Thankfully we said nope to dope

While the NZ media continue their campaign for drugs and to legalise marijuana – yes, they’re still trying, I’ll show you some recent examples shortly – we continue to see highly alarming outcomes from legalising cannabis in US states, including “spiralling addiction, psychotic illnesses and hospitals facing a deluge of poisonings”.

Remember the claims made by pro-drug activists in support of cannabis legalisation in New Zealand. According to the Government, the Green Party, NZ Drug Foundation and Helen Clark Foundation, we were supposed believe that legalising recreational cannabis would lead to significant health benefits, reduced black market, no increase in usage, reduction in mental health issues, reduced crime and so on. Thankfully, 51.2% of us weren’t fooled into believing this, just enough Kiwis to vote down the proposed cannabis legalisation bill.

And there is continued mounting evidence refuting those pro-cannabis claims.

Scientists overwhelmingly conclude that frequent use of the drug is not worth the risks.

Here’s three major studies that have just been released:

From Smart Approaches to Marijuana (also known as SAM), they report with regard to the first states that legalised marijuana in the US – Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon:

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is the nation’s premier survey that assesses the prevalence of substance use and substance use disorder.  

The prevalence of past-month marijuana use among 18–25-year-olds has increased in the first four states that legalized recreational marijuana: Colorado and Washington legalized during the 2012 election cycle and Alaska and Oregon legalized in the 2014 cycle. Past-month use––as opposed to lifetime or past-year use––is indicative of heavier, more frequent use. Marijuana is also not legal for use until age 21, meaning many of these individuals are underage users.

So there are frequent users – not just a one-off or a very occasional dabble.

While 30–35% of 18–25-year-olds in the first states that legalized recreational marijuana were past-month users of marijuana in 2021–2022, this was closer to 18–22% in the states that have not legalized marijuana.

So keeping the drug illegal keeps the use down in this age group. Probably don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out eh.

This trend is especially concerning for the 18–25-year-old demographic, given that their brains are developing. The CDC warns, “The teen brain is actively developing and continues to develop until around age 25. Cannabis use during adolescence and young adulthood may harm the developing brain.” 

So that’s not good.

Remember NZ was going to make the age limit at 20 thinking they could somehow prevent younger people increasing their usage. In the US it’s 21 – yet they’re still having difficulties. It would have been worse for New Zealand.

The second study was reported in The Centrist last week. It said:

A new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, analysed data from 355 women at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, showing that children exposed to cannabis during pregnancy had “poorer task-based planning ability” and exhibited “more observed aggression” by age five. 

These developmental impacts may hinder children’s long-term academic success.

Cannabis use in pregnancy, often turned to for relief from stress, nausea, or sleep issues, may have lasting implications. Lead researcher Sarah Keim advised against it, despite cannabis being “a natural product,” due to its “many risks.” Keim noted, “Our findings…confirm and expand on longstanding evidence.”

Alongside cannabis, many participants were exposed to other substances, such as tobacco and alcohol, with many living below the poverty line. This added complexity to understanding cannabis’s specific impact on child development.

Another aspect of the study highlights additional physical risks. Pregnant women who use cannabis face a higher risk of conditions like pregnancy-induced hypertension, with one study noting a 19% chance of placenta detachment. 

Research also links cannabis exposure to brain development issues in the prefrontal cortex, essential for learning. “It is recommended that pregnant persons do not use cannabis,” the CDC warned, reinforcing that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can pass through the mother to the baby, impacting their health across multiple areas.

Once again, don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand this.

But because the baby is a separate human life dependent on the mother and subject to her lifestyle, these decisions of the mother don’t just affect the mother!

One more.

Two weeks ago, and once again thanks to our friends at SAM for reporting this:

[A] massive new study was published in one of the most prestigious journals in the pediatric world, the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The study found that state legalization of recreational marijuana increases the likelihood of marijuana use in the past month among youth and young adults. Past-month use is a much clearer indicator of frequent use than “lifetime use” or “past-year use.” 

