Tag: Marijuana

Joe Selvaggi talks with professor of psychiatry Dr. Ryan Sultan about the findings of his recently released study on the effects of cannabis on the mental health of American adolescents. Dr. Sultan’s work shows a substantial correlation between cannabis use and negative mental health outcomes.

Guest:

Join Jim and Greg as they enjoy watching Georgia Democrats squirm at the prospect of Stacey Abrams running for high office again soon. They also fume over reports that groups with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party are heavily involved in illegal marijuana production here in the U.S. Between weed and fentanyl, China’s agenda concerning our kids seems pretty clear. Finally, they condemn the comments of a Georgia state lawmaker who contends that people who didn’t finish high school are “not qualified” to make decisions about where their kids go to school.

Manhattan Institute scholars Steven Malanga and Charles Fain Lehman join Brian Anderson to discuss the persistent black market for marijuana, the possibility of renewed drug enforcement against illegal pot, and the changing nature of the drug.

Find the transcript of this conversation and more at City Journal.

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Who didn’t see this headline from Bloomberg Wealth coming? “Rich Americans Who Were Warned on Taxes Hunt for Ways Around Them.” I suspect most of these people not only voted for Joe Biden, but many of them have also contributed mightily to his campaign and are still happy to have done so. Preview Open

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On the cusp of practically eviscerating the Senate’s filibuster to advance the Democrat’s aggressive if somewhat unpopular progressive agenda, including outlawing voter ID requirements and some gun ownership, US Senate Majority (tenuously, by one vote) Leader Charles Schumer is now focused on an issue that clearly seems to have broad public support: Legalization of Marijuana. […]

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Rob Long is in for Jim today. Rob and Greg react to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo doing exactly what Rob said he would do to distract from his many scandals. Then they’re glad to see President Biden’s poll numbers sinking on immigration policy. They also explain how Biden’s “infrastructure” bill appears to include a bunch of Green New Deal provisions, guts freedom to work. And they call out the left’s refusal to acknowledge basic biological reality when it comes to determining a person’s sex.

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If you’ve ever filled out a Form 4473, you’re familiar with the Question 11e: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or other controlled substance?” In case you thought there was any ambiguity with regard to medical marijuana, you were wrong. Indeed, there is a warning in bold […]

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Glad you’ve joined us for the Monday martinis! Today, Jim and Greg cheer the people of Hong Kong for leaving no doubt in local elections that they are on the side of freedom and the protesters. They also cringe as figures on the right speak of Trump is near messianic terms, a tactic the left engaged in over President Obama for eight years prior to Trump. They’re both way off base. And as Kamala Harris suddenly declares herself a champion of marijuana decriminalization because it leads to mass incarceration, Jim and Greg inconveniently point out her record and her painfully obvious political calculations.

Steven Malanga joins Seth Barron to discuss expanding efforts to legalize recreational marijuana use, a movement helped along by extensive misinformation about the drug’s supposed health benefits.

This year, at least eight states are debating laws that would permit recreational pot. Marijuana advocates claim that the drug is therapeutic and that legalizing it will end the unjust imprisonment of casual users, especially in minority communities. But as Malanga writes in City Journal, “Even as the legalization push gains momentum, scientific journals report mounting evidence of the drug’s harmful psychological effects and social consequences.”

Propaganda of the Marijuana Lobby: A Con Job

 

We’re all being conned. As legalization of marijuana is being pushed forward in the US, we are discovering how little we really know about the drug, and the information we do have is not widely publicized:

Despite being a substance that targets the brain, if and how long-term cannabis use alters brain structure and function remain unknown. There are some known adverse effects. It acutely impairs mental functions and may exacerbate depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and use of other substances. Whether it is more harmful than substances such as alcohol or nicotine is still undetermined. On the plus side, there is conclusive evidence that cannabis provides relief from symptoms related to chemotherapy and multiple sclerosis. Other potential benefits remain unknown.

Ten states have already allowed the recreational use of cannabis. According to an op-ed piece by Alex Berenson, the pro-marijuana groups have changed the discussion by talking about medical marijuana and the relief it can provide, rather than focusing on its recreational use.

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The War on Drugs, and the offensive against opioids, has collateral damage with faces and names. A friend with cerebral palsy spends every night in the jaws of pain. All day, his mind and body generate enough natural pain suppression to keep him mobile and rational. Then it is time to sleep, to let his […]

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I have been reading “Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York.” As I read the chapter on the New York elections of 1895, I am struck with how little politics has changed, and how relevant this chapter is to AG Jeff Sessions desire to reignite the War on Pot. Back […]

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Marijuana Legalization Brings More Drugs Than Money to Classrooms

 

shutterstock_200553167Soon voters in 14 states, including Arizona, California, Maine, and Nevada, will decide whether to follow Colorado and legalize marijuana. When Colorado faced the same vote, the most common argument from the pro-legalization side was that it would bring more tax revenue for education. As an educator, I was opposed to funding capital improvement for education projects with drug money, but was willing to listen to the debate for decriminalization of pot. As I predicted, there has been more negative effects in the classroom than money in the classroom.

Marijuana marketing is everywhere. Kids see advertisements with everything from candy bars to lollipops to soda to brownies that are infused with THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. These advertisements often attempt to be humorous by spoofing products that are already familiar to children, such as “Pot” Tarts. According to BusinessWeek, “Edibles and other infused products—defined as anything other than the bud itself—make up at least half of the total, dispensary owners say.”

Colorado is now number one in marijuana use by 12- to 17-year-olds. The marijuana industry in Colorado is so normalized that kids don’t even understand the dangers. Parents also don’t understand how easy it is for these products to get into schools. A recent study by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) found that of students who obtained marijuana, 45 percent of them obtained it legally from friends, 24 percent got it from the black market, 22 percent from their parents, six percent from medical marijuana dispensaries, two percent from retail marijuana stores and one percent from medical marijuana card holders.

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I want to talk about something that has been on my mind for a long time. Have you ever wondered if you are interacting with somebody here who is stoned or otherwise intoxicated? I have. On one occasion I was so sure of it that I posted the following song in a comment thread as […]

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What’s round at the ends and high in the middle? Obviously not Ohio. The Buckeye State rejected legal marijuana tonight by a 65% majority.  But since we’re still stuck with John “I’m better than Jesus” Kasich, we’re all thankful that drinking is still legal. Preview Open

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Up here in the Great White North, one of Justin “Time For My Close Up” Trudeau’s big promises was the “legalization” (and regulation) of marijuana. The thing is, the production, sale and purchase of marijuana for medical purposes is already legal and regulated. Preview Open

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Pot Legalization Ain’t (Tax) Consequence Free

 

Like death and taxes, you can count on the state to fumble the libertarian holy grail of recreational marijuana legalization. Take Colorado, for example.

There’s a ballot proposition (Prop BB) for next week’s election that allows the state to keep revenues from excise and sales taxes on pot, rather than having to return the excess to growers and taxpayers under Colorado’s TABOR.

Vape Your High

 

shutterstock_274257785This may instantly mark me as a hopelessly out-of-it person, but it’s something I didn’t know. From YaleNews: (yeah, yeah, I know, I know)

E-cigarettes not only vaporize nicotine, but they work with marijuana as well, American teenagers are discovering.

Yale University researchers surveyed 3,847 Connecticut high school students and found nearly one in five e-cigarette users also have used the device to vaporize cannabis or byproducts like hash oil, according to a study published Sept. 7 in the journal Pediatrics.