Thread: Federal protections on cannabis added to spending bill

Originally Posted by artist

It seems the taxes collected for legal maryjane is an incentive to our gov'ts coffers. Better to collect than have a total underground economy.

As far as what drugs can make you ok to work - you can partake in highly addictive heroin, cocaine, meth and it will not be traced by drug tests after 3 days use. Mary Jane is traceable up to a month of use. Now a Mary Jane high is gone in a few hours and is not addictive whereas heroin, cocaine, meth are highly addictive. Perhaps drug test/job related tests should be updated. Would add that most accidents also include use of RX Xanex, valium with the maryjane. In other words more than just weed.

Never want to see employers or our gov't allowing heroin, cocaine meth use to collect a tax. Addictive substances need to be removed from our citizens' access. Safe injection sites are the wrong road. Remove the drug carets whether they have a criminal record or not - GET OUT! Which means ALL ILLEGALS GOTTA GO NOW!

Is Marijuana Addictive?

The First Question: Is Marijuana Addictive?

Let’s deal with this question immediately. Groups that are in favor of medical marijuana or broad legalization sweep this question under the carpet. The fact is that, yes, it IS addictive. You are unlikely to hear this fact on the nightly news, in the newspaper or anywhere else. Marijuana IS addictive. Here are a few statistics to make this clearer.

What are the odds of becoming addicted? Studies have shown that:

• Of all the people who use marijuana, about one in eleven will become addicted.
• When a young person begins smoking marijuana in his or her TEENS, he (or she) has a one in six chance of becoming addicted.

Admissions to Treatment

• According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2010, more than 360,000 people were admitted to treatment for addiction, with marijuana being listed as the primary drug they were abusing. That is, they went into rehab because of marijuana and its effects on their bodies and minds.
• Twenty-eight percent of those admissions or 103,000 people were between twelve and seventeen years old. (This figure applies only to publicly-funded facilities so the actual number is much higher.)
• Forty-three percent were under 21.
• In general, only about one person in ten receives needed treatment so it could be estimated that well over three million Americans may be addicted to marijuana – a million of them being high school students or younger.
• Among those entering addiction treatment in 2010, 18% said that their primary drug was marijuana but another 21% said that it was their second or third most problematic drug.

ER visits

• Because of greatly increased potency, mental distress, panic attacks and other problems have also increased. In 2011, there were nearly half a million visits to ERs related to problems with marijuana use. Common symptoms were severe nausea, vomiting, high blood pressure, anxiety, panic attacks and paranoia.

Daily users

• According to the 2013 World Drug Report, an estimated 1 in 15 high school seniors is a daily or near-daily user of cannabis. For parents who once smoked marijuana “on the weekend or at parties,” they can understand what a high school student smoking DAILY would mean to his ability to really do school or be a school kid.

Marijuana withdrawal

Some people argue that because marijuana does not have dramatic withdrawal symptoms like alcohol or heroin, it is not addictive. But there are two errors to this thinking. One is that the marijuana of today is more than two times stronger than it was twenty years ago (some say much stronger than that), and withdrawing from that is quite a different matter. The other is that it is simply not true: There ARE withdrawal symptoms when a chronic user stops using cannabis.
They include:

• Irritability
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Nightmares
• Anger and fluctuating emotions
• Headaches
• Depression
• Loss of appetite
• And of course, craving to continue to use the drug.

Remember that the above symptoms can be stronger or weaker for the person withdrawing, depending on how much dope he was smoking, over how long, and his own unique physical and mental constitution. (Some people are much more sensitive to drugs. They get higher on less, for example.)

The report Cannabis and Health Hazards notes that withdrawal effects can be triggered by the use of a normal dose of marijuana (one to two good-quality joints per day) for just eleven to twenty-one days.

Continuing to smoke pot despite real evident life-troubles

Perhaps a better measure of addiction is whether or not the person experiences harm from the use of this drug, but is so compelled to use it and the cravings for it are so strong that he continues anyway.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heavy marijuana abuse is associated with the following problems or effects:

• Worsening mental and physical health
• Relationship problems
• Higher probability of dropping out of school or abandoning goals
• Lower grades and reduced academic success
• Increased absences from school or work
• More workers’ compensation claims
• Less career success compared to peers.

An addicted cannabis user will continue to use the drug despite effects like these. It is common for a heavy smoker to stop caring about the damage and just focus on staying stoned. This is what is called “addiction.” It applies just as much to marijuana as to crack or meth or pain pills.

http://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/m...addictive.html

Originally Posted by artist

It seems the taxes collected for legal maryjane is an incentive to our gov'ts coffers. Better to collect than have a total underground economy.

As far as what drugs can make you ok to work - you can partake in highly addictive heroin, cocaine, meth and it will not be traced by drug tests after 3 days use. Mary Jane is traceable up to a month of use. Now a Mary Jane high is gone in a few hours and is not addictive whereas heroin, cocaine, meth are highly addictive. Perhaps drug test/job related tests should be updated. Would add that most accidents also include use of RX Xanex, valium with the maryjane. In other words more than just weed.

