Harm Reduction or Harm Enabling – Who is Funding this and to what end?

Stirling University’s two-year drug checking project, despite the backing of Scottish Drug policy minister Elena Whitham, reveals a troubling inadequacy in its approach. The project, which aimed to delve into drug use patterns, disappointingly managed to interview only 11 drug users. This number is shockingly low, especially considering the gravity of the drug use issue. If I were Elena, I would be questioning the value received for the funding provided.

Organisation: University of Stirling Amount Awarded: £300,082 Split over 2 years

Details of Project:  Researching and developing key components of a new Scottish drug checking programme. This two-year project (18th Nov 2020-17th Nov 2022) aims to directly address two of the six evidence-based strategies identified by the Drug Deaths Taskforce to help reduce drug related deaths: targeting people most at risk, and optimising public health surveillance.

… it’s startling to see that a study credited to 13 authors managed to engage only 11 drug users. This significant discrepancy raises questions about the study’s methodological rigor and ethical integrity. One would expect a higher degree of accountability and professional responsibility from the authors.

This study exemplifies a broader, problematic trend in the field: a tendency for mutual endorsement among like-minded professionals, creating an ‘echo chamber’ effect. This not only limits the scope of academic inquiry but also hinders the progression of the field. When research priorities shift towards promoting personal networks and careers over genuine knowledge advancement, it does a disservice to the discipline and those affected by addiction

Additionally, the creation of the Minister for Drugs Strategy position in December 2020 has not brought about the necessary changes in drug policy or outcomes. This continued trend of escalating fatalities underlines the inadequacy of the current strategy. It suggests a fundamental rethinking is required in both leadership and approach to effectively address and reverse this grave public health crisis.

For complete article https://www.facesandvoicesofrecoveryuk.org/exposing-the-flaws-in-stirling-universitys-drug-research/

ADDRESSING THE TOP PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM FACING OUR NATION’S YOUTH: ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS

A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE

Time is of the essence. Substance use disorder is preventable, treatable, and responsive to early intervention. We need to focus our efforts on creating more innovative services that can attract and engage young people sooner, as well as prevent substance use to begin with.

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Just One of the Growing Public Health Harms of Drug Decriminalization

“The signs of drug use are everywhere”, and this is on public transport. Welcome to the growing chaos and harms of liberal drug policies. Tragically, the casualties of this toxic social experiment are not just the hapless drug user, it is people in their immediate orbit of use, very much including children, and most effected, the unable to escape, Bus Drivers.

Bus driver workers’ compensation claims skyrocket as exposure to drugs increase. Subject to this day in and day out! Drivers are traumatized having to resuscitate drug users and succumbing themselves to second-hand drug use. And this is ‘good policy’?

For complete report KING 5 – Seattle

VIRGINIA PASSED THE ATTACHED LAW THAT RESTRICTS HEMP PRODUCTS THAT YOU CAN GET HIGH FROM. IT HAS BEEN UPHELD BY A FEDERAL COURT. OPINION ATTACHED.

SB 903 Industrial hemp; regulated hemp products, etc.

SUMMARY AS ENACTED WITH GOVERNOR’S RECOMMENDATION: (all summaries)

Tetrahydrocannabinol; hemp products; packaging, labeling, and testing; penalties. Limits the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that can be included in a hemp product or industrial hemp extract to 0.3 percent and two milligrams per package. The bill limits the application of such THC limits to retail sales and allows a hemp product or industrial hemp extract to contain more than two milligrams of THC if the product or extract contains an amount of cannabidiol (CBD) that is at least 25 times greater than the amount of THC; however, the bill prohibits hemp processors from selling industrial hemp or a substance containing an industrial hemp extract to a person if the processor knows or has reason to know that such person will use the industrial hemp or substance containing an industrial hemp extract in a substance that violates the aforementioned THC limits.

