Cannabis is safer

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 * Share links: safer - safer cannabis - safercannabis. See:  Drug war causes high U.S. incarceration rate . And: Register to 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.
 * See also: Marijuana Is Safer.org.

E-cigarettes
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Harm reduction taking hold concerning tobacco. Similar to the harm reduction of needle exchange.

E-cigarettes should be offered to smokers, say doctors - BBC News. .

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.

Teens and cannabis
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Alcohol and cannabis
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From the 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."
 * 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..
 * Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows. By Radley Balko, August 5, 2014. The Washington Post..
 * Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. Teen drivers have 3 times more fatal crashes per mile driven. Drinking and driving (2700 yearly), and texting while driving (3000 yearly), are the leading causes. Scary video. . Graduated driver licensing has been shown to greatly reduce teen accidents. . 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." Maybe we should consider graduated drinking licenses for alcohol modeled on customs in France, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, etc..
 * Americans are drinking themselves to death at record rates. By Christopher Ingraham, December 22, 2015. Washington Post. Chart below is from the article.

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.

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." And: 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."

More on tobacco and cannabis
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Opiates and prescription opioid pain relievers
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Best Way To Kick Opiates: Use Cannabis!, Says Addiction Expert. by Steve Elliott. Jan 2, 2017. And: The Surprising Way Aging Pain Patients Can Get Off Opiates. Phillip Smith. AlterNet. November 3, 2016. And: Pot Vs. Pills: Can Marijuana Help Cure The Opiate Crisis? By Aaron Payne, Ohio Valley ReSource. July 18, 2016.

'''[https://news.vice.com/article/more-canadian-cops-than-ever-are-using-medical-marijuana More current and former Canadian cops are using medical marijuana. Veterans too].''' By Rachel Browne. July 13, 2016. Vice News. And: 'Pot Over Pills’ Protesters Camp Out For Veterans Day. By Philip Lewis. Nov 12, 2015. Huffington Post. See also: United States military veteran suicide.





More numbers on drug overdose deaths
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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. These numbers for drug overdoses do not count deaths where alcohol is the main cause.

"During 2014, 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. Since 2000, the age-adjusted drug overdose death rate has more than doubled, from 6.2 per 100,000 persons in 2000 to 14.7 per 100,000 in 2014." - Increases in Drug and Opioid Overdose Deaths — United States, 2000–2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. January 1, 2016 article.

Rates of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 by U.S. state. See the source for the numbers for the colors within the map, and better legibility.







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."

Cannabis as an aid in curing cancer
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 * Some more mainstream media admits it, cannabis may help in cancer treatment, and not just for nausea and wasting. March 19, 2016 article by Jay Syrmopoulos. From the article:

"The research, cited by CNN, was conducted in numerous preclinical studies on mice and rats, as well as human cells. It has shown 'that cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells,' according to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health. ... Even the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a US federal government research institute whose mission includes 'bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction,' has officially admitted that marijuana extracts can kill cancer cells."

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.

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.

Obama said cannabis is safer than alcohol
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Presidents alone can not reschedule it
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Green love
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End drug war with Universal Healthcare
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 * See article: End drug war with universal healthcare.

2017 Global Marijuana March and 420
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Categories
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