The systematic review titled “Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Medical and Recreational Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Among Youth in the United States” found that recreational marijuana legalization increases the odds of past-month marijuana use by 13% among youth and 22% among young adults.  

This is not just one study saying that use goes up after legalization, this is a systematic review of the published data on this topic. Because systematic reviews take an exhaustive look at available research and use a transparent, repeatable approach to review studies, they minimize bias and are highly regarded among researchers.   

This study directly contradicts the marijuana industry talking point that legalization does not increase youth use. 

Sorry – just one more. It’s relevant. You’ll see why.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, from 2018 to 2023, the number of marijuana hospital-treated poisonings for children aged 4 and under increased by 733%:

Cannabis is now legal for adults 21 and older to use and possess in Minnesota. The bill was signed into law on May 30, 2023, by none other than Governor Tim Walz  – yep, Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Now, what’s happening in NZ.

Well, the media continue to campaign for legalisation despite not being able to win the referendum in 2020. They’re still sulking. Derek Cheng at the NZ Herald is regularly writing about the issue. In fact, in our analysis of the media coverage of the cannabis referendum, he was one of the worst culprits in his coverage with a 70 / 30 bias in favour of a yes vote from his 9 articles.

And he was back this week

New study says 60% of cannabis and alcohol users say weed makes them drink less. So, should we legalise cannabis?

 Would legalising cannabis lead to an overall reduction in substance-related harm?

This is the “tantalising” prospect teased in a new study into whether cannabis is a substitute or complement for alcohol: 60% of those using both said their cannabis use resulted in drinking less on a “typical occasion”, and also drinking less frequently.

The demographic groups more likely to be among this group include Māori (19% more likely than non-Māori), men (14% more likely), and adults older than 21 (28% more likely for the 21-25 age group, compared to the control group of those aged 35+).

A significant proportion also substituted cannabis for methamphetamine: 40% of co-users said using cannabis led to less meth consumption.

“If cannabis was legal, it wouldn’t stop people drinking. But if they reduced the quantity of alcohol they drank, that would be quite a considerable public health gain,” said Massey University Associate Professor Chris Wilkins, co-author of the paper Exploring the substitution of cannabis for alcohol and other drugs.

It shows the harms of drugs – and note which one is causing the most harm. The legal one – alcohol.

If you go on the argument that legalising cannabis will lessen the harm (in the orange circle) then why don’t we legalise cocaine and ecstasy (as shown in the yellow circles) because the harm is less.

The logic in this argument is appaling.

In fact, once you get past the grand title and the introductory text, you then get to this admission

[The researcher is] quick to stress that it’s much more complicated than simply legalising cannabis and then welcoming less overall drug harm.

The paper didn’t measure hazardous drug use, so it sheds no light on how much the substitution effect might reduce the most harmful alcohol or methamphetamine use. Nor does it have any insight into any potential increase in harmful cannabis use.

The substitution effect is also far from universal. In the 16-20 age group, for example, some said their cannabis use led to less drinking, while for others it led to more.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution,” Wilkins said.

“You might say that if we legalise cannabis, we’re going to get less alcohol use. This paper says, ‘that depends’. If I’m an older adult and want to reduce my alcohol use, this could help. But in other groups, it’s going to have the opposite effect.”

Nor is cannabis universally less harmful than alcohol, or methamphetamine. A lot depends on an individual’s genetics, physiology, and circumstances.

“Say I’ve got pre-existing mental health problems, or delinquency in adolescence, then this is not going to help me at all,” Wilkins said.

“It’s quite tricky to realise those benefits, depending on people’s different life stages, different lifestyles, and different ethnicities. It’s hard to legalise cannabis for some people and not for others, or try and control unintended side effects.”

