By Hunter Hines
Christian Action League
May 27, 2021
“It amazes me, truly astonishes me, the way we spend so much political capital on health, education, and employment, yet at the same time, there are some who are vigorously pushing for greater access to a drug that will complicate each of these efforts,” said Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “In recent years, public opinion about marijuana use has moved considerably in the favorable column, but the research is showing more clearly with each passing day its multiple harms.”
Creech’s remarks were made in reference to a new study from Stanford Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, which found there was an increase in rates of self-harm, including suicides, among young men under the age of 40 in states where Marijuana was legalized for recreational use.
According to Stanford’s Keith Humphries, senior author of the paper, there was a 46% increase in suicide attempts and self-harm behaviors such as cutting among males from ages 21-39 in states that allowed unregulated sales of various marijuana strains and dosages. These findings were based on more than 75 million health insurance claims filed between 2003 and 2017.
Humphries said, “The thing about cannabis is that, culturally, a lot of people believe it can only do good. But it is addictive like alcohol, and it can affect people’s well-being and health negatively.”
This year an unprecedented number of marijuana bills were filed in the North Carolina General Assembly. Most of them were sponsored by Democrats and a few Republicans. Each measure would move the needle further toward some form of legalization of weed in the Tar Heel State:
- HB 576 – Marijuana Justice and Reinvestment Act
- SB 646 – Marijuana Justice and Reinvestment Act
- HB 617 – Cannabis Legalization & Regulation
- HB 929 – North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act
- SB 483 – Marijuana/Diversion/Class 3 Misd. Study
- SB 711 – NC Compassionate Care Act
- SB 656 – Equity in Justice Act of 2021
- HB 290 – Make Certain Drug Offenses Infractions
- SB 669 – Enact Medical Cannabis Act
- HB 858 – Permit Cannabis Medical Research Studies
A new book, Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know, written by author Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., highlights many of the harmful effects of marijuana use. At a press conference covered by C-Span on April 20, also known as the unofficial “stoner’s holiday,” Sabet and others with Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) pointed out what most Americans don’t know. These facts are covered in Sabet’s book:
“Today’s Marijuana isn’t anything like it used to be. It can be up to 99% potent, and no one knows the effect this can have on the brain.
“Marijuana use among youth – twelve to seventeen-year-olds – continues to rise in states that have legalized pot.
“Addiction rates have more than doubled. One in three marijuana users, according to one prominent study, meet the criteria for a ‘marijuana disorder.’
“Emergency poison control calls for children, from newborns to age eight, more than tripled in Colorado after legalization.
“The number of car crashes involving Marijuana is skyrocketing. For instance, the percentage of traffic deaths related to pot more than doubled in Washington State the year retail sales were allowed there.
“Despite pronouncements to the contrary, studies show the opioid crisis in America is worsening where Marijuana has been legalized.
“Smoking weed by pregnant women is linked to lower birth weights in newborns.
“The more you use pot, the higher the likelihood it will create other (non-marijuana) substance abuse and dependency, according to no less authority than the National Academy of Sciences, an independent nonprofit organization comprised of the country’s leading researchers.
“People in states where it’s been legalized are testing positive for marijuana at much higher rates, and a recent survey showed that 25% of Americans living in pot-legal states admit to having gone to work stoned.”
Sabet also contends that if research such as this doesn’t convince one of the deleterious effects of marijuana use on society, they should also consider that Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and Big Alcohol are all trying to get into the market. He adds that financier George Soros has bankrolled north of $200 million to relaxing drug laws.
“I tell you the people who are now horning in on the marijuana business have little concern for the public good and never have,” said Creech. “They are significantly powerful, have an atrocious track record, and their money will ultimately control not only the business but much of the legislative agenda. They love money more than humanity. Our state’s lawmakers are supposed to protect and preserve the common welfare. Voting for legalized pot in any form violates this duty. All this new research throws abundant light on the question.”