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National Academy of Sciences Report Reveals that Legalization isn’t Working

On September 26th, the National Academy of Sciences presented its latest report on marijuana. A distinguished group of scholars and panelists, which included Dr. Steven Teutsch of UCLA, Neuroscientist Yasmin Hurd of the Icahn School of Medicine and Rosalie Pacula of USC, went public in a webinar.

The panel implied that states have done a terrible job of legalizing marijuana, particularly in terms of public health.

This specific report involved health policy and health equity, as opposed to the 2017 NAS Report on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids.   We caution that the copy available to the public is a prepublication copy.

In short, the committee was asked to assess the regulatory framework for cannabis.  The 312-page report was divided into six chapters. The webinar panel reported on Chapters 2 through 6, saying that cannabis is “very challenging to regulate.”

The committee was critical of the 2018 Farm Bill which allowed growing hemp with .03 percent THC.  This bill resulted in producers converting hemp into other types of THC (Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC which we’ve written about previously.)  A panelist stated:   “Each hybrid has unique and inconsistent effects.”  The implication was that Congress should close this loophole quickly.

Should the federal government step in?

It seems as if Committee Chair, Dr. Steven Teutsch, believes that the federal government needs to step in and regulate the state  legalization programs.

How is it possible that the federal government would be able to regulate cannabis while state governments have failed?  (Although the press sometimes reports of failures, the overwhelming bias of the press is to laud the effort and talk about the potential for tax money.)

During the question-and-answer period, someone asked what other countries do, wondering if other places have been more successful.

The answer came back. Uruguay does the best job in terms of regulation for public safety because the market is centralized and the government controls the market.

We note that Uruguay has a population of 3.4 million, fewer people than most states!  It’s no comparison for the United States.  Because the US is a capitalist country, the safety nets provided by Uruguay will never be imitated in the United States!

Health Impacts Covered in the Report

Panelists noted lots disturbing trends: higher potency, new products and more pregnant women using cannabis, with dispensary workers recommend cannabis to pregnant women.  Increases of use were most remarkable the categories of young adults, males, American Indians/Native Alaskans and those below the poverty line.

As the cannabis industry hoped, daily marijuana use surpassed daily alcohol use in 2022. There were approximately 17.7 daily or near-daily users of marijuana compared to 14.7 daily drinkers of alcohol.  Although far more Americans report drinking alcohol, the frequency of use is less among drinkers than cannabis users 

Chapter 6 covered harmful health impacts of legalization with descriptions by Laura Stack of Johnny’s Ambassadors and Aubree Adams of Every Brain Matters.  Both women lived in Colorado at the outset of cannabis commercialization, and their families suffered because of it.  Stack “highlighted the alarming ease with which teens can access high-potency cannabis, using medical marijuana cards obtained without legitimate medical conditions.” (p. 224) Laura Stack’s son Johnny lost his life in a suicide due to psychosis related to his cannabis use. She’s written two books about it, but the story is not unique or unusual in this new cannabis landscape.

Gabriel Mondragon, who has schizophrenia related to cannabis use and his genetics also spoke to the committee. “The committee heard from more than 20 people, all of whom expressed concerns about the increased cannabis use that follows policy changes and the health impacts of this increased use.” (p. 225)

Social Equity isn’t working either

Since so many believe that millions are in jail for simple marijuana possession alone, the jail argument and its disproportionate effects on minorities motivate voters.

Social equity is a recent aim of legalization programs, as the earliest programs didn’t try to solve that problem.  The report said, “While these initiatives hold promise for mitigating the harms of cannabis prohibition, challenges remain in implementation and effectiveness.”

It also stated that “The data needed to evaluate whether changes in cannabis policy have reduced inequities associated with criminal justice entanglement are lacking.” (p. 209)

In other words, the social equity arguments and claims for legalization haven’t made a difference.  Arrests for cannabis are down in legalization states, but minorities are still arrested at higher rates than whites.

Remember what Hillary Clinton said

 In 2015, Hillary Clinton was asked about marijuana legalization.  She replied that the states are “laboratories for democracy” and suggested a wait-and-see attitude.  Well, now the country seems to be recognizing what we’ve always known all along:  Marijuana legalization is FAILED POLICY!

Although this report recommends federal leadership to clear up the many problems, we do not believe it’s possible.  There’s no roadmap to making a program that has failed consistently start working successfully.  The committee’s recommendations can be found in a summary on pp 4-16.

The bigger the state, the bigger the failure in the US.

(Of course, each state program is different, and all state marijuana programs are inconsistent with federal law.)

California and New York are perhaps the two biggest failures – and the two largest states to legalize pot!

California Governor Gavin Newsom was Lieutenant Governor when California voted to legalize cannabis in 2016. He led a blue-ribbon committee of scholars and scientists to study how to best legalize in California. Backed by the ACLU, the California model hasn’t worked.  Despite the best intentions, California still struggles to control its illegal market.  After 8 years, 70-80% of all sales are still illegal.  (Californians would probably vote to undo legalization if the ballot came up again, but such ballots are very expensive.)

