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 In a report, marijuana legalization foe Smart Approaches to
Marijuana (SAM) also pointed to higher-than-average use in the first
states to sanction recreational cannabis, Colorado and Washington
state, and an increase in burns from butane hash oil production.
"We need a pumping-of-the-brakes on the marijuana industry," SAM's
president, Kevin Sabet, said in an interview. "When we have
hospitalizations and burns and deaths, we need to stop many of these
products from being sold."
The report comes amid rapidly shifting state laws governing
marijuana use. Voters in four U.S. states opted to legalize its
recreational use, most recently in Oregon and Alaska. Marijuana
remains illegal under federal law.
Legalization opponents say Washington state and Colorado have been
flooded with dangerous products, from infused candies and
concentrates, many far stronger than what might have been smoked in
the 1960s.
At least 14 Colorado children ages 3 to 7 were sent to hospitals in
the first half of 2014 for accidentally ingesting marijuana
products, compared with eight in 2013 and four between 2008 and
2011, SAM said of state data.
In Colorado, teen marijuana abuse treatment at about a dozen
Arapahoe House Denver-area facilities increased by 66 percent
between 2011 and 2014, SAM cited that group as reporting.
Separately on Monday, Colorado health officials announced a $4
million Internet, television and radio public-education campaign
aimed at exposing the dangers of cannabis-infused products and
aspects of the law.
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Use among people ages 18 and older from 2011-2013 in Colorado and
Washington has risen about 3 percentage points, from roughly 16 to
19 percent and from 15 to 18 percent, respectively, SAM said, citing
federal data. The national average is about 12 percent.
The University of Colorado observed 17 cases of marijuana-related
burns in 2014 and 11 cases in 2013, largely from botched butane hash
oil extractions, with one case each in the three years prior, SAM
said.
"Trying to draw any conclusions with less than one year of data is
irresponsible," pro-cannabis Marijuana Policy Project spokesman
Mason Tvert said.
He said research on pot has drawn conflicting results and has been
limited by the federal ban.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by
Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Leslie Adler and Eric Beech)
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