Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 2:29 pm | By: Radical Russ
A recent study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has some startling results about teens and drugs.
In their study, they found that 40 percent of teens could get marijuana within a day; another quarter said they could get it within an hour. In another portion of the survey, teens between the ages of 12 and 17 say it’s easier to get marijuana than buy cigarettes, beer or prescription drugs. That number is up 37 percent from 2007.
But, local law enforcement says these numbers don’t match up to what’s happening here in east Idaho.
Kim Ellis, Pocatello Police department: “That’s something that we’re seeing here, but as far as what we’re seeing the statistics don’t bear out, that way, we’re seeing a lot more underage consumption citations than marijuana, possession of marijuana.”
According the Pocatello Police Department, since the beginning of the year there were 58 alcohol violations with minors younger than 18, while there were only 12 marijuana violations.
Law enforcement credit’s this to in school programs like “DARE” and having school resource officers available.
Did you think about crediting this to the fact that student’s ability to procure marijuana and police records of marijuana arrests have nothing to do with each other? Cops bust a college keg party or run an ID check at clubs all the time, both situations where there are adults legally enjoying alcohol but some minors sneak in. Sure you’re going to have more alcohol citations, as people using alcohol are more likely to do it in a manner that brings police interaction.
But marijuana you’re going to keep under wraps, especially in a conservative part of the country like North Utah Southeastern Idaho. So don’t credit D.A.R.E., which has been proven to be ineffective at keeping teens from trying drugs.
Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 3:16 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Detroit News) Warren — Authorities have charged four teens in connection with the beating death of a man Sunday over a $5 bag of marijuana, officials said.
The suspects have been identified as Kevin David Antone, 18, of Warren; Thomas Henry Post, 17, of Roseville; Jacob Steven Androsuk, 17, and Brandon Lee Ebel, 16, both of Warren, officials said.
All four face second-degree murder charges as well as a count of armed robbery and a count of conspiracy to commit robbery in the death of Michael Daniel McCarthy, 46, according to authorities. Second-degree murder is punishable by life in prison.
Police say the group of young men hit McCarthy over the head with a piece of cement, then stomped on him for several minutes, after he refused to hand over a bag of drugs provided by Ebel.
The argument began after Ebel showed up at his father’s home in the 8600 block of Stephens Street to sell his father a baggie of the drug, Dwyer said. McCarthy, a friend of the father, also took a bag.
The teen left, but then returned, angry, with three friends. The teens argued with McCarthy over the $5 bag before beating him and taking off.
The police chief in a statement said, “The loss of any life is tragic, but more often than not acts of extreme violence are the result of this type of criminal behavior involving drugs.” Really? I’ve purchased more than a few “baggies of the drug” and never once experienced any type of criminal behavior.
However, I was never forced to buy a baggie of weed from my friend’s teenage son, either. Did the police chief ever stop to think that a 46-year-old man wouldn’t be buying marijuana from violent criminal teenagers if he could purchase it in a well-lit, secure marijuana store from another adult who checks ID? When’s the last time you heard tell of four teenagers selling a six pack of beer to their old man and a six pack to his friend, then beating the friend to death over a dispute on the transaction?
Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am | By: Dudemaster
An average ISD in Texas has an alarming problem, their Children have Marijuana in their school!!!
From my alter-ego blog on our Dallas – Fort Worth NORML blog, I wrote a small rant about a local ISD poll that was taken in regards to cigarettes, alcohol, Marijuana and other drugs.
Shoved between a discussion of funding streams and TAKS results at Monday’s board meeting was a glimpse into Frisco ISD’s drug war.
About 4,000 students from seventh to 10th grade responded to a survey about drug and alcohol use in the district’s schools.
Almost 20 percent reported using alcohol in the past year. About 17 percent considered alcohol a major problem in FISD and 40 percent said it was an issue. Less than 10 percent reported using marijuana or other drugs, although 660 students said they first drank between ages 10 and 13. Almost 200 students said they started using drugs at roughly the same age.
Other results:
• 22 percent of students consider drugs a major problem in FISD
• 14.6 percent said they see marijuana on campus, 16 percent see pills and 8 percent see other drugs.
