General | Port Townsend FreePress

Teen Marijuana Use in Jefferson County: A Growing Problem Needing An Aggressive County Commission

by Jim Scarantino | Sep 17, 2018 | General

Jefferson County has a real problem with teens using marijuana.

Marijuana use among our kids, starting in the sixth grade, is significantly worse than the rest of the state.

Marijuana use by teens, medical experts agree, damages brain development and can lead to memory loss, diminished verbal ability and learning and performance difficulties.

Most teens who enter drug treatment report their primary problem is marijuana abuse. Teenage use greatly increases the risk of addiction.

Marijuana use by teens can lead to more severe anxiety and depression, or the onset of those psychological problems.

Does anybody care? There has been less attention paid by our local newspapers to this serious problem than stories about Port Townsend’s deer.

We learned about these alarming statistics from the 2016 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey in connection with reporting on the prospect of a marijuana retailer, Greg Brotherton, being elected to the County Commission. In that position, he would have power over public efforts to fight teen marijuana use and educate consumers about its harmful effects. We return to coverage of that looming conflict of interest in a future article.

Our report about Brotherton highlighted marijuana’s adverse physical and health risks and drew some of the most vitriolic reader responses to anything we have written. Repeating facts about marijuana’s dangers, such as increasing the risk of testicular cancer by 250% or more than doubling a pregnant woman’s chances of giving birth to a dead baby, or that marijuana smoke contains more carcinogens and tar than cigarette smoke…look out.

Fact-resistant worship of marijuana is making things worse for our kids.

According to that Healthy Youth Survey, more than half of our teens think regular use has no harmful effects. A good deal of this ignorance is attributable to the perception that adults don’t see anything wrong with marijuana use.

Perception of harm is decreasing even as scientific evidence establishes more physical and mental health problems related to marijuana use, especially with the more potent varieties finding their way to teens. Today’s dope is nothing like what sent the Grateful Dead on mellow (and boring) hour-long versions of “Truckin’.” Today’s genetically and chemically manipulated THC-soaked pot is green crack. Yet this Franken-weed is being marketed as “organic and gentle.”

Back to the scary statistics.

Sixty-eight percent of teens report marijuana is easy to obtain. The black market is all but gone. This means that teens are using marijuana coming out of retail shops.

Seventy-eight percent of teens who use marijuana smoke it, a statistic comparable with adult use. There is no safe way to smoke marijuana, any more than there is a safe way to smoke cigarettes.

More kids in Jefferson County drive stoned or in a vehicle driven by someone who is stoned than kids statewide.

Teen marijuana use was declining markedly until 2010, started rising and has since stayed at about 32% of Jefferson County teens.

Legalization has made the problem worse with the marketing of marijuana promoting its use and acceptance and pooh-poohing its dangers. The Chimacum Prevention Coalition has recognized this, as there are two marijuana retailers just down the road from the high school. Marijuana retailers spending their advertising budgets to remove the stigma of marijuana use are not helping young people make the right decision.

Instead of accepting worsening trends, we could be leveraging legalization to fight teen use and better educate the public so that the perception-of-risk trend line turns around. We could fight marijuana use as we have fought cigarette use, by advancing facts that justify stigma and ridicule.

The pot shop could become a classroom about the dangers of marijuana, if our county commissioners would take decisive action.

The state law legalizing recreational marijuana empowered local governments to require more consumer information than the state mandated, which mentions health risks but glosses over specifics. Just like Big Tobacco lobbyists blocked consumer education, pot’s lobbyists in Olympia have also been busy.

Our county commissioners could require signs prominently displayed in every retail outlet and the distribution of printed material before every purchase providing the following information that comes through the county’s Public Health Department website (all hyperlinked in our previous Brotherton report). After all, if the information is important enough to be made available by the county, why not make sure the intended audience gets it?

-Marijuana is addictive.

-Marijuana can damage brain development, from babies absorbing THC through their mother’s placenta or breast milk to anyone up to age 25. It can cause long term damage and a permanent drop in IQ and loss of verbal ability and memory.

