THE MARIJUANA REPORT

Researchers from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, whose crest is pictured above, and other academic medical institutions, surveyed 2630 14- to 18-year-olds via Facebook who live in states that have legalized marijuana for medical use (MMJ states), recreational use (RMJ states), and not legalized the drug (NMJ states).

MMJ and RMJ states vary in what they allow, and the researchers wanted to learn if different provisions influence when adolescents begin marijuana use and which provisions may result in increasing use among young people.

The researchers say it is crucial to understand how marijuana legalization laws affect youth because they are more vulnerable to the drug’s harmful effects. Chronic use during adolescence has been associated with impaired brain development, educational achievement, and psychosocial functioning, as well as an increased risk of developing addiction.

Legalization has spurred the development of new marijuana products with higher potencies, such as marijuana-infused foods called edibles and electronic vaping devices that enable a user to inhale the psychoactive ingredients of tobacco and marijuana without the smoke.

Edibles sold in most legal states lack safety standards or products regulations and are marketed in ways that are attractive to youth, the researchers note. These factors are contributing to the sharp increase in marijuana overdoses among young people. Vaping devices are becoming increasingly popular among middle school and high school children who use them to vape marijuana more often than adults. Moreover, data show adolescents are vaping high-potency marijuana products whose impact on neurodevelopment is unknown but concerning because they may place youth at higher risk for psychosis.

The researchers find that youth in legalization states are twice as likely as those in nonlegalization states to have tried vaping. Moreover, youth in legalization states with high dispensary density are twice as likely to have tried vaping and three times more likely to have tried edibles than youth in nonlegalization states.

The kind and duration of marijuana legalization laws also impact youth. Youth in MMJ states are significantly more likely to have tried vaping and edibles than youth in nonlegalization states, and youth in RMJ states are significantly more likely to have tried both than youth in MMJ states. Youth in legal states that allow home cultivation are twice as likely to have tried edibles (but not vaping) as their peers in legal states that prohibit home grows. States with the oldest legalization laws also see increases in youth lifetime vaping and edible use.

Read Science Daily summary here. Read Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal abstract here.

Three months ago, National Families in Action published a report, Tracking the Money that is Legalizing Marijuana and Why It Matters, that details where the money comes from to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use. Most of it was raised by three billionaires and two organizations they fund, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) to do the work of legalization. The first decade of legalization was accomplished via ballot measures which DPA and/or MPP wrote, paid for collecting voters’ signatures, and paid heavily for advertising with less than accurate information to convince voters to pass them. This effort created a medical marijuana industry that made so much money it began contributing to the legalization effort as well.

In February 2017, five US Representatives formed the Congressional Cannabis Caucus to issue a spate of bills that would set the stage and then ultimately legalize marijuana at the federal level. It turns out that DPA and MPP donations to Congressional campaigns are over-represented among Caucus members and other legislators who are partnering with them to reach this goal. Together, Caucus members, pictured above, and colleagues have introduced more than 20 bills since February.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who received $3,000 from MPP, has introduced three of those bills and is co-sponsoring seven more.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) received $2,000 from MPP, has introduced one bill, and co-sponsored four more.

Rep. Ed Polis (D-CO), the only Caucus member who has not received donations from either group, has introduced one bill and co-sponsored six more.

Rep. Young (R-AK) received $1,000 from MPP, introduced one bill, and co-sponsored five more.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) received $7,000 from MPP and $4,700 from DPA, introduced one bill, and co-sponsored five more bills.

Here are the representatives and senators who signed on as co-sponsors of the 20-plus bills who also received donations from DPA and/or MPP as of June 28:

• Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — $5,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) — $8,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) — $3,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 3 bills.
• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) — $4,500/MPP/$500/DPA — sponsoring 1 bill, co-sponsoring 5 bills.
• Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) — $1,000/MPP — sponsoring 1 bill, co-sponsoring 3 bills.
• Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) — $1,000/DPA — sponsoring 1 bill, co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) — $2,600/MPP — co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) — $3,500/MPP — co-sponsoring 3 bills.
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) — $5,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) — $5,750/MPP/$1,000/DPA — co-sponsoring 3 bills.
• Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) — $2,500/DPA — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-NV) — $1,00/MPP — co-sponsoring 2 bills.
• Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) — $1,000/DPA — sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) — $5,500/MPP – sponsoring 1 bill, co-sponsoring 7 bills.
• Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) — $1,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.
• Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) — $6,000/MPP/$4,500/DPA — co-sponsoring 5 bills.
• Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) — $4,000/MPP — co-sponsoring 3 bills.
• Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) — $1,500/MPP — co-sponsoring 1 bill.

People who don’t want to see Congress legalize marijuana nationwide can pay to play too. With few exceptions, these are not large amounts of money. They could be matched to replace MPP’s and DPA’s donations so legislators can work for healthy families and healthy communities instead of the marijuana industry.

The Cannabist, the Denver Post’s marijuana website, published a list of bills these folks have introduced in Congress since the Caucus was formed in February. You can read it here. Note: a few bills in the list do not deal with legalization.