AM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 29, 2023
Qasim Rashid, Esq.

Annual Deaths in America from:
•Alcohol: 140,000
•Tobacco: 480,000
•Marijuana: 0

The pearl clutching over marijuana legalization & decriminalization is not grounded in facts—but in fear mongering propaganda & racial injustice that arrests Black people 3.7X more than white people, despite similar rates of use.

Apr 28, 2023 at 10:20pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadHuman #6,478,321,076Apr 28, 2023
@QasimRashid I get your point but the numbers are not going to age well as more people use cannabis. My coworker and his dog were killed instantly by a man driving on cannabis who crossed the center line. Humans will misuse it
Show threadDeb4+ aka Deborah DT 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 28, 2023

@Orange_light @QasimRashid

Yes deaths directly and indirectly from cannabis are NOT zero. My nephew offed himself from some bad combination of grass and his mental issues. And there's what smoking and vaping does to the lungs. And the people jumping out of buildings thinking they can fly, etc etc.

Alcohol will always be worse by far because in its essence, it is poison, but marijuana and derivatives are not totally harmless.

Show threadTurboQuokkaApr 29, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @Orange_light @QasimRashid With all due respect, people don’t jump out of windows thinking they can fly. That’s not at all how cannabis works (at least not outside of some ridiculously dramatic afterschool specials in the 80s.) But that actually leads to a relevant point: people conflate what all sorts of substances do, based purely on pseudoscientific nonsenses they were fed during the “war on drugs”, not realizing a lot of that stuff was completely pulled out of the asses of people trying to scare folks into compliance (or to weaponize it against communities of color by equating the rise of certain drugs with specific minority communities to justify excessive legal force against them.)
Show threadDeb4+ aka Deborah DT 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 29, 2023

@turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid

I read a very specific case in which this was the cause. It was legal cannabis but perhaps not in an advised dosage. Not an old horror story.

Alcohol is infinitely more toxic than pot but saying zero deaths is inaccurate.

Show threadAM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 29, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid Ok I'll bite, please link or provide a single detail about this incredible case where *legal* weed, available only in the last handful of years, genuinely caused someone to believe they could fly, and to jump off of a building causing their death. A name, a location, an article, just any ol detail will do.
Show threadDeb4+ aka Deborah DT 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 29, 2023

@thisistheAM @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid

In addition to this one, there was someone else with a more reasonable dose who jumped out of a window but lived... And then I stopped looking.

Again I'm not talking about the horrors of legal MJ, I'm pushing back against the BS of suggesting there's zero harm or deaths. Driving under influence and damage to lungs will hurt more people than jumping out windows....

Alcohol infinitely worse, cannabis not w/o danger.

https://www.denverpost.com/2014/04/17/man-who-plunged-from-denver-balcony-ate-6x-recommended-amount-of-pot-cookie/

Man who plunged from Denver balcony ate 6x recommended amount of pot cookie

Man who plunged from Denver balcony ate 6x recommended amount of pot cookie

The Denver Post
Show threadAM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 29, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid So here, he fell. Not ideal, but also not jumping. You have to expect pushback when you lay down old timey tropes from old hat reefer madness bull. And when you have to reach soooo far trying to compare a substance that essentially kills no one to one that is one of the leading causes of death in America- is it really reasonable?
Show threadAM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 29, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid More people die from water than Cannabis. Does water make your list of dangerous substances?
Show threadDeb4+ aka Deborah DT 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 29, 2023

@thisistheAM @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid

Ok I'm going now. You're going nuts because I pointed out that saying marijuana has never harmed or killed anyone is factually incorrect. Maybe you should find something that chills you out?

Bye!

Show threadAM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 30, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @turboquokka @Orange_light @QasimRashid Yes, this is traditionally when I would expect someone in your position to exit the conversation under the guise of superiority, and resort to random ad-hominem attacks. Enjoy your "victory!" ✨
Show threadAM (Amber Mitchell)Apr 29, 2023
@DeborahForPlus @Orange_light @QasimRashid Um, hey, can you let me know where I can get some of this weed that makes people believe they can fly and subsequently jump off of tall buildings? I would like to sell some, and become an overnight gazillionaire. Thanks so much for your time.
Show threadDeb4+ aka Deborah DT 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Apr 29, 2023

@thisistheAM @Orange_light @QasimRashid

From memory it was Colorado

Yup
https://www.denverpost.com/2014/04/17/man-who-plunged-from-denver-balcony-ate-6x-recommended-amount-of-pot-cookie/

But in looking for that I saw at least one other instance.

Have at it.

Man who plunged from Denver balcony ate 6x recommended amount of pot cookie

Man who plunged from Denver balcony ate 6x recommended amount of pot cookie

The Denver Post
Show threadSharon Gibson MorganApr 28, 2023
@Orange_light @QasimRashid Like humans can and do misuse alcohol?
Show threadMatt HillerApr 29, 2023
@Orange_light @QasimRashid agree, toking and driving has caused and will cause excess deaths over baseline
Show threadR Tyler Croy 🦀Apr 28, 2023

@QasimRashid cars ~43,000

We got 99 problems but pot ain't one

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year

Motor vehicle fatality rate in U.S. by year - Wikipedia

Show threaddr2chaseApr 29, 2023
@rtyler @QasimRashid that's just crashes, not deaths from particulate and NOx pollution. That's estimated to cause 53k annual early deaths. The even larger but much more uncertain number is those killed by sedentary-lifestyle diseases -- studying work commutes, vs biking, the median study estimates a 39% higher annual mortality rate for people who drive to work. Not as bad per-person as smoking, but a whole darn lot of people drive.
Show threadLyle Solla-YatesApr 29, 2023
@rtyler @QasimRashid beat me to it. “the federal government did basically nothing” https://jalopnik.com/u-s-traffic-deaths-estimated-to-rise-to-46-000-for-202-1850223956
U.S. Traffic Deaths Estimated to Rise to 46,000 For 2022

Traffic levels are still down four percent over pre-COVID-19 levels, but deaths are up nearly 22 percent since 2020.