Keep reading and you find out even more dodgy stuff

The paper is based on a 2020 online survey of 23,500 people (26,000 minus 2500 following a quality audit) interested in activities associated with drug use, including drinking.

They were asked about their drug use… The most prevalent drug used by respondents in the previous six months was alcohol (87% of respondents), followed by cannabis (68%), tobacco (57%), MDMA (45%), LSD (26%), cocaine (12%), methamphetamine (7%), 

68% using cannabis. 45% using ecstasy. 12% on cocaine. 7% on meth.

OK – that’s not a normal population, is it.

Online. Drug community. No control group. It’s crappy “research”.

These are hard core drug users. They’re trying to make us think that legalising cannabis is going to somehow drive all these people from harder drugs. In their dreams.

There is currently no appetite from the Government to revisit legalising cannabis, following the referendum in 2020 that rejected making recreational use legal.

But the findings of the paper could be useful in other ways, Wilkins said.

“You could try some experiments where you allowed people to get a prescription for medicinal cannabis, if it meant reducing the use of other more harmful drugs like methamphetamine, alcohol, opiates.

Let me just quickly rebut that one.

A 20-year study out of Australia, recently published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, has found “no evidence to suggest cannabis reduces illicit opioid use, and it may not be an effective long-term method of reducing harm for those with an opioid use disorder or problematic use of opioids.”

But note the heading of the NZ Herald. Many people won’t get past this. And that’s the intention of the NZ Herald.

Slowly but surely sucking you in.

And finally our good friends at 1News.

They were very concerned.

More Kiwis are facing charges for cannabis possession offences even after police were directed five years ago not to prosecute unless it was in the public interest to do so.

In 2019, the Misuse of Drugs Amendment was passed into law, giving police discretion on whether to prosecute when someone is found in possession of an illicit drug for personal use.

Police were directed to consider whether prosecution is required in the public interest or if a health-centred approach would be more beneficial.

And from the graph, it appears that the police do believe that prosecution is in the public interest.

Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said the increase in prosecution “doesn’t seem fair”.

11 Vietnamese nationals were arrested and deported by Immigration NZ following a recent bust where a total of 3385 cannabis plants and 48kg of dried buds were found in rented homes in Auckland. The drugs seized were worth around $18m. The argument was that it’s better and cheaper to boot them out of the country rather than put them in prison at cost to the taxpayer.

Sounds a good decision to me. But Benedict Collins can’t quite understand it.

Well at least the Green MP admits what the real agenda is eh

What 1News and Ginny Anderson and other drug activists never acknowledge is that all the research shows that most convictions are not for the drug use per se – but for drug related offences, that is, crimes committed while on drugs (murder, armed robbery, theft, assault, child abuse, etc.) or crimes committed in order to obtain drugs. Or for dealing drugs and putting our families and communities at risk.

If that line in the graph has to continue to go up to protect families, so be it. NZ made a great decision in 2020 by voting no to legalising cannabis – despite the ongoing wailing of the media, drug advocates and certain politicians.

But don’t expect the media or the drug activists to go quiet on this issue any time soon.

And neither will we.

New study shows use of high potency cannabis changes DNA

cannabis use disorder,legalisation

A recent study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London and the University of Exeter has revealed that frequent use of high-potency cannabis alters DNA, particularly affecting genes related to energy and immune function. This research, published in Molecular Psychiatry, is the first to demonstrate a distinct DNA imprint associated with high-potency cannabis, defined as containing 10% or more Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The findings indicate that DNA changes vary between individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis and those without such experiences. This suggests potential for DNA blood tests to identify cannabis users at risk for developing psychosis, which could inform preventative strategies. Most participants reported using high-potency cannabis frequently and had begun using it around age 16.

Senior author Marta Di Forti emphasized the need to understand the biological impacts of high-potency cannabis, noting the significance of the study in linking cannabis use with changes in DNA methylation—a process that affects gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. The research involved analyzing blood samples from 682 participants, including those with and without psychosis, revealing specific changes in genes like CAVIN1, which are linked to mitochondrial and immune functions.

