LIFESTYLE CANNABIS
PART TWO OF A SERIES (CONTINUED FROM THE MARCH SHEPHERD EXPRESS)
Marijuana Is Not Opioids, Comparing Them Is Dishonest WHY ROBIN VOS IS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF CANNABIS REFORM BY JEAN-GABRIEL FERNANDEZ
R
obin Vos’ position is a mix of intellectual dishonesty and outright lies, but the fact he chose to put marijuana legalization on the same level as the opioid crisis is the most harmful lie of all.
Today, at least 128 Americans die every single day from opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). One does not even need a source to affirm that not a single person died today—or yesterday, or tomorrow—from marijuana overdose, simply because it is impossible to die from consuming weed. Not a single death from marijuana overdose has ever been recorded in all of human history. Despite this, marijuana is illegal; opioids are largely legal. 46 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS
“In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers, and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. This subsequently led to widespread diversion and misuse of these medications before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive,” NIDA explains. “In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose, [and] an estimated 1.7 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers.”
NIDA has more to say on the topic: Up to 29% of people prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, and between 8% and 12% of users develop a serious opioid use disorder. An estimated 4-6% of
