cannabisnews.com: Amendment 44 Prompts Questions About Pot





Amendment 44 Prompts Questions About Pot
Posted by CN Staff on September 22, 2006 at 10:28:38 PT
Staff Report
Source: Montrose Daily Press 
Colorado -- Marijuana, like alcohol, is an intoxicant. With Amendment 44 on Colorado’s ballot this November, talk has focused on whether issues related to the drug would worsen if the proposal passes.According to the American Medical Association, marijuana can cause impairment of short-term memory, attention, motor skills, reaction time and organization of complex information. A 2001 report issued by the AMA concerning the pros and cons of medical marijuana (now legal in Colorado) found that 4 to 9 percent of marijuana users meet the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence.
“It is true that tolerance and dependence, the two factors indicating physical addiction, don’t develop as quickly or as intensely with marijuana as they do with other drugs,” Montrose clinical psychologist Nicholas Taylor said.“However, it is important to note that addiction is a parallel experience involving both physical and psychological factors.” Taylor didn’t have an opinion on Amendment 44, a measure that would decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana by adults over 21 (see related story), but spoke generally of pot’s addictive qualities.He said that while heavy marijuana use may not lead to severe withdrawal tendencies and cravings, its frequent use to deal with stress can make it hard for people to cope without at least a little bit of the drug. People also use alcohol the same way, Taylor said.“When it comes to marijuana, regardless the legality of any substance — alcohol and prescription drugs included — it can be psychologically addictive if misused to accomplish a mental state or mood the person is not able to, or is unwilling to accomplish on their own.”Amendment 44 supporter Mason Tvert said alcohol was far more devastating than marijuana, but legal for adults to consume. Tvert is part of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation Colorado.“We don’t encourage them to do it (pot), but the fact is, it’s out there. As adults, we’re faced with many choices. We simply think adults should be allowed to make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana rather than alcohol.”Additionally, he said it’s marijuana’s illegal status, not its addictive properties, that create the perception that it’s a “gateway drug.”“People don’t refer to alcohol or tobacco as illegal. But when millions of people use marijuana, we’re forcing them into an illegal market where they have other illegal substance available.”Opponents said SAFER hadn’t offered any proof that marijuana is less harmful than other drugs. Several organizations have come out against Amendment 44 because they believe it will harm children.Jeffrey Sweetin, agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division said criminalizing alcohol for those under 21 hadn’t stopped them from abusing the substance. (As a federal agency, the DEA does not take official positions on legislation.)“Using the alcohol example is one piece of evidence that things that are legal for adults become very interesting to kids.”He pointed to Alaska, which had decriminalized pot for adults, but saw an increase in use and addiction rates for teenagers.“All of a sudden, we say it’s legal for adults. We’re sending those kids the message, ‘We’re wrong; it’s not harmful.’ We’re really at the edge of sending our kids a very dangerous message and that is that it’s a safe drug.”But Tvert said the present system isn’t keeping marijuana from kids. He reported that 86 percent of surveyed high school students said it was easy to get marijuana, while others were under the mistaken perception that smoking marijuana once a week was more risky than binge drinking.“If they’re so concerned about kids using marijuana, we need to take all the resources we’re wasting on adults,” he said. “Clearly, the system’s not working right now. We do not think anyone under 21 should use marijuana, but we do need to tell the truth about it.”Complete Title: Safer or Not? Amendment 44 Prompts Questions About PotSource: Montrose Daily Press (CO)Published: Friday, September 22, 2006Copyright: 2006 Montrose Daily PressWebsite: http://www.montrosepress.comContact: KatharhynnH montrosepress.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/Safer Coloradohttp://www.safercolorado.org/ Pot Plan Would Strain Authorities, Foes Sayhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22186.shtmlDEA: Pot Law Would Strain Copshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22182.shtmlFeds Shouldn't Use Offices To Keep Off Grasshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22129.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #15 posted by FoM on September 23, 2006 at 09:43:24 PT
Thank Global_Warning
I try to follow the rules since they pay for keeping CNews online. That's just the right thing to do.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by global_warming on September 23, 2006 at 09:28:32 PT
Sorry fom
I will try to change my ways, links only.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 23, 2006 at 08:11:03 PT
global_warming
No I haven't posted it but I will. I hadn't seen it yet. Please only post links because I am the one that will get in trouble without copyright info. I don't like getting in trouble with Mapinc. Thanks for helping me out here.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by global_warming on September 23, 2006 at 08:04:54 PT
has this been posted?
