cannabisnews.com: More Patients at ERs Citing Pot Use
More Patients at ERs Citing Pot Use
Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2002 at 16:28:05 PT
By Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau
Source: Las Vegas Sun
A federal study that shows drug-related emergency room visits are on the rise takes aim at marijuana use. The survey, by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said drug-related emergency room visits rose 6 percent in 2001 over the previous year, to 638,484.The number of times marijuana was mentioned as a drug patients used rose 15 percent, the study said, greater than the increase in cocaine use, which rose 10 percent, and heroin and methamphetamine, which were unchanged.
The study, which surveys 458 hospital emergency rooms nationwide, comes as Nevada and Arizona consider ballot questions that would legalize or decriminalize marijuana."Marijuana-related medical emergencies are increasing at an alarming rate, exceeding even those for heroin," White House Drug Czar John Walters said in a prepared statement. "This report helps dispel the pervasive myth that marijuana is harmless."In reality, marijuana is a dangerous drug, and adults and youth alike should be aware of the serious consequences that can come from smoking it."Billy Rogers, leader of the campaign to pass Nevada's ballot question, which would legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana, disputed the conclusions."They're not talking about marijuana emergencies," Rogers said. "Nobody has died from an overdose of marijuana."When patients go to an emergency room, they are asked what, if any, drugs they have taken. The federal Drug Abuse Warning Network counts the mentions of illegal drugs and misused prescription drugs reported by patients, and those are compiled into the twice-a-year study. Often patients said they had taken more than one drug.Alcohol in combination with other drugs was the most frequently mentioned nationwide, at 34 percent, with cocaine at 30 percent, marijuana at 17 percent and heroin, 15 percent.Marijuana had been used in combination with other drugs 76 percent of the time it was mentioned; 24 percent of the time, it was the sole drug used.The increase in marijuana use reflected in emergency room visits drew federal concern. Between 1994 and 2001, mentions of marijuana per 100,000 emergency room patients rose 151 percent, compared with 34 percent for heroin and 22 percent for cocaine.The rate for patients age 12 to 17, although stable from 2000 to 2001, increased 23 percent from 1999 to 2001, the report said."The clear message of the DAWN survey is that in already crowded emergency rooms, increasingly, one of the reasons people are showing up is marijuana use," said Mark Weber, spokesman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration."It's taking resources from other parts of the health care sector. If you have 10 people in a room, how do you prioritize?"The study gave separate reports for 21 cities, but Las Vegas was not among them. Neither the state nor county health division had statistics for Nevada or Las Vegas on those treated in emergency rooms with marijuana problems, and University Medical Center does not track drug use by type of drug, a spokesman said.Local paramedics said they have noticed an increase in drug use overall in Las Vegas, but not in marijuana, said Tammy Bame, spokeswoman for American Medical Response."No one seems to feel there is an increase," Bame said. "There's nothing that really stands out."AMR paramedic Shannon Cavey said Thursday the top drugs she sees in the Las Vegas area are crystal meth, GHB and Ecstasy, drugs not frequently used with marijuana."We see a lot more of those than people just getting high (on marijuana)," Cavey said.Alcohol, another depressant, is the drug most commonly associated with marijuana use, she said.In fact, pot is rarely a topic during her shifts, she said."I don't hear about it much in the field," Cavey said.An informal poll at Valley Hospital showed a similar result. Emergency room personnel have not noticed any increase in marijuana-related cases, spokeswoman Gretchen Pappas said."We haven't seen anything like that," Pappas said.Weber, of SAMHSA, agreed that in Western cities use of club drugs and methamphetamine has been more prevalent since the early 1990s. But across the country, he said, more young people are in drug treatment for marijuana dependence that all other illegal drugs combined.As with any depressant, marijuana can be dangerous when taken with other depressants, Cavey said. However, a marijuana-only overdose is rare, said Cavey, who has been a paramedic for 10 years."I have never even seen anyone overdose on marijuana," Cavey said. "It's always been mixed with something else."Rogers said there is going to be a lot of smoke blown in this election campaign and his job is to cut through it to get the facts.Besides allowing the possession of up to three ounces of marijuana by adults, the constitutional amendment would allow the state Legislature to set up "pot shops" to distribute marijuana.It would still be illegal for minors to possess the drug."Nevadans are smart enough to know that heroin and cocaine are dangerous and marijuana is less dangerous," Rogers said.Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author: Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau Published: August 23, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Vote May Affect National Policyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13805.shtmlSmoke Signals - Las Vegas Weekly http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13802.shtmlAre Nevadans Ready To Roll Dice on Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13765.shtmlPot Proponents Have Good Points http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13757.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by Ethan Russo MD on August 26, 2002 at 06:33:58 PT:
That's http://www.samhsa.gov
The above is another agency disseminating propaganda.It requires repetition that the cited figures in the article have been spun to promote shock value, but have no basis in fact. There are two alternative explanations. Firstly, many of these folks were attributed with "marijuana problems" when their urine screening uncovered cannabinoid metabolites, the vast majority of which had nothing to do with their reasons for visiting the hospital. Secondly, others may have merely mentioned occasional use of cannabis to hospital personnel in an effort to be honest and candid, again irrelevant to their presenting problems.I hope that the average Joe or Joan that reads these articles has some awareness of how they are being misled by dishonest government agencies. They deserve every criticism. They are sowing distrust and cynicism, and it will backfire.