-Pregnant women who use marijuana have 2.3 times greater incidence of still birth. Marijuana-exposed children are more likely to show gaps in problem-solving skills, memory and the ability to remain attentive. Parental marijuana use is associated with a greater likelihood of using marijuana at an early age.

-Marijuana smoke contains carcinogenic combustion products, including about 50 percent more benzoprene and 75 percent more benzanthracene (and more phenols, vinyl chlorides, nitrosamines, reactive oxygen species) than cigarette smoke. Marijuana smoking leads to four times the deposition of tar compared to cigarette smoking.

-Marijuana smoking is associated with large airway inflammation, increased airway resistance, and lung hyperinflation.

-Marijuana use has been linked to increased psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders. It is particularly dangerous for individuals with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and psychosis. The high THC content of today’s marijuana products increases the risks of psychiatric problems.

-Marijuana’s negative effects on attention, memory, and learning can last for days or weeks. A daily user may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level most or all the time.

-Chronic use can lead to Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome—a condition marked by recurrent bouts of severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration.

And don’t forget that cringe-worthy fact about marijuana use by young men increasing their risk of testicular cancer by 250%.

We have a real problem with teen use of marijuana. But with a marijuana retailer likely winning the open seat on the county commission, and the other two commissioners supporting his candidacy, what are the chances they will aggressively use their lawful powers to help our kids?

Two Million Teens Vaping Marijuana, Survey Finds

Spike in Marijuana Overdoses Blamed on Potent Edibles, Poor Public Education

America’s Invisible Pot Addicts

What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use in Teens

Marijuana Addition is Growing and Teens Face the Highest Health Risk

17 and Pregnant–A Story in Three Parts

by Ravyn | Sep 13, 2018 | General

The First Trimester

Stories not being told, voices not being heard. Port Townsend Free Press set out to address that shortcoming in our local journalism scene. That means more than politics and investigative reporting, if we are to meet the goals we have set for ourselves. This young woman approached us with the idea of writing about her teen pregnancy and sharing what was in her head and heart at each step towards her son’s birth. Jefferson County is old, face it. Most people are far removed from the challenges of the children and teens around us. We need to be reminded, to learn and understand better what they are facing. We do not know where Ravyn will take us, but she has our trust and confidence. We hope and pray for the best, and want to let her know we support and admire the strong woman is becoming through the way she is embracing this huge challenge early in her young life. We publish her articles under the name which she has chosen for herself and by which she is known in her community–The Editor

A bright, new life enters the world through me. Even at 17 and knowing the impossibilities and challenges ahead, I know this child is more than me. God saved me through my baby boy. I had been a horrible person, to myself and others. This baby inside my body is transforming me. I wouldn’t do a thing to change His plan for me, and this child that now depends on me for everything.

Rent, diapers, stroller, car seat, food; a whirlwind of sudden expectations and needs that most won’t face at this age. That’s what this pregnancy has brought upon me–me and my husband, who is still a teenager himself. As a pregnant teen, I had many choices. Even as an adult I would have had these choices but they seemed more crucial at this young age. Do I abort my child? Give him up for adoption? Do I marry the father? Do I love the father? Was this even remotely a good mistake…? No, no, yes, yes, and no. There was no mistake, no accident. It all happened for a reason. I am convinced of that.

I hadn’t expected the test to be positive. Stress and hate and sadness and loneliness were all I could see and taste. My period being late? Common in situations of distress. Tired? Aren’t I always? But that test proved what many had said and told me was the truth. Maybe I was denying it to myself, but that extra pink line on that test card was unmistakable. My boyfriend at the time was sitting outside the restroom I was using. When I showed him the card with the colored lines, his whole face seemed to collapse, age, then brighten all within seconds. There was no doubt what we would do. It was ours, and this child would stay with us no matter the consequences.

Days passed. Another test. Another positive result. We had to tell our parents.

Everything went by in a blur after that. Our parents wanted to make sure we were not reading the results wrong. More tests followed. Papers were signed. I had to start learning about insurance, how much doctors cost and how medical bills get covered. Lots of appointments, the school year ending, the anxiety and joys of ultrasounds; my future was changing fast as my past dropped away. I married the father of my child on the 23rd of June, sealing our family together and starting a new chapter in three lives.

