Cannabis is safer

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 * Share links: safer - safer cannabis - safercannabis. See: Drug war causes high U.S. incarceration rate. And: Republican-led drug war. And: Register and vote.

Click the images below to enlarge them, and for info.

10 marijuana myths exposed. Marijuana Legalization in Washington State: One-Year Status Report. July 6, 2015. By Drug Policy Alliance. "New Report Finds Major Fiscal Benefits, Decrease in Violent Crime, No Increase in Youth Marijuana Use or Traffic Fatalities – And Massive Drop in Marijuana Arrests."
 * House Republicans say no to allowing federal studies of medical marijuana. . July 9, 2015.
 * Video. The Difference Between Getting Drunk and Getting High. . ATTN.
 * See also: Marijuana Is Safer.org.
 * Facebook: Marijuana is Safer.

See: Map and detailed list and info about US states that have legalized medical and recreational cannabis.



Alcohol: 1 in 20 deaths globally
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 20 Sep 2018. The Guardian..

Tobacco: 1 in 9 deaths globally
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6.4 million deaths attributed to smoking tobacco in 2015.. Out of 56.6 million deaths worldwide in 2015.. That is one out of nine deaths actually, not one out of ten.


 * The number of deaths from smoking has gotten worse instead of better. By Quentin Fottrell. June 3, 2017. MarketWatch. From the article ( emphasis  added):


 * The Lancet: The war on tobacco: Latest estimates show need for 'renewed and sustained' efforts on control policies. April 5, 2017. EurekAlert! Science News.
 * Smoking prevalence and attributable disease burden in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. April 2017. The Lancet.

Tobacco: 1 in 5 deaths in USA
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480,000 deaths attributed to tobacco smoking in the USA yearly. Out of 2.6 million deaths yearly in the USA. That is almost one in five deaths in the USA.

'''[https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6200367/nurse-video-smoking-lung-damage Deep Breath. Nurse shares horrifying video showing what smoking is REALLY doing to your lungs].''' By Lizzie Parry, May 4, 2018. The Sun. "The footage shows a healthy pair of lungs next to a disease-riddled set from someone who smoked a pack of fags a day".

E-cigarettes
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Harm reduction taking hold concerning tobacco.


 * Smoking numbers hit new low as Britons turn to vaping to help quit cigarettes. By Sarah Boseley. 7 March 2017. The Guardian. And: E-cigarettes should be offered to smokers, say doctors - BBC News. . By Michelle Roberts. 28 April 2016. BBC News.

Cannabis vs opioids & Big Pharma drugs
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19 Mar 2019: Eli Lilly’s Hazy Memory – Indianapolis Monthly. "At a farm in Greenfield, it grew 156 acres of marijuana during the early decades of the 20th century."

22 Feb 2018. '''[https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/22/medical-marijuana-laws-reduce-opioid-overdoses Do medical marijuana laws reduce opioid overdoses? A new study adds a layer of nuance].''' By John Ingold. The Denver Post. "First, it confirms the results of a groundbreaking 2014 study that found states with medical marijuana laws have lower rates of fatal opioid overdoses. The connection was most dramatic, the new study concludes, in states that allowed dispensaries. ... And, a study last year using preliminary data found that Colorado experienced a 'reversal' [6% decline] in opioid overdoses after legal [recreational] sales began."

Tobacco versus cannabis
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Cannabis does not have the hundreds of synthetic additives found in cigarettes.

New Study: Cigarettes Tied To Increased Stroke Risk But Not Marijuana. January 2, 2017. And: Cannabis is less harmful than tobacco and the world is waking up to it. June 27, 2016 article. "A report from Bloomberg.com published in June 2015 stated that 29 percent of U.S. life insurers with official policies in place for cannabis users now class them as non-smokers."

Worth repeating: marijuana decreases risk of lung cancer. By David Downs on June 9, 2015. And it does not cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

[https://web.archive.org/web/20160121165220/http://www.tricountycessation.org/tobaccofacts/Cigarette-Ingredients.html '''Cigarette Ingredients - Chemicals in Cigarettes. Tri-County Cessation Center]: "The list of 599 additives''' approved by the US Government for use in the manufacture of cigarettes is something every smoker should see. Submitted by the five major American cigarette companies to the Dept. of Health and Human Services in April of 1994, this list of ingredients had long been kept a secret. ... While these ingredients are approved as additives for foods, they were not tested by burning them, and it is the burning of many of these substances which changes their properties, often for the worse. Over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette – 69 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer." See: Tobacco harm reduction. See Marijuana habit not linked to lung cancer : IMNG Oncology Report: "The difference in risk is likely related to chemical additives in commercial cigarettes that aren’t present in most methods of inhaling marijuana smoke." See: List of additives in cigarettes. See: Health problems associated with tobacco smoking. See also: Pot Smoking Not Linked To Breathing Problems; May Help Lungs. By Steve Elliott on March 6, 2013.