Never want to see employers or our gov't allowing heroin, cocaine meth use to collect a tax. Addictive substances need to be removed from our citizens' access. Safe injection sites are the wrong road. Remove the drug carets whether they have a criminal record or not - GET OUT! Which means ALL ILLEGALS GOTTA GO NOW!

Yeah, the drug testing is unfair and actually makes no sense. I've been opposed to it for years and a long term study came out a few years ago that proved companies that drug tested had no better safety records than those who didn't. It shocked the people doing the study because they were going to use the study to prove the benefits of drug testing, but their own study proved it didn't make any difference at all.

Interesting use of the tax $$. Part of alcohol revenues should be relegated to positive uses too. Maybe they do allocate a portion to alcoholics rehab - don't know. Adult indulgences, alcohol being totally legal within the boundries of federal Alcohol, Firearm, Tobacco division and taxes are collected.

Not a fan of Mary Jane legalization except for medical use and really just the canabanoid part which does not have a high. The use for seizure children is remarkable. But there does seem to be a $$$ factor for adult use. Alcohol, Mary Jane = taxes collected. Better than mexican cartels getting the money. Restrict and federalize just like alcohol is.

If you speak to entrepreneurs that are distilling liquor, they will tell you how they are bound to have certain ingredients or they will be charged with unlawfulness. A liquor has to have a certain % of cane sugar, cannot be agave syrup or any other sweetener but cane sugar - that is written federal law - otherwise cannot be labeled a liquor.

Mary Jane was put in this class 1 category by nixon, he was besides himself that the vietnam war protestors on to this $$$war scheme; were smoking weed outside of the white house grounds - part of history that is decades old now.

Good God, after all the men lost, a good portion of an entire generation of Americans, over years of an ongoing war profiteering scenario where our soldiers were exposed to cancerous agent orange, opium, weed, prostitutes and whatever. Conquer a hill one day, lose it the next.
We now import clothing made in communist vietnam! They are so proud of little vietnam defeating big USA. And they eat dog too.

It's time to legalize, regulate, tax, educate and rehabilitate at the expense of those who use the drugs. Weed didn't used to be addictive, but maybe it is now. Unregulated, untested, who knows what these drug cartels are doing to it. Who would know? These are criminals, the darkest type of criminal, criminals who deliberately ship and distribute killer narcotics into our country without regulations, without taxation, without use instructions, without warnings, knowing full well that tens of thousands of unsuspecting Americans are going to OD and die every year while they laugh all the way to the bank.

To me the goal should be to kill the foreign illegal drug trade by replacing it with a domestic legalized, regulated trade. It's just common sense to me.

Originally Posted by Judy

Yeah, the drug testing is unfair and actually makes no sense. I've been opposed to it for years and a long term study came out a few years ago that proved companies that drug tested had no better safety records than those who didn't. It shocked the people doing the study because they were going to use the study to prove the benefits of drug testing, but their own study proved it didn't make any difference at all.

Employee Drug and Alcohol Testing Statistics

In many instances, what “hits home” in a presentation or in a discussion is a list of relevant and hard-hitting statistics and facts that for whatever reason, seem to make more of an impact on people’s consciousness. This is why the following workplace drug and alcohol testing statistics are presented. Please continue reading for more information about employee drug and alcohol testing statistics and facts.

The Different Kinds of Employee Alcohol Tests

There are primarily five different kinds of alcohol tests that are currently available for testing employees in the workplace: saliva alcohol tests, blood alcohol tests (also called blood tests for alcohol or alcohol blood tests), urine alcohol tests, hair alcohol tests, and alcohol breathalyzer tests (also called alcohol breath tests or breath alcohol tests).

It can be stressed that hair tests for alcohol are a relatively recent development. More overtly, until 2008, hair tests could not detect alcohol and were therefore used mainly for drug testing rather than for alcohol testing.

The Need For Drug and Alcohol Testing Statistics

Unfortunately, certain issues, such as the need for drug and alcohol testing in the workplace, do not make a significant impact on people’s awareness until relevant facts and statistics are presented. With this in mind, the following drug and alcohol testing statistics and facts will be listed.

• Substance abusers are 33% to 50% less productive than individuals who are not substance abusers.
• The research literature confirms that abusive drinking is associated with negative work behaviors such as
  and frequent job changes and absenteeism.
• An estimated 58.8 million (51.4 percent) workers indicated that random testing would not influence their
  decision to work for an employer.
• The alcohol abuse research literature shows that workplace alcohol testing programs are associated with
  less alcohol dependence and alcohol use by employees.
• Substance abusers are absent an average of three or more weeks per year and are late for work three times
  more frequently than non-substance abusers.
• Approximately 40% of the industrial fatalities and 47% of the injuries that take place in the U.S.
  workplace are associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
• An estimated 45.5 million (39.8 percent) workers reported that they would be more likely to work for an
  employer who tests randomly for drug or alcohol use, while 10.0 million (8.7 percent) workers reported that
  they would be less likely.
• Substance abusers are three to four times more likely to have an accident on the job and five times more
  likely to file a workers’ compensation claim.
• More than 40% of U.S. corporate CEOs who participated in a recent survey stated that the use of illegal
  drugs and alcohol costs them from 1% to 10% of their annual payroll.
• An estimated 50% to 80% of loss regarding pilferage and theft is related to substance-using employees.
• Substance abusers, when compared with people who are not substance abusers, file 300% to 400% more costly
  medical claims.

