Day 5: Pot Profits Adults But the Young Are Harmed Most
We are letting pot profiteers prey on our teens/young adults and they and their families suffer
Excerpt: “In my son’s two-plus years of treatment in three different states [and $250k], there were only two other young men of color in any of the programs. My son is back in Colorado where he lives independently and works full time in the meat-packing industry. He recently graduated from an alternative high school and plans on attending college in the fall. All the while, he continues to use marijuana concentrates. We are grateful for his progress, yet to this day, we count ourselves as one of the “lucky” families, knowing it could all literally change at any moment. My son is not alone. He is not the exception. Both he and we will have to deal with this for the rest of our lives.”
Marijuana is the number one drug found in completed teen suicides in Colorado.
- Completed suicides in Colorado have increased steadily from 2004 to 2018. Marijuana was present in 12.8% of all 14,229 suicides. For all ages, alcohol was the leading cause of drug found on death at 35.5%. However, for ages 10 — 19, marijuana was the leading drug found in 19.8% or 943 completed suicides, surpassing alcohol at 12.8%.
The Colorado Center for Health and Environmental Data, Department of Public Health and Environment.
- Adolescent suicides in Colorado had 16.1% positive marijuana toxicology. 269 adolescent suicide cases in Colorado were analyzed. Marijuana was found in 16.1% of adolescent suicide cases (age 10-19) compared with 6.9% of adults. Marijuana was found more than alcohol (12.7%) on toxicology results.
Jamison E, Bui AG, Herndon K, Bol K. Adolescent suicide in Colorado, 2008-2012. 2014 Nov;94:1-8.
Marijuana legalization is child abuse.
Legalization increases youth use. States with legal marijuana have the
highest use rates among 12-25 year olds. States without it have the lowest rates.
The brain is not fully developed until the mid to late 20’s. Any marijuana use during brain development can have serious and lasting impacts.
Marijuana use can have dramatic negative impacts on children, teens and young adults
- Youth Marijuana Addiction Rate Double Rate of Alcohol & Other Substance Use Disorders
- Marijuana is the #1 drug for which teens and young adults seek addiction therapy.
- States that have “legalized” have higher teen and young adult use.
- The average age of marijuana introduction in some states is 12 years
- Teen cannabis use lowers IQ, despite claims to the contrary
- Use causes lung damage.
- Use can result in amotivational syndrome (failure to launch).
- Marijuana use increases educational drop out.
- Impacts to reproductive system.
Contaminates and poisons are commonplace in marijuana products.
Colorado’s largest marijuana corporations caught using the notorious Eagle-20 Fungicide on their marijuana plants. Eagle-20 is designed only for outdoor ornamental plants, i.e. outside flowers that you only look at, not plants consumed by humans, and definitely not for indoor enclosed environments. Eagle-20 contains myclobutanil, a chemical which, when heated, turns into hydrogen cyanide, a lethal gas. The effects of this awful gas are even more pronounced when it is concentrated and stuck into artificial plastic vape pens for heating, which are easier to carry and harder to detect, thus have become the preferred method of consumption for teens, along with glass “dab rigs” that resemble crack pipes.
AALM urges all parents and grandparents to talk to their kids and young adults daily about the dangers or marijuana and other drugs and seek help from informed parent groups such as Parent Movement 2.0.
“Marijuana Legalization is being aggressively pushed across the country by a motivated, well-funded and politically sophisticated industry – these efforts are taking away every family’s right to live in pot-free communities”
Media Contact
Southern California, Scott Chipman 619 990 7480 [email protected]
Northern California, Carla Lowe 916 708 4111 [email protected]