We moved in together. We pay rent together, laugh, cry, fight, and dream together. I couldn’t ask for more and I wouldn’t want any less. It seemed perfect. I got my old job back. I had my lover with me. My baby was healthy and growing. I was a new person.

Then my first paycheck came in….and the second. Realty hit hard. How could we ever make it on this small income? The Social Security for my husband stopped. He didn’t have a job and there suddenly was less than $500 a month between us…when rent was $700! I cried. “We can’t make it,” was my only thought. I was bringing my child into a world of disappointment, crime, sadness. The grim, daily news on the television and radio, the money not being enough, and not enough love in the world—in my life!—to compensate for the bad.

Oh, Lord, why has this happened to me?

NEXT: The Second Trimester

Reefer Madne$$

by Scott Hogenson | Aug 29, 2018 | General, Local Businesses

Reefer Madness is gripping America. I’m not talking about the 1936 cult movie classic that so many of us rolled our eyes at as teenagers. I’m talking about the billions of dollars that are flowing into U.S. and Canadian stock markets to buy shares of companies that sell legal marijuana and other cannabis derivatives.

With news that Canada will be the first nation in the industrialized world to legalize recreational marijuana beginning October 17, there’s been a lot of attention paid to Canadian firms poised to enter this multi-billion–dollar market. Lately, this attention has been laser focused

Stocks in cannabis companies have soared in recent weeks, sparked in large part by the August 15 announcement that one of the largest beverage companies on earth – Constellation Brands – was investing $4 billion USD in the Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth Corporation. Since then, Canopy’s stock has risen more than 75%, making it the world’s largest legal marijuana company based on market capitalization.

Other marijuana stocks are also riding high, with investor speculation of similar deals and growth potential involving other cannabis companies. Tilray, Inc. debuted on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in mid-July with an initial pubic offering price of $17 a share. As of August 28, it was trading at nearly $60 a share. Another company called Aurora Cannabis has also seen significant gains in recent weeks, as have other companies. These are gains that dwarf the returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, NASDAQ and other global indices.

Much of this explosive growth is being fueled by institutional investors who see big profits to be made in cannabis. Wall Street suits are now buying tens of millions of shares in these companies. Marijuana has gone mainstream in the centers of finance.

Some investors liken the opportunity to buying stock in Anheuser-Busch in the months before the 21st Amendment was ratified in 1933, ending the nightmare of the noble but doomed experiment of Prohibition. As with any other emerging trend, there’s no shortage of hyperbole and hype. Some financial writers have called Canopy the “Google of Pot,” while other headlines have referred to various cannabis companies the “Amazon of marijuana,” providing no shortage of click-bait for those who read financial news online.

Set aside for a moment the issue of whether one holds a moral position regarding the legal use of marijuana, recreationally or medically. This industry sector is now a part of the macro-economy here, in Canada and around the globe. It is a very small part of the economy but nonetheless contributes to it. Over time, it’s contribution to the broader economy will only grow.

Whether the industry is petroleum, consumer goods, restaurants or anything else, cannabis can only successfully contribute to the economy through adherence to applicable laws and regulations. Failure to abide by these legal strictures not only risks individual businesses but entire sectors. Decisions to not abide to the rule of law casts a shadow over individual corporations and, potentially entire business sectors.

This is particularly true when it comes to new and emerging businesses like cannabis, which is already having a significant impact in Washington state. Washington state collected some $319 million in taxes and fees associated with legal cannabis in 2017 on sales of $1.3 billion. That’s not nothing and the only way to continue to grow this nascent industry is to make sure that every participant runs a buttoned-down operation.

The only way to ensure that this new industry, like it or not, continues contributing to our economy, is to make sure that bad actors do not circumvent the law. Doing so harms growth, stifles job creation and creates a drag on an industry that is otherwise adding to our economy and tax base. Diligent adherence to law and robust enforcement are absolutely vital to ensure public trust and the future viability of the industry in Washington state and elsewhere.

