On December 7th , Ed Moses, a retired narcotics officer spoke to a group that had gathered at Grap’s Burgers. Ed was with the St. Louis City Police Department for four years, two years in the United States Army Military Police, and 35 years with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He is now retired and trains for the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center for High-Intensive Drug Traffic Areas. He has worked as a beat police officer, road trooper, undercover officer, an administrator of D.A.R.E., a Drug Recognition Expert and Chaplain programs. He speaks free of charge and his material is uncopyrighted. He had been married for 56 years and has six children and 17 grandchildren.
To quote Ed, he says, “Undercover I saw youth in trouble, not thinking for themselves, just believing whatever friends & dealers said. Adults avoided what they didn’t understand or didn’t know how to manage”. In his presentations he encourages others to do as his High School Science teacher taught him, ‘Don’t focus just on the answer, but rather HOW you get to the conclusion. If you believe it, and WHY’. He says to think for yourself and seek credible information that is rigorously tested.
Ed went on to say that marijuana targets the brain and the brain is built for survival. Your brain has limits and when you get high on marijuana, you go beyond the limits of the brain, resulting in damage to the brain receptors.
THC changes the brain and it is stored in the fat cells in the brain for weeks. THC also suppresses the immune system. Alcohol and marijuana are the major reasons for school dropouts. Marijuana is more addictive than alcohol.
Ed has seen parents shot gunning marijuana to week-old infants. He went on to say that the parents that are high on marijuana don’t care because their brain is suppressed in the frontal lobe, resulting in low empathy. Ed pointed out that doctors recommend, but do not prescribe marijuana because of the liability issues. He stressed that marijuana cures nothing! The FDA says that marijuana is not a safe nor effective drug. He emphases that if you have PTSD, marijuana will absolutely not help you. The last thing we need are people with PTSD getting schizophrenia, which marijuana causes.
Only about 12% of the population has some sort of substance abuse, so why do the other 88% tolerate the 12%’s damaging behavior? Law enforcement is seeing dramatic increases in suicides and violence. Ed says, “No community has a bigger problem than they are willing to tolerate. Be a good role model.”
With tears in her eyes, Anne Yates spoke about her son that was killed in a head on collision with a man that tested positive for marijuana and meth. Travis Ismay ended the night citing sections of the SDCL 34-20G. He said that everyone should read the law to better understand what is really going on. He said that many people he talked to had voted for medical marijuana, but do not like what the law says and how it is being implemented. If you have any questions or want more information, email Travis Ismay at [email protected].