The bill creates a regulated hemp product retail facility registration, which carries an annual fee of $1,000, and requires persons to obtain such registration from the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services prior to offering for sale or selling regulated hemp products, as defined in the bill, or any substance intended for consumption that is advertised or labeled as containing an industrial hemp-derived cannabinoid. The bill creates certain packaging, labeling, and testing requirements for regulated hemp products and requires that topical hemp products bear a label stating that the product is not intended for human consumption. The bill provides the Commissioner with the authority to access registered regulated hemp product retail facilities and any business that offers for sale or sells at retail a substance intended for human consumption that is advertised or labeled as containing a cannabinoid for the purpose of inspections and securing samples. The bill also creates a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for the following violations: (i) offering for sale or selling at retail without a regulated hemp product retail facility registration a regulated hemp product or a substance intended for human consumption, orally or by inhalation, that is advertised or labeled as containing an industrial hemp-derived cannabinoid; (ii) continuing to offer for sale or selling at retail a regulated hemp product after revocation or suspension of such registration; (iii) offering for sale or selling at retail a substance intended for human consumption, orally or by inhalation, that contains THC in excess of the applicable limits; or (iv) offering for sale or selling at retail a regulated hemp product that does not meet the applicable packaging, labeling, and testing requirements. The bill (a) clarifies that persons who manufacture, store, sell, or offer for sale an industrial hemp extract or food containing an industrial hemp extract are subject to the existing food and drink permit requirement and (b) requires such persons to indicate their intent to manufacture, store, sell, or offer for sale an industrial hemp extract or food containing an industrial hemp extract on such permit application. The bill also creates labeling, packaging, and testing requirements for industrial hemp extracts and foods containing an industrial hemp extract.

The bill creates a civil penalty of $10,000 for the following: (1) manufacturing, selling, or offering for sale an industrial hemp extract or food containing an industrial hemp extract without a permit; (2) continuing to manufacture, sell, or offer for sale an industrial hemp extract or food containing an industrial hemp extract after revocation or suspension of such permit; (3) failing to disclose on a form prescribed by the Commissioner that he intends to manufacture, sell, or offer for sale a substance intended to be consumed orally that contains an industrial hemp-derived cannabinoid; (4) manufacturing, selling, or offering for sale a food that contains more than 0.3 percent of THC or more than two milligrams of THC per package; (5) manufacturing, offering for sale, or selling in violation of food and drink laws or regulations a substance intended to be consumed orally that is advertised or labeled as containing an industrial hemp-derived cannabinoid; or (6) otherwise violating any provision of the Commonwealth’s food and drink laws or regulations. The bill also makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in such actions, except for those set forth in clause (4). The bill makes it unlawful under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act to (A) sell or offer for sale any substance intended for human consumption that contains a synthetic derivative of THC or (B) sell or offer for sale a topical hemp product that does not include a label stating that the product is not intended for human consumption. The bill also increases existing civil penalties for certain hemp-related violations.

The bill provides that certain regulated hemp product provisions related to retail facility registrations, packaging, labeling, and testing and associated civil penalty provisions shall become effective when the Commissioner provides notice to the Virginia Code Commission that the Department has established the registration process. The bill removes tetrahydrocannabinol from the list of Schedule I controlled substances and contains other technical amendments.

As states relax their laws on cannabis, neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd is warning about the drug’s dangers for the developing brain.

In a recent edition of SCIENCE, Yasmin tables the serious and growing concerns about cannabis use, dependency, addiction, as well as short and long-term damage to developing brains. (Source: As cannabis laws relax, neuroscientist warns of its dangers for developing brain | Science)

Whilst Yasmin is not in favour of trying to catch the bolted horse of legalisation, as with most scientists (a little naïve on the shark pool that is addiction for profit industry, and the real time data of the failed and failing legalisation models) believes ‘regulation and taxation’ will end the ‘bad practices’ of high THC weed.

Nowhere has legalisation lessened harm, or criminality or even discrimination. That’s another Smoke Screen that alarms are already sounding over.

• ‘Then There Were Three – Marijuana Markets, That Is!’
• The Disastrous Californian Cannabis Legalization Experiment – More than promises ‘Up in Smoke’!
• Legalize cannabis and a veritable cornucopia will emerge.
• Cannabis as ‘Medicine?’: Pot Propaganda, Emotive Anecdote, Marketing Manipulation, and the Side Stepping of Science

Alarm bells on the published neurobiological harms of cannabis were sounding as far back as 2008 research, let alone volumes of anecdata that tacitly warned the same.