Dr. Emma Dempster, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter and the study’s first author, said: “This is the first study to show that frequent use of high-potency cannabis leaves a distinct molecular mark on DNA, particularly affecting genes related to energy and immune function. Our findings provide important insights into how cannabis use may alter biological processes.” This research provides insights into how cannabis may influence mental health through biological pathways, particularly through lifestyle-related epigenetic changes.

Original story here:https://scitechdaily.com/startling-study-shows-high-potency-cannabis-alters-dna/

MEDIA RELEASE: Warnings of Wild West Of Medicinal Cannabis

Warnings of Wild West Of Medicinal Cannabis
Warnings of Wild West Of Medicinal Cannabis

Family First is calling for caution around the use of medicinal cannabis which, when loosely regulated, can result in mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids and psychotic episodes.

According to data obtained under the Official Information Act by Family First in August, New Zealand health authorities say that 461 patients have had a primary diagnosis of Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids, psychotic disorder in the last recorded 12-month period (22/23) – rising from 376 in 2019/20 – an increase of 23% over four years.

According to a recent report in Australia, “doctors are warning of a significant increase of people ending up in hospital with psychosis after being prescribed the drug. Their concerns come amid a proliferation of “single-issue” cannabis clinics setting up in Australia, some of them willing to prescribe via telehealth consultations with few checks. Brett Emmerson, Queensland chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand’s College of Psychiatrists, says the college wants stronger regulations of medicinal cannabis products and prescribing practices.”

This is now a prospect for New Zealand, as reported in Newsroom today. Telehealth provider Dispensed which offers medical cannabis to patients through questionnaires and online appointments wants to set up shop in New Zealand.

It appears that Big Marijuana wants to sneak into New Zealand via the smokescreen of medicinal cannabis – which we always warned would happen. Combined with high-THC products, we are setting up the perfect storm of health and social problems associated with the drug.

The prescriptions for ‘medicinal’ cannabis is increasing in New Zealand, increasing from 22,506 in 2021 to 108,000 last year and 160,000 in the most recent period.

But it appears that the industry is becoming the wild west with high potency THC products being made available. During the Referendum in 2020, Patrick Gower found growers who were manufacturing a concentrated cannabis resin (dab) with an incredibly potent 81 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Dr Marta Rychert, a senior researcher at Massey University who with co-author Associate Professor Chris Wilkins have just published NZ Medical Journal: Implementation of the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme in New Zealand: six emerging trends warn about the increasing prevalence of products high in THC, and the rise of private cannabis clinics.

Dr Rychert says “My hope is that cannabis clinicians prescribe responsibly.” But medicine should never be based on ’hoping’ that clinicians do the right thing, especially when it comes to such a controversial ‘medicine’.

Just last week, two men in Australia with mental health conditions were prescribed medical cannabis by a pharmacist who founded a medicinal cannabis company . One was hospitalised with psychosis, the other took his own life.

There are justified concerns about the prevalence of online prescriptions without adequate patient-doctor interactions. The report says that while medicinal cannabis is legal in Australia for certain conditions like severe childhood epilepsy and cancer-related vomiting, it’s often prescribed for anxiety and insomnia despite lacking evidence of effectiveness.

In 2021, the Faculty of Pain Medicine at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) said that there is no robust evidence from gold-standard studies that proves cannabinoid products effectively treast chronic non-cancer pain.

A significant study released at the time of the referendum found that “people who smoked marijuana on a daily basis were three-times more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis compared with people who never used the drug. For those who used high-potency marijuana daily, the risk jumped to nearly five-times.” By “high-potency” the researchers meant marijuana with THC content of just 10%+.

A study released in 2017 in the US and published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found that marijuana use and marijuana use disorders – in which people use the drug in unhealthy or abusive ways – increased at a “significantly greater rate” in states with medical marijuana laws than in states without the laws.

