Many active drugs enter the body's fat cells. What is different (but not unique) about THC is that it EXITS fat cells slowly. As a result, traces of marijuana can be found in the body for days or weeks following ingestion. However, within a few hours of smoking marijuana, the amount of THC in the bran falls below the concentration required for detectable psycho activity. The fat cells in which THC lingers are not harmed by the drug's presence, nor is the brain or other organs. The most important consequence of marijuana's slow excretion is that it can be detected in blood, urine, and tissue long after it is used, and long after it's psycho actitvity has ended.
When today's youth use marijuana, they are using the same drug used by youth in the 1960s and 1970s. A small number of low THC samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the early 1970s are used to calculate a dramatic increase in potency. However, these samples were not representative of the marijuana generally available to users during this era. Potency data form the early 1980s to the present are more reliable, and they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Even if marijuana potency were to increase, it would not necessarily make the drug more dangerous. Marijuana that varies quite substantially in potency produces similar psychoactive effects.
There is no evidence that anti-drug messages diminish young people's interest in drugs. Anti-drug campaigns in the schools and the media may even make drugs more attractive. Marijuana use among youth declined throughout the 1980s, and began increasing in the 1990s. This increase occurred despite young people's exposure to the most massive anti-marijuana campaign in American history. In a number of other countries, drug education programs are based on a "harm reduction" model, which seeks to reduce drug related harm among those young people who do experiment with drugs.
The rate of reduction of crime appears to be steeper for states passing MML laws as compared to others for several crimes such as homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault. The raw number of homicides, robberies, and aggravated assaults also appear to be lower for states passing MML as compared to other states, especially from 1998 - 2006. These preliminary results suggest MML may have a crime reducing effect. - The Huffington Post
There is no evidence that marijuana causes infertility in men or women. In animal studies, high doses of THC diminish the production of some sex hormones and can impair reproduction. However, most studies of humans have found that marijuana has no impact on sex hormones. In those studies showing an impact, it is modest, temporary, and of no apparent consequence for reproduction. There is no scientific evidence that marijuana delays adolescent sexual development, has a feminizing effect on males, or a masculinizing effect on females.
The medicinal cannabis community has come under fire after growing numbers of businesses have taken to using models in skimpy costumes and bikinis to advertise their products. Pot dispensaries featuring "bikini budtenders" have been likened to the beer industry's habit of using women in swimwear for their promotions to appeal to a largely male audience. Californian voters legalised the use of medical marijuana 15 years ago due to its benefits for AIDS and cancer patients. Medical marijuana has also been proven to be beneficial for multiple sclerosis patients or car accident victims who suffer from chronic pain.
During the first month of its legal weed program in Colorado this January, the state brought in $2.9 million in tax revenue for recreational and medical pot. That's six times what Colorado would have collected for its medical marijuana program during an average month last year. And none of this takes into account the various licensing and registration fees that states charge buyers and sellers. Tax revenue isn't usually part of the pitch that pro-legalization activists use in their campaigns, it's more about the medical benefits and public support for policy change. But states are collecting millions in tax revenue, so it's an important part of the equation. - The Aspen Times
Getting a job in Colorado's legal marijuana industry may seem like a piece of cake, but it's an absolute nightmare for those hoping to enter this burgeoning industry. Colorado's MMED is completely understaffed, lines are out the door, and the process can take over 2 weeks before would be employees receive their badges. It's a major problem, and one that needs to be solved sooner rather than later. Since Denver has the highest concentration (by a lot) of dispensaries and marijuana businesses, the backlog for people wanting an MMED badge makes going to the DMV look like a walk in the park. The MMED office in Denver uses a lottery system, and sometimes turns away hundreds of would-be marijuana workers a day. Potential employees in the industry show up, get their paperwork stamped, and unless they've been stamped a minimum of eight times (that's eight trips to the MMED) or luck out in a Folger's coffee cup poker chip lottery, they must come back the next day, and probably the next week to try their luck again.
Oregon decriminalized marijuana possession in the 1970s. In 1998, it became one of the first U.S. states to sanction medical marijuana, although its estimated 200 dispensaries operated in a legal gray zone until state lawmakers passed a law last year to regulate them. Advocates of legal marijuana in Oregon have gathered more than the required number of signatures to get a measure on the November ballot that would permit recreational use of the drug by adults, organizers said on Tuesday. New Approach Oregon said the group had collected over 100,000 signatures, more than the 87,213 needed by July 3 for the proposed ballot measure that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in the state. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but voters in Washington state and Colorado in 2012 became the first to approve recreational use for adults.
Opponents of legalization warn that states are embarking on a risky experiment. But the sky over Colorado has not fallen, and prohibition has proved to be a complete failure. It's time to bring the marijuana market out into the open and end the injustice of arrests and convictions that have devastated communities. Careful regulation of the drug could very well make it safer to consume, and proper taxation could bring in new revenue for states. This year, from January through June, Colorado collected about $18.9 million. Ideally, the federal government would repeal the ban on marijuana, so states could set their own policies without worrying about the possibility of a crackdown on citizens violating federal law. Even though a majority of Americans favor legalization, Congress shows no sign of budging. So it's better for the states to take the lead than to wait for an epiphany on Capitol Hill that may never come. - The New York Times
NORML's Fifteenth annual Global Cannabis March kicked off on May 3, 2014 at Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon. The march, part of a coordinated pro-marijuana event occurring in more than three hundred cities worldwide, attracted marijuana supporters pushing for changes in virtually every aspect of legal medical and recreational marijuana law. Oregonians dedicated to mainstreaming cannabis as a legally permissible adult use drug gathered with stakeholders of Oregon's medical marijuana industry to rally support and bring attention to the myriad of important issues that accompany marijuana reform.
