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Obama: Pot Users In Washington And Colorado Not A 'Top Priority'
President Barack Obama said prosecuting pot users in states that have legalized the drug won't be a top priority for his administration.
"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama told ABC News' Barbara Walters. "It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal."
Last month, voters in Colorado and Washington legalized recreational pot use for adults, though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
The Obama administration suggested last week that it was considering plans to undermine the voter initiatives. In his interview with Walters, Obama did not say whether his administration would go after producers and suppliers of marijuana in those states. The administration has cracked down extensively on the medical marijuana industry in California, despite its legality under state law there.
A slim majority of Americans want the Department of Justice to leave pot smokers alone in the states where the drug has been legalized, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll.
Obama himself smoked pot as a youngster in Hawaii, where he and his high school pals called themselves the Choom Gang.
"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," he told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/obama-pot-washington-colorado_n_2299512.html
"We've got bigger fish to fry," Obama told ABC News' Barbara Walters. "It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it's legal."
Last month, voters in Colorado and Washington legalized recreational pot use for adults, though marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
The Obama administration suggested last week that it was considering plans to undermine the voter initiatives. In his interview with Walters, Obama did not say whether his administration would go after producers and suppliers of marijuana in those states. The administration has cracked down extensively on the medical marijuana industry in California, despite its legality under state law there.
A slim majority of Americans want the Department of Justice to leave pot smokers alone in the states where the drug has been legalized, according to a HuffPost/YouGov poll.
Obama himself smoked pot as a youngster in Hawaii, where he and his high school pals called themselves the Choom Gang.
"There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid," he told Walters. "My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/14/obama-pot-washington-colorado_n_2299512.html
Cause of death (Data from 2009 unless otherwise noted)1 Number
All Causes 2,437,163
Diseases of Heart 599,413
Malignant Neoplasms 567,628
Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases 137,353
Cerebrovascular Diseases 128,842
Lack of Health Insurance3 (2005) 44,789
Poisoning 41,592
Drug-Induced2 39,147
Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) 36,909
Septicemia 35,639
Motor Vehicle Accidents 34,485
Firearm Injuries 31,347
Alcohol-Induced 24,518
Illicit Drugs (2000) 17,0004
Homicide 16,799
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 9,406
Viral hepatitis 7,694
Cannabis (Marijuana) 0
(Opioid Deaths) "From 1999 to 2007, the number of U.S. poisoning deaths involving any opioid analgesic (e.g., oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone) more than tripled, from 4,041 to 14,459, or 36% of the 40,059 total poisoning deaths in 2007. In 1999, opioid analgesics were involved in 20% of the 19,741 poisoning deaths. During 1999–2007, the number of poisoning deaths involving specified drugs other than opioid analgesics increased from 9,262 to 12,790, and the number involving nonspecified drugs increased from 3,608 to 8,947."
(Prescription Drug ODs) "In 2008, a total of 36,450 deaths were attributed to drug overdose, a rate of 11.9 per 100,000 population (Table 1), among which a drug was specified in 27,153 (74.5%) deaths. One or more prescription drugs were involved in 20,044 (73.8%) of the 27,153 deaths, and OPR were involved in 14,800 (73.8%) of the 20,044 prescription drug overdose deaths."
(Alcohol Mortality) "Excessive alcohol use* accounted for an estimated average of 80,000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the United States each year during 2001–2005, and an estimated $223.5 billion in economic costs in 2006. Binge drinking accounted for more than half of those deaths, two thirds of the YPLL, and three quarters of the economic costs."
(Alcohol Mortality 2009) "In 2009, a total of 24,518 persons died of alcohol-induced causes in the United States (Tables 10, 12, and 13). This category includes deaths from dependent and nondependent use of alcohol, and also includes accidental poisoning by alcohol. It excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use, as well as deaths due to fetal alcohol syndrome (for a list of alcohol-induced causes, see ‘‘Technical Notes’’).
"In 2009, the age-adjusted death rate for alcohol-induced causes for males was three times the rate for females. Compared with the rate for the white population, the rate for the black population was 19.5% lower.
"There was no change the age-adjusted death rate for alcohol-induced causes for the total population from 2008 to 2009. The age-adjusted death rate decreased 2.6% for non-Hispanic white males. The rate increased 7.9% for non-Hispanic white females."
(Marijuana Mortality) "Indeed, epidemiological data indicate that in the general population marijuana use is not associated with increased mortality."
(Marijuana Safety - DEA Administrative Law Judge's Ruling)
"3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?
"4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.
"5. This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.
"6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.
"7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.
"8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.
"9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity."
http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30
All Causes 2,437,163
Diseases of Heart 599,413
Malignant Neoplasms 567,628
Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases 137,353
Cerebrovascular Diseases 128,842
Lack of Health Insurance3 (2005) 44,789
Poisoning 41,592
Drug-Induced2 39,147
Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) 36,909
Septicemia 35,639
Motor Vehicle Accidents 34,485
Firearm Injuries 31,347
Alcohol-Induced 24,518
Illicit Drugs (2000) 17,0004
Homicide 16,799
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 9,406
Viral hepatitis 7,694
Cannabis (Marijuana) 0
(Opioid Deaths) "From 1999 to 2007, the number of U.S. poisoning deaths involving any opioid analgesic (e.g., oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone) more than tripled, from 4,041 to 14,459, or 36% of the 40,059 total poisoning deaths in 2007. In 1999, opioid analgesics were involved in 20% of the 19,741 poisoning deaths. During 1999–2007, the number of poisoning deaths involving specified drugs other than opioid analgesics increased from 9,262 to 12,790, and the number involving nonspecified drugs increased from 3,608 to 8,947."
