Let's Not Kid Ourselves About Marijuana

Here's that Larry Kudlow piece from the other day, "Bad Idea: Widespread Marijuana Legalization."

And now here's Mitchell Rosenthal, at the Wall Street Journal (at Google):

Pot is always good for a giggle, and that makes it hard to take marijuana seriously. The news and entertainment media couldn't resist puns on "Rocky Mountain high" when Colorado started the year with legal sales of marijuana for recreational purposes. TV stations across the country featured chuckling coverage of long lines outside Denver's new state-licensed pot shops.

Legalizing marijuana isn't just amusing. It's increasingly popular with legislators and the public. And why not? No matter how high stoners get, they're nowhere near as scary as out-of-control boozers, right? Stoners don't brawl in bars. They're not into domestic violence.

A Gallup poll last year found 58% of Americans favoring legalization (although other surveys report more slender majorities). Decriminalization of pot possession is widespread: 20 states sanction marijuana use for medical or quasi-medical reasons, and, following Colorado's and Washington's lead, proponents of legalization are targeting Alaska and Oregon for ballot initiatives in the near future, and six other states after that.

Yet marijuana is far from safe, despite the widespread effort to make it seem benign. Pot damages the heart and lungs, increases the incidence of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, and it can trigger acute psychotic episodes. Many adults appear to be able to use marijuana with relatively little harm, but the same cannot be said of adolescents, who are about twice as likely as adults to become addicted to marijuana. The new Colorado law limits pot sales to people 21 or older, but making marijuana available for recreational use normalizes it in society. The drug will be made more easily available to those under 21, and how long until the age limit is dropped to 18?

Adolescents are vulnerable—and not just to pot. That's how they are programmed. They make rash and risky choices because their brains aren't fully developed. The part of the brain that censors dumb or dangerous behavior is last to come on line (generally not before the mid-20s). Meanwhile, the brain's pleasure-seeking structures are up and running strong by puberty. When you link adolescent pleasure-seeking and risk-taking to marijuana's impairment of perception and judgment, it isn't surprising that a 2004 study of seriously injured drivers in Maryland found half the teens tested positive for pot.

Marijuana impairs learning, judgment and memory—no small matters during the adolescent years—and it can do lasting harm to the brain. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has found that marijuana can damage cognitive function in adolescents by disrupting the normal development of the white-matter that brain cells need to communicate with each other.

Most disturbing is a discovery about marijuana last month at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Researchers there have found lasting changes in "working memory," brain structures critical to memory and reasoning. A source of ready recall for basic information, like telephone numbers, and solutions to everyday problems, working memory is also a strong predictor of academic achievement.

Dr. Volkow and most other experts are troubled by changing teen attitudes about marijuana. Barely 40% of adolescents now believe regular use is harmful—down from 80% two decades ago. Teen drinking and cigarette smoking have declined, and their abuse of prescription painkillers has fallen off sharply, but teen marijuana use continues to increase. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey last year found that more than 45% of high-school seniors have smoked pot and 6.5% now smoke it daily (a rate that has tripled over the past two decades). At the substance-abuse programs of Phoenix House, and at similar programs across the country, marijuana is the primary drug of abuse for close to 70% of teens in treatment.

No one can say how marijuana legalization will play out. A perception of legal marijuana as safe, combined with sophisticated marketing, may well double or triple pot use. Warning of aggressive promotion, drug-policy expert Mark Kleiman, who studied potential issues of a legal marijuana market for the Seattle City Council, pointed out last year: "The only way to sell a lot of pot is to create a lot of potheads."

Still more at that top link.

Bottom line: A nation of growing stoners isn't funny.

Colorado Principal Says She Was Fired Over School Hand-Stamp Policy

Clearly the woman was acting out of kindness for the kids. And she was fired, wtf?

At London's Daily Mail, "School principal claims she was fired for protecting poor children by opposing 'humiliating' practice of giving students with no lunch money a stamp on their hand."

And local reports at the Daily Camera, "Noelle Roni, ex-Peak to Peak principal, says she was fired over hand-stamping flap." And, "Peak to Peak defends firing of principal, urges parents to vote in recall election."

Notice how the schools has rescinded the student hand-stamp policy, but they stand by their decision to fire the teacher, Ms. Roni.

The schools are really f-ked up. And this was a charter school, which are supposed to be innovative and flexible, blah blah.

And thus, "Peak to Peak parents say principal's ouster shakes their faith in the school."

Bad Idea: Widespread Marijuana Legalization

I'm surprised by this essay, from Larry Kudlow, at RCP. I had no idea he was a recovering addict.

See, "Enough Pot Happy Talk":

There was way too much giddiness in the media about the first day of legal pot selling in Colorado. Instead of all the happy talk, I think it's time for some sober discussion and a strong dose of education about the addiction risks of smoking marijuana -- particularly among young people. It may start out as a party, but it often ends up as something much, much worse.

With the grace of God, I've been clean and sober for over 18 years -- a recovery experience that still has me going to a lot of 12-step meetings. And I hear time and again from young people coming into the rooms to get sober how pot smoking led to harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Now, this is anecdotal, and I am not an expert. And I will say that many people can control alcohol or pot or other drugs. But I am not one of them. And I am not alone.

Talk to virtually any professional drug counselor, and they will warn that pot is a gateway drug. Or listen to left-of-center columnist Ruth Marcus, who has gathered important professional evidence about the risks of pot.

