Commentary |
State-Level marijuana legalization has been a stunning success


Contrary to some critics’ claims, legalization states have not experienced any spike in either psychosis or mental illnesses.


by Paul Armentano

It’s been over a decade since Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize marijuana for adults. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fair to ask: Has this policy been successful?

Absolutely. A policy of legalization, regulation, and education is preferable to a policy of criminalization, stigmatization, and incarceration.

Let’s be clear. Legalization didn’t create or normalize the marijuana market in the United States. The market was already here.

Illustration by Gordon Johnson/Pixabay
But under a policy of prohibition, this market flourished underground — and those involved in it remained largely unaccountable. They didn’t pay taxes, they didn’t check IDs, and they didn’t test the purity of their products. Disputes that arose in the illicit marketplace were not adjudicated in courts of law.

By contrast, under regulation, cannabis products in many states are now available from licensed manufacturers at retail stores.

Cannabis is cultivated, and products are manufactured, in accordance with good manufacturing practices. Products are lab tested and labeled accordingly. And sales are taxed, with revenues being reinvested in the community. Since 2014, retail sales of adult-use cannabis products have generated more than $15 billion in tax revenue.

Most importantly, millions of Americans — many of them young adults — are no longer being arrested for possessing a substance that is objectively safer than either tobacco or alcohol.

According to data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the annual number of marijuana-related arrests in the United States fell from 750,000 in 2012 to 227,000 in 2022, the last year for which data is available.

In short, these state-level policy changes have resulted in countless Americans being spared criminal records — and the lost opportunities that accompany them — in the past decade.

Teen use of cannabis has not grown with legalization. A CDC report says use has actually dropped among high school students.
Photo: Dimitri Bong/Unsplash

And contrary to opponents’ fears, cannabis use by teens has not risen in parallel with legalization.

According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of high schoolers who use marijuana actually fell 30 percent over the past decade. Compliance check data from California, Colorado, Nevada, and other legal marijuana states show that licensed marijuana retailers do not sell products to underage patrons.

Also contrary to some critics’ claims, legalization states have not experienced any spike in either psychosis or mental illnesses.

According to findings published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, rates of psychosis-related health care claims are no higher in jurisdictions where cannabis is legal than in those where it’s not. Stanford University researchers similarly reported last year that residents of states where cannabis is legal exhibit no higher levels of psychosis than those in non-legal states.

Legalization is also successfully disrupting the illicit marketplace. According to a 2023 survey, 52 percent of consumers residing in legal states said that they primarily sourced their cannabis products from brick-and-mortar establishments. By contrast, only 6 percent of respondents said that they primarily purchased cannabis from a “dealer.”

Many consumers in non-legal states also reported that they frequently traveled to neighboring legal states to purchase cannabis products rather than buying from illicit dealers in their own state.

Twelve years into states’ marijuana legalization experiment, public support for making marijuana legal nationwide has never been higher. To date, 24 states have legalized the adult-use market.

None of these states have ever repealed their legalization laws. That’s because these policies are working largely as voters and politicians intended — and because they’re preferable to cannabis criminalization.

After a century of failed policies and “canna-bigotry,” the verdict is in. Legalization is a success, and the end of cannabis prohibition can’t come soon enough.

Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director for NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. This op-ed was adapted from an earlier version published at The Hill and distributed for syndication by OtherWords.org.

Read our latest health and medical news

at

Study suggests young marijuana smokers may be at greater risk of recurrent stroke

Photo courtesy American Heart Assoc.


American Heart Association
NEW ORLEANS -- Among younger adults who had a previous stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and were later hospitalized for any cause, recurrent stroke was far more likely among patients with cannabis use disorder, according to preliminary research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2022, a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health to be held in person in New Orleans, and virtually, Feb. 8-11, 2022.

Cannabis use disorder is defined as dependent use of cannabis despite having a psychological, physical and social functioning impairment. According to the American Heart Association, stroke rates are increasing in adults between ages 18 and 45, and each year young adults account for up to 15% of strokes in the United States.

"Since marijuana use is more common among younger people and is now legal in several U.S. states, we felt it was crucial to study the various risks it may impose," said Akhil Jain, M.D., lead author of the study and a resident physician at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania. "First-time stroke risk among  cannabis users is already established, so it intrigued us to investigate whether continued marijuana dependence also predisposes younger people to develop further strokes."

The researchers examined health information from the National Inpatient Sample, a large, publicly available database that compiles data on more than 7 million hospital stays annually across the U.S. For this study, the sample included 161,390 adults between 18-44 years of age who had been hospitalized for any reason between October 2015 and 2017, and whose health records indicated a previous stroke (either clot-caused or bleeding stroke) or TIA.