Jalopnik
Show threadfritzcokidApr 28, 2023
@QasimRashid #truth
Show threadPersonWomanApr 28, 2023
@QasimRashid Also, gotta feed our prison system
Show threadMichael BuschApr 28, 2023

@QasimRashid That last number is not true, though.

e.g. Heavy cannabis smoking leads to ~2x increased risk of lung cancer: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23846283/ .

That is far less than the risk from smoking tobacco, since heavy users aren't smoking anywhere near so many joints as cigarettes, but it is also very much not zero.

We can talk about how vital decriminalizing weed is without misrepresenting things.

Like describing how harmful Prohibition was without ignoring deaths from people drinking too much.

Marijuana use and risk of lung cancer: a 40-year cohort study - PubMed

Our primary finding provides initial longitudinal evidence that cannabis use might elevate the risk of lung cancer. In light of the widespread use of marijuana, especially among adolescents and young adults, our study provides important data for informing the risk-benefit calculus of marijuana smoki …

PubMed
Show threadScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈Apr 28, 2023

@QasimRashid

But... but... the Reefer Madness!

Show threadSharon Gibson MorganApr 28, 2023
@QasimRashid At one time, MJ was legal & considered no more harmful than tobacco at that time. This changed with Commissioner Harry Anslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. With Prohibition's end, Anslinger needed another target to keep FBN's doors open. MJ's use by Blacks & marginal whites was the perfect target. https://tinyl.io/80bF
How a racist hate-monger masterminded America’s War on Drugs

In 1931, Henry Smith Williams walked into Harry Anslinger’s Washington, D.C., office to plead for his brother’s life. Anslinger and his agents had locked up every drug user they could find, including…

Timeline
Show threadTurboQuokkaApr 29, 2023

@SharonGibson3 @QasimRashid The Nixon Admin took that shit and ran with it, especially against the Black, Latin and hippie communities. At least one of Nixon’s former men who advised him on those plans admitted as much later on (and even at the time, there were a large number of medical advisors pointing out that what the admin was claiming about cannabis wasn’t actually true at all — Nixon didn’t care, and was thrilled to have something to weaponize against communities he hated.)

The war against cannabis has been escalating for the past 100 years, but all based in demonstrable bullshit. It’s just a super convenient excuse to go after whatever community you want to target, since it turns out a metric fuckton of people, from all walks to life, like weed.

Show threadSharon Gibson MorganApr 29, 2023
@turboquokka @QasimRashid Nixon most certainly did. As a result, marijuana was designated as a Schedule I drug, the same category as heroin. Programs like D.A.R.E. told kids that MJ was as addictive as heroin & crack cocaine. ( It's no wonder there are T-shirts claiming D.A.R.E. means "Drugs Are Really Expensive.") The kids knew they were being told lies--and therein lies the danger. Kids need to be warned about dangerous drugs, but if you lie to them, they discount everything that's said.
Show threadBradford FultsApr 29, 2023
@QasimRashid And COVID: 270k (in 2022), maybe only 55k in 2023!
Show threadSloanLAApr 29, 2023
@QasimRashid We should be careful about the marijuana stats though. It isn’t a clean burning material either. https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects/marijuana-and-lung-health
Marijuana and Lung Health

The American Lung Association is concerned about the health impacts of marijuana use, especially on lung health. We caution the public against smoking marijuana because of the risk of damage to the lungs.

Show threadJon ForemanApr 29, 2023
@QasimRashid plus, alcohol and tobacco have been so incredibly profitable, it’s been in their best interest to keep down anything that might shake the boat. (Former alcohol and tobacco customer)
Show threadFord EytouApr 29, 2023
Remembering to breath numbers are still high . #oops 🌿
Show threadHolly 🇨🇦Apr 29, 2023
@QasimRashid All you need to do is look north. We (Canada) legalized it in 2018. It was anticlimactic. We can now get safe product from known sources, a lot of people make a good living, it brings in a lot of tax money, and marijuana usage has only increased slightly.
Show threadRonnie Facelift McDarbyApr 29, 2023

@QasimRashid Marijuana prohibition was startlingly corrupt and nonsensical from day 1

They made it illegal because Prohibition of alcohol was repealed and they didn't want to fire all the cops, and the timber/paper/petro-chemical industries were afraid of hemp, pure corrupt collusion created an unjust law that lasted nearly a century

Show threadChristopher SchardlApr 29, 2023
@QasimRashid Coincidentally, those figures are probably proportional to the number of studies on the health and safety effects of each. Proving, if you ignore a problem it will go away…in the statistical reporting sense.
Show threadDylan SmithApr 30, 2023

@QasimRashid

A better metric for assessing marijuana legalization might be Gross National Product.
Time will tell.

Show threadSabaah Z Jauhar-RizviMay 3, 2023
@QasimRashid plus opioids kill too.