"In October 2008 the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) became the first medical organization in the U.S. to officially endorse tobacco harm reduction as a viable strategy to reduce the death toll related to cigarette smoking." Joel Nitzkin: "So if we can figure that the nicotine in the e-cigarettes is basically a generic version of the same nicotine that is in prescription products, we have every reason to believe that the hazard posed by e-cigarettes would be much lower than one percent, probably lower than one tenth of one percent of the hazard posed by regular cigarettes." 
 * }

Diet and cannabis
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This chart shows the annual death rate from sugary drinks per million adults in selected countries. Sugary Drinks Kill 24,000 Mexicans Every Year. By Niall McCarthy, Jul 15, 2015.

Sex and cannabis
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5 Oct 2018: Dagga (cannabis) makes sex feel better for women (The Journal of Sexual Medicine). 10 Sep 2018: New Studies Show That Marijuana Enhances And Increases Sex. Forbes.

World Health Organization report on CBD
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 Cannabidiol (CBD).

Some articles covering the 2017 report:
 * World Health Group: Pot's CBD Has Health Benefits. By Kathleen Doheny. Dec. 15, 2017. WebMD. "The experts produced the report in November, while the WHO announced its conclusions this week. In May, the committee will study cannabis and cannabis-related substances more fully."
 * Medical Marijuana's Main Ingredient Isn't Dangerous or Addictive, World Health Organization Report Says. By Melina Delkic. Dec. 14, 2017. Newsweek.
 * CBD Has No Health Risks Claims World Health Organization. By Terry Hacienda. Dec 16, 2017. The Fresh Toast.

The full report:
 * CANNABIDIOL (CBD) Pre-Review Report. Agenda Item 5.2. Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. Thirty-ninth Meeting. Geneva, 6-10 November 2017. World Health Organization.

Store cannabis in rubber-sealed jars
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As with any herb any rubber-sealed jar will work. Store in a cool location out of the light. The sealed jar maintains the humidity level. It also prevents the essential oils from evaporating away.


 * What Happens to Marijuana After Five Years of Storage? By Allie Beckett on July 28th, 2017. Marijuana.com
 * How To Store Cannabis So It Lasts Longer. HERB | Cannabis News, Culture And Information.
 * Best Way to Store Your Medical Cannabis. Harborside: California Medical Cannabis Dispensary.

Make your cannabis last longer
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'Put a flat lighter on top of your small pipe bowl after taking a puff. Let no smoke be wasted.' Buy a flat lighter, not a round one. Use a small pipe that you can sit down without it rolling over. Put in a very small amount of cannabis. Puff without letting any smoke escape at all. Take in some side air while you do it so you don't cough and waste smoke. Immediately put the lighter on top of the bowl to stop any smoke from escaping. It quickly stops the burning due to no oxygen, and no smoke escapes. Lighter will heat up very little due to how fast the fire goes out in the bowl.

Hold in the smoke as long as possible. No need to take in more than a few puffs if good pot. And be patient. Wait 5 minutes for it to kick in before deciding if you need more. Set the pipe aside since it will no longer be lit, and since you don't have to worry about it tipping over. This method will easily cut your cannabis use in half. Usually much more if absolutely no smoke escapes.

Don't breathe out the smoke all at once. Breathe out a little, and then breathe in some more air to allow you to hold in the remaining smoke even longer. Keep letting out only a little air, and breathing in air to replenish the oxygen in your lungs. People who try to cough and blow out huge clouds of smoke usually do so to impress their friends. They are ignorant, and/or have too much money to burn. Literally, money going up in smoke.

Other ideas:
 * 10 life hacks to make your weed last longer and save you a bunch of money. By Steve Elliott. 18 December 2017.

Low dosing
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 * Marijuana for Moms. By The Atlantic. Mar 2, 2018. From the article:
 * {| class=wikitable


 * one new product in particular is spreading fast in mom circles: sublingual spray, a convenient, THC-infused ingestible liquid. ... it’s difficult to take too much sublingual spray. Since you can feel the effects immediately, it’s easy to tell when you’ve had enough. “The worst thing that can happen is you may feel overwhelmed,” she says. “Nausea, vomiting, paranoia, anxiety. These are symptoms of overconsumption. You cannot die.”
 * }

Using too much cannabis
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See article link and quote in the previous section. Vomiting is no fun, but you can not die from cannabis. See also:
 * 8 Ways to Counteract a Too-Intense Cannabis High. By Lisa Rough. Leafly.

