Note to Victoria
“just makes those whom you want to convince of the seriousness of weed use skeptical.”
I need to clear up a slight misconception: Neither I, nor Parents Opposed to Pot, nor does the other two national organizations I belong to, Mom’s Strong, and Smart Approaches to Marijuana, want to change the minds of marijuana addicts, users, and their supporters.
These organizations already know the futility of trying to penetrate the layers of justification and denial that have lead to these dire circumstances in the first place.
One objective is to educate the public, especially parents. Typical parents strive to protect their children from harm. One of the ways we do this is through parents sharing their stories, their heartbreak, their suffering.
Another objective is refute the relentless misinformation that been spread over the past 40 years by groups like NORML and Marijuana Policy Project.What we have, that the skeptics lack, is published scientific data to back our claims.
Sure, Marijuana Policy Project and NORML claim that research backs their claims too, but they lie. They are political activist groups with agendas. You will never see legitimate published research by doctors, scientists, and researchers on NORML's or MPPs web sites, because it violates their agenda that marijuana is harmless.
However, you will see published research about the potential health benefits of marijuana in legitimate scientific publications. That's because they're interested in facts, not agendas. You will never see what MPP or NORML claims as research in legitimate publications, because it's typically based on assumption and anecdotal evidence.
Another objective is to educate our lawmakers.
This past March I testified with about 15 others, before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, in regard to marijuana’s dangers. If you ever wondered why the legalization bill was shelved for 2017, it was us - a collection of doctors, psychiatrists, scientists, researchers, police, victims, plus four members from AAA.
Our testimony covered everything from addiction, to psychosis, to changes in the brain, to marijuana induced traffic fatalities, marijuana induced heart attacks, babies born with brain anomalies, and the influx of organized crime and gangs.
If you were to check my Marijuana Links page, you’d find even more data from scientific research and studies, and real life events.
About my testimony: It all began with the bill's sponsor, Montgomery County's Sen. William C. Smith, Jr. (D), claiming among other things, that no one has died from marijuana. When it was my turn, in my allotted two minutes, I cited a study by the American Heart Association that discussed 2000 reported marijuana incidents over a four-year period that resulted in hospitalizations, of which 100 were cardiac in nature, resulting in nine fatal heart attacks. (Contrary to popular belief, the "mellow" is an illusion. What happens is that your blood pressure rises and your heart-rate increases).
I then asked Senator Smith, what was the source of his data that no one has died from marijuana ... He couldn't answer. I finished by citing the testimony of Pueblo's Dr. Simerville, head of pediatrics at St. Mary's - Corwin Hospital, that up to 10% of the baby's born each month in his hospital, have brain anomalies because their pregnant moms, believing to be a safe drug, smoked marijuana during pregnancy. Doctors in Colorado have known about this since marijuana first became popular in the 1970s. They've followed up these births with brain scans when they turn eight, and later as teenagers. The damage doesn't heal.
Afterwards, I was confronted in the hallway by a MPP member, who claimed that I was rude (for outing Senator Smith) and that I needed to "Learn my facts." I said all I deal in is facts. He repeated the charge. I just so happened to have my written testimony in my hand, and offered it to him, saying it was filled with facts. He turned and went back into the hearing room.
The reason I’m so concerned about getting the message out, is that I became addicted in my early 20's, then suffered a marijuana induced psychosis at age 25. I’ve struggled with mental illness ever since. If I’m able to prevent even just one child from suffering the agony I live with, all the abuse and denigration I’ve suffered is worth it.
GFS 8/25/2017
I need to clear up a slight misconception: Neither I, nor Parents Opposed to Pot, nor does the other two national organizations I belong to, Mom’s Strong, and Smart Approaches to Marijuana, want to change the minds of marijuana addicts, users, and their supporters.
These organizations already know the futility of trying to penetrate the layers of justification and denial that have lead to these dire circumstances in the first place.
One objective is to educate the public, especially parents. Typical parents strive to protect their children from harm. One of the ways we do this is through parents sharing their stories, their heartbreak, their suffering.
Another objective is refute the relentless misinformation that been spread over the past 40 years by groups like NORML and Marijuana Policy Project.What we have, that the skeptics lack, is published scientific data to back our claims.
Sure, Marijuana Policy Project and NORML claim that research backs their claims too, but they lie. They are political activist groups with agendas. You will never see legitimate published research by doctors, scientists, and researchers on NORML's or MPPs web sites, because it violates their agenda that marijuana is harmless.
However, you will see published research about the potential health benefits of marijuana in legitimate scientific publications. That's because they're interested in facts, not agendas. You will never see what MPP or NORML claims as research in legitimate publications, because it's typically based on assumption and anecdotal evidence.
Another objective is to educate our lawmakers.
This past March I testified with about 15 others, before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, in regard to marijuana’s dangers. If you ever wondered why the legalization bill was shelved for 2017, it was us - a collection of doctors, psychiatrists, scientists, researchers, police, victims, plus four members from AAA.
Our testimony covered everything from addiction, to psychosis, to changes in the brain, to marijuana induced traffic fatalities, marijuana induced heart attacks, babies born with brain anomalies, and the influx of organized crime and gangs.
If you were to check my Marijuana Links page, you’d find even more data from scientific research and studies, and real life events.
About my testimony: It all began with the bill's sponsor, Montgomery County's Sen. William C. Smith, Jr. (D), claiming among other things, that no one has died from marijuana. When it was my turn, in my allotted two minutes, I cited a study by the American Heart Association that discussed 2000 reported marijuana incidents over a four-year period that resulted in hospitalizations, of which 100 were cardiac in nature, resulting in nine fatal heart attacks. (Contrary to popular belief, the "mellow" is an illusion. What happens is that your blood pressure rises and your heart-rate increases).
I then asked Senator Smith, what was the source of his data that no one has died from marijuana ... He couldn't answer. I finished by citing the testimony of Pueblo's Dr. Simerville, head of pediatrics at St. Mary's - Corwin Hospital, that up to 10% of the baby's born each month in his hospital, have brain anomalies because their pregnant moms, believing to be a safe drug, smoked marijuana during pregnancy. Doctors in Colorado have known about this since marijuana first became popular in the 1970s. They've followed up these births with brain scans when they turn eight, and later as teenagers. The damage doesn't heal.
Afterwards, I was confronted in the hallway by a MPP member, who claimed that I was rude (for outing Senator Smith) and that I needed to "Learn my facts." I said all I deal in is facts. He repeated the charge. I just so happened to have my written testimony in my hand, and offered it to him, saying it was filled with facts. He turned and went back into the hearing room.
The reason I’m so concerned about getting the message out, is that I became addicted in my early 20's, then suffered a marijuana induced psychosis at age 25. I’ve struggled with mental illness ever since. If I’m able to prevent even just one child from suffering the agony I live with, all the abuse and denigration I’ve suffered is worth it.
GFS 8/25/2017