As a small-government guy, I’m no fan of bureaucratic overreach on regulatory matters. But we do need some degree of oversight to ensure consumer protection and responsible corporate citizenship. It’s critical in all industries and especially so for new industries like cannabis.

Knowing “The Homeless”

by Anonymous | Aug 24, 2018 | General

When we see a homeless person “flying a flag” (panhandling with a cardboard sign), we react with sadness and empathy, followed by a gift of money. It may make us feel better. But are we making things worse?

We live in a society with plenty of opportunity. Employers are desperate for workers. So why are there 500,000 homeless in our nation?

First, we must know “the homeless.” Who are they?

The Down and Out

A major life event such as illness, divorce, domestic violence or loss of a job can cause a temporary inability to be self-sufficient. This is the smallest group and comprises those with the best hope of being helped. Sometimes we lump all homeless in this category, which worsens the problem by misusing resources and failing to distinguish the truly violent and dangerous transients.

Life Style Homeless

These people choose to be homeless. “Travelers,” they often call themselves. Some live in cars, RV’s or old school busses. Many carry packs and tents. You see them parked at night on Port Townsend’s streets. They consider themselves tourists or Bohemians. They do nothing to support our community but use expensive and vital resources. Their drain on public resources shortchanges those who are not on the streets by choice.

The Mentally Ill

This group can be dangerous to themselves and to others. Often addicted to drugs and/or alcohol and often with criminal records and open arrest warrants, they are the most visible. A culture that elevates the rights of the individual above the needs of society, good or bad, has let them run wild on our streets. They are frequently transported to hospitals at great expense to taxpayers, only to be set back on the streets without treatment. Laws have been passed to deal with this problem, but laws with no means of enforcement are useless. Politicians in Olympia and Washington can say ‘we did something’, but that is not ground truth.

“Ricky’s Law” is a great example. The state claims that first responders can involuntarily commit a person for debilitating substance abuse. But this law provides little to no legal support for our first responders and no beds or treatment centers.

Addicts and Alcoholics

This group could be considered part of the Mental Health group. Addiction is often a response to an inability to cope with life. These people are self-medicating. Our society has turned them into victims, with no accountability. We tell them and ourselves that it is not their fault.

This group is dangerous and commits the highest amount of property and violent crime. Washington State has no law against public intoxication and, worse yet, no drug possession laws based on consumption. Possessing a syringe full of heroin is a crime until it is injected, when it becomes a medical issue. The hypocrisy of a legislator claiming that unused drugs are a criminal matter, but using those drugs is not is mind-bending. Look at the mess in Seattle where police no longer arrest low-level heroin dealers. They must view them as addicts supporting an addiction. But how many people are introduced to heroin by these “non-criminal addiction supporters”?

Criminals

We can identify a fifth group, the criminal element. They are found in the Life Style, Mental Illness and Addicts and Alcoholics groups. The chicken-or-the-egg question arises: are they criminal due to homelessness, or is their criminality the driving factor? The question is immaterial. No circumstance should excuse behavior that hurts other people or their property . Society has a primary duty of protecting its citizens from those who would do them harm. And once we excuse criminal behavior we have abandoned accountability.

We can “know” the homeless. What next?

Not much can be done until we start funding mental health beds and using and enhancing our involuntary commitment laws. Until then, we will continue to see growth in all groups listed above, except the small number of “down and out” who can be helped by other means.

If we believe in the individual rights and worth of the homeless, we must let them suffer the fate they choose when they break the law. A society that respects them holds them accountable for their actions. That means real consequences.

What can I do?

Start with this little thing: Don’t give money to panhandlers. Give to the local shelter or food bank. The resources available to the homeless are abundant, but often come with conditions requiring behavior they don’t like but which is beneficial to the them and the community. Giving money that can be spent on booze or drugs hurts everyone. (Giving goods or vouchers only means your gift may be sold cheaply to raise cash for drugs or booze).

Respect the homeless by expecting them to be law-abiding citizens. Respect them by believing they can do better. Give help that lifts them up, not help that holds them down. Stop giving to make yourself feel better when you are most likely making the problem worse.