Beginners should take it slow. Get used to low doses before increasing gradually to higher doses on another day. It takes around 10 minutes to reach the full high from smoking or vaping. It is very easy to do too much and get higher than you may want. Each stash of your cannabis can be wildly different in potency and effect. Experience with a particular stash is your best teacher. Go slow with the first try of a particular stash.

Cannabis tends to enhance whatever emotions you are feeling. So, to relieve anxiety or paranoia do something fun such as listening to happy music with headphones, or playing fun computer games. Get away from crowds until you are comfortable with a particular stash. Lie down. Keep a small trash can nearby in case you need to throw up. You may not have time to get to the bathroom.

Hyperemesis syndrome. Vomiting
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Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Some unlucky people can not use cannabis without vomiting. And apparently it is not from contaminants in the cannabis.

Need info on whether total abstinence is required, or what frequency of use is safe. Once a week, 2 weeks, monthly?

Poisons in cannabis, or pipes
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Don't smoke out of wooden pipes. Some have stains applied to the wood. Some have wood preservatives, water treatments, etc.. Some have been painted with lacquers, clear sealants, etc.. All of which will burn and go in your lungs. You may throw up, and in addition be sick and feel bad for hours.

Don't smoke out of plastic pipes either. Even with a screen there is enough heat to cause volatile chemicals to evaporate from the plastic. You may throw up, and in addition be sick and feel bad for hours.

You may wonder if someone added something to the pot. In the past pesticides (such as paraquat, glyphosate and 2,4-D) have been sprayed by the US and Mexican governments on fields of marijuana in Mexico and the USA.

Snopes.com says "There have been no confirmed incidents in which fentanyl has ever been conclusively detected in marijuana samples." 26 Sep 2017 article. This info may be out of date. I have read some stories of fentanyl being confirmed as being in some marijuana. Very rare though. And very questionable:

29 Mar 2019: The White House And Federal Scientists Are Pushing The Myth That Marijuana Is Laced With Fentanyl. By Dan Vergano. BuzzFeed. From the article:
 * {| class=wikitable


 * But fentanyl hasn’t shown up in any marijuana seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the agency’s Jill Head, a senior chemist, confirmed earlier this month at a National Drug Early Warning System briefing. ...

The mistaken police reports might have come from weed that tested positive for fentanyl on ultrasensitive test strips that can detect the drug at concentrations as low as one-billionth of a gram. Weed handled by dealers and people who might use all sorts of drugs will likely have trace amounts of fentanyl, similar to the way that studies have found US currency widely contaminated by cocaine. “The positive samples are from levels of contamination that are not clinically meaningful,” Ciccarone said. "They are not felt by the person."

The other evidence of cross contamination comes from toxicology tests on people who died of an overdose. That isn’t a sign of drug dealers purposefully adding fentanyl to marijuana, but rather that many drug users take all kinds of drugs.
 * }

If you seriously believe the cannabis is contaminated, or if you have done some dangerous drugs in addition to the cannabis, then call 911, or have someone take you to the emergency room or urgent care. You will not be arrested there.

Finding toxic-metal-free vape pens
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Get vapes with ceramic heating elements, not metal:
 * 23 Apr 2019: Michigan Officials Advise Testing Vape Cartridges for Heavy Metals. From the article: "Michigan regulators noted that no vape cartridges with ceramic heating elements had been found to be tainted with lead."

25 Jan 2019: California Cannabis Labs Are Finding Toxic Metal in Vape Carts. Leafly. From the article:

19 Feb 2019: Cannabis Cartridges Have a Heavy Metal Problem & It Is Worse Than Reported. From the article (emphasis added):

1 in 6 US adults binge drinks 4 times a month
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 * CDC - Fact Sheets-Binge Drinking - Alcohol. From Centers for Disease Control. "One in six US adults binge drinks about four times a month, consuming about eight drinks per binge."
 * 'It's a public health crisis': 1 in 8 Americans are now alcoholics amid a huge rise in binge-drinking among women, elderly people and ethnic minorities. By Abigail Miller. 9 August 2017. Daily Mail Online.

Alcohol versus cannabis. US info
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It has not been proven that anybody has died solely from the health effects of cannabis use. See: Cannabis (drug).
 * What's Worse for Your Brain — Alcohol or Marijuana? By Stephanie Pappas. Feb. 16, 2018. Live Science. "Hutchison said: Heavier alcohol use led to greater declines in gray matter and declines in the quality of connections in white matter. ... In contrast, 'we don't see any statistically significant effects of cannabis on gray matter or white matter,' Hutchison said."