• Deconstructing the neurobiology of cannabis use disorder – PubMed (nih.gov)
• Adolescent brain maturation, the endogenous cannabinoid system and the neurobiology of cannabis-induced schizophrenia – PubMed (nih.gov)
• New vistas on cannabis use disorder – PubMed (nih.gov)
• Cannabis and psychiatric disorders: it is not only addiction – PubMed (nih.gov)

Canada: Quebec City Embracing the ‘Alberta model’ of tackling addiction

By Geoff Russ|Posted on September 10, 2023

• With 93 percent of delegates voting in favour of the resolution, the Conservatives adopted elements of the Alberta provincial government’s strategy for combating drug addiction.
• The Alberta model de-emphasizes “safe supply” policies, which involve the government providing substances to addicted persons to replace often fatally-toxic drugs purchased off the street. 
• Conservative MP Stephen Ellis says the Liberal government’s support for “safe supply” has been ineffective, and that the Conservatives want drug and addiction policies to move in a new direction. 

QUEBEC CITY — The Conservative Party may have a reputation for bickering and in-fighting but its members were able to find one area of overwhelming consensus at the party’s policy convention in Quebec City this weekend.

With 93 percent of delegates voting in favour of the resolution, the Conservatives almost unanimously decided to adopt elements of the Alberta provincial government’s strategy for combating drug addiction.

It was one of the largest margins at the convention and a big endorsement of a policy that has been polarizing in Alberta, but has attracted the support of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as he campaigns against disorder in Canadian cities.

Officially titled the “Alberta Model: A Recovery-Oriented System of Care,” the strategy emphasizes recovery through the use of long-term recovery facilities across the province to help addicts overcome their addiction.

The Alberta model de-emphasizes “safe supply” policies, which involve the government providing substances to addicted persons to replace often fatally-toxic drugs purchased off the street. 

“The truth is that what we’re doing in Canada, and the way that we’ve been thinking as a society, about addiction for the last 20 years, has been a failure,” says Dan Williams, Alberta’s minister of mental health and addiction, in an interview with The Hub. “And we see that both in the data, the literature, but we can also see it with our own eyes.” 

Williams attended the convention in support of the resolutions inspired by the Alberta model.

He says Canadians will have a choice between the Alberta model, or the “safe supply” model endorsed by the federal government, which he says has helped to perpetuate the rampant addiction and homelessness crisis in Vancouver. 

“We know that addiction running its course has one of two ends,” says Williams. “It either ends in pain, misery, and with enough time, death, or the alternative is treatment, recovery and a second lease on life.”

The Alberta model is often presented in sharp contrast to the B.C. government’s approach, which has embraced “safe supply” policies to help combat the province’s long-standing and deteriorating rate of addiction. While “safe supply” has been praised by the B.C. government and federal Liberals as a viable strategy, the rate of addiction and drug-related deaths in the province has only increased since “safe supply” policies were enacted. 

For complete article go to Conservatives overwhelmingly embrace the ‘Alberta model’ of tackling addiction – The Hub

Also see

•  Vic-NSW Injecting Rooms – A Review
• Overdoses – What’s Really Happening?
• Saving Lives – What Does the Evidence Say?

Not surprised with permission models letting it all off the chain!

So, how is this working out for family, community and public health?

Marijuana Use, Binge Drinking Surge to Record Levels

Written by Lisa O’Mary

Aug. 18, 2023 – Young adults reported the highest ever rates of marijuana use in 2022, and middle-age adults reported the highest ever rates of binge drinking, according to results from an annual study.

Among 19- to 30-year-olds, a record 44% said they had used marijuana in the past year, and more than 1 in 10 said they used the drug daily, which was also a record. One in five young adults said they’d vaped marijuana in the past year, and one in four said they’d vaped nicotine, both of which also marked record highs.

Meanwhile, adults ages 35 to 50 reported record rates of marijuana and hallucinogen use, as well as the highest ever rate of binge drinking, which is defined as having five or more drinks in a row. 

