Tag Archives: Marijuana edibles

Senate President Kevin de León Doesn’t Favor Pot Legalization

On August 3, California Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León said that he is not ready to support marijuana legalization.  Reporters at a Sacramento press briefing asked his opinion of Proposition 64.  De León replied:  “I don’t know if I am behind the times in comparison to other folks, but I still have my concerns.”

De León had an opportune meeting  with Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado,  sitting next to him on a flight back from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.  The men discussed the effect of a pot legalization measure which was approved by Colorado in 2012.

De León told reporters, “We had a very comprehensive conversation.”  The Senate leader worries that the marijuana of today is far more potent than in the past and that the sale of pot edibles in the form of candies and gummy bears attracts minors.   “These are real-life consequences.” he said.

AUMA
Senate President Kevin de León is right that marijuana edibles — now circulating in California — are designed to attract children.

Candies and edibles that appeal to children are already sold in California.  Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the Proposition 64 campaign, says that edibles “designed to be appealing to children or easily confused with commercially sold candy,” will be banned.  Kinney knows that it’s impossible to regulate this addiction industry hyped for its money making potential.

Deceptions Pushed by AUMA

Another message of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA, also called Proposition 64) is based on false innuendo. “The current system of prohibition has spectacularly failed to protect children, since drug dealers don’t card,”  cites Kinney, using a common cliché.           

Marijuana lobbyists told the same presumptuous lie in Colorado and Washington back in 2012, when they tricked voters into legalization.

The current system is not prohibition, since 17- year-olds can get medical marijuana cards for dubious conditions, and children get it from their parents.    Plus, in California, kids find pot is easier to hide from parents/schools than alcohol.   In California, marijuana possession calls for a $100 fine, less than most parking or traffic tickets. Why would police ever bother? 

To find a place with strict marijuana laws, one must look outside of the United States.  (The United States has more than 50% of the worlds drug users.)  Most states have decriminalized marijuana in practice.  Police arrest for pot possession only when other crimes have been committed or are suspected.

When Colorado legalized adult marijuana use in 2013, children began using pot at younger ages.  For example, instead of marijuana use starting in middle school, it began to show up with 4th graders.

Black markets thrive in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, as more people want to get into the business.

Can de Leon’s Wisdom on this Issue Spread?

Sen. de León listened to Governor Hickenlooper who has been trying to make pot legalization work in Colorado.   Hickenlooper did not support legalization in 2012.  In 2014, during a debate with his Republican opponent for governor, he called Colorado’s marijuana legalization “reckless.”   Marijuana taxes contribute to less than 1% of Colorado’s state budget, while thousands of dollars are spent on the consequences of legalization.

Kevin de León represents the Los Angeles area.  He has been in the California Senate since 2010 and quickly rose to leadership.  Two years ago the Senate elected him Senate president pro tempore.  He became the first Latino to hold that position in 130 years.

De León is  a member of the young guard of the Democratic Party which generally supports marijuana legalization.  Governor Jerry Brown and Senator Dianne Feinstein do not favor it.   Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom formed a committee to write the AUMA initiative.  However, he admits that his wife is very afraid of the message it sends to the children.

De León is co-author of a bill requiring colleges that receive state funds for student financial assistance, to adopt an “affirmative consent standard” for sexual relations (“Yes Means Yes”).   That type of leadership ability on key issues could be valuable again.  His background is as an educator, teacher and community organizer.  De León said he is still processing information to make an intelligent decision about marijuana legalization.  He has made it clear, however, that he is aware of major problems, even though other party members listen to the pot industry.  http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article93525057.html

If you are impressed that Senate President is cautious about marijuana legalization please fan his facebook page @KevinDeLeonKDL and tell him so!

Case to Challenge Pot Legalization Ballot goes to Highest Court

Marijuana Industry To Come Clean About Reliance on Highly Potent Products In Massachusetts

Tomorrow the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts will hear a case to dismiss the petition to legalize commercial marijuana. Hensley vs. Attorney General was filed about five weeks ago.  The suit  alleges voters have not been told that high concentrations of THC could be added to food or beverages, such as candy, cookies or soda, under this proposal. Nor were voters told that the question would allow for the sale of genetically modified forms of marijuana with THC concentrations of 60 percent or higher.  The Bellotti Law Group filed the suit on behalf of 59 voters.l

The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts is not a party to the suit, but the campaign believes that legal challenge raises important issues, especially the high THC levels of today’s marijuana products.  The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts reiterated its call on the marijuana industry to discuss the fact that it will rely on highly potent products in Massachusetts.

One Marijuana Industry representative in Colorado admitted that efforts to cap THC levels at a rate above what the Dutch government has moved to classify as a prohibited hard drug would “gut the industry” in that state.

Statement from Nick Bayer, campaign manager for a Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts:

“As this case is heard before the SJC, we believe the Marijuana Industry should acknowledge what we all know, that it will need to rely on highly potent products in Massachusetts to make a profit. This ballot question would open the door to the selling of a drug that is 400% more potent than the marijuana of even a generation ago, and edible products that have no restrictions placed on THC levels. People deserve to know what they are voting on, and this more powerful drug will have a great impact on families and young people.”

Some additional facts include:

Today’s commercial marijuana industry is producing and pushing products with average THC (the psychoactive element which creates the high) levels multiple times higher than found in the 1970s—frequently at or above the 15% THC level that the Dutch government has moved to classify as a prohibited “hard drug.”

Edible products, which the ballot measure specifically authorizes, make up about half the marijuana market in Colorado and would likely do the same here. Edibles use extracts with THC content that can rise as high as 90%.

In a recent interview, the head of Colorado’s marijuana trade association told a news outlet that an effort in his state to cap THC levels at 16% “literally would gut” his industry. Marijuana Business Daily quoted Mike Elliot, executive director of The Marijuana Industry Group, as saying the proposed THC cap would “would probably ban all the concentrates and most of the edibles and most of the flowers that people grow, too. Most of the flower that our industry is growing is above 16% THC.”

A bi-partisan group of politicians is leading the charge against legalization in Massachusetts, including Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo.   An impressive group of school superintendents and other civic organizations have already spoken out against legalization.  It’s time that similar leadership form in California.

More Deaths from Marijuana in Colorado

The third Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Report (HIDTA ) Report was released last week and there’s more bad news surrounding marijuana in Colorado.  There are statistics about teen use, hospitalizations and traffic deaths. The most disturbing news, though, is more deaths from marijuana.

Two more young men died this year and marijuana is substantially to blame. In March, Luke Goodman, a 23-year old (shown above), was on a two-week ski vacation with his family. He and a cousin purchased marijuana edibles and marijuana. Goodman was inexperienced and apparently ate several peach tart candies. Several hours later he was reported to be jittery, incoherent and talking non-sensibly. His cousin describe him as “pretty weird and relatively incoherent. Continue reading More Deaths from Marijuana in Colorado