Now that's Stuff Stoners Like! Of course the changes don't affect recreational marijuana, which remains…
Washington, DC: On Thursday, White House Press Secretary lied to the American public when he claimed “I think that when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people (by regulating the adult use of marijuana)” during his daily press conference.
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director for NORML, published a response in The Hill newspaper systematically refuting this claim.
“Yet even a cursory look at the available evidence finds Spicer’s concerns to be misplaced and his allegations to be dead wrong.
In reality, permitting legal access to cannabis is consistently associated with reduced rates of opioid use, abuse, and mortality.”
Armentano cites several relevant peer-reviewed studies from the US, Canada, and Israel to bolster his arguments.
He concludes: “Proponents of marijuana prohibition have long alleged that experimentation with pot acts as a ‘gateway’ to the use and eventual abuse of other illicit substances. But the evidence does not support this claim. In reality, permitting marijuana sales to be regulated by licensed, state-authorized distributors rather than by criminal entrepreneurs and pushers of various other illicit drugs results in fewer, not more, Americans abusing other, potentially more dangerous substances.”
You can read the piece by clicking here.
About Paul Armentano:
Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. His writing and research have appeared in over 750 publications, scholarly and/or peer-reviewed journals, as well as in more than a dozen textbooks and anthologies. Mr. Armentano is the co-author of the book Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (2009, Chelsea Green), which has been licensed and translated internationally. His most recent book, The Citizen’s Guide to State-By-State Marijuana Laws (2015), is available from Whitman Publishing. He is the 2013 Freedom Law School Health Freedom Champion of the Year and the 2013 Alfred R. Lindesmith award recipient in the achievement in the field of scholarship.
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Sean Spicer needs to educate himself, with FACTS. Something this government knows nothing about.
I can't understand how this can happen when there is so much overwhelming proof that cannabis is a cure for so many different types of medical one of the larger problems in our country is opioid abuse, And cannabis is a cure for that among so many other's PTSD
Parkinson's, seizures, epilepsy, heroin abuse
too many to name them all, Truth be told the big pharm has kept it as a schedule 1 drug to keep us hooked on the Opioid pain medication. Yep this guy is going to do his best to stop the legalization of cannabis so
we stay on medication and the make money. we need this to stop
That's because facts don't matter. Check out this post we did in 2011...it's still VERY relevant today, sadly: https://stuffstonerslike.com/2011/04/when-it-comes-to-legalization-facts-don%E2%80%99t-matter/
Big Pharm scared of cannabis. And i say that pain pills being distributed by Big Pharm is the hella gateway to herion epidemic.
I would like to see a website for people who have gotten off that devil opioid crap, with either medical or recreational marijuana, tell their stories and send them to the white house and educate those asshats! Then, how can they deny the absolute proof that marijuana is not harmful or leads to opioid addiction. The PEOPLE voted this in because WE THE PEOPLE WANT to have access to safe medical/recreational marijuana! This wonderful plant manages my anxiety, blood pressure without ALL the harmful effects of big pharma drugs that usually have side effects worse than the condition being treated! I will fight for MY RIGHT to have access to marijuana! Thank you, Lyn Mullen
Yes, it's all because of the big pharmaceutical companies. Big pharm also has incentives for the doctors that prescribe the crappy, man made, even unsafe pills from there companies. Also, if marijuana is recreationally legal, then citizens can usually grow up to so many plants. The government can't tax us for growing plants. Therefore, they don't get the $$ they want. It is definitely proven to be safe and good or even healing for many, many ailments. The thing now is, we have that loser Trump, as our president! Everyone he is hiring on to be part of his team, are anti-marijuana. Most of them are right wing republicans that are almost all part of Christian churches. It says nothing in the Bible about smoking weed from the earth, or that it's a sin! The closest they can come up with is that if you smoke weed, you are idolizing it! That's just a bunch of b.s.! We stoners do not pray to the marijuana, we don't offer sacrifices to it, and it just isn't an idol. What needs to happen now, is the people of the U.S.A. need to band together and push for more legalization and less Big Pharm. One more thing, I am a recovered addict. I was addicted to heroin and painkillers for years. It had nothing to do with the fact that I smoke pot. If it were easier to buy weed, and legal to buy it, then a lot of people would just settle for the ganja. It's sad when it's easier to get Heroin or Crack than it is to get Weed. SMFH. That being said, go blaze people! LoLz
Oh!!! I forgot to mention that weed DID help me to stop heroin and stay away from it. Now, I'm recovered and have no desire, whatsoever, to ever take heroin or painkillers ever again!
LIES BIGOTRY IGNORANCE
same bullshit different politician spewing it. A difference between medical and recreational cannabis? Really? What's the difference?
President Trump needs to realize by legalizing it there would be a lot of tax money a good way to pay for the wall
Someone needs to give President Trump this idea taxes been receiving in legal states just think if it was government tax in 50 states Lotta money for the wall
We will not stand to allow our elected officials who work for US to reverse progress on the issue of MARIJUANA!!!!!! This GOD given PLANT is necessary for humanity, educate YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!