Popularization of Worse Drugs
The Great Marijuana Book Bomb
The highly acclaimed book co-authored by SAFER's Mason Tvert, Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?, is now available.
Lecture: Marijuana is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?
Mason Tvert is the cofounder and executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and the SAFER Voter Education Fund.
Book Premier: "Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?"
Three of the nation's most successful marijuana policy reform organizations will come together at the Oaksterdam University Student Union in Oakland to premier the highly acclaimed new book, Marijuana
Random Drug Testing Wonât Save the Children From Heroin
Hereâs drug czar John Walters shamelessly using a young womanâs death as an opportunity to plug student drug testing:
Walters sounds supremely confident, as usual, yet the reality is that random drug testing is often impotent when it comes to discovering heroin use. Student drug testing programs typically rely on urine tests, which can only detect heroin for 3-4 days after use. Only marijuana -- which stays in your system for up to a month â can be effectively detected this way. Thus, random testing actually incentivizes students to experiment with more dangerous drugs like heroin that increase your chances of passing a drug test.
And thanks to the complete failure of the drug war, heroin is stronger today than ever before:
There are no easy answers here, to be sure, and I donât claim any monopoly on the solutions to youth drug abuse. But I guarantee you that the problem isnât our failure to collect more urine from young people. As long as the most dangerous substances continue to be manufactured, distributed, and controlled by criminals, the face of our drug problem will remain the same.
Heroin killed 19-year-old Alicia Lannes, and her parents say she got the drug from a boyfriend. Experts say that's how most young kids get introduced to drugs: by friends or relatives.
â¦
While teen drug use is declining, Walters says a Fairfax County heroin ring busted in connection with Lannes' death proves it's still a problem. He supports a federal program used in more than 4,000 schools to randomly drug test students.
"There's no question in my mind had this young woman been in a school, middle school or high school with random testing," said Walters, "She would not be dead today." [FOX DC]
Walters sounds supremely confident, as usual, yet the reality is that random drug testing is often impotent when it comes to discovering heroin use. Student drug testing programs typically rely on urine tests, which can only detect heroin for 3-4 days after use. Only marijuana -- which stays in your system for up to a month â can be effectively detected this way. Thus, random testing actually incentivizes students to experiment with more dangerous drugs like heroin that increase your chances of passing a drug test.
And thanks to the complete failure of the drug war, heroin is stronger today than ever before:
The drug enforcement agency says the purity of heroin found in Virginia is typically higher than usualâmaking it more deadly.
"They tend not to know how to gauge the strength and they usually take more than they need to," said Patrick McConnel, who oversees Treatment for Youth Services Administration Alcohol and Drug Services.
There are no easy answers here, to be sure, and I donât claim any monopoly on the solutions to youth drug abuse. But I guarantee you that the problem isnât our failure to collect more urine from young people. As long as the most dangerous substances continue to be manufactured, distributed, and controlled by criminals, the face of our drug problem will remain the same.
Drug Czar Creates Handy Guide For Teens on Where To Obtain Prescription Drugs
Oddly, the Drug Czar has created a new webpage that offers great tips for any teen looking to catch a buzz. The page claims to be a warning guide for parents, but the potentially deadly secrets contained within it are available for anyone to see. I was able to access all of the site's content without even being asked to verify that I'm over 18.
I've learned to steal drugs from the elderly because they don't monitor their pill count or throw away leftovers because they're super old and confused. Also, there's like a billion websites that don't even check prescriptions and will send me anything. I'm gonna go cure my boreditis now. Thanks, Office of National Drug Control Policy!
I've learned to steal drugs from the elderly because they don't monitor their pill count or throw away leftovers because they're super old and confused. Also, there's like a billion websites that don't even check prescriptions and will send me anything. I'm gonna go cure my boreditis now. Thanks, Office of National Drug Control Policy!