In all reality, it’s easier to get Marijuana in school than alcohol or cigarettes. In fact, when polled, teens frequently admit the only place they can find alcohol or cigarettes is either from their parents or friends older than 21. In contrast, Marijuana is very easy to obtain because there isn’t a clerk asking for an ID and providing a high level of scrutiny. I don’t know how it is around the rest of the country, but in Texas, if a clerk sells alcohol or cigarettes to a minor, they go to jail. I don’t know any clerk willing to go to jail for minimum wage.
This couldn’t be more true, but not just for our ISD, but for yours. Ask a kid how hard it is to get drugs in their school, and then ask them where they get cigarettes and alcohol. One of my neighbors tells me he scores his best weed from his own kid who is in high school. Isn’t that amazing?
You need to do this, you need to ask them, you need to learn this for yourself.
Prohibitionists and the ignorant alike cry, “It’s for our children, it’s all for the kids!!” and continue to spread the word of ignorance. The truth is right in front of us, just ask them. Is the war against drugs working?
Help the children by helping us. Support and help us with the legalization of Marijuana so that it can be taxed and regulated.
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 8:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
A new study, published in the journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy, shows that one-third of teens use marijuana to treat health problems rather than recreationally, when conventional medicine fails, or access to healthcare is limited.
Researchers from University of British Columbia interviewed 63 adolescents who used marijuana. Twenty said they used marijuana to for treatment of behavioral health problems, pain, sleep difficulty, and problems with concentration.
Rather than rely on ineffective prescriptions with unwanted side effects, the teens said they used marijuana, not to get high, but to treat their health problems.
The authors write, Youth who reported they had been prescribed drugs such as Ritalin, Prozac or sleeping pills, stopped using them because they did not like how these drugs made them feel or found them ineffective. For these kids, the purpose of smoking marijuana was not specifically about getting high or stoned”.
Teenagers, then, seem to use marijuana much the way adults do. Most use “recreationally”, some use “medicinally”. For those medicinal users, it is not a surprise to me that they prefer the natural and mild marijuana to the harsh and addictive pharmaceuticals. Not a single interview with a patient goes by where they fail to tell me how much they prefer cannabis to handfuls of pills.
We’re a nation that addicts our children to high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, and caffeine even at pre-school ages. If a child is slightly rambunctious or drivingly inquisitive we have some sort of pill to bring them back into “the norm” of child behavior. Nine million of these kids don’t have any sort of health insurance to get those pills in the first place. We think nothing of giving our kids all sorts of over-the-counter cold and flu remedies. Are we surprised some reject it all for a natural remedy?
Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 3:14 pm | By: Radical Russ
AUSTIN — Though they are legally considered adults and can serve in the military, 18-year-old Texans would be considered minors when it comes to smoking under a bill passed unanimously through a Senate committee Tuesday.
The measure would increase the legal age for buying tobacco products to 19, and would cut off an estimated $12.5 million in tax revenue for the state over the next two years.
Supporters say raising the legal age will prevent teens from smoking an extra year and keep cigarettes out of high schools, where they can be passed along to younger students.
According to the Department of State Health Services, roughly one-fourth of Texas high school students smoked cigarettes in 2006.
Four other states — Alabama, Utah, Alaska and New Jersey — have raised the smoking age to 19.
In the past, opponents have said that if 18-year-olds are old enough to serve in the military, they should be able to choose whether to smoke.
But at least one senator who opposed the measure on those grounds two years ago has changed his position. Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, said Tuesday that more information and statistics about teens smoking in high school led him to vote for the measure in committee.
With approval from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the proposal now seeks a hearing with the full Senate.
If our laws actually followed the science about the danger to human development and addictiveness of these substances, the legal age for alcohol would be 24, for tobacco it would be 21, and cannabis would be 18. Personally, I’ve always felt that a set age for mind-altering substance consumption is not the best way to regulate their use. I know 18-year-olds who are rational and responsible cannabis consumers and I know 40-year-olds who are reckless and embarrassing.