MARIJUANA POSSESSION: Arrest statistics at issueSep. 23, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-JournalMARIJUANA POSSESSION: Arrest statistics at issuePolice say offenders rarely jailed, which runs counter to argument by backers of initiativeBy ED VOGELREVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAUCARSON CITY -- Despite official records that show nearly 5,000 people were arrested in Nevada on marijuana possession charges last year, Las Vegas and Reno police say their departments give tickets to pot smokers and rarely book offenders in jail if their only offense is using the illegal drug.Las Vegas police Detective Todd Raybuck said this week that FBI crime reporting rules require police departments to list the citations they hand out for marijuana possession as arrests when they compile statistics.Under Nevada law, possession of an ounce or less of marijuana has been a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $600 fine since October 2001. Records of offenders are cleared if they complete an anti-drug course.Before passage of that law, Nevada had been the only state that made possession of any amount of marijuana a felony crime."We are told that citations should be considered arrests," Raybuck said. "I don't know any police officer who goes around arresting people for smoking pot on the corner. We are too busy for that.""We give them a ticket," Reno police Sgt. Dave Evans said. "We don't want to be clogging up our jail with them. Some of the marijuana proponents say we are, but it is not happening."Their statements ran counter to the contention of the Committee to Regulate & Control Marijuana, which maintains police in Nevada waste $42 million a year pursuing minor marijuana offenders when they should be spending time and resources on more serious crimes."If they are arresting this number of people, then it is impossible to say they aren't wasting police resources," said Neal Levine, the committee's campaign manager.Levine said it still would take a lot of time and resources even if police only issued citations to the 5,000 people charged with marijuana offenses last year.The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws reported Monday that the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for 2005 showed a record 786,545 people nationwide were arrested for marijuana offenses. Of the total, 696,074 were charged with marijuana possession. Nevada figures are included in the FBI report."These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."Levine's organization is pushing for Nevadans to approve Question 7 on the Nov. 7 ballot. With passage, adults could possess and use up to 1 ounce of marijuana. Penalties for driving under the use of marijuana and furnishing the drug to minors would be increased.The organization maintains current laws are not working since it is clear many people continue to risk arrest and use the illegal drug.The federal Office of Drug Control Policy reported earlier this month that 14.6 million Americans used marijuana last year and that use of the drug by people in their 50s and 60s has increased dramatically in the past three years.Nevada's marijuana group wants the state Legislature to set up a system where marijuana would be grown on regulated farms, taxed and sold in licensed stores.By providing marijuana through a state-regulated system, the Committee to Regulate & Control Marijuana theorizes people no longer would have to buy the drug from the criminal element. With fewer drug dealers around, the organization argues youths would have less access to the drug."What they are doing is creating a criminal market where really bad guys make a lot of money," Levine said.Levine would not comment on whether his group intends to conduct an extensive television campaign to sell Question 7 to voters.Four years ago, supporters of a move to legalize up to 3 ounces of marijuana spent nearly $2 million on TV advertisements. Their proposal received only 39 percent of the vote. Records filed with the state on Aug. 8 showed the organization had received $436,000 in contributions and spent $338,000.A poll conducted for the Review-Journal in April showed the question losing, with 34 percent in favor of the measure and 56 percent against. The rest were undecided. Earlier this week a Reno Gazette-Journal poll found the question losing, 37 percent for to 55 percent against.The marijuana group has posted on its Web site a portion of a July 10 Las Vegas television appearance by Clark County Sheriff Bill Young during which he questions whether 4,962 Nevadans were arrested on marijuana possession."Nobody is going to prison. I disagree with those numbers," said Young, who admitted he tried marijuana a couple of times as a young man.But an examination of monthly reports submitted by police, including those from Young's department, to the state Department of Public Safety, shows 4,962 Nevadans were "arrested" for marijuana possession in 2005, a 12 percent increase from the 4,423 possession arrests in 2004.In 2000, the last year before Nevada's misdemeanor law went into effect, 4,761 people in the state were arrested for marijuana possession.Levine said he has been waiting for Young to retract his comments about the marijuana arrest statistics."We are still waiting," he said. "They say no one is sitting in jail and we have filed a bunch of requests for information, but they won't tell us."Raybuck said Las Vegas police made 2,785 marijuana possession arrests last year, including 1,700 cases where offenders were given citations.In virtually all other cases, Raybuck said suspects were booked in jail for charges such as domestic violence or robbery, and also charged with marijuana possession as a secondary offense. They did not go to jail for marijuana possession, but for the more serious offense, he said.He said that in 14 years as a police officer, he has arrested one person solely on marijuana possession charges. In that case, he said the offender continued to smoke pot in his presence while he was arresting another person.Evans said the best way for a minor marijuana smoker to avoid jail is simply cooperate with police when he or she is caught with the drug. Cooperation virtually is a guarantee they will be given a ticket and not go to jail, he said.
