{"id":168412,"date":"2023-05-22T07:41:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T11:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=168412"},"modified":"2023-05-22T07:41:48","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T11:41:48","slug":"every-marijuana-user-needs-to-read-this-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=168412","title":{"rendered":"

EVERY MARIJUANA USER NEEDS TO READ THIS<\/span>—NOW!!!<\/span><\/b><\/h1>"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Katie Spence
\nThe Epoch Times<\/p>\n

Twenty-one states, plus the District of Columbia, have legalized recreational marijuana for adults as of April 2023. And while marijuana is still illegal at the federal level,\u00a088 percent of adults think it should be legalized for medical and recreational use<\/strong>, according to an October 2022 Pew Research Center\u00a0survey<\/a>\u2014a significant increase from 1999\u2019s 31 percent.<\/p>\n

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Cannabis plants grow inside of Thrive Cannabis’ production facility in Simcoe, Ontario, on April 13, 2021. (The Canadian Press\/Tara Walton)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Additionally, 55 million Americans currently use marijuana, and 45 percent of the population has tried it at least once,\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics.<\/p>\n

But as attitudes and state laws change regarding marijuana\u2014and its use increases\u2014reports of marijuana laced with substances like the synthetic opioid fentanyl, are also increasing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the trends that we saw secondary to the pandemic was individuals stopped reporting opioid use as their primary drug of choice, and it seems to be replaced with marijuana and methamphetamine,\u201d Teresa Russell, the director of criminal justice outreach in Dayton, Ohio, told The Epoch Times. Russell works between the county jail and community health and treatment facilities.<\/p>\n

Russell explained that when someone is booked into the jail and needs to detox, they\u2019re asked about drugs they\u2019ve taken and must take a urine drug screen. Russell said it\u2019s becoming increasingly common for someone to say they\u2019ve only used marijuana but then pop positive for fentanyl.<\/p>\n

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Teresa Russell, treatment coordinator at the Montgomery County jail, in Dayton, Ohio, on Oct. 30, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey genuinely don\u2019t know that [opioids are] in there,\u201d Russell said. \u201cThey have no idea what\u2019s actually being put inside their substances. That\u2019s an ongoing trend of what we\u2019re seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When explicitly asked if marijuana is being laced with fentanyl and showing up on drug screens, Russell confirmed that\u2019s what she\u2019s seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear that not just from my team here in the jail from our intake screens, but we\u2019re hearing that from our outreach partners.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

NORML, a nonprofit public-interest advocacy group pushing for the legalization of marijuana, is quick to downplay the issue of fentanyl-laced marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cRarely a week goes by without police or other public officials warning about so-called \u2018fentanyl-laced\u2019 weed. Upon closer inspection, however, there\u2019s little if any truth behind these sensational claims,\u201d NORML says on its\u00a0site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s controversial,\u201d Russell said of fentanyl-laced marijuana, \u201cBut I have urine drug screens that show it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell isn\u2019t the only one sounding the alarm on what she believes is a growing issue.<\/p>\n

Cases<\/h2>\n

On Feb. 10, two students at North Mac High School in Illinois, were found to be in possession and under the influence of marijuana, and two field tests administered by the Virden Police Department found that the marijuana was positive for fentanyl.<\/p>\n

Kyle Hacke, the superintendent of North Mac, said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>, \u201cWe are fairly certain our students did not know they were ingesting fentanyl. Fentanyl-laced drugs \u2026 continue to show up in small communities like ours nationwide. We implore you to speak with your children and take necessary steps to combat this danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Nov. 17, 2022, police in Leeds, Alabama, charged Jose Ingnacio Medina-Estrada with murder after he allegedly sold marijuana that was laced with fentanyl. The buyer\u2014who believed he was only purchasing marijuana\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to LPD Chief Paul Irwin\u2014immediately died as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis needs to serve as a notice to all individuals who are purchasing drugs.<\/strong>\u00a0Drugs can take your life immediately or will control you and eventually destroy your life and everything you care about,\u201d Irwin said.<\/p>\n

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Fentanyl, firearms, and cash confiscated by DEA Los Angeles. (Courtesy of DEA Los Angeles)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Oct. 20, 2022, the Summerville Police Department in South Carolina released a statement via\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0that read, \u201cThe Summerville Police Department has seized Marijuana that has tested presumptive for Amphetamines and Fentanyl.\u00a0The laced Marijuana was seized during two apparent drug overdose investigations and it is possible the laced Marijuana played a factor in the overdoses. We are asking the community to stay safe and to be careful.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Nov. 18, 2021, the Connecticut State Department of Public Health (DPH) issued a\u00a0press release<\/a>\u00a0that stated there were 39 overdose incidents involving fentanyl-laced weed in 2021. However, upon further forensic analysis,\u00a0only one of those cases could be confirmed to involve fentanyl-laced marijuana.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its dismissal of fentanyl-laced marijuana, NORML\u00a0points<\/a>\u00a0to the Connecticut case, and the forensic analysis. However, the\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0NORML cites also states: \u201cChris Boyle, a spokesperson for DPH, said a full analysis has now revealed at least 30 of the 39 overdoses were among patients with histories of opioid use.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything bought off the street, including cannabis, has the potential to contain other substances, one of those being fentanyl,\u2019 Boyle told the media. \u201cCT DPH has documented evidence, from not just the State Police Forensics Lab, but from the DEA lab as verification of the seized drug sample, that cannabis was contaminated with fentanyl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Increasing Prevalence<\/h2>\n

