Transcript The Truth About Marijuana Sue Thau Public Policy Consultant CADCA “The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie.” – Ann Landers.

The Truth About Marijuana
Sue Thau
Public Policy Consultant
CADCA
“The naked truth is always
better than the best-dressed
lie.” – Ann Landers
2
Age of Initiation Is Decreasing
• In the 1970s, the average
age of initiation for
marijuana was 19.
• In 2011, the average age
of initiation was 17.5
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Available: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/mjinitiation/highlights.htm and
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k11Results/NSDUHresults2011.htm
• Children who first smoke marijuana under
the age of 14 are more than five times as
likely to abuse drugs as adults, than those
who first use marijuana at age 18.1
1The
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) report. August 23, 2002. Available:
http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k2/MJ&dependence/MJdependence.htm
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Marijuana is Addictive
• Long-term marijuana use can lead to
addiction. Approximately 9 percent of
users will become addicted to marijuana.
5
Budney AJ, Vandrey RG, Hughes JR, Thostenson JD, Bursac Z. 2008. “Comparison of cannabis and tobacco withdrawal: Severity and contribution to relapse.”
J Subst Abuse Treat, e-publication ahead of print.
• This number increases to 17 percent
among those who start young – that is in 1
in 6 users.
• 1 in 2,600 kids are injured in bicycle
accidents.
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According to the 2013 Monitoring
the Future Survey, perceptions about the risks of
marijuana are going down and now more 8th, 10th
and 12th graders smoke marijuana than cigarettes
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12th Graders’ Past Year Marijuana Use vs. Perceived
Risk of Occasional Marijuana Use
100
80
60
40
20
0
7577798183858789919395979901030507091113
Past Year Use
Perceived Risk
Potency: Increased THC Content
in Seized Marijuana
PERCENT THC FROM 1983 TO 2009
10%
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0
’85
’90
’95
’00
Kevin A.
Sabet, Potency
Ph.D.,Monitoring Project
Sources: The University
of Mississippi
www.kevinsabet.com
’05
Definitions
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Decriminalization
• Decriminalization proposals retain laws that
forbid manufacture, importation, and sale of
illegal drugs, but remove criminal
sanctions for possession of small
amounts for personal use. Such proposals
make possession of marijuana for personal
use subject only to civil penalties such as
fines.
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Decriminalization
• Many US states and localities have already
decriminalized marijuana
• Decriminalization is legal under federal law
because there is still a penalty of some sort
• Decriminalization is widely misunderstood
as “legalization”
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“Medical Marijuana”
• “Medical marijuana” laws and ordinances
basically decriminalize marijuana for those
who meet criteria in compliance with state
law for both users and “caregivers”
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What is Legalization?
• Legalization involves the removal of all
sanctions and penalties for the cultivation,
distribution, sales, taxation/other
financial activity and/or manufacture,
production and importation of marijuana
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Major Issues with
Legalization
• United Nations Conventions forbid
legalization
• The Federal Controlled Substances Act
(CSA) forbids legalization
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The Naked Truth About
“Medical” Marijuana and
Marijuana Legalization
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The “medical marijuana”
issue is where policy and
politics meet
The folks pushing for "medical
marijuana“ found a way to make their
issue resonate with regular Americans.
They reframed the issue to
be about voting for compassion
for sick and dying people.
They built a brilliant campaign
around this simple message:
“Marijuana is Medicine”
Our messages have been
too complicated and
nuanced to resonate.
The legalizers built a
“Permission Structure” about
the safety and acceptability of
marijuana use with the general
public.
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There are now more "medical
marijuana" dispensaries in
California and Denver than there
are Starbucks.
1
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1
True Compassion. What’s Really Medical About Marijuana? 2011. Available: www.truecompassion.org/images/TC1%20-%20Pages%204.pdf
Big Marijuana
is the new
Big Tobacco
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The advertisements for “medical marijuana” are not
geared toward the sick and dying, but towards young
men.1
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1
Thurstone, Christopher, M.D. The Impact of Legalization on Colorado’s Youth. 3rd World Forum Against Drugs. May 22, 2012.
Can we trust companies and
Big Corporations not to target
youth and the vulnerable?
Copyright 2013 Kevin A. Sabet
and Project SAM
www.learnaboutsam.org
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FACTS on Medical Marijuana
• Less than 3% of state “medical marijuana”
users have cancer, HIV, or glaucoma.
1
– Is not even good for conditions it is touted
for
– Could exacerbate symptoms (American
Glaucoma Society)
1American
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Glaucoma Foundation. Available: http://www.glaucomafoundation.org/UserFiles/File/TGF_Summer_10_Web.pdf
FACTS on Medical Marijuana
• Vast majority are white males in
30s and 40s with self-diagnosed
pain.
• Vast majority of cancer doctors
and other physicians do not
recommend smoking or ingesting
marijuana.
California average medical marijuana patient statistics, found at: O'Connell, T and Bou-Matar , C.B. (2007). Long term cannabis users seeking
medical cannabis in California (2001–2007): demographics, social characteristics, patterns of cannabis and other drug use of 4117 applicants.
