Leave the Vape, Take the Guns
Guns and Mass Shootings
Guns versus CBD? No contest. For example, American magazine Mother Jones has studied mass shootings since the 1980s. Cato Institute, a liberal think tank, has analyzed Mother Jones’s findings. What Cato notices during the Trump administration, the frequency of gun attacks spiked exponentially. Cato approximates there were 16 mass shootings from 2006 to 2016. Yet, by 2018, which is only two years into Trump’s presidency, we can trace the drastic increase in mass shootings
Guns and Fatalities
By that time, records show 202 fatalities and 33 violent mass shootings, all of which were unrelated to gangs, drugs, or domestic violence. The country stands unsteady in the wake of the Odessa, Texas shooting. When I moved to Las Vegas in 2016, I drove around the entire country. My good friend from undergrad was living in Odessa. To break up the hours in my pilgrimage across Texas, I stayed with her.
Deaths in Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a Texas town with perhaps six businesses, five of which were the targets of these aimless gun attacks. The day of the Odessa shooting, eight people lost their lives, and 25 people were injured. However, the tragedy in Odessa practically disappeared in the news. Instead, breaking news stories about six people who died from an ‘alleged’ connection to cannabis oil vaporizers were overshadowing fatalities from guns.
Another Mass Shooting
Next, on Labor Day Weekend, a mass shooting results in eight deaths, including the perpetrator. At the same time, one death regarding cannabis was the Trump administration’s focus. They side-stepped responsibility in regards to controlling guns. Instead, they crack down hard on the cannabis industry.
Surgeon General Warns About Cannabis Oil
The attacks on the cannabis industry began with the Surgeon General releasing a public statement. The claim, unsubstantiated by scientific studies, gets the attention of many outlets including The New York Post. However, several studies from other nations present direct contradictions to the Surgeon General condemnation of cannabis oil. His claims contain warnings about pregnancy and cannabis use. The opinion of the Surgeon General is given great support.
Using Fear Against CBD Vape Oil
As with so many issues in the Trump administration, reports use fear-inducing language. By targeting a vulnerable group including pregnant women and all mothers, the Surgeon General effectively communicates the message that cannabis is dangerous. After the Surgeon General’s statement comes out, cannabis becomes a punching bag. Hence, it is scapegoated to create smoke where the real “fire” is the lack of gun control in America.
Death From Vaping
The first vape death was reported in late August. Since then, five more people have died. In the process of writing this piece, Duane Morris LLP, a large firm that works in cannabis law, sent out a blast email. The message was about the FDC’s nationwide warning against the use of cannabis oils. That tremendous step for our nation was taken with lack of any substantiated scientific information to back it up.
Thus, the federal government appears suddenly interested in saving lives. The truth is, the ban on a product that allegedly killed six people was more important than the guns, and lack of gun control, that caused hundreds of deaths in the Vegas massacre?
Obvious Ploy Against Cannabis Industry
Using a manipulative strategy, based on fear, in order to prevent the advancement of the cannabis industry is shameful. As the social climate is shifting toward accepting cannabis as a medicine and a safe substance for adults, the federal government protects the use of guns.
As liberal states in the nation choose to enact laws supporting cannabis use, the federal government under Trump and GOP only care about their own financial benefits. But the cannabis train is unstoppable. Cannabis legalization is a large campaign promise of Bernie Sanders and other Democratic front-runners. However, we are in the midst of a revived “Green Scare.”
According to GOP Vape is Evil and Guns Are Good
It will start with vaporizers, and, slowly, the scope will become bigger. Demonizing cannabis is a brilliant strategy to scare young people. Trump’s administration aims to brainwash the public into viewing the GOP as saviors. Oh, the “evil” CBD vape juice lie is an attempt at molding the minds of young people via trumped-up fear. Additionally, there’s a constant push for protecting the gun industry by pushing guns as necessary.
The younger generation are being told to leave the vape and pick up assault weapons. Obviously, this is to protect the National Rifle Association (NRA) because they are big donors to Trump and his corrupt party. In addition, all generations are seeing these vape warnings. Nixon and Reagan similarly used fear to buy guns and blame marijuana and all drugs. The Trump administration promotes providing teachers with guns versus create gun reform that will stop hundreds, if not thousands, from dying.
Cannabis – Past and Present
Six deaths allegedly related to THC oil becomes a national emergency deaths by firearms continues. Yes, any threat of death matters, but Trump’s disproportionate focus and fear-mongering about the dangers of CBD vaping is clear. Trump is far more vocal about vape juice than responding to racist tragedies like those in South Carolina. That said, let us not lose sight of the fact that cannabis laws are inherently racist.
Substance Schedule 1
Attorney General for the Nixon Administration John Dean is quoted as saying about Nixon making cannabis a schedule 1 drug. Dean says it’s not because marijuana plants are dangerous. Nor does cannabis meet the three qualifications of a schedule 1 substance. The requirements for any substance to be labeled a schedule 1 are: it’s too dangerous to be studied; has zero medicinal benefits; and ;is highly addictive.
Racist Laws
Nixon knew scheduling cannabis as a schedule 1 substance would be a way to get around Constitutional preclusions and create an inherently racist law because he knew that the general public would associate drugs with black people. John Dean said and I quote, “We knew this was a racist law. But we knew it wouldn’t be challenged.” The same is true for Reagan’s failed “War on Drugs” which incarcerated nonwhites at catastrophically higher rates.
Guns vs Vapes – Gimme a Break
Hate rhetoric is the bread and butter of the Trump administration. That means it’s no surprise the GOP targets cannabis and supports lax gun laws. In passing the Farm Bill, Trump almost seems to favor the expansion of cannabis. But Trump is not interested in gaining liberal voters. He’s not hoping for Bernie supporters to vote for him. Rather, he happily stays on pitch in his niche of White Supremacists as his base.
Middle Americans who brush off mass shootings would rather encourage every citizen to fight for their right to bear arms. That demographic, those Trump supporters, are deaf to America’s horrifying rise in gun murders. But reefer killing people successfully feeds the fire that continues to divide our already divided political parties.
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Marissa Cohen is a law student at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Prior to law school, Marissa managed the first cannabis dispensary on the Las Vegas Strip. Since moving back East, Marissa has taken an active role in cannabis law and education; she drafts various CLE presentations for numerous bar associations, is a student editor for Cannabis Law Digest, and Emcee’ed the Medicinal Track of the International Cannabis Science Conference. Marissa continuously proves she is a valued cannabis educator.