KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE
VOTE NO ON 3 & 4!
Cannabis, marijuana, weed -- whatever you want to call it -- is not "a safe drug." THERE'S NO SUCH THING. Marijuana in particular is dangerous for children and young adults. Why should you be concerned?
1) Retail dispensaries normalize cannabis use.
They put a stamp of approval on marijuana and send the wrong message to kids. If the town votes yes and opens two pot shops, we will be putting cannabis directly in front of our town's young and impressionable faces.
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2) Marijuana is an addictive and destructive drug.
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Contrary to popular belief, countless studies have demonstrated a high propensity for addiction, daily use, negative health and social consequences, etc.
3) THC concentration in cannabis products sold at dispensaries is as high as 99%. ​
You've probably heard that pot today isn't the pot of the Woodstock days. In fact, marijuana is on average twice as potent as it was just 10 - 15 years ago, resulting in higher rates of addiction and substance misuse disorders amongst users - adults and kids alike.
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4) Pot shops sell products that are made to be enticing to children. ​
Edibles are sold in the form of gummies and brownies which are appealing to kids, and can and do also get mistaken for normal candy and desserts. What's more, the most popular form of teen consumption is vaping, which involves the use of ultra-high THC cartridges.
5) Dispensaries = easier access.
​Children will always find ways to get things they shouldn't have access to, but dispensaries are proven to make it easier. Recreational cannabis dispensaries are the primary source of teenage consumption in towns and cities that allow them.
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Learn More
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Don't just take our word for it. Everything stated above is backed by the latest scientific research and data from credible organizations such as the CDC, NIH, and the U.S. Surgeon General's Office.
Here are just a few links to learn more about marijuana and addiction, with a focus on its impact and consequences for teens and children.
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Oregon Health & Science University
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Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
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https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/addiction.html
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https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/teens.html
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American Academy of Pediatrics
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National Institutes for Heath (NIH)
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7770012/
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Office of the Surgeon General of the United States
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International Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations (UN)
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https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2023/unisnar1469.html
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Additional Reading
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NY Times: "More and More Teenagers are Coming to School High, NYC Teachers Say"
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USA Today: "Cannabis-related ER visits up 44% in New York amid COVID. What's behind the rise?"
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CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/health/marijuana-teen-vaping-wellness/index.html
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The New Yorker (article from best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/is-marijuana-as-safe-as-we-think
Myth-Busters
Multiple claims have been made by those wanting to bring cannabis to Camden. Some are misleading. Some are simply false. The reality is that the only residents who will benefit from cannabis dispensaries in our small town are the owners of them who live here. Every other resident gets nothing.
"Mom & Pop" Pot Shops? Not a Chance.
The owners of Botany and their INVESTORS are out to open at least one cannabis dispensary in Camden (out of the two that would be allowed if residents vote to permit them). That's in addition to their flagship store in Rockland, and additional franchise locations such as the one they are opening soon in Belfast and likely in other towns thereafter.
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The public claims made by Botany's proprietors in the Camden Herald and in public hearings that their stores are locally owned are deceptive. There are, in fact, SIXTEEN owners of Botany. Only three live in Camden. The rest are private equity investors and other business people, with 6 of them hailing from Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina. To them, Camden isn't a beautiful, safe town of families and friends -- it's just a name on a list, just another place to make money.
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The full list of Botany's owners/investors is available to the public from the State of Maine's government website here (rows 1144 - 1164): AS OF 03_02_2023https://www.maine.gov › sites › files › inline-files
If the Maine's government website is down, you can also click to see the list on the Camden Cares website.
No Tax Revenue. Only Liability.
Maine law requires that all excise and sales tax on marijuana go to the State. Towns in which marijuana are sold are reimbursed a maximum of $20K per year for expenses incurred by licensing and monitoring the legal conduct of business operations. The hours of extra work put in by our town's staff and the police could end up costing more than $20K, which renders the state subsidy useless and leaves the bill to the taxpayers of Camden. Only the owners -- and their investors -- will benefit financially from having Cannabis dispensaries in Camden.
"Camden Has Already Voted for This." Really?
Camden voted by a margin of less than 10% to legalize marijuana in 2016, yet Botany's owners claim that the town was "solidly in favor" of it. Another unsupported claim. To assert that (barely) legalizing marijuana in Camden means WANTING stores that sell marijuana in Camden conflates two totally different things.
The owners have gone so far as to compare locally grown and produced marijuana products with local arts and crafts in written testimony and in oral comments made at the Select Board's public hearing on March 21st in an attempt to appeal to our loyalty to local businesses. The difference is that revenue from local businesses stays local. With Botany, investors all over the country, not the hard working people of Camden, will benefit.