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Meanwhile yearly marijuana overdoses stay at a constant zero every year, while enforcement of marijuana prohibition kills untold numbers of convincingly innocen

Meanwhile yearly marijuana overdoses stay at a constant zero every year, while enforcement of marijuana prohibition kills untold numbers of convincingly innocent people.

btian 10y ago
How much political donation did marijuana growers make vs. Purdue Pharma?
- jameskegel 10y ago
  One could also argue that MJ growers are fighting to pay taxes just to legitimize the industry, meanwhile Big Pharma has entire departments of professionals working to minimize those contributions, instead preferring to pay out via private incentives to our elected leaders. You choose which is worse.
  - rfrank 10y ago
    Some do, some don't. The emerald triangle has traditionally opposed legalization efforts in CA, it negatively impacts their bottom line.
  - mindslight 10y ago
    Encouraging a corrupt system to moderate its oppression of human rights as a profit center is definitely worse.
drawkbox 10y ago
Just recently Insys, the company that makes fentanyl[3] and gave 500k to help defeat legalized marijuana on Arizona[1], got approval/classification (Schedule II) for a synthetic THC/cannabinoid, Syndros, that does have the potential for overdose[2]. So not only are they killing opioid addicted users, now they are starting this. Somehow synthetic THC is Schedule II while natural/real cannabis is Schedule I. Fentanyl, synthetic opioid, was the cause of most of the ODs in the article, synthetics are a worse problem than the natural versions. But police suspect the heroin here was mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is many times more potent than heroin. A wave of fatal overdoses signaled fentanyl’s arrival in Huntington in early 2015, and now some stashes aren’t heroin laced with fentanyl, but “fentanyl laced with heroin,” said Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli. [1] https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/fentanyl-maker-insys-give-500k-defeat-legalization https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/fentanyl-maker-insys-gi... [2] http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/03/23/synthetic-thc-drug-insys-therapeutics-dronabinol-syndros/76030/ http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/03/23/synthetic-thc-drug-ins... [3] https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/fentanyl-heroin-photo-fatal-doses/ https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/fentanyl-heroin-photo-fa...
- c0nducktr 10y ago
  I seriously can't understand how someone could work for that company in clear conscience.
  - noonespecial 10y ago
    Its easy. Just add bills and take away options until your conscience is the least of your worries. When you're choosing between falling another month behind on rent on the apartment you were "so lucky" to get and getting a throbbing cavity filled at the dentist, you might not think too much about it.
    - c0nducktr 10y ago
      There are a lot of people working there who aren't close to falling a month behind on rent, and those people were who my comment was addressing. There are a lot of business out there which make a lot of their money in some very unethical ways, and people who choose to be part of that... I just don't understand. I couldn't live with myself. I know several people who have died of overdoses, so I'm probably biased, but I'm truly disgusted by what is going on.
      - exolymph 10y ago
        People rationalize their positions. Human morality / ethics is very flexible. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." — Upton Sinclair
        wallace_f 10y ago
        It's different for different people. Some people are dirtbags, some people are saints, and everyone else is in-between.
  - averagewall 10y ago
    Most people contribute to something they think is wrong but are just a cog in the machine so they don't think much about it. Pay tax to the US government? You're funding murder in the middle east. Have clients that are suppliers to service providers to this drug company? You're helping them too. Even professionals want a salary and a job.

Meanwhile yearly marijuana overdoses stay at a constant zero every year, while enforcement of marijuana prohibition kills untold numbers of convincingly innocent people.

btian 10y ago

How much political donation did marijuana growers make vs. Purdue Pharma?

jameskegel 10y ago
One could also argue that MJ growers are fighting to pay taxes just to legitimize the industry, meanwhile Big Pharma has entire departments of professionals working to minimize those contributions, instead preferring to pay out via private incentives to our elected leaders. You choose which is worse.
- rfrank 10y ago
  Some do, some don't. The emerald triangle has traditionally opposed legalization efforts in CA, it negatively impacts their bottom line.
- mindslight 10y ago
  Encouraging a corrupt system to moderate its oppression of human rights as a profit center is definitely worse.

drawkbox 10y ago

Just recently Insys, the company that makes fentanyl[3] and gave 500k to help defeat legalized marijuana on Arizona[1], got approval/classification (Schedule II) for a synthetic THC/cannabinoid, Syndros, that does have the potential for overdose[2]. So not only are they killing opioid addicted users, now they are starting this. Somehow synthetic THC is Schedule II while natural/real cannabis is Schedule I. Fentanyl, synthetic opioid, was the cause of most of the ODs in the article, synthetics are a worse problem than the natural versions. But police suspect the heroin here was mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is many times more potent than heroin. A wave of fatal overdoses signaled fentanyl’s arrival in Huntington in early 2015, and now some stashes aren’t heroin laced with fentanyl, but “fentanyl laced with heroin,” said Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli. [1] https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/fentanyl-maker-insys-give-500k-defeat-legalization https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/fentanyl-maker-insys-gi... [2] http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/03/23/synthetic-thc-drug-insys-therapeutics-dronabinol-syndros/76030/ http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/03/23/synthetic-thc-drug-ins... [3] https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/fentanyl-heroin-photo-fatal-doses/ https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/fentanyl-heroin-photo-fa...

c0nducktr 10y ago
I seriously can't understand how someone could work for that company in clear conscience.
- noonespecial 10y ago
  Its easy. Just add bills and take away options until your conscience is the least of your worries. When you're choosing between falling another month behind on rent on the apartment you were "so lucky" to get and getting a throbbing cavity filled at the dentist, you might not think too much about it.
  - c0nducktr 10y ago
    There are a lot of people working there who aren't close to falling a month behind on rent, and those people were who my comment was addressing. There are a lot of business out there which make a lot of their money in some very unethical ways, and people who choose to be part of that... I just don't understand. I couldn't live with myself. I know several people who have died of overdoses, so I'm probably biased, but I'm truly disgusted by what is going on.
    - exolymph 10y ago
      People rationalize their positions. Human morality / ethics is very flexible. "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." — Upton Sinclair
      - wallace_f 10y ago
        It's different for different people. Some people are dirtbags, some people are saints, and everyone else is in-between.
- averagewall 10y ago
  Most people contribute to something they think is wrong but are just a cog in the machine so they don't think much about it. Pay tax to the US government? You're funding murder in the middle east. Have clients that are suppliers to service providers to this drug company? You're helping them too. Even professionals want a salary and a job.