Dump the Skunk

Arizona’s Prop 207, which legalized recreational marijuana use, has been an unmitigated disaster.

 

As our society has taken a more lax approach towards marijuana we’ve seen increases in the damage wrought by the drug. The number marijuana users has doubled since 2005. The number of people who use marijuana every day has tripled since 2005. Among young people, its use is at the highest level in 30 years.

 

Adolescents who have used marijuana at all in the previous year are five times more likely to say they feel like they need drugs or alcohol. Even using the drug just once or twice changes the brain in ways that are observable on an MRI.

 

This is not the same drug used by the hippies 60 years ago. THC content in today’s smokable marijuana is often 6 times higher than it used to be. In other forms – such as edibles and oils – which tend to be favored by younger users – it can be over 25 times more potent. Higher potency cannabis is correlated with an increased risk of cannabis use disorder. Columbia University found that almost one-third of marijuana users have cannabis use disorder, meaning they continue using the drug even though it is causing problems in their lives.

 

A 44-year old San Francisco-area schoolteacher had a medical marijuana card for years. He says decades of smoking marijuana day and night affected his life in profound ways. His habit was costing up to $300 a week, and he obsessed over the need to stay high. He finally got clean for a few years — until California legalized recreational marijuana in 2016. He waited in line at a dispensary for hours to buy a celebratory joint, then quickly spiraled back into daily use.

 

Marijuana legalization is destroying lives.

 

People who use high-potency marijuana products daily are five times more likely to experience a psychotic disorder than non-users.

 

I’ve encountered people getting stoned while driving as much as four times per day – these reckless drivers are smoking so much that the dizzying stench reaches the car behind them. One source shows a 151% increase in marijuana-related traffic fatalities after legalization.

 

Worryingly, in contrast to alcohol, there is no fast, reliable, objective way to test the degree to which a driver has been impaired by marijuana.

 

Have you ever wondered if a person be effected by second-hand marijuana smoke?

 

Multiple studies have shown that the answer is yes; in one session of one study all the participants subject to second-hand smoke had enough marijuana in their system to exceed the legal limit used by many states.

 

In that same study, the most effected participant had more than 10 times more marijuana in their system than the least effected participant, suggesting a huge amount of variation in how different people are effected by marijuana smoke

 

A few weeks ago my youngest child turned 5 and wanted to go to the park for his birthday, so we all went as a family – my wife and I and our three kids. About 15 minutes after we got there, someone who lived across the street started smoking marijuana. He smoked so much that the smell wafted over to where we were. How does this affect children?

 

After legalization in Colorado, one shocking study found that 46% of hospitalized children had marijuana in their urine; no doubt the situation is much the same here.

 

People should not be forced to inhale marijuana against their will. Children should not be forced to inhale marijuana against their will. This is evil.