By: Coral Ceiley
facebook.com/coral.ceiley.33
The Truth Behind Big Pharma’s Anti- Cannabis Donations
One of the many celebrities to pass away in 2016 was the Purple Rain star known as Prince. What brought down this fifty-seven-year-old American Pop Icon? An accidental overdose of the powerful painkiller, Fentanyl, according to the official medical examiner’s report.
Apparently, the Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist had been battling an addiction to Fentanyl: a synthetic opioid that is one-hundred times more powerful than Morphine. After leaving a show in Atlanta on April 14th, 2016, Prince’s private jet made an emergency landing after Prince accidentally overdosed while in flight. After receiving a lifesaving dose of Narcan, he continued home but was dead within a week.
What a shame! What a terrible loss, not only for his family, friends and the music industry but the whole world.
Here are some facts: According to the CDC, the number of deaths from synthetic opioids (including Fentanyl and Tramadol) in the United States was 9,580, while the number of marijuana related deaths remains zero. The number of children’s emergency room visits for accidental ingestion of prescription drugs is 318 per 100,000, while the number of children’s emergency room visits for accidental cannabis ingestion is 2.3 per 100,000. So, why the urgency? Why are certain organizations donating such large amounts of money to block marijuana legalization?
The answer lies in who stands to lose the most from the legalization of marijuana — alcohol and pharmaceutical industries. In 2015, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America donated 19 million dollars to anti-marijuana campaigns. Other organizations that are considered major donors to block marijuana legalization are: Insys (maker of Subsys derived from Fentanyl), Purdue Pharma (maker of Oxycontin), Abbott Laboratories (maker of Vicodin), Arizona Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association, and the Beer Distributors PAC
Recreational marijuana is big business. According to the Business Insider, 1 in 5 Americans now live in a state where it is legal to smoke cannabis without a prescription, and the industry is on track to post 20.2 billion dollars in sales by 2021. In Colorado, there are more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks and McDonalds locations combined. Research from numerous sources indicates that consumers are substituting marijuana for opioids and alcohol. In states that have passed legalization laws, opioid overdoses have dropped as much as twenty-five percent.
So, basically, the Pharmaceutical companies have become the big bully on the block. In politics money equals power. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are manipulating the political machine by feeding Americans misleading ads and claims regarding recreational and medicinal marijuana. This type of unchecked capitalism has to come to an end. Stand up for what you believe in cannabis fans.
As a laid back hippie girl who is more concerned with existential issues than monetary ones, it is not normal for me to become involved in politics. But, the next time you’re rolling a fatty, send in a donation to NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) at norml.org/normlpac or the Marijuana Policy Project at mpp.org/about/mpp-pac. Isn’t it time we fought fire with fire?
