Science bears out the folly of rapid Marijuana legalization
Marijuana is not the harmless drug many of its advocates would have you believe, as we have pointed out.
Fortunately, a growing number of lawmakers, including those who supported legalization in the past, are coming to the same conclusion based on the available science.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, recently acknowledged that marijuana "has proven negative consequences for the developing mind." He is right. As we've noted for years, frequent marijuana use by people under 30 can cause permanent brain damage. Marijuana use by adolescents is associated with "depression, anxiety, and suicidality" by the time they reach young adulthood, studies show.
Smoking marijuana is not harmless among adults either. Fatal car crashes involving marijuana use doubled between 2000 and 2018. This is no coincidence.
Adult marijuana use appears to harm children, too. In states where marijuana is legal, one study found an increased incidence of asthma in minors aged 12-17 compared to states where it is not legal.
That says nothing either of an enormous spike in edible poisonings of minor children as marijuana legalization spreads. Children like candy and cookies, so when cannabis is in candy and cookies, children find it and eat it. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of children poisoned by marijuana grew from 207 to 3,054.
Canadian provinces that legalized marijuana have suffered a tripling of pediatric poisoning by edible marijuana products despite requirements for childproof packaging. Blumenauer and Republican marijuana fans such as Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) want childproof packaging in the United States, too, but this won’t solve the problems, nor will labeling requirements about doses.
Given that the illegal and unregulated marijuana trade continues to flourish because of legalization, unlabeled and unregulated products will continue to be available and laws against them nearly impossible to enforce.
What is the answer? As Blumenauer and other marijuana fans now admit, the drug is not regulated closely enough where it is legal. The admission casts serious doubt on the wisdom of removing marijuana from Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
The argument for legalization hinges on the idea that it will make marijuana use safer. If that isn’t true — if children are increasingly poisoned in states where marijuana is legal — how does it make any sense to deregulate at the federal level?
Beyond that, policymakers should admit the blunder of rushing legalization without understanding the likely consequences. There are mountains of research data showing marijuana's dangers, and other risks seem likely to emerge with further research.
The nation needs a marijuana pause because the movement to legalize has already gone far beyond what science understands about the effects.