1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults
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[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/alcohol-remains-a-leading-killer '''USA. 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults are alcohol-related.''' ] (disease, overdose, car crashes, falls, violence, and more). 87,798 per year from 2006 to 2010. . From the Washington Post article linked just above the chart: "Last year [2014], more than 30,700 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes, including alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis, which is primarily caused by alcohol use. ... This tally of alcohol-induced fatalities excludes deaths from drunk driving, other accidents, and homicides committed under the influence of alcohol. If those numbers were included the annual toll of deaths directly or indirectly caused by alcohol would be closer to 90,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
 * Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows. By Radley Balko, August 5, 2014. The Washington Post..
 * Americans are drinking themselves to death at record rates. By Christopher Ingraham, December 22, 2015. Washington Post. Chart below is from the article.

Secondhand drinking hurts 53 million
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 * 1 Jul 2019: Effects of ‘secondhand drinking’ hurt 53 million Americans: study. . By Kirsten Fleming. From the article:

Domestic violence drops after pot decrim
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16 May 2019: Serious Injuries From Domestic Violence Dropped After Marijuana Decriminalization, Study Finds. By Kimberly Lawson.

Teen drivers have 3 times more fatal crashes
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Teen Drivers: Get the Facts | Motor Vehicle Safety | CDC Injury Center. From the article: "Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. ... teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash."

Graduated driver licensing has been shown to greatly reduce teen accidents. . Maybe we should consider graduated drinking licenses for alcohol modeled on customs in France, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc.. .

Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving. From the article:

Why Pedestrian Deaths Are At A 30-Year High. March 28, 2019. Morning Edition. From the article (emphasis added): "Florida is considering legislation that would allow police to ticket drivers for any type of distracted driving, including petting your dog or yelling at your kids. That type of law exists in five out of the six New England states, which saw, overall, a 36 percent drop in [pedestrian] fatalities last year. Rhode Island alone dropped from 10 fatalities in 2017 to just four last year, a 60 percent decrease."

Oct. 2014 article: In California full marijuana decriminalization went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, the report finds that "marijuana decriminalization in California has not resulted in harmful consequences for teenagers, such as increased crime, drug overdose, driving under the influence, or school dropout. In fact, California teenagers showed improvements in all risk areas after reform."

Texting. 6 times more accidents than alcohol
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Texting and Driving Accident Statistics - Distracted Driving. From the article:

Teens and cannabis
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 * Meta-analysis: Cannabis Exposure Not Associated With Residual Adverse Impact On Cognitive Performance. By NORML. April 18, 2018. From article:
 * No, Medical-Marijuana Legalization Doesn't Make Teens Smoke More Pot. By Rachael Rettner. Feb. 22, 2018. Live Science.

Marijuana and cigarette use by 12th graders
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Chart below is from a NIDA article. Text at the top was added later. Chart is for regular marijuana and cigarette use by 12th graders in the USA in the past 30 days. For cigarettes actual daily use is measured. For marijuana it is for use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days.



References: Miech, R. A., Schulenberg, J. E., Johnston, L. D., Bachman, J. G., O'Malley, P. M., & Patrick, M. E. (December 17, 2018). "National Adolescent Drug Trends in 2018." Monitoring the Future: Ann Arbor, MI. Stats source is linked from the charts index. From footnotes: "Daily use is defined as use on 20 or more occasions in the past 30 days except for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, for which actual daily use is measured." This particular footnote is for more than one chart. Smokeless tobacco is not measured in the marijuana and cigarettes chart. That NIDA chart is found in this NIDA article.
 * See Monitoring the Future.

States that have legalized have no increase in fatal car crashes
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Guessing that it could possibly be due to the fact that some people are substituting marijuana for alcohol, and drinking less alcohol. So, though both can cause fatal car crashes, cannabis (by itself) causes far fewer than alcohol.


 * 22 Apr 2019: Marijuana Legalization Not Linked To Increased Traffic Deaths, Study Finds | Marijuana Moment. By Kyle Jaeger.
 * 23 Jun 2017: Marijuana legalization doesn't lead to more fatal car crashes, finds Texas doctor. By Fernando Ramirez. Houston Chronicle. From the article:

Alcohol 10 Times More Deadly Than Cannabis on the Road
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 * Study Finds Alcohol 10 Times More Deadly Than Cannabis on the Road. By Bruce Barcott. November 17, 2017. Leafly. From the article:


 * AlcoDroid Alcohol Tracker - Android Apps on Google Play. Free app. "AlcoDroid is an alcohol consumption tracker, drinks diary and blood alcohol content calculator. ... provides an estimate of your blood alcohol content (BAC) based on the drinks you've logged". Graphs BAC over time.
 * Google search: AlcoDroid.
 * The Best Alcoholism Apps of the Year.