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that\u2019s primarily manufactured in countries like China and then smuggled into the United States via Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cFentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids<\/strong>,\u201d the\u00a0DEA states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s something Howard Barker, the Director of Community Relations at\u00a0New Life House<\/a>, a sober living program for men in California, is seeing firsthand. Barker told The Epoch Times that he\u2019s seeing a trend with fentanyl-laced marijuana that he first witnessed with cocaine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the first few times years ago that we started seeing overdoses happen with things like cocaine, and fentanyl was cut into things like cocaine, and we\u2019re like, \u2018There\u2019s no way. Why would you ever put fentanyl in cocaine?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been doing this professionally for over a decade, and I didn\u2019t believe it. I said, \u2018That doesn\u2019t even make sense logically.\u2019 You know, if a user is going to get cocaine and go up, the last thing they want to do is go down.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s similar with cannabis. If you have someone going for cannabis, and they\u2019re hoping to smoke weed, the last thing they want to do is use one of the most potent opiates on the planet. But that\u2019s what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cannabis samples at Calalyst Cannabis in Santa Ana, Calif., on Feb. 18, 2021. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDealers have found that because of how addictive fentanyl is, and how potent it is, they start putting it in these other substances, and it\u2019s very, very cheap to do, and they\u2019re able to one, get more bang for their buck, two, potentially hook users, and three, [dealers] find themselves in a position where the folks that like it are coming back for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker added that while the majority of street dealers aren\u2019t cutting marijuana with fentanyl, it\u2019s still a growing problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem with fentanyl is that it\u2019s really Russian Roulette,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo even if the majority of the time you\u2019re buying weed on the streets you\u2019re not getting weed laced with fentanyl, if there\u2019s even that small chance that it could happen\u2014and you happen to be the person that gets it\u2014the old scary horror stories about drug abuse, \u2018you do it one time, and you\u2019re gonna die,\u2019 that didn\u2019t really use to be true 20 years ago, unfortunately, those cliches have become true.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to New Life House, recovery centers nationwide are trying to raise awareness about the growing prevalence of fentanyl-laced weed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthorities around the country are responding to opioid overdoses daily, and fentanyl is increasingly being found in counterfeit prescription opioid pills, meth, and cocaine. Now, that\u2019s extended to marijuana<\/strong>,\u201d The Recovery Village\u00a0warns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough marijuana is probably less likely to be intentionally laced with other psychoactive substances than many other illicit drugs, this situation does occur. It is more likely to occur in cases where individuals who are selling a drug illicitly are attempting to bulk up the product and get more profits or when very low-quality cannabis is laced with some other drug to enhance its psychoactive effects,\u201d the American Addiction Centers\u00a0states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First Drug<\/h2>\n

Barker, who\u2019s been in recovery for years and previously voted to legalize marijuana, believes Americans were lied to regarding marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really lied to as a society,\u201d Barker said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why this stuff has just been pushed through time and time again, state by state by state, without resistance. And now we\u2019re seeing that there\u2019s just a lot of unintended consequences that nobody was aware of. Whether we were deliberately misinformed or whether we just didn\u2019t have the data. But now that the data has come out, we\u2019ve chosen not to act because there\u2019s too much money behind [legalizing marijuana].\u201d<\/p>\n

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Joints in the 1970s had 1\u20133 mg of THC\u2014the psychoactive component in marijuana\u2014and a near equal amount of CBD\u2014which is touted for its potential in treating seizures. Most joints in Colorado today contain 18\u201325 mg THC, with much less CBD. (David McNew\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barker added, \u201cRegardless of what the mainstream media will tell you, cannabis is a gateway drug. I have tremendous amounts of anecdotal evidence from being in this industry for a long time to support that. Talk to anyone with substance abuse issues and ask them what the first substance they used that kind of broke down the taboos and exposed them to that world, and 99.99 percent of them are going to say cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the 12-month period that ended in October 2022, the FDA\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0more than 101,750 fatal overdoses in the United States, many due to illicit fentanyl.<\/p>\n

The DEA didn\u2019t respond to The Epoch Times\u2019 multiple requests for comment about the prevalence of fentanyl-laced marijuana.<\/p>\n

___
\nhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/medical\/despite-denials-experts-say-fentanyl-laced-marijuana-growing-problem<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=168412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=168412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=168412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=168412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}