May 24, 2024
I have no problem with pot being legal. The marijuana laws have historically been applied unevenly, with particular virulence directed at minorities. It should be legal — and regulated — everywhere.
At the same time, we need to acknowledge that pot is not benign; heavy use has been linked to cardiopulmonary complications, and mental health disorders.
Fun fact: A recently-released study from Carnegie-Mellon University concluded that there are now more daily marijuana users in this country than daily drinkers of alcohol.
But check THIS out: you’d think that legalizing marijuana would increase marijuana use, but a recent study did not find that to be the case, at least with respect to adolescents. According to a recently-released paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in those jurisdictions where marijuana was legalized, there were very small declines in cannabis, as well as declines in alcohol use and e-cigarettes.
One possible explanation is that moving cannabis from the illegal market and street sales into the legal marketplace, where access is restricted for people under 21, has lowered access for adolescents. Or perhaps that, as pot has become legalized, parents and others are more aware of potential access for their children, and parents are having more discussions with adolescents about the potential risks or imposing more supervision.