Charlie Kirk urges Trump to reconsider reclassifying marijuana: 'Protect public spaces for kids'



President Donald Trump reportedly told attendees at a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser in New Jersey earlier this month that he was contemplating reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. He has since confirmed that the reclassification is on the table.

One of Trump's most outspoken supporters has expressed hope that the president will ultimately decide against easing restrictions on cannabis.

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Since 1970, cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I drug, a category of drugs the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration claims "have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence" as well as "no currently accepted medical use."

The Wall Street Journal indicated that the fundraiser conversation earlier this month was "part of a campaign by cannabis companies to persuade Trump to pick up where the Biden team left off and reclassify the drug" to a Schedule III substance, which would mean not only fewer federal restrictions but also big tax breaks for marijuana companies.

Among those reportedly in attendance at the fundraiser were Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla; cryptocurrency executives; political advisers close to the president; and Kim Rivers, the CEO of the marijuana giant Trulieve, which donated $750,000 to Trump's inauguration.

Unnamed individuals who attended the fundraiser told the Journal that when Rivers personally encouraged Trump to reclassify the drug, the president flagged the matter for those staff members present.

RELATED: Marijuana can stunt or even kill babies in the womb: Study

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The matter of reclassification has evidently been on Trump's radar for some time.

ScottsMiracle-Gro CEO James Hagedorn told Fox Business last week that Trump has told him and others "multiple times" that he will reclassify marijuana.

When Trump threw his support last year behind an unsuccessful Florida constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, the then-candidate vowed that if re-elected, he would "continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug."

After he announced the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Trump was asked to square his crackdown on crime and drugs with the reports that he might soon reclassify marijuana.

'Any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis.'

Trump said, "We're looking at it. Some people like it. Some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because ... it does bad for the children, it does bad for people that are older than children. But we're looking at reclassification, and we'll make a determination over the ... next few weeks."

The president noted that it is a "very complicated subject" and that he has heard "great things having to do with medical" and "bad things having to do with just about everything else."

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Trump ally and Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk wrote in response to the Journal's report, "I hope this doesn't happen."

"We need to protect public spaces for kids. Everything already smells like weed, which is ridiculous," continued Kirk, who questioned the value of legalizing marijuana and raised concern over the drug's significant increase in potency during his April interview with liberal polemicist Bill Maher.

"Let's make it harder to ruin public spaces, not easier," added Kirk.

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Kirk is not alone in hoping that Trump will decide against reclassification.

Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told Blaze News, "President Trump said today that he has heard a lot of bad things about marijuana. And for good reason."

"Rescheduling marijuana will mean more crime, more homelessness, and more destruction of mental health," continued Niforatos. "We need a strong generation of Americans. Rescheduling marijuana gives the Big Weed oligarchy a multibillion-dollar tax break so they can peddle more high-octane THC products that give our kids and our young adults schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly three in 10 people who consume cannabis have cannabis use disorder, which manifests in part as craving cannabis; trying but proving unable to quit using cannabis; using cannabis even though it causes problems at home, work, or school; using cannabis in high-risk situations; and using increasing amounts of the drug to achieve the same high.

The Canadian government, which legalized marijuana nationwide in 2018, claims that "any cannabis use is associated with a 40% increased risk of psychosis" and "earlier-onset cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of earlier-onset psychosis, with cannabis users under the age of 16 at greater risk of developing psychosis or schizophrenia."

Cannabis use has been linked to other health conditions besides dependency and psychosis.

'States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence.'

For instance, a systematic review published on May 5 in JAMA concluded with moderate confidence on the basis of 51 studies with over 21.1 million participants that cannabis use during pregnancy can result in early births, low birth weights, and unusually small babies.

Blaze News previously reported that the review also indicated significantly increased odds of miscarriages.

Paul Larkin, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, recently argued in JAMA Psychiatry against the Biden Department of Health and Human Services' 2023 recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration that it reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug.

Larkin and Dr. Bertha Madras noted that HHS failed to properly address the adverse effects of cannabis use such as the high prevalence of cannabis use disorder among users and the mounting evidence linking marijuana use to psychosis.

They also noted that "there is no medical consensus that cannabis is a legitimate medical treatment" and that "the evidence supporting generic 'cannabis' as a treatment for medical conditions remains either low quality or nonexistent."

When pressed for comment, HHS told Blaze News, "HHS continues to follow gold-standard science when determining the safety and efficacy of drugs."

"The president should consider that no major law enforcement or medical association supports scheduling marijuana down to III, because it is a public safety and public health nightmare," Niforatos told Blaze News.

"States that have legalized the drug have launched a panoply of cartel violence, Chinese CCP influence, and mental health carnage. Rescheduling marijuana gives a gigantic financial reward in the form of a tax break to cartels and the giant marijuana operators, like Glass House, the marijuana company ICE recently raided," added Niforatos.

Marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 48 states plus the District of Columbia and legalized for recreational purposes in at least 24 states — a push aided by the drug's normalization in and by the media.

Gallup revealed in November that the number of Americans who reported smoking marijuana had more than doubled since 2013, up to 15% from 7%. Whereas only 4% of respondents polled in 1969 reported trying marijuana, 47% of respondents reported trying the drug when asked last year.

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Marijuana can stunt or even kill babies in the womb: Study



A systematic review published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics concluded with moderate confidence on the basis of 51 studies with over 21.1 million participants that cannabis use during pregnancy can result in early births, low birth weights, and unusually small babies. The review also indicated significantly increased odds of miscarriages.

