Since there is practically no enforcement of narcotics laws at the federal or state level, the burden for public health and safety now falls almost entirely on local law enforcement and private citizens.
More than 83 percent of cities and counties in California now ban cultivation and/or dispensaries, in response to the abuses of California’s “medical marijuana” program. Community leaders are also concerned about the dangers today’s highly potent marijuana pose, especially to our youth.
Following are a few factors to consider:
» The term “medical marijuana” is fraudulent. Marijuana is rightly categorized a Schedule I drug because it has no accepted medicinal value and has the potential for harm.
Components of the plant may be an exception, and there are some for whom the benefits may outweigh the harms. But 98 percent is consumed simply for recreational use.
» Marijuana stinks. If grown in urban environments, the noxious odors cause an air-quality problem five months of the year. Communities, like Yuba County north of Sacramento, have discovered that by allowing cultivation, there is an influx of growers you don’t want as neighbors.
People are buying guns to protect their families, and property values are declining. Large pot plantations are sucking up water at 6 gallons a day per plant, and causing irreparable harm to our precious natural resources.
» Marijuana is not grown for medicine. If grown indoors, one can probably assume six plants can be grown in 10 square feet, and probably 30 plants in 50 square feet.
In one harvest, particularly if grown hydroponically, one plant could yield 5 to 10 pounds of produce. At 1,200 joints per pound, that equates to 36,000 to 72,000 joints per “patient” per harvest, or about 100 joints a day.
Even at only 1 pound per plant, 1,200 joints would equate to 20 joints a day. It is not about medicine. It’s about drug dealing.
» BHO causes explosions. Driven by greed, many amateurs attempt to make marijuana concentrates. Butane is so highly volatile, even static electricity can cause it to explode.
In 2014 alone, 32 people died in California from explosions, and burn centers are full of people — including children — with serious burns requiring skin grafts and treatment for two or three months, at taxpayer expense. The explosions are enormous.
» Marijuana is a magnet for crime. Having marijuana and money in the same place invites crime. Addicts can’t work, or work effectively so they turn to crime to feed their habits.
Recent statistics from JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) indicate the marijuana addiction rate is up to 30 percent. Addiction is a chronic, lifelong condition that ruins lives and elevates the level of crime. In Sacramento, 59 percent of arrestees test positive just for marijuana.
» Marijuana is a harmful drug that can cause brain damage and loss of IQ for anyone under 25. It also causes mental illness, psychotic breaks leading to violent acts, suicide, traffic deaths, harms to a fetus, and it is a gateway to drugs that are killing 129 Americans every day just from overdose, almost all of whom started their drug journey with marijuana.
The Take Back America Campaign and its coalition partners have filed a 2016 ballot initiative called The Safe and Drug-Free Community Act that would ban all privately owned cultivation sites and dispensaries.
For the few who may benefit, one state-owned and controlled cultivation site would supply state-owned dispensaries, but in a tightly controlled manner. The age limit for “medical marijuana” would be raised to 21 from 18.
— Roger Morgan is the founder of the Take Back America Campaign and has spent 20 years in drug prevention work. He is working with other California drug prevention activists on a recently approved ballot initiative that will roll back abuses of medical marijuana. Connect with the Take Back America Campaign on Facebook. Follow TBAC on Twitter: @nopotnoway. The opinions expressed are his own.