A New Kind of Reefer Madness

While increasing numbers of states are opening the door to medical marijuana and many to recreational use, we would be wise to put on the brakes.

Once we stop, we should consider examples where decriminalization has been followed by a return to restrictions.

The most recent is this Los Angeles Times’ story about Thailand. In June, the Southeast Asian nation announced it would ban recreational marijuana by the end of 2024.

That move came just two years after it became the first country in its region to decriminalize pot possession.

The Times noted that—as in California—legalization hasn’t worked out as planned. Promises of economic boosts for farmers? Nope. Plus growing concerns that weed is harming children and making chaotic roads more dangerous.

“Drugs are a problem that destroys the future of the country,” the newspaper quoted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. “Many young people are addicted. We have to work fast.”

Health Hazards Abound

One reason for my interest in the LA Times story was its appearance less than six weeks after Time magazine ran this report headlined: “The Health Hazards of Legalizing Marijuana.”

Written by Columbia University professor Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, it noted such facts as:

• A warning from the American Heart Association about the higher risks of cardiovascular events (namely, heart attacks) associated with heavy cannabis use.

The warning was based on a study last year funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of nearly 435,000 adults.

It found that daily use of marijuana increased the likelihood of heart attacks by 25% and a higher likelihood of stroke of 42%.

• Even before the NIH’s report, it had warned about the dangers of psychotic disorders among marijuana users at a greater rate than any other recreational drug, such as cocaine, meth, LSD or alcohol.

“Such health hazards are not some abstract possibility or unconfirmed scientific speculation, but a growing current reality,” Dr. Lieberman wrote. “As a practicing psychiatrist I have witnessed these effects first-hand as a burgeoning number of cannabis-induced medical and mental disturbances—particularly in young people—show up in our hospital emergency rooms…”

• While the rising numbers of adverse effects are disturbing, Lieberman says they are not surprising. Indeed, they were anticipated. A decade earlier, the author and the founding director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse published an article in a medical journal about the lack of scientific investigation of marijuana risks among younger users.

In other words, adults nationwide are enjoying their highs while disregarding the effects on the most vulnerable segment of our population.

Cautionary Tale

Motion Picture Ventures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Another cautionary tale in the national rush to remove prohibitions against marijuana use appeared in this Mar. 21 news service story about Oregon.

The state reversed its drug decriminalization efforts just four years after passing a law that opened the flood gates to any kind of drug, including fentanyl and opioids. The first year of Oregon’s experiment, overdose deaths increased by 43%.

Now, more than 4,200 drug overdose deaths later, the state decided that … well, maybe this wasn’t such a hot idea.

“The horrific consequences of this little experiment will continue until the end of time,” Randy Adams, executive director of the Northwest Baptist Convention, told Baptist Press.

Now, we don’t need to return to the overreactions that produced films like Reefer Madness, the 1936 anti-pot classic that created hysteria among ordinary citizens.

But neither do we need to throw open the gates a la Thailand and Oregon, only to hastily close them.

Restrictions on gateway drugs like marijuana and opioids are needed to avoid harming more innocent victims, particularly young people.