville with drugs in it. I don’t want this to happen again, and I don’t want that type of clientele walking through our neighborhood again.”

• County commissioner
• Snelling
• zoning

Several other residents spoke in favor of more government regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries. Ellen Snelling said she voted against Amendment 2, which was overwhelming approved by voters in 2016.
"Medical marijuana is a drug. It is harmful and addictive. Limiting the number of dispensaries is a good public health policy," said Snelling.
She told commissioners she is concerned that too much access will lead to marijuana getting into the wrong hands and being used for recreation.
"Remember the pill mills? Strict regulations will help prevent pot mills," said Snelling.
 

• study
• longitudinal
• UK
• gateway

In the new study, researchers analyzed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a long-running study in the U.K. that has followed women and their children. The study began when the women were first pregnant, all in 1991 or 1992.
For the new report, the researchers looked at questionnaires that more than 5,300 of the children completed. The kids were surveyed at least three times between ages 13 and 18, and asked about the frequency of their use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco in the previous three months. They were also sent a follow-up survey by mail to measure these behaviors at age 21.
Researchers found that teenagers in the study who regularly used marijuana were 26 times more likely to have used other illegal drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines or hallucinogens, by the time they reached early adulthood, compared with teens who hadn't smoked pot, according to the findings published online today (June 7) in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

• Doctors
• bullying

First, dosing of smoked marijuana remains unpredictable. And although much of the medical marijuana debate centers on the effects of single exposures, insufficient information exists regarding the effects of repeated exposures. Approximately 10% of people routinely using marijuana become addicted, with a higher incidence amongst adolescents. Tolerance and down-regulation of receptors have been documented with repeated marijuana use. A marijuana withdrawal syndrome has also been recognized, as has an association with psychosis.

• mental health
• Dual diagnosis

According to the Journal of American Medical Association, 50 percent of the people who have a severe mental condition also have a substance abuse problem. JAMA also found that 37 percent of alcoholics have a mental illness, as do 53 percent of drug addicts.
When people use marijuana regularly, the drug may reduce thinking, memory and learning functions. Marijuana's effects on these abilities may last a long time or even be permanent. There have also been increases in fatal car crashes due to marijuana use in states like Washington and Colorado that have legalized the practice.

• child abuse
• Colorado

She said she only smoked marijuana about four hours before putting the girls in the bathtub after taking a nap at around 3:30 p.m., the affidavit states.

• Colorado
• policy
• Children

Aside from the changes to criminal law, legalization has implications for school safety policies, child abuse and neglect statutes, child care center regulation, advertising restrictions, substance abuse programs, employment law, traffic offenses, banking, state revenue, ports of entry and federalism, among many others.
These policy challenges have far-reaching implications, few have been easy to resolve, and most have drawn time and resources away from other policy areas. But most stakeholders have approached each issue with good faith and an earnest determination to find solutions that gain broad support.

• Rhode Island
• edibles
• hospital

Authorities said a toddler nearly died from eating edible marijuana. The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families on Friday announced the 2-year-old girl had almost died Thursday and had been admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

• Colorado
• homeless
• zoning
• crime

The town suddenly became a haven for recreational pot users, drawing in transients, panhandlers and a large number of homeless drug addicts, according to officials and business owners. Many are coming from New Mexico, Arizona and even New York.
He said he’s also noticed an uptick in crime in the area. Shoplifting, he said, has become a major problem in Durango and business owners are becoming fed up.

• zoning
• moratorium
• Miami
• Florida

Commissioners will consider banning anyone under 21, requiring dispensaries to keep visitor logs and extensive surveillance cameras, and even imposing "odor maintenance plans" on the three dispensaries the city plans to allow in designated zones.

• Utah
• postition statement
• Sheriff
• Black Market
• youth usage

“So called medical marijuana in other states has become a farce and a sham. The average user of smoked medical marijuana has no chronic illness and is a white male in his mid-30s with a history of drug and alcohol abuse. . . In the last 20 years and due to market demand, constant genetic engineering has increased THC potency in marijuana plants, and extraction-concentration methods are becoming extremely popular and widespread. become addicted.”Marijuana is the 2nd leading cause of impaired driving arrests. One in six adolescents trying marijuana will become addicted.
“In the city of Denver since the legalization of marijuana Denver Police Department is dealing with a 900% increase in the unlawful cultivation and manufacture of marijuana concentrate, and a 99% increase in unlawful distribution of marijuana and marijuana concentrate.
Marijuana is the #1 problem in Colorado schools. In school year 2015-16, 63% of all drug related school suspensions were for marijuana. 58% of all drug related school expulsions were for marijuana. 73% of all drug related school referrals to law enforcement were for marijuana violations. Youth past month marijuana use is 74% higher than the national average.

• County commissioner

• zoning
• Miami
• dispensaries
• pot shops

The position that medical marijuana dispensaries are prohibited due to the conflict in federal law is not unique. Coral Gables, for instance, holds the same opinion.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article151193...

• 2017 Legislation
• Testimony
• County commissioner
• Tampa City Council

We want to prevent what happened with Big Pharma from happening with Big Marijuana in Florida. We want to avoid the pill mill scenario we experienced several years ago.  Given the number of people dying in our state from opioid abuse be it heroin or prescription drugs we do not want to add fuel to this fire by inadequately regulating ‘medical’ marijuana dispensary zoning, licensing and locations.

• Minnesota
• regulations

“It’s not the job of the state government to create conditions in which private companies can be profitable for selling marijuana.”  Therefore regulate marijuana like it was a medicine with strict guidelines similar to the FDA process!

• asam
• Potency
• cannabis

 All cannabis‐based and cannabinoid medications should be subjected to the  rigorous scrutiny of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory process.  This process provides important protections for patients, making medications available  only when they: 1) are standardized by identity, purity, potency and quality; 2) are accompanied by adequate directions for use in the approved medical indication; and 3)  have risk/benefit profiles that have been defined in well‐controlled clinical trials. 

• HB-81
• 2017 Legislative

DO FLORIDIANS NEED INCREASED ACCESS TO HARD LIQUOR?

1. Florida is ranked #3 in the nation for fatal DUI crashes- Not just statistics- Deputy John Kotfila died saving another drivers life when a driver with a .27 BAC hit Kotfila head on.

           …..

2. Binge drinking or excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for 88,000 deaths in our nation.

3. Alcohol related deaths rank 3rd for preventable deaths behind obesity and cigarette smoking.

4. ONLY 18 states allow hard-liquor to be sold inside grocery stores.  (National Alcohol Beverage Control Association)

   1. Unrestricted: California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, South & North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, West Virginia, Maine, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Missouri, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Louisiana

   2. With restrictions: Florida, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, Washington

   3. Beer Only: Utah, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Connecticut

   4. Beer and Wine: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Indiana, New York, Maryland (grandfathered in liquor sales), New Hampshire

   5. NONE:  Alaska, Delaware, Rhode Island

PLEASE NOTE those states allow hard liquor in grocery stores have very strict and enforced DUI laws.

Floridians do not want or need HB-81.  HB-81 takes away the added security system that separate stores provide with camera systems and ability to card everyone who enters their store AND hard-liquor will be available 24/7.