First, the Standard-Examiner and reporter Cathy McKitrick accurately state the facts about the tenor and content as those from TRUCE who attended saw them.
So yes, the contentions in the story were made.
Nor are we casting aspersions on the sincerity of the opposition of the presenters. Our concern is keeping the debate on ascertainable facts – and on also on calling foul whenever opponents are arguing against medicinal cannabis by raising concerns, whether false or accurate, that apply to personal use states and scenarios, not to medical states.
And sometimes there are a lot of foul balls to call.
It’s also a fact that public servants are offered a constant stream of data from the “Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area” (RMHIDTA) and other cannabis-hostile organizations in forms palatable to the kind of information law enforcement has been fed by federal organizations for many decades, whose work is clothed as a public service. And make no mistake, the “research” being relied on and cited here is at least largely from this and sister organizations.
This federally-funded, but semi-independent organization is one of a number of “HIDTAs” covering the US – and another currently active in releasing anti-cannabis talking points is the Northwest division (the NWHIDTA).
We’re not debating claims here today, rather simply sharing the event itself. Still, FYI, for any interested, here’s one of several available and thorough debunkings of many of RMHIDTA’s key claims:
http://ift.tt/2A9sUpi
We invite you to read both articles and judge for yourself who has the facts on their side, and to decide whether or not reports riddled with exaggerations, poorly sourced data and much stretching of facts are being injected into the public debate in Utah.
There is, of course, a time to respond to these multiple assertions in detail, and we want to do so carefully, in stepwise order. TRUCE bills itself as Utah’s credible source for medical cannabis news and information, and we take that mission seriously, so when we reply to claims, we’ve considered and are ready to back up what we say.
And since this is going out mostly to our readers, and many of you follow our openly sourced daily research and news reports, we trust your take on what’s reported here as much or more than we do our own.
Finally, from what we observed, one more takeaway is that the debate on this issue in coming months is apparently – and more’s the pity – not going to be a polite, nuanced give and take objective dialog about the extent of medicinal cannabis’ benefits and its reward to risk ratio, at least not in some quarters….
#MMJ #Research #RMHIDTA #UTpol #UtahNext #TRUCE
http://ift.tt/2AshpJn
See full article – Town hall meeting touts multiple ills of marijuana