Answering Criticism About Brinnon Group Column

by Scott Hogenson | Aug 22, 2018 | General

One of my favorite responsibilities as a news executive was to serve as an ombudsman. When readers express complaints about a news organization’s coverage of an issue, it is the ombudsman’s role to publicly and constructively respond to these complaints, and explain how news and commentary are prepared.

The Port Townsend Free Press commentary of July 31, entitled ‘Now Showing – Desperation Over Pleasant Harbor,’ generated a good deal of response on Facebook and elsewhere. While much of the response to that commentary was positive, the criticism merits discussion.

Jeff Maloney, writing on the Brinnon Community Page on Facebook, expressed a concern echoed by other readers. “It strikes me as confrontational, an attack on this Brinnon group, a lot of it irrelevant, petty, like how much money the group has, an error in the address, it was about the group, not about the issue (sic).”

The column raised questions about the Brinnon Group and its finances, a practice well ensconced in journalism. When a party inserts itself into a debate, it is in the public interest to scrutinize that party. One role of journalism is to explore and explain the motivations of parties engaging on an issue. The public knows what the Brinnon Group says but does not know how its efforts are funded nor who is providing this funding. These are valid questions.

As for the location of the Brinnon Group, the group says it is working for the people of Brinnon yet there is evidence that it isn’t located in Brinnon or even Jefferson County. If the people who say they are working on behalf of local interests are located nearly 100 miles away, as the Brinnon Group’s Kitsap Superior Court filing and IRS correspondence reveal, it is reasonable to ask whether it is really a local grassroots organization.

Sara Harvey, also writing on the Brinnon Community Facebook page, lamented, “metaphoric slanders against a group of people who are trying to prevent a massive shift to the rural village that is Brinnon.”

Slander is a legal term that applies to spoken falsehoods that damage another party. Falsely accusing a party of wrongdoing or some other malfeasance may rise to the level of slander but presenting facts, posing questions and expressing opinions do not. People are not entitled to their own facts. Factual inaccuracy was not among the complaints about the column.

The Brinnon Group is trying to prevent the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort. But there is nothing to suggest the group speaks for all or even most of the people in Brinnon. The recent primary election results in the race for District 3 county commissioner indicate otherwise.

Of the 551 votes cast for all four county commissioner candidates in the Brinnon Precinct, 32% were cast for a candidate who opposes the Pleasant Harbor MPR. The remaining 68% were for candidates who publicly expressed support for the project. While the Brinnon Group may speak for a third of the people of Brinnon, their position appears to represent a small minority, further legitimizing questions about it. When a party takes action on an issue that contradicts the wishes of two-thirds of the people of Brinnon, it is reasonable to ask why.

The greatest number of complaints involved the tone of the commentary. Brinnon Group spokesperson Mark Rose described the column as, “a hit piece,” “nasty,” expressive of “anger,” and he articulated dismay that the commentary did not delve into, “the merits of our appeal,” to block the MPR. Other readers voiced similar complaints.

The column expressed no opinion on the merits of the appeal because that is the role of the courts. The column expressed no opinion on the Pleasant Harbor MPR, but did disclose the group’s prior statements on the issue, which is appropriate.

As for the tone of the commentary, that is a license granted to all opinion writers. The term “conga line of buffoons,” is an admittedly less than cordial means of describing the Brinnon Group and purely subjective. Mr. Rose admitted during an on-the-record interview that he falsely accused two public officials of suppressing information and said earlier that his group was unable to inform a “shocking,” number of Brinnon residents about the Pleasant Harbor MPR. Whether these actions and inactions rise to the level of buffoonery is open to debate. Reasonable people can conclude they are inconsistent with organizations wishing to do good.

The feedback was instructive and the opportunity to respond to critics is appreciated. It is our responsibility and we are wiser for that opportunity.

Scott Hogenson is a resident of Jefferson County.

