Even Second Hand Marijuana Smoke is Harmful

Libertarians tend to be blindly (irrationally) defensive of marijuana. Because The State prohibited marijuana smoking for so long, it must be a good thing.

But consider these facts, taken from the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation website:

* Secondhand smoke from combusted marijuana contains fine particulate matter that can be breathed deeply into the lungs, which can cause lung irritation, asthma attacks, and makes respiratory infections more likely. Exposure to fine particulate matter can exacerbate health problems especially for people with respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, or COPD.

* Significant amounts of mercury, cadmium, nickel, lead, hydrogen cyanide, and chromium, as well as 3 times the amount of ammonia, are found in mainstream marijuana smoke than is in tobacco smoke.

* In 2009, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added marijuana smoke to its Proposition 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins, also known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. It reported that at least 33 individual constituents present in both marijuana smoke and tobacco smoke are Proposition 65 carcinogens.

* Secondhand smoke from marijuana has many of the same chemicals as smoke from tobacco, including those linked to lung cancer.

* Secondhand marijuana exposure impairs blood vessel function. Published studies on rats show that thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke at levels comparable to those found in restaurants that allow cigarette smoking led to substantial impairment of blood vessel function. Marijuana smoke exposure had a greater and longer-lasting effect on blood vessel function than exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

* One minute of exposure to marijuana SHS substantially impairs endothelial function in rats for at least 90 minutes, considerably longer than comparable impairment by tobacco SHS. The findings in rats suggest that SHS can exert similar adverse cardiovascular effects regardless of whether it is from tobacco or marijuana.

* Secondhand marijuana smoke and secondhand tobacco smoke is similar in many ways. More research is needed, but the current body of science shows that both tobacco and marijuana smoke have similar chemical composition and suggests that they may have harmful cardiovascular health effects, such as atherosclerosis (partially blocked arteries), heart attack, and stroke.

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Samuel E. Konkin III Archive Project

Victor Koman writes:

I have a lot of Sam’s papers, notes, calendars, and letters to and from libertarian luminaries such as Murray Rothbard, Bob Kephart, Sharon Presley, Karl Hess, Tibor Machan, Wendy McElroy, Lew Rockwell, James J. Martin, Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson, Kerry Thornley, Chris Tame, and many others.

Not counting the back issues of New Libertarian magazines and newsletters I sell via KoPubCo, I have around a dozen file boxes and a couple of filing cabinet drawers filled with SEK3 material.

Sam has been gone 17 years last Tuesday. Rothbard, Hess, Shea, Wilson, Thornley, Martin, Tame, Bill Patterson, John Puglsey, Ken Gregg, Butler Shaffer, Neil Schulman, Brad Linaweaver, and many others of our circle are all gone.

And I’m no spring chicken, either. (At this point, who among us are?)

I’ve created a subdomain on the KoPubCo website called archives.kopubco.com, which already has some of what I have been scanning in on my own over the past year. My goal is to scan in every scrap of Konkinabilia I possess and make all of it (except the most personal) available in The Agorist Archives. What I’ve done this week is to establish a GoFundMe fundraiser to subsidize this effort so that I can work it on a daily basis and (I hope) finish the task in 2021.

The last year has been crazy, and many of us have suffered financially from COVID-related statism, so I’m not asking you to donate (but I’d be very grateful if you found that you had the ability to).

What I’m asking — if you know anyone who might have the means and an interest in Agorism, Counter-Economics, and Liberty — is for you to forward them this email or simply direct them to the GoFundMe link in the next paragraph. Think of the guy who bragged to you about buying Bitcoin ten years ago when they were only a couple of bucks each and is now richer than Crœsus.

If you want to know more, check out the fundraiser at GoFundMe. There’s a video in addition to text and photos explaining this project in depth. GoFundMe allows (and encourages) the person raising funds to enter email addresses into their database to send out the initial announcement and updates.

I haven’t done that with any of your email addresses, out of respect for your privacy. However, if you would like me to add you to the GoFGundMe email address list, reply and let me know that you "opt-in". I believe that donors and the curious can also sign up on the site to receive notifications whenever I post an update.

Donations can also be made through PayPal. and we are working on accepting crypto.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this and for looking at my GoFundMe page. I won’t send out anything further unless you opt in by request or by adding your address on the fundraiser page. My next post on the GoFundMe site will include a list of everything I already have that this fundraiser will not have to pay for!

Yours in liberty,

Victor Koman, PhD
Publisher, KoPubCo
Head (OK, SOLE) Archivist, The Agorist Archives

Coronavirus Closure Update No. 13

It seems more likely now that on-site, and perhaps even indoor, dining may be available by our next meeting in February. We will confirm our plans at the time of the eMinder.

The silver lining, if there is any, is that the delay afforded Linda a bit more time to formulate her commentary based on the changes we are already seeing and on the policies we might expect from the incoming powers.

We regret the delays and also the delayed opportunity to gather in our “agora of good manners” so as to enjoy community. In spite of this, we hope you are well and wish you the best in the new year during these difficult times.

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Coronavirus Closure Update No. 12

Again, unfortunately, we must suspend our program at least until February due to unavailability of our venue.

The silver lining, if there is any, is that the delay affords Linda a bit more time to formulate her commentary based on the changes we are already seeing and on the policies we might expect from the incoming regime.

We regret the delay and also the opportunity to gather in our “agora of good manners” to enjoy community. In spite of this, we hope you are well and wish you the best in the new year during these difficult times.

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Joseph Miranda Discusses Cyberwar Gaming

KHC member Joseph Miranda discusses cyberwar gaming.