Harm Reduction Journal,
Take Away Messages
We don’t smoke opium to
get the effects of morphine.
So why should we smoke
marijuana to obtain its
medical benefits?
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States with medical marijuana laws that
have been implemented to include home
cultivation and legal dispensaries are
positively associated with increased
marijuana use in these states.[i]
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[i]
Pacula, R.L., Powell, D., Heaton, P., Sevingy, E.L. (2013). Assessing the effects of medical marijuana laws on marijuana and alcohol use: The
devil is in the details. Available: http://www.nber.org/papers/w19302
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Alcohol and Tobacco: A Model?
• Use levels for alcohol and tobacco are much higher
than marijuana
• Industries promote addiction and target kids
Schiller JS, Lucas JW, Peregoy JA. Summary health statistics for U.S. adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2011. National Center for
Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10(256). 2012.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital Signs: Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults Aged ≥ 18 Years—United States, 2005–
2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2011;60(33):1207–12
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Trends In Drug Use
60%
Current use among persons 12 and older: 2012
52.10%
50%
40%
26.70%
30%
20%
7.30%
10%
0%
Alcohol
Tobacco
Marijuana
NSDUH, 2013
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The Naked Truth About
Legalization in
Washington
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WA State Seeing Rise
in Youth Marijuana Use1
• 40 percent of Seattle public school students
who use marijuana said they got it from a
medical marijuana dispensary.
• Cascade Principal Ana Garcia believes the
spike at her school is likely most strongly linked
to the passage of I-502. She fears the
message from that law to her students was that
it’s OK to smoke marijuana now.
1Swenson,
Ty. June 21, 2013. Coalition explores link between teen pot use and
rise in dispensaries. West Seattle Herald. Available:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/2013/06/21/news/coalition-explores-linkbetween-teen-pot-use-and-
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The Naked Truth About
Legalization in Colorado
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Colorado post-2009
• Passed medical marijuana in 2001
• But no dispensaries until the mid-2000s
• Between 2006 and 2012, medical marijuana
cardholders rose from 1,000 to over 108,000
• The number of dispensaries rose from 0 to 532
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Denver High Schools
• 29% of Denver high school students
used marijuana in the last month
• If Denver were an American state, it
would have the HIGHEST public high
school current use rates in the country
Healthy Kids Colorado, 2012
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Medical Marijuana Is Easily Diverted To
Youth
• Teens who know somebody with a medical
marijuana license are more like than those who
don’t to report ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ easy access to
marijuana
• 74% of Denver-area teens in treatment said they
used somebody else’s medical marijuana an
average of 50 times
Thurstone, 2013; Salomonsen-Sautel et al., 2012
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Increased Fatal Car Accidents
Drivers testing positive for marijuana in fatal car
crashes DOUBLED between 2006 and 2010 while
all fatal accidents decreased over the same time
period.
Colorado Department of Transportation
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Billboard in front of Mile High
Stadium
Another billboard MPP created for
the NFL
Marketing to Children
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More Poisonings in Children
•
Between January 1, 2005, and September 30, 2009, none of the poisonings in children
under 12 at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado involved marijuana.
•
From October 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011 2.3% of all poisonings at the hospital for
children under 12 involved marijuana.
Wang G, Roosevelt G, Heard K. Pediatric Marijuana Exposures in a Medical Marijuana State. JAMA Pediatr. 2013;():1-4.
doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.140. Available: http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1691416
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Marijuana: Messages That
Matter
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•
•
•
•
We need to get our messages to
regular people
Parents
Kids
Business Leaders Teachers & School Boards
Faith Leaders
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We must connect the dots for
regular people.
We need to give them simple
“A Ha! I get it!” messages.
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• Figure out how the “medical
marijuana” and marijuana
legalization issues affect real people.
• Reframe these issues to directly
appeal to them.
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How to Frame Our
Messages to Win Back The
Public
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If you care about academic
achievement:
You need to care about marijuana use.
What we know, based
on research …
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Facts:
Marijuana Use Lowers IQ1
• A recent study found that those who used marijuana
heavily in their teens and continued through
adulthood showed a permanent drop in IQ of 8 points.
• A loss of 8 IQ points could drop a person of
average intelligence into the lowest third of the
intelligence range.
1M.H.
Meier, Avshalom Caspi, et al. 2012. “Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife.” Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
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Facts:
• The more a student uses marijuana, the lower
their grade point average is likely to be and the
more likely they are to drop out of school.1
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1 Johnston,
L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E.. University of Michigan, 2011. Monitoring the Future Study
• Youth with an average grade of D or below were more than four times
as likely to have used marijuana in the past year than youth with an
average grade of A.1
Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA’s
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Report—Marijuana Use among Youths. July 19, 2002. Available at
www.samhsa.gov/oas.nhsda.htm.
1
6.5% of high school
seniors smoke marijuana
every day .
1
1
Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 2012. Volume I:68
Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan.