Using hospital diagnosis codes, researchers identified patients within the sample who met the criteria for cannabis use disorder, excluding those with charts indicating their cannabis dependence was in remission. This divided the sample into 4,690 patients who had been diagnosed with cannabis use disorder and 156,700 who had not. The median age for both groups was 37 years.

The study found that when compared with patients without cannabis use disorder, patients with the condition were:

  • More likely to be male (55.2% vs. 40.9%), Black adults (44.6% vs. 37.2%), or to smoke tobacco (73.9% vs. 39.6%).
  • More likely to be diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (21.5% vs. 19.0%), depression (20.4% vs. 16.1%) or psychosis (11.2% vs. 7.5%).
  • Significantly more likely to abuse alcohol (16.5% vs. 3.6%).
  • Less likely to have high blood pressure (53.1% vs. 55.6%), diabetes (16.3% vs. 22.7%), high cholesterol (21.6% vs. 24.1%) or obesity (12.0% vs. 19.6%).

Compared to current hospitalizations, the analysis found:

  • Among adults with cannabis use disorder, 6.9% were hospitalized for a recurrent stroke, compared to only 5.4% hospitalized without the disorder.
  • After adjusting for demographic factors and relevant pre-existing medical conditions (age at admission, sex, race, payer status, median household income, type of admission, hospital bed-size, region, location/teaching status and other medical conditions including traditional cardiovascular risk factors), patients with cannabis use disorder were 48% more likely to have been hospitalized for recurrent stroke than those without the disorder.
  • Cannabis use disorder was most prominent among males, young Black or white adults and those who lived in low-income neighborhoods or in the northeast and southern regions of the U.S. 

"Young marijuana users who have a history of stroke or TIA remain at significantly higher risk of future stroke. Therefore, it is essential to increase awareness among younger adults of the adverse impact of chronic, habitual use of marijuana, especially if they have established cardiovascular disease risk factors or previous stroke episodes," Jain said.

Possible mechanisms that have emerged from other research on cannabis use disorder include impairment of blood vessel function, changes in blood supply, an increased tendency towards blood-clotting, impaired energy production in brain cells, and an imbalance between molecules that harm healthy tissue and the antioxidant defenses that neutralize them.

Results from this study may not be generalizable to older adults (ages greater than 44), who are more likely to have a greater number of chronic health conditions and cardiovascular risk factors. The study is also limited in that all data was collected at a single point in time, rather than following participants over time. In addition, while the hospital coding identified cannabis use disorder, the data did not include information on the exact amount and duration of cannabis use or medications used.

"Our study is hypothesis-generating research for future prospective and randomized controlled studies. More research work is required to look deeply into this concerning clinical question. Most importantly, the impact of various doses, duration, forms of cannabis abuse, and the use of medicinal cannabis on the occurrence of recurrent strokes are critical questions that need to be answered," Jain said.

According to an August 2020 scientific statement from the American Heart Association, preliminary studies have found that cannabis use may negatively impact the heart and blood vessels. Although cannabis may be helpful for conditions such as spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, among others, cannabis does not appear to have any well-documented benefits for the prevention or treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Co-authors of the study include: Rupak Desai, M.B.B.S.; Terry Ricardo Went, M.B.B.S.; Waleed Sultan, M.B.B.Ch.; Dwayne Wiltshire, M.B.B.S.; Geethu Jnaneswaran, M.B.B.S.; Athul Raj Raju, M.B.B.S.; Roshna Asifali; Aamer Mohammad, M.B.B.S.; and Bisharah Rizvi, M.D.

at

ViewPoint | What was she thinking?

Dear Editor,

What was Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton thinking when she purchased recreational marijuana in Chicago on the first day of its legal sales in Illinois? Does she not understand that as a public official she is setting a reckless and foolish example, especially for children and teens?

Illinois policy makers are sending a dangerous message to our young people. First, we called it "medicinal". Now, we call it "recreational". Gone are the days of "this is your brain on drugs". Instead, elected officials like Stratton are celebrating drug use by welcoming the marijuana industry to communities throughout the state.

Their feckless example will mislead citizens into a diminished understanding of the dangers of drug use until it affects them personally. As the perception of risk plummets, drug use (and addictions) will climb.

Not only have lawmakers failed to do their due diligence before passing this marijuana law, but they have also failed to heed the compelling research that indicates how regular use of marijuana affects young people, including an increased risk of psychiatric illnesses and loss of IQ points.

Parents, grandparents, teachers, and religious leaders would do well to counter Stratton’s irresponsible example by returning to the sensible message, "just say no to drugs".


David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute


at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)