Family First has always supported the expansion of further quality research into the components of the marijuana plant for delivery via non-smoked forms (‘medicinal cannabinoids’ products), and the establishment of a programme that allows seriously ill patients to obtain other non-smoked components of marijuana approved and listed by the Ministry of Health via their GP – but with appropriate regulation around safety and efficacy.

The Health Ministry needs to step up and ensure robust monitoring and enforcement of this new industry.
ENDS

Australian doctors warn of increased risk of psychosis with prescribed medicinal cannabis

The use of medicinal cannabis in Australia has raised concerns among healthcare professionals due to reported harms, particularly an increase in patients presenting with psychosis after being prescribed the drug. These concerns coincide with the proliferation of “single-issue” cannabis clinics that offer prescriptions via telehealth with minimal oversight.

Professor Brett Emmerson from the Royal Australian and New Zealand’s College of Psychiatrists advocates for stronger regulations, citing cases where patients have experienced their first psychotic episode or relapsed due to medicinal cannabis. He criticizes the lack of communication between prescribing doctors and patients’ regular healthcare providers, which delays awareness of cannabis prescriptions.

Dr. Jennifer Martin highlights additional issues such as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome and high-potency psychoactive products leading to hospital admissions. Both emphasize the prevalence of online prescriptions without adequate patient-doctor interactions.

While medicinal cannabis is legal in Australia for certain conditions like severe childhood epilepsy and cancer-related vomiting, critics argue that it’s often prescribed for anxiety and insomnia despite lacking evidence of effectiveness. The Royal Australasian College of Physicians stresses the need for regulatory reforms to align prescribing practices with medical evidence and minimize potential harm.

In response to these concerns, there have been calls for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to tighten regulations, limit THC-containing products, and enhance oversight of prescribing practices to ensure patient safety.

Original article found here

Study finds high risk of heart disease among women who frequently smoke cannabis

A recent study on cannabis use and women from France found that women who frequently use cannabis have a significantly higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to non-users. The study involved nearly 122,000 British participants, categorized into low, moderate, and heavy cannabis users based on their reported lifetime usage. Over a 13-year follow-up period, 2,375 deaths were recorded, with 1,411 from CVD.

Heavy cannabis users were more likely to be younger, use tobacco, and have lower alcohol consumption, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, high education, and income levels. The study’s findings highlighted a significant link between heavy cannabis use and CVD death among women, particularly those who also used tobacco. This was not the case for male users. The study’s researchers stressed that the association between death and cannabis use remains unclear. However, they theorized that chemicals in cannabis may cause inflammation and arterial issues, and carbon monoxide exposure from smoking may contribute.

The study noted limitations such as self-reported cannabis use without biological verification and unknown specifics regarding cannabis dosage and consumption methods. The findings coincide with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that cannabis is the most popular illicit drug in the US, with 19% of Americans using it at least once in 2021. Additionally, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is expected to rise due to increasing rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.

Original and full article here

McBLOG: The pro-drug crowd’s own goal

McBLOG - The pro-drug crowds own goal


The pro drugs crowd are back. More than 150 ‘experts’ have signed an open letter to the Government calling for the legalisation of ALL drugs. But most of the “experts” who signed their letter aren’t the experts that you’re thinking of. Some of them are even from America! (shock, horror!)


TRANSCRIPT:

The pro drugs crowd are back. They’ve been silently sulking for the past 4 years since losing the cannabis referendum despite significant support from the media – and it’s not that they’ve stopped sulking, but they’re just trying new things to try and suck in the public. But it’s the same crowd

According to a Newshub report – and interestingly it was only Newshub that reported this…

More than 150 experts have signed an open letter to the Government calling for the legalisation of all drugs in New Zealand.  Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa (HRCA) presented the letter on Tuesday, calling on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to end drug prohibition and legalise all drugs. The letter includes 155 signatures from experts in drug policy and criminology including professors, academics, researchers, clinicians and health professionals. 