Suicide rates rise sharply across US
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 * Suicide rates rise sharply across the United States, new report shows. By Amy Ellis Nutt, June 7, 2018. Washington Post.
 * CDC: U.S. Suicide Rates Have Climbed Dramatically. By Nell Greenfieldboyce. June 7, 2018. All Things Considered.
 * How Suicide Quietly Morphed Into a Public Health Crisis. By Benedict Carey. June 8, 2018. New York Times.


 * State by state rates: Supplementary Table. Trends in Suicide Rates among Persons ≥ 10 Years of Age, by State and Sex, National Vital Statistics System, 1999 – 2016. June 8, 2018. CDC Stacks. Source: Vital Signs: Trends in Suicide Rates and Circumstances Contributing to Suicide — United States, 1999–2016 and 27 States, 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67(22):617-624.
 * Suicide rates rising across the U.S. CDC Online Newsroom. June 7, 2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 * Suicide in the United States. Has state by state rates list.
 * List of countries by suicide rate.

1 In 3 Takes Medications Linked To Depression
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 * 1 In 3 Adults In The U.S. Takes Medications Linked To Depression. Depression Is Possible Side Effect Of Many Common Drugs. By Allison Aubrey. June 12, 2018. All Things Considered.
 * Common Drugs May Be Contributing to Depression. By Roni Caryn Rabin. June 13, 2018. New York Times.
 * Depression Risk Linked to Many Common Drugs Used by Older Adults. By Nancy Kerr, AARP, June 14, 2018.

Other drugs versus cannabis
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USA. Tobacco deaths are now 480,000 a year. . CDC: "In 2012, of the 41,502 drug overdose deaths in the United States, 22,114 (53%) were related to pharmaceuticals. In 2012, 33,175 (79.9%) of the 41,502 drug overdose deaths in the United States were unintentional, 5,465 (13.2%) were of suicidal intent, 80 (0.2%) were homicides, and 2,782 (6.7%) were of undetermined intent." . 16,238 homicides in 2011. . Aspirin number is actually for NSAIDs (take with milk or antacid ). Peanut allergy deaths is more like 10. Stat sources (all deaths):.


 * 100 Die From Tylenol Overdose Each Year. Marijuana = Zero. By Steve Elliott. February 15, 2012. #1 story on Digg.



Chart below: "Drugs Involved in U.S. Overdose Deaths* - Among the more than 72,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2017*, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with nearly 30,000 overdose deaths."

Note the huge increases from 2014 to 2017.

Above chart found in these two articles:
 * These Are the Drugs That Cause the Most Overdose Deaths. January 1, 2017.
 * Fentanyl Rises as Cause of Drug Overdose Deaths. Dec. 20, 2016.

Pot versus pills
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 * How medical marijuana could help curb the opioid crisis. January 13, 2017. CBC Radio. "using marijuana as a replacement for other substances — including alcohol and both illicit and prescription drugs."
 * Could pot help solve the U.S. opioid epidemic? By Greg Miller. Nov. 3, 2016. Science Magazine. "they found a significant difference in the number of prescriptions for several conditions, including anxiety and nausea, in states with medical marijuana."

Chart below is from: One striking chart shows why pharma companies are fighting legal marijuana. By Christopher Ingraham. July 13, 2016. Washington Post.

Cannabis versus opioids
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 * See previous sections too.

 April 2, 2018. Scientific American. .
 * Free cannabis offered at B.C. clinic to help illicit drug users detox. By CTVNews.ca Staff. August 30, 2018. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
 * Urge Your Lawmakers to Acknowledge The Role of Cannabis in Combating the Prescription Drug Overdose Epidemic. NORML.
 * Fact sheet. Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids. NORML.
 * Opioid Use Lower In States That Eased Marijuana Laws. April 2, 2018. All Things Considered.
 * ATTN: Video (March 2018) - This former Republican official nails why more states should legalize marijuana. His liver failed 4 times in 5 years while using opiates for his condition. He now uses medical cannabis.
 * Medical Pot Is Our Best Hope to Fight the Opioid Epidemic. By Amanda Chicago Lewis. Dec. 8, 2017. Rolling Stone.
 * UNM Study: Medical Marijuana an Alternative for Opioids. November 28, 2017. The Associated Press. "The results indicate a strong correlation between enrollment in New Mexico’s medical marijuana program and cessation or reduction of opioid use."
 * Addiction Specialists Ponder a Potential Aid: Pot. By Matt Richtel, March 27, 2017,  New York Times.
 * Best Way To Kick Opiates: Use Cannabis!, Says Addiction Expert. By Steve Elliott, Jan 2, 2017.
 * The Surprising Way Aging Pain Patients Can Get Off Opiates. By Phillip Smith, AlterNet, November 3, 2016.
 * Pot Vs. Pills: Can Marijuana Help Cure The Opiate Crisis? By Aaron Payne, Ohio Valley ReSource, July 18, 2016.