 
 
 
Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/
Sep-23-Sat-2006/news/9778807.html
 
orhttp://tinyurl.com/rebfk
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Had Enough on September 22, 2006 at 17:31:02 PT
re: # 10
I vote to end this insane, unjust treatment of mankind.Choose wisely, I was once taught, over and over, again.Will we ever learn?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by global_warming on September 22, 2006 at 16:34:59 PT
Ah You Do Not Believe
You have not yet seen your prison, and you have not seen your disgrace, it will come to your mind and soul, when it is too late, too late.There is Time to change, time to vote.Yes to every change and amendments that can take away the power from these illegal pretenders.This is 'your time, use it wisely.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by global_warming on September 22, 2006 at 16:03:20 PT
It always come down to ownership
Who has the bigger bomb, who has the final say,Without ever acknowledging our tenuous place in this existence, for is not the bottom line, 'we have come here, to the world, from the belly of our mothers and fathers, are we not children that occasionally look up at the sky, in the night filled universe, and wonder?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by whig on September 22, 2006 at 15:46:22 PT
The Long War
Afghanistan and the transformation of the "War on Terror" into a new bigger badder all out military "War on Drugs".http://cannablog.wordpress.com/2006/09/22/the-long-war/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by global_warming on September 22, 2006 at 15:34:19 PT
My Tax Dollars
"According to the American Medical Association, marijuana can cause impairment of short-term memory, attention, motor skills, reaction time and organization of complex information. A 2001 report issued by the AMA concerning the pros and cons of medical marijuana (now legal in Colorado) found that 4 to 9 percent of marijuana users meet the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence. "Imagine, 4 to 9 % of users meet the diagnostic criteria for substance abuse, I would really love to know just what that number translates into actual people. Does that ridiculously low number support a multi-billion dollar effort on the American Taxpayers Back?As for the "impairment of short-term memory, attention, motor skills, reaction time and organization of complex information" you can ask any drunk if he or she has similar reactions.It is time to change our view on substance abuse and start to focus on abusive government waste, useless government social programs that harbor and sustain illegal drug cartels, foster organized criminal orginizations, the shoe kicking the boot, is truly an exercise in futility and the definition of insanity.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by whig on September 22, 2006 at 13:45:05 PT
Speaking of sex
I don't want to get into a big discussion about young people using cannabis, but I'd rather they smoke pot than have sex, given the consequences of each.Of course I know they're gonna do both. So be careful out there, and all. We certainly need to have birth control available and it's a serious issue but if I say much more it's probably better on the blog than here.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by dongenero on September 22, 2006 at 13:38:25 PT
amazing lack of perspective Dr. Taylor
 Hmmm......someone should ask Dr.Taylor if the psychological and physical impact of arrest and incarceration, rape etc. in prison is worth saving someone from marijuana craving.“It is true that tolerance and dependence, the two factors indicating physical addiction, don’t develop as quickly or as intensely with marijuana as they do with other drugs,” Montrose clinical psychologist Nicholas Taylor said.“However, it is important to note that addiction is a parallel experience involving both physical and psychological factors.”Taylor didn’t have an opinion on Amendment 44, a measure that would decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana by adults over 21 (see related story), but spoke generally of pot’s addictive qualities.He said that while heavy marijuana use may not lead to severe withdrawal tendencies and cravings, its frequent use to deal with stress can make it hard for people to cope without at least a little bit of the drug. People also use alcohol the same way, Taylor said.“When it comes to marijuana, regardless the legality of any substance — alcohol and prescription drugs included — it can be psychologically addictive if misused to accomplish a mental state or mood the person is not able to, or is unwilling to accomplish on their own.” 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by whig on September 22, 2006 at 13:36:03 PT
Perverse
"When it comes to marijuana, regardless the legality of any substance -- alcohol and prescription drugs included -- it can be psychologically addictive if misused to accomplish a mental state or mood the person is not able to, or is unwilling to accomplish on their own."So what they are saying that it is misuse of any drug, including a prescription drug that your doctor recommends, to take it regularly for beneficial psychological effects.That would be news to everyone who takes an anti-depressant, or any other drug which is regularly prescribed to treat mental conditions. If marijuana can provide the same benefits for people, it is surely not abuse.And what is wrong with drinking coffee to obtain a heightened alertness? That's caffeine, and millions of people are regular users who would surely scoff at you calling them drug abusers.But if the point is that a thing can be "psychologically addictive" without significant physical withdrawal? It's called a habit. There are good habits and bad ones, but we don't usually use the language of addiction to describe someone who makes the bed every day.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by konagold on September 22, 2006 at 13:08:16 PT:
Dr's not cops
Aloha"4 to 9 percent of marijuana users meet the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence."so what!! at least 10% of any American group are addicted to something -- be it to perscription drugs or tobacco or alcohol or pot or sex; in fact I am pretty sure that of these pot is the LEAST addictiveaddiction itself may have a genetic component which can only be made more miserable by prohibition and the judical system and jail, rather than regualtion and treatment and medical supervisiondrugs are the provence of medicine, Doctors not copswe the PEOPLE created the government to serve USGod did not create the People for them to be subserviant to, or to serve, the governmentAlohaRev. Dennis Shields 
http://thereligionofjesuschurch.org
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on September 22, 2006 at 12:07:17 PT:
Marijuana Is NOT An Intoxicant!
Hi! Just for the record, let's not recycle all those old lies! Marijuana is NOT an intoxicant because it is not toxic and therefore NOT lethal and its effects on the body and mind and NOT induced through a toxic reaction from the body as is the case with alcohol. Alcohol is very toxic and thus, very lethal even in small doses. In this context Marijuana is non-toxic and non-lethal and non-addictive. Besides the fact that alcohol is toxic it is also physically addictive. Marijuana is NOT physically addictive but it is psychologically as addictive as a good ice cream sundae.
Please let's stick to the science of things!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Happyplant on September 22, 2006 at 11:04:21 PT
Liars
I'm tired of "the children"getting thrown into all of this. Stop the lies and Legalize. 
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment