There has been quite a bit of debate in the Sun’s opinion pages about Lompoc’s cannabis ordinance. I am a respected medical professional in the county and hope to bring a bit of history and science to this dialogue so that Lompoc can be allowed to move forward with its plan. I am assuming Mayor Bob Lingl is unaware of the history and science behind this plant, or he wouldn’t be pushing a referendum to stop the industry from bringing in much-needed opportunity to the Lompoc Valley.
Cannabis didn’t used to be so political but started to heat up as an issue in 1914. At the time, it was found in millions of prescriptions written by American physicians and was in more than 25 over-the-counter (OTC) patent medicines. Cannabis was the third most common ingredient in OTC and prescription medicine after alcohol and opium. In the late 1800s and early 20th century, the Sears catalog advertised hashish candy bars.
The American Medical Association testified against the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which started cannabis prohibition, stating that while they opposed the legislation, if passed it should be at least called the Cannabis Tax Act so that people of America knew that Congress was discussing the well-known hemp plant. Using the term “marihuana” was a deliberate dog whistle to racists that this was a new “Mexican drug,” not the cannabis they were already familiar with.
I bring this history up to try and calm the roiling waters stirred by largely unwarranted fear. There are reasonable steps that can be taken to mitigate the minor potential problems.
I understand that Mayor Lingl was a clinical lab director at Lompoc Valley Medical Center. I respect that and am confident he, as a medical professional, will approach the issues surrounding the sale of recreational use of cannabis with reliance on the modern science surrounding cannabinoids, terpenes, the endocannabinoid system, and historical use of cannabis.
I commend attention to cannabis as a public health issue like the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food and other medicine we consume. It is generally agreed that we should be concerned about the safety of foods, air, and water. The field of public health exists to help protect us from unintended exposure to toxins and invisible dangers such as magnetic fields and radio waves.
Recreational use should not be conflated with medicinal use. The Lompoc City Council has a golden opportunity to use tax dollars to set up a model drug abuse prevention and intervention program. Over 25 years ago when I was the Medical Director at CenCal’s predecessor (Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority), we received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop a comprehensive plan on drug abuse intervention and treatment. This would be a good roadmap for Lompoc to use for some of the tax dollars that will be generated by cannabis business.
As to safety concerns, in 1988 after a two-year rescheduling hearing, the DEA’s chief administrative law judge recommended rescheduling cannabis. In his Finding of Fact, Judge Young found that cannabis was one of the safest therapeutic agents known to man. This is not to say that cannabinoids have no side effects. These side effects include dysphoria, panic attacks, and hyperemesis. These effects are dose related, which relates to the amount of THC consumed. A naïve user is more likely to suffer one of these side effects, but minimal education makes all of these non-lethal side effects preventable.
Lompoc will have the financial means to set up a model approach to substance use and abuse. Frankly, it is high time we start dealing with substance abuse prevention and early intervention in a more effective, humane, and responsible manner. That means teaching parenting skills, good decision-making skills, good coping skills, developing self-esteem, and teaching our children to be responsible humans. Also, when we teach children about recreational drugs we need to be honest, that way they are more likely to listen to us and believe what we say.
The police chief’s worries about crime do not appear to be based on the physiological effects of cannabis. Cannabis tends to decrease anxiety and anger and help with impulse control. Most law enforcement officers prefer arresting docile cannabis-impaired people rather than aggressive drunks. Since recreational cannabis will be legal, it will drive the cartels out of business, not empower them. I suspect that the chief, like most law enforcement officers, is pleased that Proposition 64 allocates an additional $200 million of tax money to law enforcement.
We know from numerous national and international commissions and our own eyes, that the war on drugs has failed. The Lompoc City Council’s actions are an important step in drug policy reform. They have an opportunity to be a laboratory for a change in our drug policy paradigm.
Now is a good time for all of us to come together to fight substance abuse. We can do this by early identification of at-risk youth, increasing availability of school counselors, providing more community-based parent education, holding putative teen fathers responsible for their parenting obligations, and having an economy with decent jobs with sufficient pay that allow parents to spend quality time with their children. I hope that using the tax dollars generated by cannabis business and savings from putting people in jail will be used in such a constructive manner. I encourage the Lompoc City Council to be creative in addressing the use of the millions of tax dollars that will flow into the city’s coffers.
Dr. David Bearman has more than 50 years experience providing drug abuse treatment and prevention. He has worked with Santa Barbara County Schools, the Santa Barbara County Health Department, and the Ventura County Health Department. He was also a consultant to the National PTA, the NIDA, and authored the book Drugs Are NOT The Devil’s Tools. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 4-11, 2018.