NOT WHAT CALIFORNIA EXPECTED ..... HA HA HA HA HA

How California's legal cannabis dream became a public health nightmare - leading to spiralling addiction, psychotic illnesses and hospitals facing a deluge of poisonings and drug-drive accidents

 

Daily Mail 

July 2, 2022

               

Centre top: Michelle Leopold, 57, from San Francisco, has fallen victim to the worst possible consequences of the normalisation of cannabis use. In 2019, her 18-year-old son Trevor (pictured with her) died after dabbling with prescription painkillers - and unwittingly taking a tablet of powerful opioid Fentanyl - following four years of addiction to cannabis; centre bottom: Eve with Compton residents and community activists James and Charmaine Hays.

 

                   In Serra, there are balms and lotions, things to eat and, of course, to smoke. One display cabinet showcases dozens of dried cannabis flowers, each bud sitting in its own pretty porcelain dish, labelled according to its supposed benefit: happiness, creativity, relaxation

 

Over the past few years, doctors in California have begun to voice concerns about the repercussions of increasing cannabis use. In particular, how the laissez-faire approach is fuelling a surge in addiction and mental illness.

Many are particularly concerned about Los Angeles, where teenagers use the drug more often than in any other Californian city.

Dr Roneet Lev, an emergency doctor at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, who tells me: 'We've been seeing the problems for a while now: depressive breakdowns, psychosis, suicidal thoughts, all related to cannabis. The patients are regular people, not down-and-outs.

'I want people to know the truth about this drug. We've been sold a lie, that cannabis use is harmless and even has a multitude of health benefits. It is exactly the same as what happened with tobacco. The industry told the public it was good for their health at first, before it was proven to be deadly.'

In California, hospital admissions for cannabis-related complications have shot up – from 1,400 in 2005 to 16,000 by 2019. In California, and the other 18 states that have legalised cannabis, rates of addiction are nearly 40 per cent higher than states without legal cannabis, according to research by Columbia University.

 

             A marijuana-impaired driver crossed the center line and caused this head-on crash

A study published on Thursday suggested recreational marijuana users were 25 per cent more likely to end up needing emergency hospital treatment. And, according to data from the US Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the risk of being involved in a cannabis-related accident is significantly higher in states where the drug is legal.

'We are seeing a lot more patients who have gone from smoking once every few months to using cannabis every day, and they don't realise the harms,' says Dr Ziva Cooper, who runs the Center For Cannabis And Cannabinoids at the University of California in Los Angeles.

'Frequent and heavy use is becoming so normalised in LA, those who are addicted or have complications might not realise it because all their friends are the same.'

James Hays, 65, who owns a biomedical firm, scoffs at the claims of some advocates: that legalisation of cannabis would reduce the number of black and Latino Americans in US prisons, who are more likely to be jailed for cannabis-related crimes.

'It is a total lie,' he replies. 'Most people who are in prison for cannabis-related crimes are in jail because they have done something serious. Either they've tried to smuggle tons of it across borders or they have been involved with other illegal drugs.

As for the belief that legalisation and regulation will eliminate the criminal element: the illegal cannabis market in California is booming, estimated to be worth £6 billion – twice that of the legal industry.