Therefore, I personally think we ought to use educational attainment and employment to grant consumption privileges, up until age 24, when you gain the privilege automatically. Graduate high school (or GED) and contribute 36-months of part- or full-time payroll taxes into Social Security, or 36-months of 2.5 GPA undergrad classes, and you receive your Consumption License. If a kid started work at 16 and graduated at 18, by age 19 he’d accumulate 36 months and would be allowed to consume alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. If he didn’t start work until after graduation at 18, or decided to go to college, by age 21 he’d earn his Consumption License. If the kid does nothing but drop out and be a bum, well, then he doesn’t get to party until he’s 24.
Even over 24-year-olds, however, would have to get the license. The Consumption License would also require its own safety course and registration. People would get the objective facts about substances, the laws concerning them, instructions for safest use, awareness of addiction and information on treatment and rehabilitation. People who abuse their consumption license can have it suspended or revoked. We’d have reliable statistics as to how many people are consuming substances. The license could have a renewal fee and generate money for the state that would go toward treatment programs.
The added benefit is a bit of coercion for students to stay in school and graduates to go to college or work. Substance use wouldn’t be seen as a “rite of passage” that comes along automatically at a certain age, but rather as a privilege that is only extended to repsonsible, educated adults. For those who choose not to use, they don’t have to be taxed to care for the substance users; the users’ Consumption Licenses take care of that.
I can think of all manner of logistical hurdles and political difficulties in instituting such a system, but it makes more sense than just declaring that at a certain age, a human is responsible enough to smoke, drink, and toke.
Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 4:47 pm | By: Radical Russ
The newly released biennial Attorney General’s Survey of Student Drug Use in California shows that marijuana use among 7th, 9th and 11th graders remained stable during 2007-8, but reports an “alarming rate” of prescription drug abuse.
“The survey confirms that California’s medical marijuana law has had no adverse impact on youth marijuana use,” comments California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer. “At the same time, it shows that youth prescription drug use has been seriously underestimated in the past.”
Marijuana use been declining to stable ever since passage of California’s medical marijuana law in 1996. For a graph, see http://www.canorml.org/prop/studentMJuse.html. According to the latest report, “Since 2003, use in the past six months has remained stable at 7% in 7th grade, 20% in 9th and 31% in 11th grade.”
“The most significant but disturbing overall finding of the 12th biennial survey is – because of underassessment of recreational use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs – we have previously underestimated actual levels of youth substance use. New data shows that 37 percent of 9th and 50 percent of 11th graders used either an illicit/illegal drug or a diverted prescription drug to get high at least once in their lifetime. Taking this into consideration, total lifetime use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) use is estimated at 52 percent and 69 percent respectively. Including use of cold/cough medicines to get high, lifetime AOD 9th-grade use rises to 60 percent and 11th-grade use to 74 percent.”
Weird, isn’t it, that they keep telling us that medical marijuana will “send the wrong message to the children”, yet teen use of marijuana remains steady or declines in all the states that have medical marijuana. Meanwhile, we have pharmaceutical advertising on television and radio 24/7 sending messages about prescription drugs, and their abuse rates skyrocket.
A great deal of this increase, I believe, is due to random drug testing of students. Everybody knows that pot, out of any substance you can take for intoxication, is the one that remains detectable for the longest period of time. Everybody knows that if you are caught with even the residue of marijuana, you’re going to jail, losing your scholarships, maybe your job, and altering your life forever.
But if you pop a few of the pills you find in mom and dad’s medicine cabinet, you won’t be tested for it, you’ll get a lot higher, it’s harder to find (no smell) and conceal, and even if you are caught, you still get student aid and keep your job. What teenager seeking a thrill wouldn’t choose the pills over pot? Once again, prohibition maximizes the harm.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Recent declines in marijuana use by U.S. teens appear to have stalled this year and their abuse of prescription drugs remains at worrisome levels, researchers said on Thursday.
The annual survey of U.S. teen drug use, conducted by University of Michigan researchers for the U.S. government, also found continuing declines in cigarette smoking and alcohol use.
Marijuana is the most commonly used of the illicit drugs and its use had been in a slow but steady decrease this decade, but that appeared to halt this year, researchers said.
