Forget Drug 'Pushers' - Watch the 'Promotors'

Very recent Australian research has confirmed what we have known principally for a long time – permission promotes participation. The Dalgarno institute understood this fact over a decade ago and posited our long-standing principle “Availability, Acceptability, Accessibility and Affordability, All Increase Consumption.”  Our 2014 paper; The Most Effective Drug Pushing Measure Ever – Permission was also peer reviewed and a précised version published in Journal of Global Drug Policy & Practice.Journal of Global Drug Policy & Practice.

Of course, when traditional ‘common sense’ held sway, this was never in doubt, but we have an un-common ‘logic’ in play when it comes to drug policy, particularly in the last 10 years.

Pro-drug ideology and activism have worked diligently in all attempts to normalize drug use, which very much includes morphing nomenclature, redefining ‘common’ and of course, ignoring all evidence that sheds unflattering light on the community safety, health and well-being dismantling permission promoting agenda.

Legalisation, decriminalisation, and medicalization are all vehicles being engaged to promote the permission paradigm on drug use.

Experiment Already Proves Principle

As this social experiment has been operating for years now in the US state of Colorado (Ground Zero for US legalization), the evidence emerging from the liberalisation model further proves the prediction in the Australia research below.

According to Colorado Division of Criminal Justice (Dept of Public Safety) Report: Impacts of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado A Report Pursuant to C.R.S. 24-33.4-516 July 2021

• In 2019, 19.0% of adults reported marijuana use in the past 30 days, compared to 13.4% in 2014, a significant increase.
• Males have significantly higher past 30-day use (22.9%) than females (15.1%).
• Adults 26-34 year reported the highest past 30-day usage rates (29.4%), followed by 18-25 year-olds (28.8%), 35-64 year-olds (17.3%), and those 65 years and older (9.3%).
• The marijuana usage rates of those 65 and older has more than tripled since 2014.
• Those reporting smoking marijuana flower decreased from 87.2% of users in 2016 to 76.1% in 2019. This compares to increases in eating/drinking (35.2% in 2016 to 43.0% in 2019, vaping (22.9% in 2016 to 32.0% in 2019), and dabbing (16.8% in 2016 to 19.6% in 2019)
• According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, administered by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the prevalence rates for marijuana use in the past 30 days increased for young adults (18- to 25-years old), from 21.2% in 2005/06 (pre-commercialization) to 31.2% in 2013/14 (post-commercialization), but has stabilized at 34.4% in 2018/19. Reported 30-day marijuana use by adults ages 26 years and older increased from 5.4% in 2005/06 to 15.6% in 2018/19

The Canadian cannabis conundrum grew particulalry and again, predictably, worse for the youth cohort. In very recently published research we see again the failed promise of 'no greater youth uptake' manifest. Published in Science Direct the following concerning data does not bode well for an emerging generation and the society they are core in shaping.

Changes in cannabis use modes among Canadian youth across recreational cannabis                    legalization: Data from the COMPASS prospective cohort study

                  Highlights:

• • Less than a third of youth maintained a single mode of cannabis useacross legalization.
  • More than three times as many participants expanded their use modes as reduced them.
  • Maintenance of multiple modes was associated with other substance use and depressive symptoms
  • Using cannabis in multiple ways linked to binge drinking and depressive symptoms

Conclusions: Multi-modal cannabis use increased among Canadian youth in our sample. Its association with other substance use and depressive symptoms may indicate clustering of additional harms.Screening for this use pattern may assist in identifying high-risk substance use and should be considered in the design of harm reduction programming.

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have also outed the mendacious ‘if you legalize cannabis, usage wont increase’ claim in their research that unequivocally demonstrates that permission models deliver increased use, and all the attending harms that accompany the use of this engineered psychotropic toxin.

Source: Urgent & Emerging Issues in Prevention (15^th Annual Prevention Day)

The following is that Australian research…

Who would try (or use more) cannabis if it were legal?

Increase in cannabis consumption likely if decriminalised in Australia says new study published 26 July 2021.

A new study has found that an estimated 4.2 per cent of the population aged 14 and over, who have never tried cannabis before, would try it if use of the drug were legal.

Led by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Sydney, the study also found that an estimated 2.6 per cent of the population said they were likely to use more cannabis if it were legal.

Lead author, Professor Don Weatherburn from NDARC said, “These findings clearly conflict with the popular view that legalisation of cannabis would not increase consumption.”

Using data from the Australian National Drug Strategy Household survey, the study found that the decriminalisation of cannabis use would likely lead to an increase in consumption of cannabis among young people with mental health problems.

“Consumption of cannabis would be substantially higher among males, younger people and people who suffer from mild, moderate and/or severe level of psychological stress,” said Professor Weatherburn.

The study states that while the vast majority of people may be unaffected by any change in the legislative status of cannabis use, small changes in the number of heavy users of cannabis could have significant effects on demand for treatment and drug-related harms.

“This is especially true when, as in the present case, vulnerable adolescents and teenagers are among those most likely to use more cannabis if it is decriminalised,” said Professor Weatherburn.

“If cannabis use is decriminalised, Australian State and Territory Governments should make provision for a possible increase in demand for drug treatment and for public education on the risks associated with frequent/prolonged cannabis use,” said Professor Weatherburn.

For more https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/news/increase-cannabis-consumption-likely-if-decriminalised-australia-says-new-study

For complete study go to https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dar.13360

 By Dalgarno Institute Communications Team