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* Daily Herald on yesterday’s candidate forum…
Pritzker thinks legalization [of marijuana] could save lives. “Unfortunately, marijuana is readily available and also unfortunately some of it is laced with heroin. If we legalize it and regulate it, marijuana won’t have those problems,” he said.
Laced with heroin? Who’s gonna sell a dime bag of weed and secretly add heroin to it without jacking up the price so high that nobody would buy it? Not a very good business plan. I suppose you could sell weed that’s specifically laced with heroin for a premium price. And you can add pretty much anything to your own stash.
* So, I checked with the Pritzker campaign. They sent along the full quote from yesterday…
Look there are reasons to legalize marijuana and I favor legalization, but the reasons are less to do with revenue then they are with safety and criminal justice reform. But those are the three reasons that we should legalize it. Let’s talk about safety for a moment. Unfortunately, marijuana is readily available, it just is. And also unfortunately, they’re sometimes laced with heroin.
And in fact, I talked to a mother who lost her son to heroin addiction, who got into it, this son – by the way self-medicating for a mental health problem – got into it by smoking marijuana that ended up being laced with heroin and then got into a heroin addiction problem.
If we legalize marijuana and we regulate it, marijuana will not have those problems and it’ll – yes, it’s readily available today – it’ll be available in recreational use but regulated. Criminal justice reform – Dan [Biss] talked about that and I think it’s hugely important to recognize how unfair the system has been. And then of course the 350 to 700 million dollars of tax revenue that this state could garner.
* From the campaign…
“While it is highly uncommon, there are a few cases of overdoses linked to marijuana being laced with stronger drugs. Ultimately, JB was addressing a broader problem of lacing and making the point that illegal marijuana is a lot less safe than if we legalize it and regulate it.”
* They also sent me a link to this story…
Police in Yarmouth used two doses of Narcan to revive an unresponsive man Saturday afternoon and investigators believe the man may have been experiencing an overdose after smoking marijuana laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl. […]
Police said the man and his girlfriend had smoked marijuana earlier in the day “but did not realize it may have been laced with another drug which caused the overdose.”
* But Snopes.com looked into the fentanyl angle and found real problems with that story and other stories like it. They concluded that people simply did not want to admit to the cops that they were knowingly doing a drug which could get them busted for a felony, so they lied.
Vice also looked into it…
Kirk Maxey, who works with law enforcement agencies like the DEA to test suspected synthetic opioids, said that not only would such a mixture be rare—it might not even be scientifically possible.
The Cincinnati Enquirer also looked into the topic because of a large number of social media posts and came up empty. Fake news.
* Pritzker is right about the broader point. Take the criminal and other unknown elements out of it by legalizing it with reasonable restrictions and taxation. But he should stick to that, and not buy into fringe “Reefer Madness” conspiracies.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 11:38 am
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Legal weed because Illinois isn’t lethargic enough.
Comment by Chris P. Bacon Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 11:49 am
Related: Industrial Hemp Bill Passes (WI) Senate Committee
Comment by Northsider Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 11:52 am
laced with heroin? makes you think he never inhaled.
Comment by Peter Tosh Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 11:59 am
==Laced with heroin? Who’s gonna sell a dime bag of weed and secretly add heroin to it without jacking up the price so high that nobody would buy it? Not a very good business plan. I suppose you could sell weed that’s specifically laced with heroin for a premium price. And you can add pretty much anything to your own stash.==
The two myths that always come up in weed conversations is that its a gateway drug , which is at least less prevalent now, except among our Dem Gov candidates for some reason, and that you don’t know what the drug dealer is selling you and you can get real messed up. Why would a drug dealer sneak you an extra drug that doesn’t help his business, unless he’s just a psychopath. Do these guys not have younger staffers who can correct them on these ridiculous marijuana opinions.
Why would you add Fentanyl to Marijuana? Again only a psychopath would do this.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:01 pm
You can definitely get pot laced with something like PCP, which is extremely dangerous and more realistic than Pritzker’s example.
