DEFUND DRUGS: STOP THE EXPANSION OF CANNABIS SHOPS AND BUSINESSES IN ILLINOIS BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
During our nation’s worst Addiction and Mental Health Crisis, we must DEFUND DRUGS
1) TAXES are less than expected, black markets grow and regulation fails.
In every state with legalization, marijuana taxes accounted for less than 1% of total state revenues. The percentage of revenue from the pot taxes ranges from a high of 0.9 % (under 1%) in Colorado to .016% in Oregon. In the states which legalized before Illinois, pot taxes came in way below predictions. 4
Illinois wrote its law keeping a “medical” marijuana loop-hole. The state continues to allow advertising for medical marijuana cards as a way to avoid taxes. Certifications are given online with no real medical legitimacy. 5
Black markets grow and expand after legalization. 6
“Regulation” in inadequate in assuring that products are free from mold, fungus, pesticides, and consistent ratios of THC/CBD. Heavy metals in cannabis may make users sick. The marijuana plant was 7 never meant to be grown as large-scale agriculture and attempts to control it aren’t working. The CDC reported that 82% of those who became sick or died with EVALI, a vaping lung disease, were vaping THC, including vapes bought at state-regulated cannabis shops.
Illinois politicians who supported the bill to legalize marijuana, despite Senator Durbin’s warnings against it, did not exercise due diligence and did not follow science. Instead, they listened to a well-funded cannabis lobby.10
The news out of Colorado – crime, mass shootings, suicides-shows the true cost of cannabis.11
Illinois has not yet seen the true harm of marijuana legalization – other than a 34% rise in traffic deaths12 -- because the state program was held up for months over litigation for licenses. This delay kept some of the big problems of legalizing cannabis at bay.
When cities, towns and counties say no to pot shops they’re protecting the brains of our youth.1
The science on mental and physical health, and the data on car crashes, fires, emergency room visits and environmental damage warn against marijuana legalization -- with commercialization.
Many people support marijuana legalization for reasons of social justice, but social justice and equity aren’t achieved by making a dangerous drug more accessible.
The Illinois NAACP opposed marijuana legalization.2 A “social justice” approach to cannabis commercialization would need to focus on provisions to prevent BIPOC communities from bearing on outsized public health fallout caused by the industry. Minorities, youth and at-risk populations suffer the most when states legalize pot. For many reasons, the “social justice” approach to legalization fails.3
2) BRAIN HEALTH
Marijuana use degrades brain function. Marijuana use impairs memory, learning, IQ and decision-making ability. The public has been deceived and misled regarding marijuana products and their effects.
Marijuana may not kill quickly like fentanyl or heroin, but marijuana use can lead to death. Its use can affect judgement, perception, and co-ordination, which can cause fatal injuries and traffic deaths. Marijuana use is statistically tied to a significant increase in the rates of psychosis and schizophrenia. Some people experience psychosis from the first use of this drug, even without a family history of mental illness. Of all drugs that trigger psychotic breaks, marijuana is most likely to lead to permanent psychosis, more than 40% of the time in two large studies.
Marijuana use is addictive. Recent studies show that 30% of marijuana users in the USA have a Cannabis Use Disorder, about double the rate of alcohol drinkers who have an Alcohol Use Disorder. Cannabis is regularly used in conjunction and as a companion drug with other drugs, and so contributes to our addiction epidemic.8
For products sold in today’s pot shops, go to THCphotos.com
Politicians of either party who supported marijuana legalization should not be re-elected.
Ask them: Why is any tax money worth the loss of life?
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3) The Environment & Global Warming
Climate change activists and environmentalists should be against cannabis as an industry and agricultural commodity. Odors are noxious, even from miles away. Indoor growing requires strain on the electrical grid.
Marijuana growers use at least 5 gallons of water per plant, per day and contribute to California’s water shortages and droughts. Marijuana growers divert natural rivers and streams to meet their water needs. They’ve destroyed the salmon industry in Northern California this way, and they may do it in other states.
Northern California’s giant trees sequester carbon needed to prevent global warming. Since the logging industry left, the cannabis industry moved in, cutting down trees indiscriminately. Cannabis plants burn much more readily than old forests, spreading massive fires for greater climate destruction. 9 The damage spreads up the “west coast of weed.” Californians who voted to legalize cannabis thought state regulation could stop the environmental harm. Instead, it accelerated the environmental damages.