Those involved with ‘Marijuana.com’ had managed to find themselves burrowing through the DNC Dump of WikiLeaks. The DNC dump was not much of a surprise for them, so much as the emails pertained inside. Within heaping mounds of emails, they had found a paid segment that had be supported by the Wind & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA). Within the compounds of the emails, the company was attempting to push fear into Washington, by cautioning politicians to become weary of legalizing marijuana in America.
A version of the Huddle issue (referencing May 24th, 2016), shows a Politico newsletter that had been sent out for Capitol Hill. This email is now visible thanks to WikiLeaks, and you can view the original here.
“A message from Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America: While neutral on the issue of legalization, WSWA believes states that legalize marijuana need to ensure appropriate and effective regulations are enacted to protect the public from the dangers associated with the abuse and misuse of marijuana.
23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medicinal marijuana while Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and D.C. have legalized possession and recreational use. In the years since the state legalized medicinal use, Colorado law enforcement officials have documented a significant increase in traffic fatalities in which drivers tested positive for marijuana.
Congress should fully fund section 4008 of the FAST Act (PL 114-94) in the FY 2017 Appropriations process to document the prevalence of marijuana impaired driving, outline impairment standards and determine driving impairment detection methods.”
Back in May, the AAA’s safety foundation did release their report on the rising concerns regarding the cannabis impairment while driving. During this study, they proved that blood testing their selected drivers for the THC holds zero scientific validation. With the reports from the AAA marijuana impaired driving studies, each case should be abandoned. However, looking into a second part of their report, we find that, speaking statistically, automotive wrecks that had involved drivers under the influence of cannabis is indeed rising.
While the fact still remains that those wrecks in which involved those that tested positive for cannabis rose, there were a vast number of cases in which several stipulations towards the provided evidence had been ignored, by not only the wide media press, but the WSWA as well.
Most importantly, the number of fatal crashes in which the driver was tested positive for cannabis, doesn’t even come close to being the highest number of influenced drivers. The real fact is that when discussing deadly/fatal accidents where the driver was tested positive for cannabis, the driver also tested positive for higher levels of alcohol. In some cases, there was strong evidence of other drugs also.
In the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, where a total of 592 drivers were noted to have been directly involved with fatal crashes in 2013, only 38 of those drivers had tested positive for evidence of cannabis in their system. In the following year, there was a rise in fatal crashes to 619. Of those, only 75 tested positive for cannabis.
Staci Hoff, a researcher for the WTSC, explained in her review “Most of these drivers, these 75 drivers, also had alcohol or other drugs’ Over a five-year period, just 1.8 percent of fatal crashes involved drivers who tested positive only for cannabis.” Hoff continues to write, “So, in our study, we looked at all five years of date, 2010 to 2014, and there were never 3,000 drivers involved in these fatal crashes during that time period. Only 56 of them had THC and only THC, nothing else.”
These statistics have been utilized by law officials, news media outlets and the alcohol lobby to invoke fear about the legalization of marijuana. Naturally, politicians and the public alike are eating this garbage up. Their intending to create a system where a person is measured as “How-High” while driving under the influence of cannabis, without taking into account any other substance.
The WSWA stated in a press release regarding this legislation, “there is currently no scientific consensus regarding the level at which marijuana consumption impairs a driver and no effective way to measure this impairment in the field.” later on in the statement, they state “This is problematic for law enforcement who, in contrast, can quickly and effectively establish a scientifically and legally-supported measure of alcohol impairment.”
Morgan Fox, a communications manager for Marijuana Policy Project, once said that the alcohol industry has a challenge while combatting drunk driving; caution about publicly hindering cannabis legalization should be adhered.
Fox stated in an email that was sent to Marijuana.com, “No one should be driving while impaired by marijuana, and we should certainly be doing more research into all aspects of the substance, including its impact on driving.” He continues, “However, given that driving under the influence of marijuana is already illegal and that the existing research shows marijuana’s effect on driving ability is significantly less that alcohol, it is difficult to see a legitimate reason for the alcohol industry to be taking up this issue. They would do better to fund research on how to decrease drunk driving.”
There is nothing in which can come close to the hypocrisy of the drug war like we see with marijuana. This is a medicine in which has been known to kill cancer cells. This same medicine has also saved countless epileptic children. This same medicine even heals broken bones, treated patients that has PTSD, and is not even close to being dangerous. And this medical natural drug still continues to show exhibits a wide variety of many incredible powers, however, the state will still kill you for even possessing a small amount of marijuana.
Which comes to the best question of all, why do these tyrants keep marijuana illegal?
Profits generate from ruining countless lives and throwing cannabis users behind bars. Politicians maintain their war on drugs. The alcohol industry aside, law enforcement, as well as Big Pharma are equally guilty.
Below, we have a compilation of the top 4 industries in which thrive on you being locked away behind bars, for possession of a single harmless plant. They thrive, as it also trickles into their job security as well.
Starting off the list, we have the police unions. If full legalization of marijuana was to occur, the police would loose the lifestyle they are used to, including a loss of their precious military-grade toys if the war on drugs was to stop.
Another sector on the list happens to be private prison corporations. This industry is pushing hard to bring the law down on stricter policies, attempting to maintain their positive stream of hard-earned tax dollars.
Thirdly, it is the alcohol industry. Large alcoholic corporations actually hate competition. So in return, they are paying millions in order to keep any safer habits off the market. As we can clearly see from the WSWA case above, the point is rather clear.
Pharmaceutical corporations. Keeping cannabis at a schedule 1 drug, with a near permanent ban: “No Medical Use Whatsoever,” may be conducive to criminal intent on the pharmaceutical companies part. Pharma companies produce several drugs to cover several injuries and illness. These drugs are also equipped with side effects – some more dangerous (and strange) than others. Looking at cannabis, however, and the medical benefits it has for some of these illnesses that Big Pharma have a monopoly on, it isn’t difficult to see the issue these companies have when their bottom dollar is concerned. Any competition is bad competition, especially when they’re competing against Mother Nature.
Sources: The Free Thought Project, WSWA, WikiLeaks, Marijuana.Com.
This article (The Alcohol Industry Campaign is Smothering Cannabis Legalization) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.