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:04 pm
===You can definitely get pot laced with something like PCP===
The 80s called, they want their myth back.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:07 pm
There have definitely been cases where heroin was given to unknowing targets. The goal would be to get them addicted. I don’t remember any that were specifically linked to weed, but the relevant public safety task forces would know whether that has been a tactic.
Heroin, while initially much cheaper than in the past, takes larger doses over time to achieve the same results. It can become expensive (lucrative) fairly quick, and also becomes an OD risk fairly quick for the same reason.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:15 pm
Revenue is the best reason to legalize pot.
Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:17 pm
Worth noting, though, that prescription drugs are a far more dangerous opioid initiation than a few sporadic cases of stealth-dosing heroin.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:18 pm
===There have definitely been cases where heroin was given to unknowing targets. The goal would be to get them addicted.===
Link?
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:19 pm
In 1980’s New York during the rise of the AIDS epidemic health centers reported 25% of positive tests were people who “got AIDS from their girlfriend” and were straight. The data was of course bogus. Closeted gay men didn’t want to tell doctors the truth.
This is no different. There is no epidemic of heroin in marijuana. People are either scared or ashamed to admit they are using heroin or other hard core opiates.
Comment by Signal and Noise Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:21 pm
Give me a break. How many people have OD’d because they became addicted to opioids through a doctor’s prescription? Way way too many. That’s where the problem is.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:25 pm
That’s based on experience, not stories I’ve read. Dixon, and largely our police chief, have been highly active on this issue. Our Safe Harbor program even brought Sen. Durbin to town when the Feds were looking for solution.
Part of launching programs like Safe Harbor includes talking to users, talking to advocates, and talking to law enforcement. During those conversations we heard word of heroin being introduced, unknowingly, to people. It seems fairly rare, but I didn’t just hear that from law enforcement. Advocates (who are often former users) had similar experiences.
So no, no link. Just real life work in the arena. Again, prescription drugs are a much bigger issue–and certainly some people just get talked into trying it during other drug use. But this tactic seems to be (emphasis: seems) be more than just lying to law enforcement.
http://www.saukvalley.com/2015/11/12/in-the-wake-of-another-heroin-tragedy-in-dixon/a1gt3o7/
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:28 pm
===Advocates (who are often former users) had similar experiences===
Which sounds exactly like what Snopes was talking about. It’s somebody else’s fault.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:30 pm
With Halloween fast approaching, I’m reminded that there have been “reported cases” of people passing out laced candy. Because of this, when my kids went Trick or Treating I used to eat as much of their candy as I could - it was my duty as their father to reduce their risk to exposure.
Comment by We'll See Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:36 pm
You may be right, but I have to ask Rich: have you ever worked with recovering heroin addicts? Have you experienced how brutally honest some of them can be about what, how, and why they did things?
The same for advocates–some of these advocates are deeply, passionately fighting against heroin. I’m not so sure it’s that easy to call them liars, especially when their whole goal is to identify the true dangers and then fight the scourge.
Sure, every single case could be manipulation, but jumping straight to that assumption doesn’t make sense.
Either way, it’s not a common tactic; more something to keep looking out for than focusing response to. The dangers of prescription drugs is where our efforts should be focused.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:42 pm
“With Halloween fast approaching, I’m reminded that there have been “reported cases” of people passing out laced candy.”