The survey found that marijuana use by students in two of the three grades measured increased slightly. The researchers said 11 percent of eighth graders, 24 percent of 10th graders, and 32 percent of 12th graders reported using the drug in the prior year.
But the annual survey has shown an overall downward trend in teen drug use this decade, and President George W. Bush, in comments at the White House, cited progress on the issue during his presidency.
“No question there’s still work to do in America, but we are making progress. And one way to note the progress is this statistic — since 2001, teen-age use has declined by 25 percent. That means 900,000 fewer teens on drugs.”
It is interesting that George W. Bush would attribute fewer teens smoking marijuana to any drug policies he has enacted. It’s not the silly anti-marijuana ads your Drug Czar has been running, like the ones where cannabis users shot their friends, run over little girls on bikes, or let their sisters drown. Studies have shown that those ads haven’t worked and may have made kids more likely to try cannabis.
It’s not arresting more adults for cannabis. Bill Clinton doubled marijuana arrests and teen use went way up. While George W. Bush has arrested more cannabis consumers per year than Clinton, Bush actually slowed down the rate of arrests.
Personally, I think teen use goes down when the economy gets tight. Marijuana is expensive. Gas costs more and the minimum wage stayed stagnant for years. Perhaps the slight increase this year matches the slight increase in the minimum wage.
Whatever the reasons, the fluctuation in drug use by teens is a very complex issue. One place that has consistently lower rates of teen drug use – about half of American rates – is the Netherlands, where you can buy marijuana in a coffee shop. If you’re really concerned about teen use, Mr. Bush, why not try regulated sales to adults? Coffee shops in Amsterdam check IDs – teen pot dealers don’t.
Changing attitudes to cigarette smoking are being linked to a reduction in the number of teenagers smoking cannabis, drug experts say.
An Auckland University student health and wellbeing survey released this week found a considerable drop in the rates of cigarette and cannabis use, which the Drug Foundation believed is linked to anti-smoking campaigns.
Director Ross Bell said the significant drop in cannabis use – from 39 per cent of secondary school students in 2001 to 27 per cent last year – was a good shift as the drug affected adolescent brain development.
He believed New Zealand’s long-running anti-smoking campaign, focusing on how smoking damages the lungs, had influenced teens’ perception of all forms of smoking.
“Young people are transferring the view that smoking is bad for you to anything they smoke, whether it’s pot or tobacco.”
See what happens when you gove young people realistic and truthful information about drugs? Tobacco smoking in America is down to below 20% of our population for the first time since they began measuring those rates. Tobacco smoking is down in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe as well.
Now it is perfectly natural for cannabis smoking rates to also decline. Smoking – anything – is a health risk. We know that smoking cannabis is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, but inhaling any carbonized vegetable matter into your lungs is not what you’d call a healthy choice. I always encourage any adult cannabis consumer to use a vaporizer or edibles, though that’s one of those “do as I say, not as I do” encouragements, because I love the act of smoking a joint, pipe, or bong. There’s something about smoke that has a grounding effect, that makes me feel in touch with nature and earth.
ABSTRACT. Objective: This article aims to contribute to the literature by reporting on a nationally representative study of U.S. youths regarding their self-reported reasons for abstaining from or quitting marijuana use and the relationships between such reasons and individual sociodemographic characteristics of gender and race/ethnicity.
Method: This article uses data from in-school surveys obtained from nationally representative cross-sectional samples of U.S. high school seniors from 1977 to 2005 (N = 82,106).
Results: Results indicate the following:
50% of those reporting past-12-month marijuana use felt they should either stop or reduce their use;
among those saying they would not use marijuana in the coming year, the most frequently reported reasons cited were psychological and physical damage and not wanting to get high (reported by more than 60%), whereas the least frequently reported reasons included expense, concerns of having a bad trip, and availability (reported by fewer than 25%); and
clear differences existed in reported reasons by gender and race/ethnicity.
Conclusions: A significant percentage of U.S. high school seniors who are recent marijuana users wish to either reduce or stop their marijuana use and are basing such desires on a wide variety of reasons that show significant gender and racial/ethnic variation. Marijuana prevention and cessation policy and programming could potentially be strengthened by incorporating the findings from these analyses.