(Prescription Drug ODs) "In 2008, a total of 36,450 deaths were attributed to drug overdose, a rate of 11.9 per 100,000 population (Table 1), among which a drug was specified in 27,153 (74.5%) deaths. One or more prescription drugs were involved in 20,044 (73.8%) of the 27,153 deaths, and OPR were involved in 14,800 (73.8%) of the 20,044 prescription drug overdose deaths."
(Alcohol Mortality) "Excessive alcohol use* accounted for an estimated average of 80,000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) in the United States each year during 2001–2005, and an estimated $223.5 billion in economic costs in 2006. Binge drinking accounted for more than half of those deaths, two thirds of the YPLL, and three quarters of the economic costs."
(Alcohol Mortality 2009) "In 2009, a total of 24,518 persons died of alcohol-induced causes in the United States (Tables 10, 12, and 13). This category includes deaths from dependent and nondependent use of alcohol, and also includes accidental poisoning by alcohol. It excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use, as well as deaths due to fetal alcohol syndrome (for a list of alcohol-induced causes, see ‘‘Technical Notes’’).
"In 2009, the age-adjusted death rate for alcohol-induced causes for males was three times the rate for females. Compared with the rate for the white population, the rate for the black population was 19.5% lower.
"There was no change the age-adjusted death rate for alcohol-induced causes for the total population from 2008 to 2009. The age-adjusted death rate decreased 2.6% for non-Hispanic white males. The rate increased 7.9% for non-Hispanic white females."
(Marijuana Mortality) "Indeed, epidemiological data indicate that in the general population marijuana use is not associated with increased mortality."
(Marijuana Safety - DEA Administrative Law Judge's Ruling)
"3. The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?
"4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.
"5. This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.
"6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.
"7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.
"8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.
"9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity."
http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30
"Were (sic) for it you are against it, bottom line, I don't see either side conceding, so what is the point of continuing on about it."
The idea is discuss it with both side presenting their arguments; it's not about changing anyone's minds or making someone cry "uncle".......
The idea is discuss it with both side presenting their arguments; it's not about changing anyone's minds or making someone cry "uncle".......
OH -you are very right (as you know) about using MJ to get through TX and even before when I could barely walk from the extreme joint and muscle pain that was secondary to HCV. My Doctors were absolutely fine with it and my new top notch Hepa agrees...he only recommended to me I think about stopping since I am well and no longer in pain and he made it clear that he wasn't "telling" me not to, just suggested there is no longer a need.
I am using this opportunity to clarify an earlier post.
This was a very entertaining thread, btw.
Love you guys-all yous
I am using this opportunity to clarify an earlier post.
This was a very entertaining thread, btw.
Love you guys-all yous
To repeat what I said in response to this one flawed study, I recall when it came out. It was refuted because all of the participants were heavy drinkers.
Drinking alcohol when you have hep C is like pouring gasoline on a fire.
That said, as our livers filter everything including what we breathe, it is a good idea if you have an impaired live,r to avoid smoking whether it is pot or cigarettes or cloves, whatever one smokes.
The study did not include people who use vaporizers, tinctures or edibles.
My top-notch hepatologist was fine with my using pot while doing treatment. He was fine with most things as long as it helped me through the treatment and wasn't proven to either interfere with the meds or be harmful to my liver.
Drinking alcohol when you have hep C is like pouring gasoline on a fire.
That said, as our livers filter everything including what we breathe, it is a good idea if you have an impaired live,r to avoid smoking whether it is pot or cigarettes or cloves, whatever one smokes.
The study did not include people who use vaporizers, tinctures or edibles.
My top-notch hepatologist was fine with my using pot while doing treatment. He was fine with most things as long as it helped me through the treatment and wasn't proven to either interfere with the meds or be harmful to my liver.
Settle down,I think you took that different than I meant it
Were for it you are against it, bottom line, I don't see either side conceding, so what is the point of continuing on about it.
I don't think that you are sheltered, I think you may be around more MJ users than you know because they are in the closet about it, it is still illegal in 48 states, however that was just a guess and I may be wrong
Were for it you are against it, bottom line, I don't see either side conceding, so what is the point of continuing on about it.
I don't think that you are sheltered, I think you may be around more MJ users than you know because they are in the closet about it, it is still illegal in 48 states, however that was just a guess and I may be wrong
There is some anecdotal evidence that sarcasm can be dangerous to a specific population - namely very sensitive nurses.
But, I don't think we need to outlaw sarcasm...at least not yet anyway.
Mike
But, I don't think we need to outlaw sarcasm...at least not yet anyway.
Mike
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