Founding member of HRCA Wendy Allison was instrumental in bringing drug checking to New Zealand. 

HRCA chair Lachlan Akers added to the statement, saying a new drug law would “benefit our society as a whole”. 

So let’s have a look at the letter

Harm Reduction Coalition Aotearoa… seeks a new fit-for-purpose drug law for Aotearoa New Zealand, rooted in science, experience and evidence, to promote harm reduction and protect human rights….

Ah there’s your immediate red flag. Human rights. The right to use drugs. The right to get addicted. The right to use and grow drugs around families and children.

Founded by a diverse, non-partisan, (yeah right) independent group with a wealth of expertise in drug policy and practice, HRCA boasts a membership of over 50 individuals and six organisations, including; the Drugs Health and Development Project (DHDP), the Drug Injecting Services Canterbury (DISC), Aotearoa Drug Information Outreach (ADIO), Know Your Stuff (KYSNZ), Students for Sensible Drug Policy Aotearoa (SSDP) and HIT UK.

Okaaaaay. Drugs Health and Development Project – according to their website – funded to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other blood borne viruses amongst injecting drug users (IDU). They offer a wide range of services including a needle exchange and drug checking. DHDP is run by people who have a practical knowledge of issues that affect injecting drug users. I bet. Only 221 followers on their facebook page fortunately.

Drug Injecting Services Canterbury – enough said.

Aotearoa Drug Information Outreach – same stuff as DHDP that we just mentioned.

We are a peer-based organisation with peer workers who have lived experience of injecting drug use. All our staff are non-judgemental and here to help. We neither condemn nor condone the use of drugs and respect where you are on your journey. Our needle exchange service is completely confidential and anonymous.

Know Your Stuff – the drug testing crowd set up by the Drug Foundation – encourage drug use and try and persuade people that somehow drug use can be safe if we test some of them to make sure the illegal drug is actually an illegal drug – and then you can use it.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy Aotearoa – they’re a club at Otago University

HIT UK – never heard of them. Not NZ. But I did check their website –

one of their featured publications was A Guide to Safer Injecting – A step-by-step guide to reducing the risks of injecting street heroin and the specific risks of preparing, sharing and injecting drugs.

Basically they’re just like the Drug Foundation in NZ. Ignore the law. Here’s how to do drugs “safer”.

So the so-called coalition is kinda like the hard core group who sit off to the side and most people stay clear of them cause they’re just not that friendly. That’s what this coalition is like. The misfits.

Now on their website they feature an anthropologist and drug use expert goes over the reasons for full drug legalization and regulation.

Sheesh – there’s some wacky logic there. P is all good if you’re not poor and there’s no stigma and the police weren’t so violent – which they’re not of course.

Back to the Newshub article, it starts with “The letter includes 155 signatures from experts in drug policy and criminology including professors, academics, researchers, clinicians and health professionals.”

So I don’t know about you but that sounds like 155 “experts” in the drug field in NZ. But further down, right near the very end it admits

Signatures include those from eight professors, 31 doctors, 29 organisations and supported by experts from 14 countries across North America, South America, South Africa, Europe and Australasia.   

Oh – so its 155 minus the experts from 14 countries – so it’s 141 drug experts from NZ.

But when you look at the full list of signatories, it gets real funny – and I suspect that the organisers might have prepared the list on the 20 April. In the US, 4/20 is a date that both marijuana smokers and non-smokers recognize as a national holiday for cannabis culture.

Of the organisations, only 10 out of the 29 are NZ organisations – so a 1/3rd. In fact, there are them are American – and you know what they say about NZ groups importing culture wars from the US – so scrub those 3 eh.

And one of the groups is Student Christian Movement Aotearoa

Hadn’t heard of them Now I know why. I didn’t want to.

