In the election of November 5, 2024, there were seven measures on the ballot. Some of them went the way I wanted and others not so much. However, I was grateful and relieved for voters’ decision on Initiated Measure 29 – the legalization of marijuana.
I have never understood the push for marijuana legalization. It combines the worst of tobacco (especially if smoked) and alcohol into one product. Medical study after medical study has found no medicinal benefit from marijuana in general. Sure, the product takes your mind off pain, the same way alcohol does or the way hitting your hand with a hammer distracts from the discomfort of a headache, but cannabis doesn’t actually fix anything. The substance was touted in the early days of campaigns for medicinal marijuana as relief for conditions like glaucoma. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says that marijuana isn’t efficacious for glaucoma treatment because that pressure in the eyes has to be managed constantly, and the temporary relief marijuana may bring is illusory and not therapeutic or efficacious.
Marijuana is a mind game. It “works” because you’re high and less aware of things, not because it actually brings relief or is actually a “cure” for anything. Marijuana is also harmful for you on so many levels.
First, smoking marijuana entails all of the risks of addiction and lung cancer etc. that tobacco smoking does. Second, marijuana carries all the risks of vehicle or work accidents that people under the influence of alcohol also experience. According to the CDC, about 18 million Americans use cannabis daily and more people are suffering from dependency and side effects. That’s due, in part, because marijuana today isn’t like the weed people smoked in the 1960’s.
In 1995, the THC concentration in marijuana was 4%. In 2021, the THC concentration was 21% according to the Food and Drug Administration. Samples of marijuana products on the shelves in states where it is legal show THC concentrations now of 40% to 70%. A third of adults who use marijuana report “Cannabis Disorder”, meaning their daily lives are negatively impacted by use of the drug in some way. Around six million Americans suffer from Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome which causes severe nausea, vomiting, seizures which can lead to more serious issues like cardiac arrest and kidney failure. Eight Americans have died from Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome in the United States thus far. Cannabis diagnoses rose 50% from 2016 to 2022, impacting more than half a million people – again, according to the CDC.
Doctors confirm that marijuana users report psychosis, paranoia and delusions. Particularly , in young users (those in their teens and twenties) it can lead to schizophrenia and other psychic breaks. According to the latest reports from doctors and emergency rooms, people who are regularly consuming marijuana with at least 10% THC are five times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder of some kind, compared to people who have never used marijuana. A Canadian study found that teens who consumed cannabis were 11 times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder than those teens who never used cannabis. Other research suggests that cannabis thins the brain, with particularly serious and permanent consequences for those young users under 30. That’s not to say that cannabis safe for the over 30 crowd, just that it is comparatively less dangerous than for younger people.
The marijuana advocates say that their proposals would prohibit young people from access to marijuana. We have laws in place to do just that with tobacco and alcohol products now, as it relates to underage use. See how well those tobacco and alcohol laws work in denying young people access to those products? Why would marijuana prohibitions for young people be any more effective? Young people will get access to marijuana, especially if it is legal for recreational use, and some will do permanent damage to their psyches and lives as a result.
Why people voluntarily seek to poison themselves has always been a mystery to me. Why we should allow the legalization of additional harmful substances just because we made the mistake in legalizing tobacco and alcohol back when, is beyond me too. The British King, James I, wrote a treatise criticizing tobacco and even raised tobacco taxes by 4,000% to try and stamp out smoking. He was ahead of his time. You remember King James, the guy who authorized the translation that we now know as the “King James Bible”.
Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s didn’t work out so well, in part because alcohol had been legal and normalized prior to its banning. Keeping marijuana illegal is the best way to go, although recreational marijuana is already legal in 24 states. In addition, smoking marijuana also makes you more stupid. Studies have shown that regular marijuana users lose 8 IQ points.
The citizens of South Dakota made the right decision on election day when they refused to legalize marijuana. When I was a high school teacher, I saw what marijuana did to kids. I hope it stays forbidden and illegal forever.