Ms. Marcus reminds us that the American Medical Association recommended against legalization, stating, "Cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern." The AMA added that pot "is the most common illicit drug involved in drugged driving, particularly in drivers under the age of 21. Early cannabis use is related to later substance-use disorders."

The AMA also noted that "Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood and psychotic-thought disorders."

I am indebted to Ruth Marcus for this information. She, by the way, thinks "widespread legalization is a bad idea, if an inevitable development."

Now, I didn't hear any of this coming from the media in its first day of reporting on legal pot sales. That's way too bad. The risks associated with pot use must be discussed frequently and soberly so that all can recognize the downside threats.

Keep reading.

Kudlow's not necessarily against legalization. He just wants a full airing of the issue. Enough with the dopey media pom-pom sections.

2-Year-Old Colorado Girl Tests Positive for Marijuana After Falling Into Stupor

Yes, things are really off to a smokin' start.

At BPR, "First week of legalized sales, Colorado toddler tests positive for pot."



And in related news, at NewsBusters, "MSNBC’s Touré Neblett Insists He’s Living Proof Marijuana Doesn’t Harm Intelligence." (Prompted by the David Brooks dope-smoking admission this week, to which Jeffrey Goldberg has responded, "I, Like David Brooks, Have Smoked Marijuana, via Memeorandum.)

Choom Gang Colorado!

All these stoned out losers at the clip: It's better than the "third coming" of Christ!

And see Hot Air, "Legal marijuana, day two: Colorado basically just one big Choom Gang now."

Todd Helton Tags Out Matt Carpenter With the Old Hidden Ball Trick

And he was funny about it, "I've been wanting to do that for 17 seasons. Now I can cross that off my bucket list."

And he later hit a solo home-run to tie the game at 6-6 in the 9th.

Colorado won 7-6 in the 15th inning.



More video here, "Helton uses brain, brawn in win."

Helton's retiring after 17 seasons with the Rockies. His last game will be at Los Angeles on September 29th.

Colorado Mudslide Washes Away Car

Wild.

At the Colorado Springs Gazette, "VIDEO: Flash flood brings black water down Waldo burn scar, sweeps away motorists."

Colorado Wildfires

At Twitchy, "#BlackForestFire consumes 400 acres, up to 60 homes in Colorado [pics, video]; Update: 2,500 homes evacuated; Update: 8,000 acres, 0 containment."

And at Michelle's, "Colorado is on fire again; scrambling for tankers."

Holy Freakin' Cow! Judge Jeanine Pirro Lights Righteous Second Amendment Wildfire at NRA 2013!

Wow!

Get in, sit down, shut up, and hold the freakin hell on!

Via Maggie's Notebook, "Jeanine Pirro NRA Speech 2013: Accused of Denigrating All Muslims “How About Not Blaming All Gun Owners”."

Pro-Gun Laws Gain Ground

At the Wall Street Journal, "Since Newtown Massacre, More States Ease Regulations Than Bolster Them":

President Barack Obama made another push Wednesday to build support for gun-control laws in the wake of December's mass school shooting in Connecticut. But since then, states have passed more measures expanding rather than restricting the right to carry firearms.

Arkansas eliminated prohibitions on carrying firearms in churches and on college campuses. South Dakota authorized school boards to arm teachers. Tennessee passed a law allowing workers to bring guns to work and store them in their vehicles, even if their employer objects. Kentucky shortened the process for obtaining licenses to carry a concealed gun.

Those laws, along with the long odds for major federal gun-control legislation, show how the march toward expanded gun rights in recent years has hardly slowed since Mr. Obama pledged to use the "full force" of his office to tighten limits after 20 children and six adult staffers were killed at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

This year, five states have passed seven laws that strengthen gun restrictions, while 10 states have passed 17 laws that weaken them, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which tracks and promotes gun-control laws.

Gun-control advocates have scored some victories. In New York and Colorado, which was the site of a movie-theater shooting last July that left 12 dead, new laws require background checks for all firearm sales and limit the size of ammunition magazines. Connecticut lawmakers Wednesday were debating legislation to expand the state's ban on certain semiautomatic weapons and require background checks for all firearm sales, among other restrictions. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, has said he would sign such a measure.

Kristin Goss, a Duke University professor of public policy who supports gun-control legislation, said these measures are more sweeping than the gun-rights expansions in other states, which she called "technical and incremental."

Still, gun-control bills have faltered in Congress and other states, while pro-gun-rights bills move along elsewhere. On Tuesday, an Indiana House committee passed a bill that would require an armed staffer in every school.

Actually, those gun-control "victories" are already backfiring, at Instapundit, "FOR ANDREW CUOMO, A HASTY LAW IS IN TROUBLE ALREADY," and "HASTE MAKES WASTE — AND ANDREW CUOMO LOOKS STUPID: Cuomo’s 7-Bullet Limit to Be Suspended Indefinitely, Skelos Says."

Also out of Colorado, "Just days after Colorado Governor Hickenlooper signed them into law, new gun control measures are being declared by state sheriffs to be unenforceable due to ambiguities and constitutional concerns. And businesses are fleeing the state, at Denver Business Journal, "HiViz intends to follow Magpul's example, leave Colorado."

Yeah, those are some most excellent victories!

Yay idiot progs! Keep winning those gun control victories!