Here’s a couple of events they’ve hosted

And this might explain why you haven’t heard of them

we seek to be welcoming to all, especially people marginalised by sexuality, ability, gender, health, or ethnicity. We are a rainbow-affirming community

And they’re big on decolonising their faith and seeking a progressive Christianity – better talk to all the Pasifika and churches full of different ethnicities about that “decolonisation”. Those multi-ethnic churches throughout the country obviously didn’t get the memo from SCMA.

Let’s be charitable tho. SCMA are clearly NOT experts in drug policy or criminology.

Of the 8 professors, only 2 are from NZ. One is from that terrible America country – and Joe Boden is not only a well known pro-drug advocate being used by Jacinda Ardern to push the yes vote on the so-called expert panel, but – shock horror – he’s American.

And then there’s the Doctors. Now this is pretty shrewd. They’ve grouped medical doctors with PhDs – the 2 groups are very very different.

But only 21 of the 31 are from NZ.

I did check a couple – one was a doctor in transport policy and electric vehicles, (Helen Fitt), a phd on food sovereignty, (Isa Pearl Rotchie), phd in welding (jez Weston),  data engineer,

But only 2 maybe 3 max were medical doctors. The rest are academics.

So – of the 155 signatories that we started with, there are 2 professors from NZ, 10 organisations only, maybe 2 medical doctors.

And then in the list of 155, only 93 individuals are from NZ. And 29 of the signatories are the organisations that these people belong to. How do I know? It says KnowYourStuff – but Wendy Allison the boss’s name is also in the list. Prof Elizabeth Stanley from the Institute of Criminology at Waikato Uni is listed, and the Institute of Criminology at Waikato Uni is also listed.

I think that’s called double dipping.

Now just before we totally mock this open letter off the stage, I thought I would just check a couple of signatories who are experts.

Ok here’s one. He’s a protestor who turns up to Parliament a lot. An expert – in protesting.

Another has just graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Media Production at. Massey University. An expert – in making films

One is a PhD student in Gender Studies who is researching post-prison experiences. So not a drug expert.

One is doing a PhD in how self-identifying gender diverse Māori practice embodiment and relate to their bodies in contemporary Aotearoa.

One has a Bachelor of Communication so not a drug expert

There was even a signatory who’s a computer expert and was found guilty of causing unnecessary danger to the Mt Cook Airlines flight as it approached Wellington Airport by shining a green laser into the cockpit of a plane – this was in 2008. So that’s an expert in – stupidity?

So the takeaway from all this is that while the majority of NZers recognise the harm of drugs and voted against legalising cannabis back in 2020 – thank goodness – there is still a few activists who will get some media coverage that you should just take with a grain of salt.

But Newshub could have done this research before printing and promoting the Open Letter.

They didn’t. And sadly, that’s why their trust levels are plummeting.

Leading expert outlines what we aren’t hearing about marijuana’s health effects

Bertha Madras, 81, a psychobiology professor at Harvard Medical School and one of the foremost experts on marijuana with over 60 years of research experience, warns against the move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. She emphasizes the risks associated with marijuana, including addiction potential, cognitive impairment, psychosis, car accidents, and lasting damage to the brain, particularly in young users. Ms Madras highlights the lack of strong evidence for its medicinal benefits and calls for rigorous research instead of legalization. Ms Madras highlights that it is pointless to spend more on addiction treatment and harm reduction whilst weakening laws that act to prevent people from addictions. She expresses concern about the cultural normalization of marijuana and its potential precedent for other drugs. Madras advocates for defending public health against the risks of drug use at all ages. She quotes “This is not a war on drugs. It’s a defence of the human brain at every possible age from in utero to old age.”

Check out the full story here https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-you-arent-reading-about-marijuana-permanent-brain-damage-biden-schedule-iii-9660395e?st=da45ugo08uv00v1&reflink=article_email_share