On the first day of January, Colorado legalized recreational marijuana usage. The voters came to the polls and their voices were heard. They wanted to be able to smoke marijuana. That is of course their choice. I disagree with that, but there are ways to disagree and ways not to. I hope to disagree with the reasoning by providing arguments later that look at how marijuana legalization is predicated on misinformation. Nancy Grace recently did this the wrong way.
Nancy Grace said that legalizing pot for recreational use was a bad idea. I agree. She then said that anyone who disagreed with her was, “lethargic, sitting on the sofa eating chips. Pot, it makes you fat and lazy.” She is labeling all people that use marijuana long-term as being fat and lazy. That is a misnomer, as there are skinny people who smoke cannabis. It does have a tendency to make people lose motivation and eat more. But not everybody, so that was a gross stereotype she used.
I personally feel that the voting may have been different in Colorado were it not for the lack of factual reporting frequently done by organizations such as NORML as well as the grassroots movements that have been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana. They have statements and arguments they make which are based on fallacies and half-truths. Here are some of the more common ones:
Arguments for Legalization and the rational arguments against them
1. Marijuana is not addictive – This is entirely not true. It may be less addictive than other drugs, but long-term usage of cannabis by people can result in addiction. There are physiological indicators of detoxification in long term users: irritability, sleeplessness, cravings and anxiety. Not to mention the clients I have had personally who would use knowing that they would go to jail for smoking, “but I could not help it. I have to have it.” I have even had a smoker sign their parental rights away because they could not stop smoking. That said, marijuana is not as addictive as some of the other drugs out there, but less addictive does not equate to non-addictive.
2. Marijuana is just a plant – Yes it is just a plant, but people are not smoking ditch weed that grows wild in the woods. They are instead smoking cannabis from plants that have been genetically engineered to have high Delta 8 and Delta 9 contents. Delta 8 and Delta 9 are the chemicals that cause the “high” experienced by users. In the same way, cocaine and heroin are just plants. But they can be engineered chemically to get people high.
3. Marijuana never killed anyone – Not directly but people die never the less. Example locally was a teenager who was shot on his porch in 2013 over a ¼ ounce of marijuana ($25-$50).
4. Would you rather have someone behind the wheel drunk or high – Once again this argument pretends that there is not another choice. I choose a driver under the influence of neither. Just because something is less dangerous than something else does not mean that it is not dangerous.
5. Marijuana is not dangerous like other drugs – Marijuana has been proven in tests to impact memory and learning. Does this happen in all people? I don’t know. I do know that cigarettes greatly increase the risk of getting cancer but not everyone who smokes cigarettes will get cancer. It just makes it more likely. And speaking of cancer………..
6. Studies show marijuana cures cancer – Than obviously no one has cancer in Amsterdam, right? And of course no one who smokes marijuana has gotten cancer, right? Wrong to both. Marijuana does not cure cancer. If marijuana cured cancer then the big pharmaceutical companies would be all over it trying to get a patent on a chemical because they would make billions! Not that this is conclusive or well researched at all, but I have friends who are regular marijuana smokers and yet they have developed cancer.
7. Marijuana is medicine - There are some chemical compounds, such as CMB, that have proven to be effective when working with various maladies. There are medicines already being used that treat various things like nausea and pain that are derived from marijuana. They have been FDA approved because they have medicinal use. Unfortunately most of the chemicals in cannabis don’t have medicinal value that we know of. In fact, some of them are bad for you as we see next. It is also impossible to know the amount of CMB and THC that one is getting when the chemical is smoked, which the FDA would need to know in order to be able to legalize it for medicinal use. Also, when looking at the studies where marijuana is smoked it seems very biased to be positive. I would ask several questions: What was the sample size? Were the findings statistically significant? Were the benefits subjective or objective? Were there groups that used a placebo, current treatment and another using nothing?? After all, when I am smoking marijuana I know it is marijuana and if I want to get high I would say it helped me feel better.
8. Marijuana isn’t bad for you like cigarettes – Marijuana contains over 50 carcinogens. A carcinogen is defined as a substance or agent causing cancer. People smoke marijuana unfiltered and hold it in longer than they do when smoking cigarettes so there is more time for the negative chemicals to negatively impact the lining of the lungs. There have been studies done linking cannabis to increased risk of bladder cancer, testicular cancer and lung cancer.
9. Marijuana legalization will cut down on crime – Gangs, distributors and the Mexican Mafia will be able to undercut severely the prices of legal, taxed marijuana. Because of this, they will continue to deal and may even increase their business once people who smoke recreationally become regular users and they chronic users. In Colorado people are waiting in 30 minute to 5 hour lines to buy it and it costs on average $64 an 1/8th. That is $512 an ounce and $8,192 a pound. There are some cheap places selling it for $40-50 an 1/8th, which is still $5,120-$6,400 a pound. To break that down, I used to get 10 pounds of marijuana delivered to me from Texas for $5000 -$12,000 depending on quality. That is $500-1,200 a pound. I could go get it myself and it was much cheaper. Tell me that with this type of money to be made the gangs and cartels won’t be all over it? It could possibly increase crime.
10. It will cut down on the allure of using for youth and they will use less – Yes, as that has worked really well for alcohol and youth not using. Right now prescription pills are the biggest risk for youth, because of their accessibility. People at least keep pills in medicine cabinets or on them. Marijuana will be even easier for them to get because most people I knew who smoked keep it in a Frisbee or on a tray under their couch. We will make it easier for youth to obtain and it being legal will make it more obtainable and more socially acceptable. That sucks because chronic use in youth has proven negative consequences.
This is just a partial list of common arguments that are used and that in my experience and the experience of most in the field I work in that I have talked to have are not either honest or relevant. I hope that if nothing else this opens up some dialogue as I would be interested to hear other’s experiences and thoughts on this. Unfortunately, personal experience is considered anecdotal when it comes to research. Are there people who learn better while tripping acid? There may be, I personally knew one. One, and that is not statistically significant and the long term consequences were not good.
In closing, thanks for reading and please make any comments, opinions and/or feedback cordial and G-Rated.