The study's authors, all but one of whom are based out of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, noted at the outset that the self-reported use of medical and nonmedical marijuana among pregnant women in the U.S. has more than doubled over the past two decades and continues to increase, despite warnings from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology.

According to the ACOG's Committee on Obstetric Practice, "self-reported prevalence of marijuana use during pregnancy ranges from 2% to 5% in most studies but increases to 15–28% among young, urban, socioeconomically disadvantaged women."

The OHSU researchers behind the new study noted further that marijuana is now reportedly the most commonly used federally illicit drug in pregnancy.

"This is cause for concern," wrote the researchers, because the main psychoactive component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol, can cross the placenta and bind to endocannabinoid receptors on preborn babies' major organs.

The existing scientific literature already associates maternal marijuana use with numerous dire consequences, including stillbirth and fetal growth restriction as well as impaired cognition, decreased attention span, behavioral problems, and compromised visual-motor coordination in prenatally exposed children.

The researchers noted, however, that "clinicians are not consistently counseling patients regarding prenatal cannabis use, partly because of the limited and mixed available evidence."

'Ideally, it's best not to be exposed to THC.'

"Patients are coming to me in their prenatal visits saying, 'I quit smoking and drinking, but is it safe to still use cannabis?'" said lead author Jamie Lo, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine. "Until direct harms have been proven, they perceive it to be safe to use."

"As the prevalence of prenatal cannabis use is rising, there is an urgent need for evidence-driven recommendations on the safety of use during pregnancy and while breastfeeding," Lo said in March.

Keen to furnish clinicians with a better understanding of the associated risks so that they can confidently counsel mothers regarding prenatal cannabis use, the researchers analyzed 51 observational studies including eight new studies, and raised the certainty of evidence for various potential adverse effects.

The researchers found that prenatal cannabis was linked to a 52% higher risk of premature birth and a 75% higher risk of low birth weight. They also found a 29% higher risk of infant death associated with the use of cannabis during pregnancy.

OHSU researchers revealed in another study recently published in the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology that a mother's use of cannabis while pregnant could adversely impact her baby's lung development and function, potentially resulting in asthma and other chronic respiratory health conditions.

In addition to jeopardizing the health of babies, marijuana has also been linked to various medical problems in adults, including cancer.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cannabis use can lead to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and other vascular diseases; can harm lung tissues and cause scarring and damage to small blood vessels; and has been linked to depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses.

Lo told CNN, "Ideally, it's best not to be exposed to THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, no matter what form you're using."

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Weed is getting stronger — and it could make you schizophrenic



Marijuana may be treated like a harmless recreational drug — but its effects can be devastating.

“There are people who say that it’s really helped them,” Allie Beth Stuckey says. “I’ve also talked to some medical professionals who say that medical marijuana is not a thing.”

While Stuckey believes weed dims the potential of users and renders them fat and lazy, that’s not her only issue with the drug.

Not only is marijuana one of the most used drugs in the U.S., it has a horrifying effect on some people who are otherwise told it’s a harmless drug.

In one study published in May led by researchers from the University of Toronto, it was found that there was an 11-times higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder among teenagers who used cannabis compared with those who did not.

When the analysis was limited to just emergency room visits and hospitalizations, there was a 27-fold increase in psychotic disorders in teenagers who had used marijuana.

In separate Danish and British studies, a link was found between heavy marijuana use and psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

Several other studies reflect similar findings, while doctors have begun sounding the alarm on marijuana use and psychosis.

“It’s not harmless, it’s not innocent, it causes all kinds of problems, and as I said, it can lead to the use of drugs, and with the availability, accessibility of drugs today because of their legality, you are setting your child up for failure,” Stuckey tells parents who might believe that weed isn’t an issue.

The drug is especially dangerous now that a lot of it is laced with fentanyl, which Stuckey says is a “consequence of open borders.”

“THC levels in marijuana have been getting stronger for decades, so it’s not the same, it’s not the same as what you saw maybe 30 years ago when it really was just ski bums getting a little high,” Stuckey says.


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America's ON FIRE, and China's holding the gas can!



Author Peter Schweizer has blown the lid open on just how insidious China’s influence over America really is.

“China’s holding an empty can of gasoline, and our leaders are basically not saying or doing anything,” Schweizer tells Sara Gonzales.

“It’s not that they caused these problems, but they’ve exacerbated them and made them worse,” he adds.

Some of those problems are the violent left-wing groups operating in America’s streets and the fentanyl epidemic that's killing thousands of Americans every year.

According to Schweizer, the drug cartels in Mexico may be the junior partners overseeing the fentanyl crisis — but the Chinese are the senior partners. The Chinese start the process when they ship the “component parts of the fentanyl” to a port in Mexico.

This port is run by a Chinese company, which then sends the parts to northern Mexico, where it’s made into fentanyl. That fentanyl is then distributed to the 2,000 Chinese nationals in northern Mexico before it makes its way across the border.

“The cartels are helping kill their customers, but the profit margin for fentanyl is 8 to 10 times what it is for cocaine, so they’re willing to suffer those casualties. Meanwhile, the senior partner, the Chinese,” Schweizer explains, “what they really want to do is kill Americans.”

Now, fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans under 45.

“That’s the thing, China’s like, 'Good, we want to kill Americans,'” Gonzales says, disturbed.


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