Available: http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/10data.html#2011data-drugs
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Take Away Message For Parents
and Teachers:
Increased marijuana use will result in
reduced academic achievement
• College students with high levels of
marijuana use were twice as likely as
those with minimal use to have an
enrollment gap while in college.1
(e.g. dropout and not graduate on time)
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1
Amelia M. Arria , MD. Drug Use Patterns and Continuous Enrollment in College: Results From a Longitudinal Study. January 2013. Vol 24
Issue 1. Available:
http://www.jsad.com/jsad/article/Drug_Use_Patterns_and_Continuous_Enrollment_in_College_Results_From_a_Long/4775.html
Take Away Message for
Parents:
• Marijuana use will hurt YOUR child’s
chances for academic success, delay or
derail their college graduation, and
could be very costly to you!!
Average cost of college in 4 years is: $89,044
Average cost of college in 5 years is: $111,305
Average cost of college in 6 years is: $133,566
Source: National Association for College Admission Counseling 2012-2013.
4 years
6 years
If you care about highway
safety:
You need to care about
marijuana use.
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We Know Based on
Research That:
• Marijuana use impairs driving
ability1
1For
a comprehensive review, see DuPont, R. et al. 2010. “Drugged Driving Research: A White Paper.” Prepared for the
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Available at http://stopdruggeddriving.org/pdfs/DruggedDrivingAWhitePaper.pdf
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Marijuana is the most prevalent
illegal drug detected in impaired
drivers, fatally injured drivers, and
1
motor vehicle crash victims.
1
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Drug Involvement of Fatally Injured Drivers. U.S. Department of Transportation Report No. DOT HS 811
415. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010.
According to the Colorado Department of
Transportation, drivers who tested
positive for marijuana in fatal car
crashes DOUBLED between 2006 and 2010 while all
fatal accidents decreased over the same time
period.
• According to the 2011 Monitoring the Future
Study, 1 in 8 high school seniors reported driving
after smoking marijuana
According to a Liberty Mutual/SAAD
Study1:
 1 in 5 (or 19% of) teen drivers report that
they have driven under the influence of
marijuana
 Only 13% of teen drivers report that they
have driven under the influence of alcohol
1Hazy
Logic: Liberty Mutual Insurance/SADD Study Finds Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana a Greater Threat to
Teen Drivers Than Alcohol. Available: http://www.sadd.org/press/presspdfs/Marijuana%20Teen%20Release.pdf
Take Away Message:
Increased marijuana use will
lead to increased traffic
accidents and fatalities and
decreased public safety
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If you care about jobs and profits:
You need to care about marijuana use.
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What we know, based
on research …
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Two independent, peer-reviewed studies
looking at medical marijuana states in the
2000s concluded that:
States with medical marijuana programs
had an increase in marijuana use not
seen in other states
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), State Estimates from the 2008- 2009 National
Surveys on Drug Use and Health, 2011
According to a recent RAND study,
legalization would cause the price
of marijuana to fall and its use to
rise.
Kilmer, Beau, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Robert J. MacCoun and Peter H. Reuter. 2010. “Altered State? Assessing How Marijuana
Legalization in California Could Influence Marijuana Consumption and Public Budgets.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation,
http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP315.
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This hurts employers…
According to the American Council for Drug
Education in New York, employees who abuse
drugs are:
• 10 times more likely to miss work
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This hurts employers…
• 3.6 times more likely to be involved in on-thejob incidents
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This hurts employers…
• 5 times more likely to file a workers’
compensation claim.
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This hurts employers…
• And since regular users can’t pass drug tests, this
hurts employability!
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Take Away Message For
Business:
Increased marijuana use is BAD for business
Facts:
• Marijuana use negatively effects motivation,
memory, AND learning.1
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National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Marijuana: Facts Parents Need to Know.” 2011. Available:
www.nida.nih.gov/marijbroch/parents/001.php
1
If you care about rising tax burdens:
You need to pay attention to marijuana.
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For our legal drugs, every
$1 gained in revenue forces
us to spend $10 in social
costs!
Rehm J, Mathers C, Popova S, Thavorncharoensap M, Teerawattananon Y, Patra J. 2009 Jun 27. “Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost
attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders.” Lancet ;373(9682): 2223-33. [Table 4].
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Total cost of
alcohol in the
US: $235 billion
Total amount
of taxes
raised by
alcohol:
$14.5 billion
Total cost of
tobacco in the
US: $193 billion
Total
amount of
taxes raised
by tobacco:
$25 billion
Take Away Message for Tax
Payers:
Marijuana will be a tax drain,
NOT a money maker
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If you care about the
environment:
You need to care about
marijuana
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New Frame
Because marijuana grow sites are1 already having major adverse
environmental impacts including :
1
•
Vastly increasing the amount of carbon released into the
atmosphere, which negatively effects global warming;
•
Vastly increasing fish kills from fertilizer runoff that creates
toxic aquatic conditions; and
•
Poisoning watersheds with arsenic and acaracide, used to
keep rodents away from the marijuana plants.
Allen, Hezekiah, Mattole Resoration Council and Scott Greacen, Friends of the Eel River. The Ugly, the Bad and (Maybe) the Good? (April 17, 2012).
Available; www.treesfoundation/org/publications/article-486
Take Away Message on
the Environment:
Marijuana grows are BAD
for the environment
What Can We Do?
We need more
traction with the
media, especially
social media.
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