Virginia authorities announced the results of a recent survey on the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving, but things didn’t go exactly as planned: Officials said that the survey shows “unsettling” and “alarming” attitudes about how safe it is to drive when under the influence of pot.

The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) released new survey results that measure Virginians’ attitudes toward cannabis use and driving according to an October 25 press release.

Stratacomm, a public affairs consulting firm, conducted the survey and received over 750 responses representing a demographic cross-section of Virginia residents ages 16 and older. 

About 23% of respondents reported consuming cannabis in the past three months and about 14% of Virginia drivers who were surveyed said that they have driven high a few times or more in the past year. 

Almost one-third of those surveyed believe cannabis makes them a safer driver. It is important to remember, however, that some respondents are only 16 years of age, barely old enough to drive. It might make the loose attitudes about driving safety easier to imagine.

The data shows that Virginians do not perceive cannabis-impaired driving to be nearly as dangerous as other risky behaviors—like drinking and driving: 60% of respondents view texting and driving and 49% regard alcohol-impaired driving to be “extremely dangerous,” but only a quarter of Virginians—26%—view cannabis-impaired driving as “extremely dangerous.”

The CCA will use the survey results to develop a safe driving campaign mandated by the 2021 General Assembly that will highlight the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving, which is set to launch in January 2023.

The CCA has their work cut out for them. “These results are worrying and underscore the General Assembly was right to direct the CCA to undertake a safe driving campaign,” said John Keohane, CCA Board Chair and retired Police Chief of Hopewell, Virginia.

“As a public safety and public health agency, the CCA currently has no greater priority than creating a well-funded, aggressive, and sustained campaign aimed at reducing the incidence of marijuana-impaired driving,” added Jeremy Preiss, the CCA’s Acting Head and Chief Officer for Regulatory, Policy, and External Affairs.

The findings also suggest that not all Virginians who consume cannabis do it responsibly: 47% of cannabis consumers who were surveyed reported they do not always have a plan for a sober ride and 24% of respondents indicating they have been a passenger in a car operated by a high driver more than once in the past year.

“The CCA wants to empower Virginians to make informed decisions about marijuana use and ensure people understand that operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana is extremely dangerous,” concluded Brianna Bonat, the CCA’s lead public health official.

The CCA invites people who are interested in learning more public health and safety information related to cannabis to visit cannabis.virginia.gov.

Efforts to promote safe driving with cannabis are active at the federal level as well. The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) commissioned a report about educational campaigns on cannabis and driving on July 26. The GHSA partnered with National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving to create a playbook written specifically for State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO).

Similar efforts to pinpoint the need for safety for people who consume cannabis is ongoing in Canada as well. Research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in April 2021 was conducted by a research team associated with Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and found similar attitudes and misinformation about driving under the influence of pot. 

The post Only a Quarter of Virginia Drivers Said Driving on Pot is ‘Extremely Dangerous,’ Survey Shows appeared first on High Times.

The post Only a Quarter of Virginia Drivers Said Driving on Pot is ‘Extremely Dangerous,’ Survey Shows appeared first on Paradise Found.

Two advocacy organizations are coming together to decriminalize entheogens and continue fighting against the War on Drugs. Decriminalize Nature (DN) and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) announced in a press release on January 27 that they are partnering up to target entheogen decriminalization and put an end to the War on Drugs by creating a Community Healing Alliance.

Both of these organizations have a longstanding history with drug advocacy, and this collaboration will no doubt strengthen the cause. As SSDP Board Member and also co-director of DN Michigan, Myc Williams believes that this partnership is essential to push progress forward. “A national alliance of these two organizations is a unique opportunity to tackle the harms of the drug war from all sides,” Williams said. “We are paving a path of unity that addresses both the injustices of current drug policy and provides accessible avenues for healing from the traumas that have occurred as a result.”

Many other people involved in this cause, such as SSDP Executive Director Jason Ortiz, are confident that this is the dawn of a new campaign. “We are uniting today to build the power needed to correct the profit driven framing being forced on us by corporations and their countless lobbyists,” said Ortiz. “This alliance will pair youth leaders with community practitioners to ensure that decriminalization and reparations are the priority for the drug policy movement as we end the disastrous and malicious war on drugs. Wherever they have a lobbyist, we will have an organized community ready to meet them.”

Additionally, many other DN and SSDP members of various roles provided hopeful statements about the Community Healing Alliance. One of the founding members of DN, Larry Norris, mentioned that DN and SSDP have worked together before in the past, but this official move to bind together will bolster support even more. Likewise, DN National Board Member Julie Barron shared her excitement to see what the two organizations will accomplish for people who are in need of support and healing.