Working with a new patient with no experience of medical marijuana first requires some tutelage in the basics, the difference between indica and sativa, the two general types of marijuana plants. Sativa is more of a cerebral kind of high, during the day, you have to be at work you're in a little pain, but you can function and think. Indica is more of a stronger pain killer, more of a body high, it can put you to sleep. Typically you want to smoke sativa in the day and indica at night." Most strains mix sativa and indica in different proportions and then have varietal differences as well. The budtender has to find the right blend for the patient.
In July of 2011, Colorado's Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division (MMED) passed regulations intended to monitor and account for every ounce of pot legally produced in the state. One new law required each cannabusiness to produce 70 percent of its product (the remaining 30 percent could come from other Colorado growers or dispensaries.) Another regulation that took effect created a seed to sale program. From the moment a seed is planted to the moment the resulting bud is sold in a dispensary, every plant must be tracked through each stage to the final packaged product.
A good dispensary provides a well lit atmosphere and the 'bud tender' should have a good knowledge of the different strains of medical marijuana available at any given time. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries should openly communicate with their patient to help understand the specific needs. Medical marijuana is available in a variety of ways for the patients.
"Being high is one of the most pleasant sensations available to mankind. Every day is Saturday. It is to be like a child, to perceive events with clarity, to look into the gates of paradise, to completely enjoy whatever you might be doing and to smile so hard that your jaw muscles get tired. Being high is to laugh at the silliest things, to understand things that have seemed absurd before, to have the aloofness of a cat and to afford a kinship with God. To be intoxicated with marijuana makes every superlative seem within your grasp. Being high makes life seem terribly good. Being high is simply grand." -John Rosevear
The medical marijuana industry is soon arriving at its Golden Age as more State and Federal policies raise their tolerance for the botanical drug Cannabis sativa. What has been a seventy year criminalization of this herb, behind thousands of years of historic use, is now being enthusiastically accepted as one of the safest and most versatile of natural medicines. New positions are opening in the marijuana industry and one of the most sought after jobs is budtending.
Numerous research studies have found that marijuana is on balance less of a public road hazard than alcohol. Various accident surveys have found that over half of fatal drivers have alcohol in their blood, as opposed to 7 - 20% with THC, the major psychoactive component of marijuana (a condition usually indicative of having smoked within the past 2 - 4 hours). However, the great majority (70% - 90%) of THC positive drivers also have alcohol in their blood. There is accordingly little evidence that marijuana use by itself is a major public safety hazard. The second NHTSA study, "Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance," concluded that the adverse effects of cannabis on driving appear "relatively small" and are less than those of drunken driving. The study, conducted in the Netherlands, examined the performance of drivers in actual freeway and urban driving situations at various doses of marijuana. It found that marijuana produces a moderate, dose related decrement in road tracking ability, but is "not profoundly impairing" and "in no way unusual compared to many medicinal drugs." It found that marijuana's effects at the higher doses preferred by smokers never exceed those of alcohol at blood concentrations of .08%, the minimum level for legal intoxication in stricter states such as California. The study found that unlike alcohol, which encourages risky driving, marijuana appears to produce greater caution, apparently because users are more aware of their state and able to compensate for it (similar results have been reported by other researchers).
The notion that pot has increased dramatically in potency is a DEA myth based on biased government data, as shown in a recent NORML report by Dr. John Morgan. Samples of pot from the early 70s came from stale, low-potency Mexican "kilobricks" left in police lockers, whose potency had deteriorated to sub-smokable levels of less than 0.5%. These were compared to later samples of decent quality domestic marijuana, making it appear that potency had skyrocketed. A careful examination of the government's data show that average marijuana potency increased modestly by a factor of two or so during the seventies, and has been more or less constant ever since. In fact, there is nothing new about high potency pot. During the sixties, it was available in premium varieties such as Acapulco Gold, Panama Red, etc., as well as in the form of hashish and hash oil, which were every bit as strong as today's sinsemilla, but were ignored in government potency statistics. While the average potency of domestic pot did increase with the development of sinsemilla in the seventies, the range of potencies available has remained virtually unchanged since the last century, when extremely potent tonics were sold over the counter in pharmacies. In Holland, high powered hashish and sinsemilla are currently sold in coffee shops with no evident problems. Contrary to popular myth, greater potency is not necessarily more dangerous, due to the fact that users tend to adjust (or "self-titrate") their dose according to potency. Thus, good quality sinsemilla is actually healthier for the lungs because it reduces the amount of smoke one needs to inhale to get high.
With words like stoner and pothead in the lexicon, our culture has a firm grasp of the weed dependent stereotype. When we think of marijuana addiction, an image comes to mind. He (usually a he), smokes pot and eats all day, is smelly and unshaven, watches too much TV and/or plays too many video games, and has a crappy job if he has a job at all. A lot of people actually do know someone like that, but the research shows that someone is probably choosing their lifestyle rather than trapped in it by an actual addiction. Regardless of how the addiction myth has stuck around, it is just that, a myth. The most commonly cited study on cannabis dependence declared that 4% of Americans 15 - 54 are dependent on cannabis. That's compared to 24% who are dependent on tobacco and 14% on alcohol. Among users, they found that 9% of cannabis users who try it get hooked, as compared to 32% for tobacco and 15% for alcohol. Furthermore, even the 9% figure is likely inflated, so cannabis seems to show some propensity for dependence, but for every dependent user, there are 10 who don't develop that sort of issue, and this rate is better than that of popular legal drugs. We can be sure that cannabis is significantly less habit forming than alcohol, and especially tobacco, and the degree to which people become dependent is probably overstated.
