Article By Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and founder of CBD Coupons.com for the Best CBD Coupons.
A Louisiana television station has reported that a “DEA task force investigation leads to 40 arrests”.
“The individuals are being indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana, distribution of marijuana, and distribution of methamphetamine.”
Marijuana and methamphetamine? What do these very different “drugs” have in common? Only one thing: Both are illegal.
Supporters of marijuana prohibition cite whatever risks that they claim are inherent in marijuana use as a reason not to “legalize” it. There are three problems with that argument.
First, keeping marijuana in the black market does not reduce whatever risks that they cite. On the contrary, with no labeling, the risks are increased.
Second, illegal marijuana is sold in the same distribution channels with hard drugs, meth in this case.
Third, if marijuana is as dangerous as meth, then meth is as safe as marijuana. Is that “sending the right message” to children??
In fact, meth is a very dangerous drug.
According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 1.6 million people (0.6 percent of the population) reported using methamphetamine in the past year, and 774,000 (0.3 percent) reported using it in the past month. The average age of new methamphetamine users in 2016 was 23.3 years old.2
An estimated 964,000 people aged 12 or older (about 0.4 percent of the population) had a methamphetamine use disorder in 2017—that is, they reported clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet responsibilities at work, school, or home as a result of their drug use. This number is significantly higher than the 684,000 people who reported having methamphetamine use disorder in 2016.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the 70,237 drug overdose deaths in 2017, nearly 33 percent involved cocaine or psychostimulants like meth. It also increases the burden on the public health system during the pandemic.
See: Drug Overdoses Kill More People In West Virginia Than COVID-19
Several years ago, the US made pseudoephedrine (a precursor for meth) harder to get in American pharmacies, with the result that meth production moved to Mexico where it was possible to make much stronger products.
See: How Is Cannabidiol (CBD) Useful For Treating Rheumatic Diseases?
Consequently, the meth problem became even worse in the US, and the black markets in Mexico became even more violent.
In the meantime, the Mexican gangs have combined meth and marijuana smuggling into states where marijuana is still illegal, as the Florida arrests demonstrate.
What could possibly go wrong?
See: Does CBD Help With Anxiety?
- Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and founder of CBD Coupons.com for the Best CBD Coupons.
