Smoke

Lions, Tigers and Marijuana-Laced Fentanyl

The conflation of the dangers of other drugs with marijuana is hardly new

By Jeremy Dickman

The history of cannabis is in many ways a history of the psychology of fear. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 weaponized white people’s fear of immigrants from the southern border and Black men to outlaw cannabis. This came on the heels of the notorious 1936 “documentary” film “Reefer Madness,” which gained infamy for its fictional portrayal of violent, highly sexualized cannabis addicts perpetrating horrific crimes.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970, as Richard Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman famously admitted, was in no small part motivated by the desire to “disrupt” Black communities and the anti-war movement by criminalizing weed (the drug of choice among “hippies”) and heroin addiction, which was ravaging Black communities at the time. Disenfranchising Black people through criminalization of addiction continues to suppress the Black vote today, as most states still restrict voting rights for those with felony convictions.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, and it would seem that fear is losing out, finally, to common sense. Marijuana is legal in some form or another in a majority of U.S. states. With every cultural shift toward common-sense drug laws. However, there is usually a swift and severe backlash from industries that profit from fear. Nationwide, law enforcement in numerous communities has pushed the idea that fentanyl—a strong, deadly opiate responsible for thousands of overdoses and deaths annually—is being mixed with cannabis and then sold to unsuspecting users. In April, Marysville, Kansas, police posted to Facebook (where else?) to warn of fentanyl present in samples from a marijuana bust. Police in Pocatello, Idaho on April 14 reported that a “trend” is developing with fentanyl in marijuana, allegedly causing overdoses, but no deaths.

In the latter instance, Pocatello Police detectives told the “Idaho State Journal” that the marijuana they seized tested “presumptive positive” for fentanyl. At no point in the story does the author explain the modifier “presumptive,” and whether that is a law enforcement term of art.

In Mississippi, where tougher laws are being enacted to combat opioid overdoses, Col. Steven Maxwell of the state’s Bureau of Narcotics trumpeted his agency’s effort to educate high school students about the dangers of fentanyl. He could not resist lumping marijuana in the lecture.

“When we talk to high school students about this we are trying to impress upon them it’s no longer just marijuana but could be marijuana laced with fentanyl or some other synthetic drug,” Maxwell told Jackson’s “Clarion Ledger” in April. The story provided zero examples of police seizing marijuana laced with fentanyl.

This conflation of the dangers of opioids, methamphetamine and other drugs with marijuana is hardly new. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration for the past 50 years as having no medical benefit, and a high potential for abuse, on par with heroin and meth. This is despite all available scientific evidence contradicting such a claim.

Even if marijuana has a potential for being combined with other, more dangerous substances, a regulated cannabis market would seem to be the answer to consumers’ concerns. Cannabis flower, vaporizers and edibles are tested for foreign substances in a regulated market. In the unlikely event that a deadly substance is sold with a cannabis product, there is a regulated industry that is held to account. Not so in wild-west, unregulated markets like Kansas, Idaho or other prohibition states.

When I asked the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office if opioids have found their way into marijuana samples, they could report zero such instances. The Bend Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the same question. In Jackson County, fentanyl itself has been a major concern, according to Public Information Officer Aaron Lewis, of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Whether it is being combined with cannabis is another story.

“I haven’t seen marijuana laced with fentanyl,” Lewis said. “I would imagine that would hit my radar if it happened in the last year or so.” Lewis cited a fentanyl-laced Xanax death, and a problem with counterfeit opioid pills.

When it comes to fentanyl, a degree of fear is justified. According to the DEA, fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more deadly than morphine, and overdose deaths have skyrocketed over the past several years. Anyone seeking drugs from an unregulated source should worry that what they are getting could be mis-advertised.

Conflating cannabis dangers with fentanyl dangers, however, is weaponizing fear for an agenda. Not only is there scant evidence of fentanyl-laced marijuana on the streets, there are studies revealing the usefulness of treating opioid addiction with cannabis. If fentanyl is a problem in the cannabis trade in any state, then a regulated cannabis market is the undeniable solution.

Crossword

IMPACTED TEETH

By Brendan Emmett Quigley

©2021 Brendan Emmett Quigley (www.brendanemmettquigley.com)

ACROSS 1 Bar mitzvah officiant 6 Put in an overhead locker 10 Rope material 14 Computer whose first code was written by six women mathematicians 15 Spotify selection 16 Watch face shape 17 Sarcastic comment to a boring monologue, say 20 Negative word 21 Quick incursion 22 ___ Village (site in Disney World’s Star Tours) 23 Pick (from) 25 Making out on the street 26 Impresario behind The Sex Pistols 33 Mononymous singer on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list of 2022 34 Yankees centerfielder Hicks 35 Representative Cheney 37 Wedding registry site 38 Some good and some bad, say 39 Trattoria selection 40 Org. that tracks mold 41 Yearned (for) 42 Dailymotion rival 43 Coerced 46 Children’s entertainer Bill in a bow tie 47 Algerian port city 48 Mission with a chopper 50 Some joints 53 Quick refresher 56 Food made with Guaiwei and Yuxiang sauces 59 (3√3 s2)/ 2 for a hexagon 60 Foot part 61 Soda that comes in dragonfruit flavor 62 Outfits 63 Potent weed 64 Downward facing dog teachers DOWN 1 Rider's ropes 2 "Inventing ___" (Netflix series) 3 Jurisdiction for rider's rights 4 Old fashioned place 5 Ross Sea sighting 6 ___ things up 7 It provides a low blow 8 This and nothing else 9 Very tiny 10 Major conflict 11 Sauteing acronym 12 Conman's target 13 Toilet paper layer 18 One living in a tiny house 19 Family wheels 24 West coast sch. with the motto "fiat lux" 25 Walk heavily 26 Where to get lost 27 Take as your own 28 Poland's home 29 Reached, as one's limit 30 Words to live by 31 QB who beat Tom Brady twice in the Super Bowl 32 Big name in mountain bikes 36 App with a "Join a Meeting" button 38 Small insect 39 Customs paper 41 Skinner box subj. 42 Put into poetry 44 Driven around town with the meter running, say 45 Asian-fusion celebrity chef Matsuhisa 48 Hebrew prophet 49 Turn off-course 50 "Phooey" 51 Like music from the '90s 52 Beto's eight 54 Not for 55 Vegetables in matar curry 56 Droop in the middle 57 Nat. that is nearly 80% desert 58 ___ Tome E Principe

Pearl’s Puzzle Difficulty LevelPuzzle for the week of May 30, 2022 ★ ★ ★

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© Pearl Stark mathpuzzlesgames.com/quodoku VOLUME 26 ISSUE 22 / JUNE 2, 2022 /

Fill in every row, column, and 3x3 box with each of the letters exactly once. B R I N G C L A Y The highlighted letters read left to right and top to bottom will complete the quote: “Let me tell you what I think of _______. I think it has done more to emancipate women than THE SOURCE WEEKLY anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.” - Susan B. Anthony

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“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how

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“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are - T.S. Eliot