In 2022, 29% of middle-age adults said they had five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks. Past year marijuana use was reported by 28% of middle-age adults, and 4% said they’d used hallucinogens like LSD, MDMA, shrooms or psilocybin, mescaline, or peyote.

Results also showed that people’s use of cigarettes, sedatives, and prescription opioids for non-medical reasons all continued to decline.

The study, called Monitoring the Future, takes an annual reading of substance use and attitudes among people ages 19 to 60 years old through online and paper surveys. People enrolled in the study are re-contacted to update their responses in the following years. 

There were 4,628 people who responded in 2022 who ranged in ages from 19 to 30 years old, and there were 5,450 adults who ranged in age from 35 to 50 years old.

“Behaviors and public perception of drug use can shift rapidly, based on drug availability and other factors, said researcher Megan Patrick, PhD, of the University of Michigan, in a statement. “It’s important to track this so that public health professionals and communities can be prepared to respond.” (Source WebMD August 2023)

A Year Since Uvalde. Connections are Being Made

On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers and wounded seventeen others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Earlier that day, the perpetrator shot his grandmother in the face, severely wounding her. It appears Salvador is likely another mass murderer who used pot. He said he hated his mother and grandmother who restricted his marijuana use.   It has now been a year since that horrific day and some are beginning to make the connection between marijuana use and violence. Some studies from May of 2023   Heavy Marijuana Use Increases Schizophrenia in Men, Study Finds   Massive Danish study finds strong link between marijuana addiction and mental illness   For over 6 years AALM has been warning about the connection between marijuana use and mass murder. This warning was given to US Attorney General Merrick Garland in March. Our letter received no response. Please refer to exhibit 5 for a list of mass murderers who where also marijuana users.      In the wake of recent mass shootings and mass murder events, AALM demands toxicology reports of shooters be released to the public. Marijuana use and psychotic violence go hand-in-hand.   More Sources: In 2007 the prestigious medical journal Lancet recanted its previous benign view of marijuana, citing studies showing “an increase in the risk of psychosis of about 40 percent.” A seminal long-term study of 50,465 Swedish army conscripts found those who had tried marijuana by age 18 had 2.4 times the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the following 15 years than those who had never used the drug. Heavy users were 6.7 times more likely to be admitted to a hospital for schizophrenia. Another study, of 1,037 people in New Zealand, found those who used cannabis at ages 15 and 18 had higher rates of psychotic symptoms at age 26 than non-users. A 2011 study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) of 2,000 teenagers found those who smoked marijuana were twice as likely to develop psychosis as those who didn’t. Another BMJ study estimated that “13 percent of cases of schizophrenia could be averted if all cannabis use were prevented.” In 2014, people who had cannabis use disorder made up about 1.5 percent of Americans. But they accounted for eleven percent of all the psychosis cases in emergency rooms—90,000 cases, 250 a day, triple the number in 2006.  The National Academy of Medicine found in 2017 that “cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.” Also, that “regular cannabis use is likely to increase the risk for developing a social anxiety disorder.” A Study showed cases in which marijuana led to unnecessary violence, health risks, and, in many cases, both.  In a Secret Service study (pg 13) over half of the attackers had a history of illicit drug use and/or substance abuse. This abuse, which included alcohol and marijuana, was evidenced by such factors as the attacker receiving treatment for the abuse, suffer legal consequences, or having significant problems in their personal lives stemming from the abuse. Marijuana and Psychosis AALM calls on public officials to release the toxicology reports on all mass murderers. Below is a shortlist of some of the well-known murderers who were pot users. Most often toxicology reports are not made public. Perpetrators’ marijuana use is often discovered via interviews with acquaintances, military records, or some other secondary source.    Darrel Brooks, The Waukesha Wisconsin driving rampager was a user of marijuana with domestic abuse and multiple episodes of violence in his past. He had more recently been caught with meth which is a natural progression from marijuana. On his twitter profile he describes himself as a stoner and avid user of pot.   Ian David Long Killed 13 people on November 7, 2018, in Thousand Oaks, California, United States, at the Borderline Bar and Grill, a country-western bar frequented by college students. Toxicology later revealed he had marijuana in his system   Nikolas Cruz On February 14, 2018, opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. He blamed his marijuana use for his actions.   Manchester terrorist Salmon Abedi blew himself up and killed 22 in the United Kingdom on 22 May 2017. Abedi was a pot-smoking university dropout.   A toxicology report on Devin Patrick Kelley, who shot and killed 26 at a church in Texas, revealed marijuana. November 5, 2017   Diagnosed with cannabis-induced psychosis, Satoshi Uematsu killed 19 handicapped people in Japan and injured many others. July 26, 2016   Nice terrorist Mohammed Bouhlel smoked very strong weed in high school, and had his first psychotic break at 19. July 14, 2016   Omar Mir Seddique Mateen was an American mass murderer and domestic terrorist who murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, before he was killed in a shootout with the local police. He was an avid pot user.   Robert Dear, Planned Parenthood shooter, November 27, 2015. He was described as a “marijuana newcomer” by neighbors brought to Colorado by the promise of legal weed.   Noah Harpham, was in mania when he shot three people in Colorado Springs. He had marijuana metabolites in his urine at the time of his death in 2015.    Eddie Routh, veteran with PTSD, smoked pot the morning before he killed Chris Kyle Chad Littlefield. February 2, 2013   James Holmes, Aurora shooter used to smoked weed behind his apartment constantly. 2012   Jared Loughner killed six and injured many in Tucson, AZ, 2011. He was a habitual pot user.   Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh killed 168 in 1996. He experimented with marijuana and meth.   “Senseless violence and mass murders are in the news and in the minds of Americans once again. Mental health problems are also considered a potential contributing factor. With the dramatic increase in the potency and use of marijuana, senseless violent acts are and will become more and more common.”  – Carla Lowe, President of AALM “The link between marijuana use and psychosis, depression, and schizophrenia has been known for decades. Yet, the general public is not being informed.”  -Scott Chipman, Vice President of AALM   Join the National Register of Anti-Marijuana Groups and Persons   REGISTER     We appreciate your generous donation!   Donate