An interesting comparison, but there is clearly more financial and social (in the case of user communities) incentive to create new users than there is to lace candy. And the world of dealers comes pre-built with people who have thoroughly jaded their conscience.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:45 pm
=== incentive to create new users than there is to lace candy===
He was joking about fake news. Giving laced candy to random kids without them even knowing what they’re getting isn’t creating addicts. It’s a waste of time and money and purely disgusting. All you’ll do is make them sick or kill them.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:48 pm
I understand, but the joke was juxtapositioned against something I (and you) consider very serious: heroin deaths. So while others can joke (and are welcome to), I’ll stay serious on the topic.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:55 pm
==- Rich Miller - Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:07 pm:==
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3568288/
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:56 pm
Consider the two possibilities:
1) A drug dealer who sells weed tainted with expensive and in-demand opioids in hopes that:
a) his buyer doesn’t die, and
b) his buyer becomes addicted, and
c) his buyer returns to him to satisfy his addiction, and
d) his buyer will eventually, at some point down the road, purchase enough opioids that the dealer recoups his investment.
or
2) An opioid user who lies about how he came to ingest opioids.
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 12:58 pm
-Liandro-
Trust me, I take heroin addiction seriously. Having watched a family member’s child struggle with the addiction, my family is thankful that that we’ve kept our sense of humor — some days it feels like it’s all we have.
Comment by We'll See Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 1:14 pm
Laced with heroin is the type of narrative used to ensure that all products will be corporately produced. Legalization of marijuana could be the greatest small business growth industry we have seen in our lifetime, but those small business owners might lace their product with PCP. So lets create another opportunity for the rich to get richer…. because the heroin.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 1:26 pm
==Take the criminal and other unknown elements out of it by legalizing it with reasonable restrictions==
By reasonable restrictions do you mean a private application process not subject to FOIA and allowing the companies to create a series of shell corporations so the actual people growing and selling marijuana are completely unknown to the communities in which they operate with absolutely no accountability.
These facilities are not major drug companies with FDA type regulation. They are selling drugs on a cash basis with almost no oversight.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 1:59 pm
===These facilities are not major drug companies with FDA type regulation===
It’s a plant.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 2:00 pm
Once again Liandro proves he should stick with what he actually knows: sandwiches.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 2:26 pm
I’m not in a big disagreement about it being a plant, but don’t sell legalization on the “we will regulate” it and make it safe pitch when that is not what was or will be done.
Medical or recreational it is a cash business because of the Feds. That brings people into the business who have cash and want more cash.
Secret applications and allowing a series of shell corporations own it, just allows the same type of criminal activity the state can now tax. That is what we have now.
Comment by the Patriot Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 3:00 pm
So kids pass out and get busted, but they claim they were only smoking pot — must have been laced with fentanyl, of course.
Because they wouldn’t willingly do fentanyl…
Ask any cop, and you’ll find most falling-down DUI suspects might have had a beer or glass of wine with dinner.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 3:20 pm
@We’ll See– I understand, and that’s exactly a reason why I had no problem with humor. You never know until you’ve walked a mile in someone’s shoes–addiction has far more than just physical costs attached to it.
Comment by Liandro Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 4:23 pm
In the old days, people used to sell joints. I rarely if ever saw laced joints, and the very few times I did, the sellers advertised them as such. I believe they were called wickies–marijuana and embalming fluid, or marijuana with PCP. It certainly wasn’t like you’d buy joints and routinely find them laced. It was very rare, at least in my experience.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 5:02 pm
JB should go with the idea that if pot is legalized many people would then be too stoned to text while driving. Hey, it’s a safety policy that really could save innocent lives.
Comment by Responsa Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 5:05 pm
Responsa, not to mention all the traffic ticket revenue created by stoners driving 15mph.
Comment by Generic Drone Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 5:37 pm
The state needs as much tax money as possible. Raising counter productive taxes like income and sales taxes is not the answer.
Taxing pot would be a great start
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 19, 17 @ 5:38 pm
Forget laced with heroin, fentanyl, or pcp. How about chock full of pesticides that can cause lung or liver damage. Absolutely a marketed, taxed and regulated product is always the best option. While we’re having this conversation how about testing tobacco for dangerous additives as well.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 8:34 am
If the State needs tax money all it has to do is tax the air.
https://youtu.be/aM58QU4c3ok
Comment by MSimon Friday, Oct 20, 17 @ 9:17 am