I haven’t read the study yet, but in the results, I noticed some reasons for quitting or not using marijuana among teens that weren’t listed:
Saw a scary commercial on TV that told me if I smoked pot I’d shoot my friend, let my little sister drown, run over a little girl at a drive-thru, get pregnant, or become a middle-aged low-life slacker living in Mom’s basement;
Afraid that my continued use of marijuana would turn me into a heroin junkie, meth freak, or crackhead; and
It’s illegal.
I also notice the cost and availability of marijuana are affecting few teens in deciding to quit pot. Everyone can get it even though it is illegal, so what’s the point?
This year’s survey uncovered “problem parents,” who increase the likelihood that their 12- to 17- year olds will smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal and prescription drugs, because of their failure to:
Monitor their children’s leaving their home and hanging out on school nights (Monday through Thursday).
Safeguard their dangerous and addictive prescription drugs, like painkillers and stimulants, from their children.
Address the problem of drugs in their children’s school.
Set good examples.
The report notes that 46% of 12-to-17-year-olds report going out of the home on “school nights”, but that only 14% of parents think their teens are going out on school nights.
Perhaps we need to revive the old public service announcement that used to run on television, “It’s 10:00 p.m., do you know where your child is?”
RevRayGreen: MASS TWEET THIS -@ChuckGrassley Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer sadness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
RevRayGreen: @ChuckGrassley http://bit.ly/55Ejsi Truth is Chuck you follow Nixon's CSA full of reefer madness. btw Chuck, Marijuana is not a drug.
SneakerPimp: one last thing Puff puff pass to any one who wants it
SneakerPimp: i wanna here about the imminent MiniSpof sounds like time for some
SneakerPimp: im estatic and excited for NSL today.
SneakerPimp: mountain time wake n bake
SneakerPimp: oh yea also wake n bake
SneakerPimp: its central im high as a kite everybody
SneakerPimp: ill grab that WUD
WakeUpDead: @Russ, I dont think that wireless is going to work out for the show, it was choppy and studdered just like last week. Hardline may be the only way. Puff [...]
WakeUpDead: A MINI Spof, Lock up your Weed, in 18 years that is. Really Man congrats! Greatest days of my life when my kids were born, hell yeh, great news [...]
BenJaMin: Late night Stash!!!
SneakerPimp: heres a bong rip for spof
RevRayGreen: errr test over....
RevRayGreen: on hold..
RevRayGreen: @RR I'll try and lob a call to you.....
SneakerPimp: where is the first field of cannabis gonna be?
SneakerPimp: !
Radical Russ: Breaking News: MrSpof's wife's water just broke! A MiniSpof is imminent!
SneakerPimp: oh russ its not my fault that i dont understand choppy word:stoned:
SneakerPimp: @Mrspof congratulations tell us all about it tommrow
Radical Russ: OK, test over. Sorry. Only needed a half hour. Be back tomorrow afternoon.
slash5city: don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west
thaistik: Local Crime Stoppers notice.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Pot shop burglars sought
Crime Stoppers is looking for information on the suspects who police say burglarized a medical marijuana dispensary and stole cash, drugs [...]
Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco; California Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is A "Failed Public Health Policy"; Oregon: State NORML Affiliate Opens First 'Cannabis Café'. […]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Some of the nation’s top athletes discuss why today's pros are turning to cannabis — and away from alcohol and painkillers — off the field, and question why pro sports leagues are continuing to sanction those who do. Moderator: Steve Bloom, Author, Pot Culture; editor, celebstoner.com * Toby Grear, MMA fighter * Sean Neumann, Documentary Filmm […]
Cannabis Law Reform's Missing Link: Law Enforcement Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper; LEAP and NORML Advisory Board; Author of Breaking Rank Putting the Mexican Cartels Out of Business Mexican drug cartels now employ over 100,000 soldiers and are responsible for nearly ten thousand deaths per year. Their largest source of income is marijuana. […]
New study says it’s easier for kids to get marijuana than beer
sounds like time for some 
mountain time wake n bake 
don't forget to watch CCS live on u-stream 8 pm west 
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