 * More current and former Canadian cops are using medical marijuana. Veterans too. By Rachel Browne. July 13, 2016. Vice News.
 * 'Pot Over Pills’ Protesters Camp Out For Veterans Day. By Philip Lewis. Nov 12, 2015. Huffington Post.
 * See also: United States military veteran suicide.

Opioid overdose epidemic
''Return to top. See also:  Opioid overdose. And:  Opioid epidemic.''
 * Gallery Owner Arrested After Dropping Sculpture Of Giant Drug Spoon At Purdue Pharma. June 26, 2018. By Susan Dunne. Hartford Courant.
 * Fueled by drug crisis, U.S. life expectancy declines for a second straight year. By Lenny Bernstein and Christopher Ingraham. December 21, 2017. Washington Post.
 * How Big Tobacco-style marketing propels U.S. opioid crisis — and powers $400 billion pharma industry. June 24, 2017. From the article:
 * {| border=1 cellpadding=4 rules=all


 * "Their efforts helped make opioids more American than apple pie: The U.S. — with 4% of the world's population — ingests 80% of its opioids, according to one of the lawsuits."
 * }


 * Drug firms poured 780 million painkillers into West Virginia amid rise of overdoses. Dec 17, 2016. Charleston Gazette-Mail.

See gallery below, and more charts in this article:  Opioid overdose.

     





Heroin fentanyl carfentanil. Lethal doses
''Return to top. Fentanyl. Carfentanil.''

Source for first image below:
 * Opioid Epidemic Part 2: Stronger and deadlier than ever. By Mason Callejas. Aug 29, 2017.

Source for image below:
 * "Fentanyl Is Now The Leading Cause Of US Overdose Deaths. Deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids killed more than 20,000 people in 2016, doubling the previous year's rate, CDC data show." - October 12, 2017 article from BuzzFeed. By Dan Vergano.

13 July 2018: Notes from the Field: Overdose Deaths with Carfentanil and Other Fentanyl Analogs Detected — 10 States, July 2016–June 2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

26 October 2018: Postmortem Toxicology of New Synthetic Opioids. - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2018.01210 - Frontiers in Pharmacology. From conclusion: "Postmortem concentrations seemed to correlate with their potency, although the presence of other CNS depressants, such as ethanol and benzodiazepines has to be taken into account."

US maps of drug overdose deaths
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See  Opioid epidemic.

See state by state list of data here: Drug Overdose Death Data | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center. The numbers of overdose deaths are in the data tables below the maps there. While there run your mouse cursor over any state to get the numbers. There are maps for various years.



Drug withdrawal in jail is very dangerous
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Call the doctor right away!

Cold turkey stopping of all opioids and other drugs at once is often deadly. And flat out overdosing requires immediate medical assistance. And some drugs like bath salts are often just various random poisons packaged as "bath salts". But apparently many jails and prisons have a license to kill through medical negligence. Even when there are hospital doctors right across the street:

3 Sep 2018: Woman lay dead in Nevada jail cell for hours after deputy found her unresponsive. By Anjeanette Damon, Reno Gazette Journal.

Why can't jail and prison staff give a user gradually decreasing doses of an opioid? A doctor could have walked over from the hospital across the street and prescribed it for her. Isn't this how hip surgery patients recovering in hospitals, nursing homes, and at home do it? And what about prisoners with broken bones recovering in jails? Not being a doctor, and not ever being a recreational user of opioids I do not know if this would have helped her not. Guards and many nurses are equally clueless. Especially if multiple drugs are involved. But no one gave a damn. No one called in the doctors. She even told the jail staff that she previously suffered from seizures during withdrawal.

Withdrawal, overdose, poisoning deaths in jails:

6 Oct 2018: Deputies Made Jokes About a Veteran Thrashing in His Cell Before He Died. New York Times.



4 Sep 2018: New Orleans jail staffers ignored dying man’s cries for help, lawsuit charges. By Matt Sledge, The New Orleans Advocate.