New York’s model of legalization, implemented by the state legislature also failed badly.  Florida, the nation’s 3rd most populous state, could end up with the same issues as New York, if Florida’s legalization ballot, Amendment 3, passes this year.

Americans should learn how to cut their losses and go no further into the tangle of cannabis problems.  We don’t need a bureaucracy of public health experts to attempt correcting something that can’t be corrected.

Marijuana is More Dangerous than Previously Thought

A new video highlights the reasons why marijuana legalization is more dangerous than previously thought.

The narrator is Heidi Anderson-Swan, activist and author of A Night in Jail. 

Industrialized THC grew out of medicalization and legalization in certain states. Certainly today’s cannabis is way more dangerous than the old-fashioned weed before commercialization.

The video appears on the Every Brain Matters youtube channel. 

We encourage our readers to share this video.  It’s the last day to submit comments on the rescheduling of marijuana.  Do your part.

By allowing states to legalize marijuana, the drug has become more damaging than it was previously.

Legal Marijuana Is Making Roads Deadlier

Cannabis-related traffic fatalities are a threat to public safety. Governments need to get serious.

By the Bloomberg News Editorial Board,   April 4, 2024

Marijuana legalization is killing a lot of people. Not slowly — though some studies suggest that it may be doing that, too — but quickly, in car crashes. It’s one more symptom of the disastrous rush by lawmakers to capitalize on cannabis sales without doing the work needed to keep the public safe. 

In Canada, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2018, one study found a 475% increase in emergency-room visits for cannabis-related crashes in Ontario between 2010 and 2021. Many more cases likely went undetected, owing to a dearth of reliable testing for driving while high. 

In the US, the proportion of motor-vehicle fatalities involving cannabis use soared to 21.5% in 2018, up from 9% in 2000. One analysis found a 10% increase in vehicular deaths, on average, following legalization by states. In California, the increase was 14%; in Oregon, it was 22%. 

This suggests that more than 1,000 Americans could be dying annually because of marijuana-related accidents — and that’s just in states where legalization has occurred. Given the ease of transporting the drug across state lines, the real number could be far higher. 

The cause of these deaths isn’t just the drug itself. It’s ignorance. A recent study found that about half of marijuana users thought they were OK to drive 90 minutes after inhaling or ingesting the drug, yet their driving performance in a simulated vehicle was as bad as it had been after 30 minutes. Evidence suggests people should wait a minimum of four hours before getting behind the wheel; some experts recommend eight to 12 hours. 

That people don’t know this is the fault of governments, which have rushed headlong into legalization without doing the required research or adopting necessary safeguards. In effect, they’re conducting live experiments on their own citizens. Voters should hold officials accountable for boosting public awareness and developing better detection technology.

The fight against drinking and driving offers a useful precedent. After widespread government-sponsored campaigns helped stigmatize such conduct, drunk-driving fatalities were cut in half. Stronger enforcement also played a part. The advent of Breathalyzers made drinkers think twice before getting behind the wheel. 

So far, marijuana users don’t face the same disincentive, partly because the technology for roadside testing isn’t reliable or widespread. Fear of arrest is a powerful public-policy lever, but right now, many drivers are getting high with impunity, and the public is paying a high price.

Bloomberg News published this editorial on April 4, 2024. It was reprinted in part by the Chicago Tribune on April 10, 2024. 

The photo above comes from a crash that killed three teens and injured another near Lynnwood, WA in July, 2017. Washington legalized marijuana in 2012, and commercialized it in 2014.

Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis

A national group of 104 parents and victims wrote to the DEA Administrator and the Attorney General, asking that cannabis not be rescheduled. The greatest number of people signing the letter were in California and Colorado; many asked to sign the letter after it had been mailed on December 2nd.  (A bipartisan group of former states attorneys also sent separately a letter to the DEA and DOJ; SAM put out a press release about the letter.)   Here’s the content of the letter:

Administrator Anne Milgram
Drug Enforcement Agency
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22152

Honorable Merrick Garland                                                                                         US Department of Justice                                                                                         950 Pennsylvania Avenue                                                                                 Washington, DC 20530 – 0001

Dear Attorney General Garland and Administrator Milgram:

Everyone signing onto this letter has a personal or familial story of permanent damage caused by cannabis (marijuana). For some of us, a loved one died as a direct result of cannabis use. For others, cannabis brought unfathomable damage to mental or physical health. Others were in car crashes caused by THC. For most of us, it was because of the industrial strength pot of today, but we include on this list those harmed by the old-fashioned marijuana of the 20th century. Besides those who lost their lives, there are those living with chronic conditions like permanent Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (Schizophrenia) or Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.

We are Victims of Marijuana even if we did not die from it. We also speak for victims who find speaking out on these issues is too painful.  A small number of the signatories have children who died from fentanyl or another drug, but blame marijuana for starting the loved one on drug use and/or addiction. Continue reading Letter to DEA and DOJ opposes rescheduling cannabis