Conclusion: Employee Drug and Alcohol Testing Statistics

Various facts and statistics about alcohol testing in the workplace have been presented. It is hoped that these statistics and facts have added some insights into the importance of employee drug and alcohol testing in today’s organizations, institutions, and companies.

Based on the above statistics, however, it is clear that employee drug and alcohol testing will more likely than not continue in the near future due to the number of drug and alcohol-related accidents, injuries, and deaths that continue to take place in the U.S. workplace.

http://www.alcohol-test-info.com/Emp...tatistics.html

Have read that weed is now laced with fentynal. mexican/chinese drug cartels are treacherous. Put it under federal control with all the consequences. If we did not have an open border for the last 15 years, well that would be a different story. But we have been invaded to make the rich richer with cheap labor and more consumers - well welcome south of the border drug cartels with that and we do not want that to continue.

Drug testing on the job - testing for have you been w/o any substances that could hinder your job in the last 24hrs prior to work? That would be more viable than what is happening now in the work place. Random testing does not catch the demolition worker high on opioids & weed that causes a major catastrophe. Test them on Monday mornings, day after pay day too.

Why California's alcohol taxes are so low | The Sacramento Bee
www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article35127633.html
Sep 13, 2015 - It would affix a nickel-a-drink tax on drinks sold at bars and restaurants that contain distilled spirits. The additional revenue would go into a special fund to help pay for developmental disability services and alcohol prevention and counseling. “I think that appealing to the social conscience when it comes to ...

“Some weeks this year, 90 percent of applicants would test positive for something,” ruling them out for the job"

Companies need workers — but people keep getting high

"We keep hearing employers telling us one of the top problems they're facing is that people are failing drug tests," Roth said. "And they're addicted to drugs that they're getting from their doctors."

Despite hiring boom, employers struggling to find qualified workers

Watch Out! Five Common Causes of Workplace Accidents

We can all be careless sometimes. We don’t pay attention to where we’re going; we drop something without realizing it; and before you know it, an accident occurs. Accidents can happen anywhere, including the workplace. In 2012, nearly 3 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers.

Here are five common causes of workplace accidents:

1. Overexertion

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, overexertion is the number-one cause of workplace injury. Accidents related to physical exertion, including lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, bending, crawling, reaching, and kneeling, cost businesses $15.1 billion in direct costs in 2012, as reported in the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety’s 2014 Workplace Safety Index. Your job may not require you to lift large or heavy objects, but even light loads, such as books, stacks of paper, or files, can cause injury to your back, neck, and shoulders if you don’t use proper techniques.

Training, safety equipment, and use of caution when performing physical tasks can prevent injuries related to overexertion.

2. Slips, trips, and falls

Slips, trips, and falls are some of the leading causes of disabling workplace injury, accounting for a combined $16.5 billion in workers’ compensation costs in the U.S. Slips, trips, and falls can occur when desk or file drawers are left open or when using a chair to reach objects, as opposed to a ladder. Loose electrical cords and wires also pose a hazard in the workplace. Be careful of spills, wet floors, debris, and ice when walking, and practice good housekeeping.

Check out our blog post on ways to prevent slips and falls in the workplace to learn more.

3. Poor housekeeping

When clients or safety professionals walk through your worksite, housekeeping is an accurate indicator of attitudes toward quality, production, and safety. Poor housekeeping creates all kinds of hazards, and often results in workplace accidents, but a well-maintained area sets a standard for others to follow. Good housekeeping also ensures a safer work environment for all.

4. Taking shortcuts

Shortcuts may seem like an efficient way to complete daily tasks, but not at the risk of your safety and others around you. Shortcuts that reduce job safety only increase the chance of injury. Facility managers should reinforce proper procedures for all employee tasks on a regular basis and make sure employees are aware of the risks associated with taking shortcuts.

5. Distractions

If your day doesn’t start well at home, your worries can carry over to the workplace. Employees can drop their mental guard and pull their focus away from safe work procedures. Accidents often occur when employees are distracted, from walking into doors to tripping over clutter. Adhering to facility standards, including a quality housekeeping program, consistent grounds maintenance, and awareness of your surroundings, will prevent you from being distracted at work.

Many workplace accidents can be prevented through good housekeeping, use of caution, and focus on the task at hand. Don’t think an accident won’t ever happen to you, because that attitude can lead to injury. For more information on accident causes and how you can prevent them, contact GCA Services Group at info@gcaservices.com.

http://www.gcaservices.com/aboutus/n...lace-accidents