February 5, 2021
Weed Week in Review publishes a weekly report of the good, the bad and the ugly about weed in the US (and other places too). We’ll provide a little commentary about what’s happening in the world of weed.
The war on drugs didn’t work. Oregon’s plan might.
A lot of people believe that some drugs should be illegal. In the history of civilization, prohibition of anything has not worked. The biggest experiment of all, alcohol prohibition, was a complete disaster. Complete. Oregon is taking the approach that adults should be allowed to do whatever mind altering substances they want to do and let people determine their own consequences. There is some sense to this approach according to many public health people Will addiction rates and their toll on society go up? We’ll have to wait and see.
Senate leader Schumer pushing federal marijuana legalization as priority
The hypocrites who want cannabis banned, and there are a lot of them, are simply parroting the horrible racist lies that were perpetrated by the government since the early 1900s. Over 100 years. Really. The Democrats who were against the legalization of cannabis for the longest time have finally and seemingly come to their senses. President Biden was one of the architects in the 1980s and 1990s of some of the harshest drug laws in the country. Hopefully, he has come around as well. We cannot overstate how important that the Senate majority leader is going to legislate the legalization of marijuana at the Federal level. Fabulous. I hope it makes it into law and our President signs it.
31 pounds of marijuana discovered during Smith County traffic stop
Look at the people in the picture in this link. Notice what color those 4 men are. Pulled over for a traffic stop, eh? Really? What’s the the backstory here. Somehow, I don’t think the police just “smelled” 30 pounds of marijuana in a suitcase (although it cold be pretty stinky). Do you think this story is true? I don’t. I believe there’s more than meets the eye here. All four men are black and it IS Texas. I wish with all my heart it wasn’t so, but there is a certain profiling that goes on everywhere in the US. Maybe they were carrying 31 pounds of marijuana. Maybe it was planted on them. I certainly don’t know, but I do know that in Texas, getting pulled over when you’re black is a sure trip to a disaster. It needs to stop.
More than half of people using medical cannabis for pain experience withdrawal symptoms
While this isn’t meant to call out Kiowa County for stupid reportage, it is meant to call out media in general for stupid reportage of research done…about anything. Research has a very limited scope. A researcher focuses on a topic, tests their thesis and reports the outcomes. A researcher isn’t concerned with reporting how their research fits in with the rest of the world. They shouldn’t be. The reality is this; Of course, there will be withdrawal from cannabis. There’s withdrawal symptoms from about everything. If you’ve a coffee drinker, the first few days without coffee can be miserable. I don’t even want to think about alcohol or opiate withdrawal. They’re worse than miserable; They can be life threatening. So is cannabis withdrawal dangerous? No. Can it be a bit uncomfortable? Yes. We all need do just take things not at face value, including news stories, we need to think critically about the
Democrats hold majority in legislature, looking to legalize recreational marijuana
Way to go New Mexico…we hope! This will mark the third time that New Mexico will try to legalize adult-use weed. The third time might be the charm too. While many republicans opposed cannabis legalization in the Land of Enchantment, there were more who wanted it. There were also plenty of conservative democrats who did not want legal pot in the state, but they got voted out of office. They were the primary roadblock to legalization. Go figure. This year will hopefully e the year New Mexico joins the list of states who have legalized marijuana for everyone over the age of 21.
Letter: Reverse marijuana legalization
This letter must have been written by a qanon believer, since all she does is state misinformation and innuendo. The facts are quite the opposite. Teenage use is down since weed was legalized. Since we live in a country where some people believe Jewish lasers started all the California wildfires last year and that all the school shootings were really just TV shows and nobody was really killed, we need to start looking at reality. Everyone can be heard in America. That’s our tradition. Newspapers are the gatekeepers of information. Information needs to be true and factual. Presenting information that is certifiably false should be banned.
Cannabis corruption: How state and local leaders are profiting off the burgeoning industry
While there’s nothing surprising here, it’s still sad. But where there’s money, there will be corruption. One follows the other. Always has. Always will. Pay-to-play is a particularly insidious gambit because those with the bux will always try to get a leg up and game the system to get the license. That just preys on politicians who might not be rich (or maybe they are and are greedy!), but could be swayed by a lot of money dangled in front of their eyes. Here’s another story that’s telling the state of Virginia to slow down, not because cannabis is a bad thing, but the regulations they’re cooking up there might deprive people of color an opportunity to get into the game.
