Catch the livestream, parts 1-7:
May 19, 2012
Are you in the 74%?
A new national study has been released regarding cannabis, medical cannabis specifically, and President Obama’s amplified war on the plant. Mason-Dixon conducted an interview of 1,000 likely 2012 general election voters, informing them that “currently, 16 states plus the District of Columbia have made the use of marijuana legal. In some of these states, individuals have been authorized to cultivate and sell medical marijuana under tightly regulated conditions. However, medical marijuana use remains illegal under federal law, even in states that have passed laws or ballot measures that allow it for medical treatment.” Mason-Dixon’s poll then asked the 1,000 participants if they felt President Obama should “respect the medical marijuana laws in these states, or use federal resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws?”
With the participants broken into near thirds of political parties, 37% identifying as democrat, 32% republican, and 30% independent or unaffiliated, this slice of our nation found 74% want the Obama administration to respect the states with medical cannabis laws and end federal funding for raids. Independents rang in the heaviest support with 79%, while republicans showed two thirds support, and only 19% responded with opposition to those complying with state laws. The 18-34 demographic was overwhelmingly supportive, 81% answering that they felt Obama should respect medical cannabis laws, and 64% of the oldest group agreed.
The final results across races, ages, political affiliation and sex showed the United States clearly disagrees with Federal cannabis policy. Huffington Post reported via Americans for Safe Access that more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids have been conducted in nine states that allow medical cannabis, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments since October 2009. Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Huffington Post that “what the results of this survey show is there is absolutely no political justification for what President Obama is doing with respect to medical marijuana laws. Across the board… there is extremely strong support for respecting state medical marijuana laws.”
If you identify as one of the 74% of American voters like myself who wish the Obama Administration would discontinue funding the war on cannabis, let them know! Call the White House directly at 202-456-1111 between 11am and 5pm and leave a comment for President Barack Obama, or cruise ContactingTheCongress.org and let your Congress men and women know that they have the majority of their parties support in passing and protecting medical cannabis laws. We are the voices that need to be heard, as our President seems to ignore the growing population seeking safe access.
Resources:
http://www.mason-dixon.com/Mason-Dixon/HOME.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/republicans-state-medical-marijuana-laws_n_1519176.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call#call
February 8, 2012
Video: Medical Marijuana Laws Result in 5% Fewer Suicides
Thank you for watching this News Nug! More can be found at:
http://newsnug.com/2012/02/08/medical-marijuana-laws-result-in-5-fewer-suicides/
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http://www.facebook.com/NewsNug
The Institute for the Study of Labor’s report can be read or downloaded at:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp6280.html
Steve Elliot’s Toke of the Town article is available at:
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/02/medical_marijuana_reduces_suicides_study.php
Regarding Alcohol Sales and Traffic Deaths:
http://newsnug.com/2011/12/01/medical-marijuana-states-have-fewer-traffic-accident-deaths-and-less-booze-sales/
February 8, 2012
Medical Marijuana Laws Result in 5% Fewer Suicides
The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) is back with another report showing more benefits for the states that have legalized medical marijuana . IZA reported in November in what Toke of the Town’s Steve Elliot called a “groundbreaking new study” that medical marijuana laws have resulted in a nearly nine percent drop in traffic deaths and a five percent reduction in beer sales in those states.
The private research institute has recently published a new report, this one cleverly titled “High on Life? Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide,” in which IZA explores the conflicting arguments used by proponents for, and in opposition of, medical marijuana. The author writes that “proponents argue that marijuana can be an effective treatment for bipolarism, depression, and other mood disorders,” while “opponents argue that the negative effects of marijuana are long-lasting and users are at risk of suffering from decreased psychological well-being later in life.” We are all familiar with the hysteria surrounding cannabis, and are often told use will trigger or enhance depression, anxiety, psychosis and schizophrenia.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and as this study’s authors write “while the majority of people who suffer from mental illness do not commit suicide, over 90 percent of those who do commit suicide have a diagnosable mental or substance use disorder.” IZA also reports that the “relationship between marijuana use and suicide-related outcomes has been studied extensively,” but those results are sometimes convoluted by hard to determine factors and users self-medicating. “Most studies had not adequately addressed the problem of reverse causation” they wrote, and more simply put by Steve Elliot “it appears that existing studies haven’t sufficiently examined the possibility that any association between cannabis and suicide is due to suicidally depressed people self-medicating with marijuana. IZA’s study goes on to say “there have been no previous attempts to estimate the effect of medical marijuana laws on completed suicides.”
The Institute used state-level data from 1990-2007, and found that passing a medical marijuana law was associated with an almost five percent decrease in the amount of suicides committed. Among males ages 20-29 suicide rates dropped eleven percent, and the rates for males ages 30-39 fell nine percent following passage of medical marijuana laws. The authors note the previous study of IZA’s which found a reduction in beer sales and traffic deaths as a result of medical marijuana laws, writing “there is a strong association between alcohol consumption and suicide-related outcomes,” and perhaps this was associated with the declining suicide rates.
The authors of the study write that “the negative relationship between legalization and suicides among young adult males is consistent with the argument that marijuana can be used to cope with such shocks” that might alternatively lead someone taking their own life. It leads to an improvement in psychological well-being, and that’s reflected in fewer suicides. Regulating your endocannabinoid system is vital to life, and it is more clear with each study coming forward that individuals and communities are benefiting from safe access to cannabis.
The Institute for the Study of Labor’s report can be read or downloaded at:
http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp6280.html
Steve Elliot’s Toke of the Town article is available at:
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/02/medical_marijuana_reduces_suicides_study.php
Regarding Alcohol Sales and Traffic Deaths:
December 17, 2011
Teens Today Smoking Cigarettes and Drinking Less, Consuming More Cannabis
Article at Homeland.Time.com:
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/14/teen-drug-use-marijuana-up-cigarettes-and-alcohol-down
Learn more about Monitoring the Future:
http://monitoringthefuture.org/
Read the Lisa Leff’s AP article about cannabis clubs going mainstream with holiday specials, including a mention of my very own Smokey Santa giveaway!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/17/national/a100517S88.DTL
December 9, 2011
Attorney General Affirms Medical Marijuana States are “Low Priority”
This full story can be found at The Huffington Post.
December 7, 2011
Wisconsin, Florida, Missouri and the 2012 Elections
November 24, 2011
Four Former Vancouver Mayors Urge Officials to End Cannabis Prohibition
Original story at The Vancouver Sun.