The Latest Casualty of Bad Drug Policy – Harm Reduction that Isn’t!

Canada is Dying – The Movie

“We live in an open prison yard!”

“What we are doing now is almost capital punishment by neglect!”

“This is the industrialization of addiction – it is as scary as it gets!”

“A case of the Inmates running the asylum!”

“Devastating Battle with Addiction.”

“I hate the word ‘safe supply’!”

“What is the solution?”

“Violent crime in Canada has increased 32% since 2016!”

“People live in fear for their safety on a daily basis!”

Also see…

• Seattle is Dying
• Portland is Dying
• San Francisco is Dying  
• L.A. Is Dying
• Vancouver is Dying
• Denver in Decay

Research to Insights: Cannabis in Canada

New York Times – Opinion May 2023

Marijuana legalization as we’ve done it so far has been a policy failure, a potential social disaster, a clear and evident mistake.

Of all the ways to win a culture war, the smoothest is to just make the other side seem hopelessly uncool. So it’s been with the march of
marijuana legalization: There have been moral arguments about the excesses of the drug war and medical arguments about the potential
benefits of pot, but the vibe of the whole debate has pitted the chill against the uptight, the cool against the square, the relaxed future
against the Principal Skinners of the past.
As support for legalization has climbed, commanding a two-thirds majority in recent polling, any contrary argument has come to feel a bit
futile, and even modest cavils are couched in an apologetic and defensive style. Of course I don’t question the right to get high, but perhaps
the pervasive smell of weed in our cities is a bit unfortunate …? I’m not a narc or anything, but maybe New York City doesn’t need quite so
many unlicensed pot dealers …?
All of this means that it will take a long time for conventional wisdom to acknowledge the truth that seems readily apparent to squares like
me:

Marijuana legalization as we’ve done it so far has been a policy failure, a potential social disaster, a clear and evident mistake...

For complete article Opinion | Legalizing Marijuana Is a Big Mistake – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Also see

Pot Pandamonium

“Legalize Weed & Release Cornucopia”, and the litany of other broken promises.

Pot-repreneurs Not Happy with Watch Dog Report!

Decriminalize and They Will Come