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[Eternalist]

Make Delaware's marijuana laws make sense

Elizabeth Allen and Ken Abraham
4:55 p.m. EDT June 29, 2014

Cannabis is a non-addictive, natural medicine used around the world for 6,000 years. We in America have been waging a futile and costly war against it for 100 years.

Oklahoma state Sen. Constance Johnson announced the filing of a statewide initiative petition to legalize marijuana, telling supporters that the campaign is based on Genesis 1:29, which suggests that God created the plant.

"God created this wonderful, miraculous plant and we know that it has been vilified for the last 100 years, and it's time to change that in Oklahoma," added the senator, who has led efforts, along with attorney David Slane, to legalize pot. Pastor Pat Robertson, a Christian fundamentalist, has called for complete legalization.

It should be legalized. The real threat is synthetic cannabis, i.e. K2, Gorilla Dro Po Po, Spice, Kush, Herbal Essence and Potpouri. People are dying from synthetic cannabis because they believe it is "like marijuana, but won't show up in a urine test."

Those who use these synthetics become easily aggravated, and sometimes violent. Synthetic drugs also known as "legal highs" or designer drugs, contain substances virtually unheard of, and they are legal! They are sold openly in stores with little fear of prosecution. Mixed by chemists in Asia, synthetics are chemical compounds designed to mimic the effects of natural marijuana while staying inside the law. Because these new compounds don't yet appear on state and federal lists of illegal drugs, sellers market them as legal.

Emergency rooms and poison centers report synthetics cause kidney failure, seizures and psychosis and death. Some use the synthetic because it can evade detection in urine tests. Packets sell for as little as $10; such pricing along with the notion they are legal and safe, has made these drugs popular among teens. In 2013, 29.8 percent of students reported using marijuana according to National Institutes of Health survey. While marijuana use among teens has decreased, the far riskier synthetic marijuana came in second, with 7.4 percent reported using synthetic.

Drug police struggle to keep pace as synthetics are made, imported, sold and detected defying traditional approach to enforcement. Synthetics are popular with kids enticed by the low cost. Crime labs' instruments don't recognize synthetics. It has been blamed by the Centers for Disease Control of acute kidney injury. Medical experts caution a single dose of synthetic cannabis can be hazardous because of the crude way producers spray the chemicals onto inert plant material which is then smoked.

Marijuana has been in use for centuries and its common side effects, red eyes and increased appetites, are well known. Pot is NOT a gateway drug, and no one has ever died from it. On the spectrum of mood-altering substances pot is considered relatively safe, actually safer than coffee. Our kids are experimenting with synthetics that cause physical harm mental harm and death, as reported by the Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control. These synthetic drugs have made over $51 million in the first half of 2013, states the Project Synergy, DEA's national synthetic drug enforcement operation.

A bill introduced in Colorado's legislature, would add synthetic drugs to the States Deceptive Trade Practices Act levying huge fines of $500,000 per packet for false marketing. The myths of legality and safety leave our kids vulnerable, many don't understand the difference between synthetic and the real natural thing.

The challenge for parents, communities and schools is teaching kids about the risk of synthetics.

Marijuana, a natural medicine has proven to be beneficial to anyone suffering from PTSD (our veterans groups are pushing for legalization) as opposed to Big Pharma drugs which are making them suicidal.

Citizens suffering from cancer, lupus, seizures, autism, drug and alcohol detox, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, back/joint pain, HIV, aggressive behaviors, are benefiting, and these are just a few medical issues, now proven to be managed with cannabinoids.

Marijuana should be legalized in Delaware and nationwide, there should be no fines or penalty for natural medicine. Our citizens should be able to grow six plants or request a marijuana licensed, monitored facility to grow and hold them without fear of arrest. The U.S. government has a patent on cannabis referring to it as a "brain drug."

Our legislators need to become educated on this issue and stop blocking our citizens right to this medicine. The biggest threat to our citizens other than synthetic drugs, is the Medical Industrial complex who want to continue making billions on drugs, having addicted our nation. Meanwhile, we waste billions of dollars locking up nonviolent marijuana users. Twenty-nine people are serving life sentences for possession of marijuana. All of this accomplishes nothing to stem the flow of drugs. Indeed, marijuana is readily available inside our maximum security prisons.

You can find more information on this and other issues at Delawaresvoice.com. Citizens for the Greater Good researches every day the latest information from a variety of reputable sources. We hope our legislators will take the time to visit the website and become more educated on the issues.

Elizabeth Allen is chair of the Citizens for the Greater Good. Ken Abraham is president of Citizens for Criminal Justice.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/06/28/make-delawares-marijuana-laws-make-sense/11559409/