Opioids are particularly deadly when combined with other drugs
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See  Drug overdose. See the "Causes" section for a list of the various drugs. More than one drug is often involved in an overdose death.
 * See also  Opioid overdose.





Fentanyl kills with cocaine and meth
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13 May 2019: As the Opioid Crisis Peaks, Meth and Cocaine Deaths Explode | The Pew Charitable Trusts. . Quote (emphasis added):

Overdose deaths are product of prohibition
''Return to top. See  Harm reduction for alternatives worldwide.


 * Overdose deaths are the product of drug prohibition April 11, 2018. By Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune. Article quote (emphasis added):

Potency varies greatly day to day
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16 Jul 2019: Scotland records huge rise in drug-related deaths. The Guardian. From the article: “The major problem for Glasgow is heroin and illicit benzos like etizolam or street valium, which have never been cheaper or more available. People buy it online, in huge quantities, and unknown quality. You could take 10 one day and be fine, and the next day take the same amount and overdose.”

Dealers don't know what is in the mix
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 * Finding a Fix. By Julie Lurie. Dec. 19, 2017 online. Mother Jones. From the article (emphasis added):


 * How much fentanyl will kill you? - Harm Reduction Ohio.



Regional carfentanil overdose deaths
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24 May 2019: Carfentanil unexpectedly returns to Ohio drug supply; overdose deaths surge. Harm Reduction Ohio.

Fentanyl can not be mixed evenly
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19 Mar 2018: How much fentanyl will kill you?. Harm Reduction Ohio. From the article:

Profits create more dealers nonstop
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 * Finding a Fix. By Julie Lurie. Dec. 19, 2017 online. Mother Jones. From the article:

FDA-approved drugs later banned
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 * 35 FDA-Approved Prescription Drugs Later Pulled from the Market.

Big Pharma and academic journals
Return to top. Read the article for more info. and more links to reliable sources.
 * This Is The Sickening Amount Pharmaceutical Companies Pay Top Journal Editors. Scientific publishing is totally broken. By Fiona MacDonald. 12 Apr 2018. From the article:
 * FTC Halts the Deceptive Practices of Academic Journal Publishers. November 22, 2017. Federal Trade Commission.
 * Big Pharma Is America’s New Mafia. By Daniela Drake. Feb. 15, 2105. The Daily Beast. From the article (emphasis added):


 * Marcia Angell (January 15, 2009). Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption . The New York Review of Books. From the article (emphasis added)::


 * See also: WP:MEDRS is based on a sham. WP:MEDRS stands for Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources (medicine).

Drug company price fixing
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12 May 2019: Sweeping lawsuit accuses top generic drug companies, executives of fixing prices. On 60 Minutes. CBS news. From article: "But 1,215 generics, many of them  ... 90 percent of all prescriptions filled in this country are filled with generic drugs."



Billie Holiday on insulin
Return to top. See: Billie Holiday history, and drug use.

It's uncanny what she said. Insulin is practically a black market drug due to massive increases in prices by mafia-like price-rigging by the mafia bosses in the drug companies.

Full quote:

Cannabis is an exit drug
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2 May 2019: Marijuana access is associated with decreased use of alcohol, tobacco and other prescription drugs. By Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML. The Hill.

Crack cocaine and cannabis
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 * Cannabis may help wean people off crack, study finds. By Mike Hager. The Globe and Mail. May 16, 2017.

1898. Scientific American
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 * Cannabis ‘One of the Most Valuable of Drugs’ 1898, Scientific American. Warmland Cannabis Centre.

1999. Institute of Medicine
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Quotes in the image to the left (and in the text below) are from the U.S. government's landmark 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. The full text of the report is available for free online at the above link, and is searchable. The table of contents by chapter is on the sidebar. The report is also available as a free PDF download. Quotes below are followed by their references.  Emphasis  added.

Page 109: "Indeed, epidemiological data indicate that in the general population  marijuana use is not associated with increased mortality . 138"
 * - 138. Sidney S, Beck JE, Tekawa IS, Quesenberry CP Jr, Friedman GD. 1997a. Marijuana use and mortality. American Journal of Public Health 87:585—590.

Page 107: "When heavy marijuana use accompanies these symptoms [amotivation], the drug is often cited as the cause, but no convincing data demonstrate a causal relationship between marijuana smoking and these behavior characteristics. 23"
 * - 23. Chait LD, Pierri J. 1992. Effects of smoked marijuana on human performance: A critical review. In: L Murphy and A Bartke, Editors, Marijuana/Cannabinoids: Neurobiology and Neurophysiology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Pp. 387—424.