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on August 26, 2002 at 06:17:44 PT:
Belaboring the obvious, perhaps...
but it needs saying:what is SAMHSA?
http://www.samhsa.The '.gov' tells you right there; it's a Federal agency...whose continued existence is predicated upon the lie of 'marijuana dependence' being disseminated despite the voluminous reports - such as the IoM Report of 1999 - proving the contrary.One Fed agency says it doesn't exist...and one does. The one concerned with scientific veracity says it doesn't. The one dependent upon saying that it does has a financial stake in maintaining ignorance. Evidently, someone in the choir is on the wrong sheet of music.
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Comment #11 posted by letsgetfree on August 24, 2002 at 07:31:44 PT
just try
to go to an emergency room and say you OD on marijuana, they'll laugh their asses off then tell you to get lost.
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on August 24, 2002 at 07:25:25 PT
the best they can do?
The whole "ER" line of reasoning is great. Only people that have never smoked MJ or never seen anyone else smoke it will believe this bullshit. And that's a tiny slice of the population that is so firmly bigoted they'll never be reached by the truth anyway.
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Comment #9 posted by b4daylight on August 24, 2002 at 00:38:48 PT
vote
It is intresting that a controlled substance is not controlled.T.H.C can be mixed with pcp, coke, opium, hash, etc.
to make shwag seem high grade
When gov. does control the substance you would know what was sold.
In theroy this would negate their findings"Marijuana had been used in combination with other drugs 76 percent of the time it was mentioned; 24 percent of the time, it was the sole drug used."When people buy drugs from strangers>
The poeple won't know there weed is laced!
especially if you never done the posion laced with?
check your fortune!
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Comment #8 posted by goneposthole on August 23, 2002 at 22:02:16 PT
status quo
Cannabis must be kept illegal.Arrest 700,000 each and every year.Keep the propaganda machine in high gear.Make the activists look dumb all of the time.How much drug war is enough? Just a little bit more of a lot more.Enough is enough.
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Comment #7 posted by karkulus on August 23, 2002 at 20:03:29 PT
you're right ,dddd!
that article has got some good stuff in it!..It made me think that the people standing on top of the "Bell-Curve" ,look DOWN equally on both sides!!haha!
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Comment #6 posted by dddd on August 23, 2002 at 19:18:46 PT
.....see this....it's excellent!...
http://www.hermes-press.com/brainwash1.htm
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Comment #5 posted by qqqq on August 23, 2002 at 18:51:33 PT
...This is a Classic Example.....
..of a "news",article from the office of propaganda... Make no mistake,,this is not some independant freelance journalism.... Cy Ryan didn't decide to write this on his own,,nope...this article was assigned to him,,and all the details were supplied..all Cy did,was re-word it slightly,and sign his name to it....This is government sponsored propaganda!...sleazy and devious!.......read it again.......
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Comment #4 posted by Phantasma on August 23, 2002 at 18:04:38 PT:
Wheres the logic?
The reason hard drug are called hard is because they are dangerous, which leads to reason that they should be controoled by the goverment but if the regfuses to regulate the hard drugs having trained people to admister the drugs with clean needles and weed out impuities then the hosipital vists and death will rise .As for vists to the ER for pot
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on August 23, 2002 at 17:22:59 PT
IN VEGAS THIS IS A BLUFF.
Local paramedics said they have noticed an increase in drug use overall in Las Vegas, but not in marijuana, said Tammy Bame, spokeswoman for American Medical Response. (If cannabis use is RE-legalized, would its use help bring down use of the hard?)AMR paramedic Shannon Cavey said Thursday the top drugs she sees in the Las Vegas area are crystal meth, GHB and Ecstasy, drugs not frequently used with marijuana. (Re-alize, We can chooze to allow people to use cannabis, and they will choose cannabis over drain cleaners and crystal meth, GHB etc...not always, but many with proper education would stay away from the hard and enjoy the easy.)MAKE CANNABIS USE LEGAL AND IT BECOMES A CHOICE.Cannabis has been shown to help citizens get off hard drugs. "In fact, pot is rarely a topic during her shifts, she said".Yes, unless the Fed. Urine suckers make a big deal out of bull.... that is rarely a topic..., IN VEGAS THAT IS A BLUFF.WE SEE THEIR BLUFF, And call them with TRUTH.Their bluffing and their exposed. With much more publicity of asa they'll be hosed.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 23, 2002 at 16:53:03 PT
VitaminT
I am very glad this article was done. It says a lot. Let's get on with the show!
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Comment #1 posted by VitaminT on August 23, 2002 at 16:48:33 PT
Prohibition in desperation!
Oh Brother! how pathetic is John Walters? Keep it up John you're helping us.
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