Through many research studies, there is evidence that incarceration for drug possession or use does not improve public health and safety. A study conducted in January 2010, entitled “Treating Drug Abuse and Addiction in the Criminal Justice System: Improving Public Health and Safety,” suggested that convicting people of drug-related crimes simply spotlights the need to focus on other ways target the problem. “Punishment alone is a futile and ineffective response to drug abuse, failing as a public safety intervention for offenders whose criminal behavior is directly related to drug use,” the study concludes. “Addiction is a chronic brain disease with a strong genetic component that in most instances requires treatment. The increase in the number of drug-abusing offenders highlights the urgency to institute treatments for populations involved in the criminal justice system.” Furthermore, there are studies suggesting that prison therapy to treat drug addictions can be harmful, not helpful, to an individual’s recovery.

Both DN and SSDP have accomplished many things over the years. DN is newer to the advocacy scene, having been founded in Oakland in 2019, but its efforts have grown rapidly and there are chapters in over 50 cities in the U.S. Over these last few years, the organization has helped decriminalize entheogens in 14 cities. Its mission is to improve the lives of people interested in using entheogenic plants as a natural alternative to medical treatment, and also expand access by advocating for decriminalization “through political and community organizing, education and advocacy.”

Many chapters have been actively working on decriminalization efforts in their jurisdictions since last year. The Decriminalize Nature Boulder Chapter in Colorado has recently been working to change the language of a decriminalization effort aimed for the ballot next year. Decriminalize Nature Michigan spearheaded a signature gathering campaign last year.

SSDP on the other hand was founded in 1998, which now includes thousands of youth members and over 100 chapters throughout the U.S. The organization seeks to empower new generations to not only learn about and participate in politics, but to embolden their advocacy by fighting against causes that might harm other students or youth members in general.

To support this grassroots effort, feel free to learn more about what these organization stand for or donate to the cause for SSDP or DP.

The post Decriminalize Nature and Students For Sensible Drug Policy Create a Community Healing Alliance appeared first on High Times.

The post Decriminalize Nature and Students For Sensible Drug Policy Create a Community Healing Alliance appeared first on Paradise Found.

The post Report Finds Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Not Associated With Adverse Social Effects appeared first on Paradise Found.

12 firefighters were injured in an explosion at a butane wholesaler serving the illegal market.

The post Los Angeles explosion shows perils of illicit cannabis market appeared first on Leafly.

The post Los Angeles explosion shows perils of illicit cannabis market appeared first on Paradise Found.

The site will be the first of its kind in the nation.

The post Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Safe Injection Site Opening in Philadelphia appeared first on High Times.

The post Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Safe Injection Site Opening in Philadelphia appeared first on Paradise Found.

A Colorado county has launched a public service campaign to warn residents that there may be risks associated with using cannabis. The campaign, dubbed “Marijuana is Not Harmless,” was kicked off by the Weld County Health and Environment Department on Thursday.

Eric Aakko, a spokesman for the department, said that local officials want the public to realize that the legalization of marijuana does not imply that that cannabis use is risk-free. Colorado legalized the recreational use of cannabis for adults in 2014.

“We decided we need to do something to create some awareness that it’s not harmless,” Aakko told local media. “We’re not hearing a lot of the downside of marijuana, it’s not a really strong message that’s out there.”

Aakko said that department officials are especially concerned about people driving while high.

“We’re looking at a report that says every three days a Coloradan dies in a marijuana-related traffic crash,” he said. “That’s the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report. We know traffic crashes are a problem in Weld County, where we’ve got 4,000 square miles and thousands and thousands of miles of roads. We wanted to get the message out there because if you are using marijuana, the worst thing that you can do is drive.”

Billboards and Online Ads

The “Marijuana Is Not Harmless” campaign includes billboards along county roads and online advertisements. The cost of the public awareness campaign is completely funded by grants, Aakko said.

County health officials have been compiling data to help them determine the health effects of several factors, including cannabis use.

“We do look every three years at a community health assessment — this year we mailed it to over 10,000 random residents — a scientifically valid survey we do every three years,” Aakko said. “In the past, we’ve noticed that people’s quality of life has been fairly good, but at the same time, we’re curious as to how that’s impacted when we get the data crunched from the 2019 survey. We do ask a few questions about marijuana use, and we don’t have the data yet, but we’re being proactive as well because we know from other studies.”

Those other studies, Aakko said, include a report from the National Institutes of Health’s National Drug Abuse Institute that was revised in December. The report warns that heavy cannabis users have decreased life satisfaction, poorer physical health, and more mental health problems.

“We can’t track definitively that it’s tied to marijuana per se, but we do track a number of those indicators, and once we get our data for 2019, we’ll look at trends over the last three years,” Aaakko said.

Jeri Shephard, a member of the board of directors for Colorado NORML, said that the county’s concern is ill-founded.

“There are some in the county commissioners’ office who tend to gravitate to ‘Reefer Madness’ analysis instead of understanding what the benefits that cannabis and hemp do have, even if you don’t use it yourself,” Shepherd said. “The Longmont City Council, for example, they had some concerns, but they’ve listened to people. And the (Weld) County commissioners are not known for listening to people.”

The post County Officials In Colorado Launch ‘Marijuana Is Not Harmless’ Campaign appeared first on High Times.

The post County Officials In Colorado Launch ‘Marijuana Is Not Harmless’ Campaign appeared first on Paradise Found.