Page 119: " There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans , including cancers usually related to tobacco use."

300 joints per month from US government
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 * The US Government Has Sent This Guy 300 Joints Each Month for 34 Years. VICE. Sep 9 2016. By Daniel Oberhaus.

Cannabis. Peer-reviewed studies, etc.
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 * Is Marijuana the World’s Most Effective Treatment for Autism? By Debra Kamin. Feb. 15, 2018. Newsweek.
 * THE LIST – Granny Storm Crow's List. Jan. 2018.
 * A new study has unexpectedly shown an ingredient in cannabis could be useful for treating psychosis. By Philip Mcguire. 28 December 2017. The Independent.
 * The Top CBD Cannabis Studies of 2017. By Josh Kaplan. Dec. 28, 2017. Leafly.
 * WHO Report: No Evidence of CBD-Related Public Health Problems. By TG Branfalt. Dec. 13, 2017.
 * Health Effects of Marijuana and Cannabis-Derived Products Presented in New Report. Jan. 12, 2017. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It is free to read it online. There is also a free PDF download.
 * 60 Peer-Reviewed Studies on Medical Marijuana. Medical Studies Involving Cannabis and Cannabis Extracts (1990 - 2014). Article by ProCon.org.
 * Review Identifies 140 Controlled Clinical Trials Related to Cannabis. By Paul Armentano. June 4, 2017. From the article: "A pair of German researchers identified 140 clinical trials involving an estimated 8,000 participants. ... A 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that new drugs typically gain FDA approval on the basis of one or two pivotal clinical trials."
 * 700 Medicinal Uses of Cannabis Sorted By Disease - Medical Cannabis Report. March 4, 2015.
 * Cannabidiol as potential anticancer drug. Published online April 17, 2012. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
 * 700 medical cannabis studies sorted by disease. 20 January 2011.

Cannabis and athletic performance
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 * Tanner Hall and the Athlete’s Case for Cannabis. By Charles Bethea. March 18, 2016. New Yorker.
 * Maryland: Baltimore Ravens Tackle Gives $10K To Marijuana Research, Asks Players To Contribute. By Derrick Stanley. March 15, 2016. Hemp News.

Microdosing and cannabis
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Why Microdosing Is Taking Over Medical Marijuana. April 20, 2017. Rolling Stone. From the article:

Cannabis stores mean safer neighborhoods
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Philly420: Bombastic opposition to Mt. Airy cannabis dispensary is unjustified. By Chris Goldstein. August 22, 2017. From the article:


 * A 2011 study by UCLA found that more than 1,000 semi-regulated medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles were not associated with an increased density of violent crime or property crime in their neighborhoods.
 * A June 2017 article in the Harvard Business Review reviewed a massive set of data addressing dispensaries in “mixed-use” areas. Marijuana dispensaries and restaurants appear to help keep crime down when they are open for business.

The Devastating Effects of Marijuana Legalization
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Reefer Madness
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 * Why Is Marijuana Banned? The Real Reasons Are Worse Than You Think. By Johann Hari. 11 Feb 2016. Many of the comments are informative too.

SAFER. Marijuana is safer than alcohol
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 * Category: Cannabis is safer.
 * Category: Marijuana is safer than alcohol.
 * Category: Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER).
 * MarijuanaIsSafer.org

Right-click images below for image info and larger sizes.


 * Facebook: Marijuana is Safer. Book by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert.

2005. Denver legalizes cannabis
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See:
 * Denver, Colorado . 2005 section about Denver legalizing cannabis.

Featured group:

Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER)
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 * saferchoice.org
 * Denver, Colorado, USA.
 * Facebook: Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER)
 * Facebook: Causes on Facebook. SAFER
 * saferdenver.saferchoice.org
 * twitter.com/SAFERchoice
 * myspace.com/saferchoice
 * think.mtv.com/profile/SAFER
 * youtube.com/user/SaferChoice
 * Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation - Wikipedia.








 * Rethinking Marijuana. It’s less harmful than alcohol and time to treat it that way. Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

Much safer than tobacco smoking
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See:
 * Tobacco packaging warning messages.
 * List of additives in cigarettes.
 * Health effects of tobacco.
 * Tobacco harm reduction.
 * Commons: Category:Cigarette packet warning signs.

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Presidents' views concerning cannabis
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See: Reagan's war on cannabis. And: Vote out most Republicans and their cannabis war.

Presidents alone can not reschedule it
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 * See main article: Presidents alone can not reschedule marijuana.

Vote out most Republicans
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See: Vote out most Republicans.

Categories
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