Govt’s Own Study Shows Legal Weed Reducing Teen Pot Use, Convictions, & Addiction

It has been just over three years since the State of Washington approved marijuana sales for recreational use. And despite the naysayers’ cries the sky would fall after Washington decriminalized weed, according to a new report, not only has cannabis use among teenagers and kids fallen, but so have admissions to treatment centers and misdemeanor pot convictions.

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy commissioned the study. It found that pot use among teens fell from 20 percent in 2010, to just 17 percent in 2016. The survey asked nearly 11,000 high school sophomores if they’d consumed cannabis within the last month. The results indicate not only are fewer teens using cannabis on a monthly basis, but the fears that teens would become pot addicted were unfounded.

According to the Seattle Times, legalizing cannabis use and decriminalizing it also helped drive down the number of admissions into marijuana abuse treatment centers. The Times writes:

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On cannabis abuse, researchers found that admissions for publicly funded treatment fell in the three years after I-502 [decriminalization of cannabis in WA] was enacted. Admissions dropped from 7,843 in 2012 to 6,142 in 2015.

As for misdemeanor convictions for marijuana use, they also fell significantly.

misdemeanor convictions for pot possession by adults dropped sharply after legalization… Prohibitions for minors did not change under I-502; possession remained illegal for them. But convictions began to decline in 2012, dropping from 1,015 at the start of the year to 722 in early 2013.

Resulting from Washington State’s decriminalization of marijuana use for adults, not only did pot use among teens fall, but admissions to treatment facilities, and misdemeanor convictions for pot use also dropped. The results, if they can be duplicated nationwide, hold promise for the rest of the country.

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Indeed, the country as a whole is wrestling with a burgeoning opiate and heroin crisis. As TFTP reported more Americans died in 2016 from opiate and heroin overdose than died in the entire Vietnam War. Cannabis holds out effective hope to treat opiate and heroin addicted individuals by substituting addictive opiates with cannabis. In light of those facts, the legalization of cannabis across the United States cannot come fast enough for opiate addicts and their families.

Working against Americans’ freedom to choose a natural plant-based medicine, as TFTP reported, is Insys, an Arizona-based pharmaceutical company, and manufacturer of Subsys, a controversial fentanyl-based opiate. Insys actually paid $500,000 to sway voters against making recreational marijuana legal in Arizona. The money was given to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy (ARDP) which quickly launched an effective television and radio advertisement campaign declaring that marijuana is an “addictive product” that ensnares children leading to skyrocketing rates of pot use among teens.

As TFTP’s Matt Agorist wrote, the hypocrisy was glaring:

Insys Therapeutics, the company who makes insane profits from a drug behind one of the worst overdose epidemics in the nation’s history, fentanyl,  has donated $500,000 to a campaign opposing marijuana legalization in the US state of Arizona. In a glaring display of hypocrisy, the maker of the drug Subsys, a sublingual fentanyl spray, claims that marijuana is dangerous because it could hurt children.

What’s really hurting children are the nearly 60,000 deaths by opiates and heroin overdose which has taken countless parents away from children, addicted possibly millions of teens and young adults, and taken away grown children from elderly parents.

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The ARDP mission statement (which can be read on their Youtube channel) indicated that ARDP was dedicated to “fighting back against the for-profit marijuana industry that makes money from an addictive product”. Critics such as Agorist contend that not only did ARDP accept donations from one of the country’s most unethical pharmaceutical companies allegedly, to promote fallacies about cannabis, but ultimately ARDP helped enable Insys to keep marijuana illegal in Arizona. The ballot-initiative failed in late 2016.

Almost immediately following the failure to decriminalize cannabis in Arizona, Insys convinced the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to allow Insys to introduce a synthetic marijuana product, Syndros, to the market. Yes, that’s right. At the same time Insys was paying to keep safe and natural weed illegal, it was partnering the DEA to profit off of synthetic weed.

The latest facts from Washington State suggest Americans have nothing to fear from weed becoming legal in all 50 states and provinces. But the entire nation has much to fear from an increasingly unethical pharmaceutical industry which will stop at nothing to addict Americans to its powerful, deadly, and dangerous opiates.

DEA Approves Synthetic Marijuana for Company That Spent $500K to Keep Weed Illegal

(ANTIMEDIA) Lobbying in the nation’s capitol is a billion dollar industry, but sometimes, companies dip their toes into state and local politics, as well. When giant corporations want to influence bills and national elections, they generally spread their money around, cozying up to a number of politicians and shaking hands with numerous government officials. However, at the local level, high-dollar financing is a bit more transparent.

Insys Therapeutics is a small player on the national scale. The Center for Responsive Politics reported that they spent only $120,000 lobbying in D.C. in 2016. But in Arizona, where the company is based, they forked over $500,000 — and they did it to keep marijuana illegal in the traditionally Republican state.

Last September, the Washington Post first reported the large donation, which was “one of the largest single contributions to any anti-legalization campaign ever.” Insys’ money was given to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, a localized political action committee that opposed the state’s ballot measure to legalize cannabis in 2016. That measure was ultimately defeated, and now the group is fighting the Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative, a bill that could hit Arizona ballot boxes on November 8, 2018.

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According to the full text of the bill, acquired by Anti-Media via ballotpedia.org, the application was filed at the beginning of March. It states that “marijuana and cannabis have been used safely for thousands of years for recreational, medical, religious and industrial purposes.” The bill also cited a study funded in part by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that “did not show a significant increase in levels of crash risk associated with the presence of drugs.”

The bill proposes a number of changes that would essentially legalize marijuana. These include:

“There shall be no limit on the number of cannabis plants in a personal grow that are not yet in a state of florescence.”

“All persons at least twenty-one years of age are authorized to maintain a home garden provided the person obtains a transaction privilege tax license.”

“Commercial grows, home gardens and cannabis sales are not authorized within 1,000 feet of a school.”

According to the Washington Post, Insys has “developed a drug based on a synthetic ingredient, THC. Called Syndros, the drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July for treatment of AIDS and cancer patients’ symptoms.”

Insys was just given preliminary approval for Syndros from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) this week.

However, Insys has a shady history as a big pharmaceutical company, as they manufacture Subsys fentanyl, a deadly painkiller. An NBC report found that as of 2015, Insys had enjoyed sales of $147.2 million for their high-risk drug. They also came under investigation for the aggressive manner in which they were marketing and selling their drug. The NBC study quoted the Oregon assistant attorney general, who stated, “I’ve been investigating drug cases for about 15 years now, and the conduct that we saw in this case was among the most unconscionable that I’ve seen.”

For Insys, the fight against marijuana legalization has been long and arduous. In 2011, they retained the lobbying firm Hyman, Phelps & Mcnamara to nudge the DEA against legalization. In a statement to the Post, the company claimed they oppose marijuana legalization because “marijuana’s safety hasn’t been demonstrated through the federal regulatory process.”

Safer Arizona, the group fighting for legalization, features the tagline, “We don’t have a drug problem, we have a political problem,” on their website. Marijuana legalization in Arizona would be a huge step for nationwide legalization, as the state is seen as a stronghold of traditional American values. However, if big pharma continues to bankroll the opposition, the political action groups fighting against legalization will have more money to fund campaigns for local politicians who share their sympathies.

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