From Russia With Love…And Respect For The Law

by Sky Hardesty | Aug 21, 2018 | General

It would have been easy to break the law. My Russian fiancé Elena and I, along with our new baby, could have easily obtained a Canadian tourist visa, hopped the ferry in Victoria, B.C., and illegally set up home in sanctuary city Port Townsend. In this city that has announced its welcome to illegal aliens, Elena could receive public benefits, a driver’s license and enjoy police protection from federal detainers and deportation orders.

But that would have meant that Elena’s first act upon stepping on American soil would be to commit a crime. We would implicate our child in criminality. We didn’t have to think twice. This would not be the route for our family. Honesty and respect for law are among our core values.

Our journey was arduous. We confronted despair and frustration. Our situation was incredibly complicated. We made mistakes. We learned. We persevered.

If we could do it, so can anyone else. There is no excuse for entering this country illegally.

A Long Journey

I awoke Christmas day, 2017, in the Dubai International Airport en route to a pregnant Elena in Belgorod, Russia. We had heard nothing after submitting her application for a fiancé visa six months earlier. As my flight departed, I found myself in a rare moment of prayer. I prayed for our immigration application to be approved so our daughter could be born in the United States.

I arrived in a freezing Belgorod. It was a thrill to be met by my future wife and be able to spend the holidays together.

Bad news arrived in a letter from the US Customs and Immigration Service requesting additional evidence. They wanted proof that ours was not going to be a sham marriage. This was a heavy blow. Such a letter often means visa denial.

In Belgorod I suffered a severe skull injury that sent me across Europe for a dizzying array of treatments. That did not stop us. We hired a lawyer to ensure we submitted the correct response to the USCIS letter. The paperwork we submitted was an inch and a half thick.

We waited. I called the US embassy and was told to wait more. Weeks later we got the news that Elena’s visa had been approved. We were instructed to call and schedule an appointment at the consulate in Moscow.

Bureaucracy, delays, frustration and fear

Due to the political tensions between Russia and the US, making an appointment was extremely difficult. Besides, no appointments were available. Elena’s due date was fast approaching. We had to accept our daughter not being born in the country we wanted to be her home.

We constantly tried to get an appointment while completing a list of tasks and gathering required documents. You cannot imagine the nightmare of obtaining Russian government documents. Elena had to travel to a medical appointment 500 miles away to meet a visa requirement. She began experiencing pregnancy-related problems. We felt helpless and frustrated. We were stressed to our limits.

May 25, 2018 was one of the greatest days of my life. Our daughter Anastasia was born after suffering trauma from needlessly induced labor. We now had daily trips on her behalf to doctors, physical therapy and massage.

Elena was finally able to get an appointment. We rushed to complete our documentation. The three of us took an all-night train to Moscow and went straight from the station to the embassy. We presented a stack of paper a foot high. Elena’s visa was approved in ten minutes!

But now we had to prove that Anastasia was our daughter.

The extraordinary travel required by my medial care had produced “too many passport stamps,” we were told. We needed more medical documents for Anastasia. Once they were submitted, we could again expect to endure more waiting and uncertainty. We quickly returned to the train station, made the long ride to Belgorod and got to work.

Two weeks after submitting all that was asked of us we still had no word. I called the embassy and got a clueless bureaucrat. I called again and was successful in finding someone who confirmed they had received our documents.

On July 19 we received approval to travel. We arrived in Seattle July 26 and are now happily building lives here in Port Townsend. Elena and I have our American marriage certificate.

The Right Decision

We are thankful we took the righteous, lawful path. It is a contemptuous insult to follow the law diligently only to hear many of our fellow Port Townsend residents and elected officials—who swore to uphold the law upon taking office—celebrating law-breaking, open borders and clemency for illegal immigrants. Our city council has dictated that police ignore our nation’s immigration laws and refuse to cooperate with fellow federal law enforcement officers. The Russian girl I fell in love with has exhibited more respect for American law than these politicians.

Elena read over this article and wants to add this: “People who are desperate enough to decide to break laws in general are not respected in their own countries. If Americans want to live in a civilized society, they should keep sending illegal immigrants back home.”

I am elated to be here with my wife and daughter. The difficulties we endured were worth it, ten times over. God bless America!