According to new study on America’s quick and perilous experiment with a substance that may be harmful — and even lethal — for young people, consumption of recreational cannabis has increased by 20%.
According to University of Minnesota researchers, the frequency of marijuana use increased by a fifth in California, Colorado, Oregon, and other states that have allowed adult use, raising “difficult challenges” for policymakers.
The study contradicts prior studies that found no increase in usage and pro-cannabis activists who claimed that since marijuana on the illicit market was always extensively accessible, legalisation would not increase use.
The Minnesota team focused their 3,500-person nationwide study on 111 pairs of identical twins, one of whom resided in a state where recreational marijuana usage was legal and the other where it was still banned.
The twins’ frequency of usage increased by 20% in cannabis-friendly states. According to research, marijuana is an addictive drug that has detrimental effects on one’s physical and mental well-being.
More study is needed to better understand how increased cannabis use “translates to changes in health or behavioural repercussions,” according to lead researcher Stephanie Zellers, as well as the “complex considerations concerning the public health implications of legalisation.”
According to experts, marijuana’s popularity in recent years has encouraged more individuals to try it. The COVID-19 pandemic’s stress has also increased the number of users.
The report comes after the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) annual survey, which was released this week and revealed that the number of people under 30 who used marijuana last year reached record highs.
Dr. Nora Volkow, who has served as the agency’s director for over 20 years, said marijuana use by young people was “concerning” and urged “urgent” investigation into the “possible health hazards” for children.
Only four states—Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, and Wyoming—have made it completely illegal, with 19 legalising it for adult recreational use and practically every state having previously approved it for medical use, usually to relieve chronic pain.
Six other states, including Arkansas, Maryland, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Oklahoma, will vote on whether to legalise marijuana and its psychoactive component THC in November.
Former White House drug adviser Kevin Sabet said that recent research have shown the fallacies of earlier pro-cannabis arguments. Sabet is the author of the book Smokescreen, which is about the booming cannabis market.
“Legalization proponents made a number of promises, including decreased drug usage, a shrinking black market, and tax income that would balance expenses,” Sabet, who is the leader of the marijuana advocacy organisation Smart Approaches to Marijuana, stated.
None of that has occurred, and instead we have today’s supercharged THC being sold, monetized, and promoted by a for-profit business that will do everything to increase its profits at the detriment of the general public’s health.
He said that the cannabis business was imitating the tobacco companies, which in the 1950s deceived the public with false health claims, by adding ingredients that would “make the product more addictive, minimise concerns, rake in money, and deny wrongdoing.”
The $30 billion cannabis business claims that using the substance, whether by smoking, vaping, or eating it, may help treat chronic pain, ease anxiety or despair, and even aid in the battle against addiction.
A significant lobbying organisation, the U.S. Cannabis Council, claimed that legalisation was broadly supported, that marijuana was harmless, and that it might help users overcome opiate and alcohol addictions.
Contrary to the black market, regulated cannabis programmes are able to guarantee quality, protect consumers’ health and safety, and restrict access for minors.
However, many parents claim that their children have fallen prey to an addiction spiral in places where marijuana use is allowed.
Experts have warned of a “possible explosion” in the use of cannabis by minors and have expressed concern about the industry’s lax regulation.
Additionally, they expressed worry about a market where super-strength cannabis products are offered in cartoon-themed packaging.
Ann Clark, a citizen of Colorado, had previously lost her son Brant in a tragic marijuana-related incident, so she was already concerned when her state became one of the first in the U.S. to legalise recreational cannabis in 2014.
Before trying to smoke a bong for hours with pals in a tepee in 2007, the 17-year-old was “happy, bright, healthy, and typical,” according to Clark.
He then had a “sudden psychosis” that landed him in the hospital for days and ultimately resulted in his suicide weeks later.
She said to DailyMail.com, “I will never stop missing my only kid.”
“Suicide is a soul-crushing death, but it’s more terrible when it’s brought on by a psychosis brought on by marijuana.”
It is incredibly unpleasant to always have to explain how marijuana might cause psychosis since the majority of people are still utterly ignorant of this.
She bemoans the fact that marijuana shops have sprung up all over Colorado recently, offering “highly processed concentrates” with a THC content of 95% that are far different from the sprouting plants connected to 1960s hippie culture.
The grieving mother, who wrote about Brant’s tragedy in her book Gone to Suicide, said that many young people are living high on marijuana and thinking that it is safe and harmless.
“My state has deteriorated into one of the least ideal places to raise a family, and I have no doubt that other marijuana-legalizing states are dealing with a similar issue.”
Teen users are “exploding” as a result of America’s $30 billion legal cannabis market.
Researchers warn that teenagers in jurisdictions with legalised marijuana consume more of it and are drawn to brightly packed candies-like items, making them more susceptible to dependence, psychosis, and school dropout rates.
Researchers have warned of a “possible boom” in underage marijuana use, with more children consuming it than in places where it is outlawed, according to an examination of studies on California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and other states that have legalised recreational marijuana by DailyMail.com.
They worry about a market where super-strength cannabis products are marketed in cartoon-covered packaging that appeals to children, despite the fact that tobacco and alcohol companies are not allowed to sell to children, and they are disturbed by the lax monitoring of a $30 billion industry.
Data from the 38 states that authorise medicinal use as well as the 19 states that have legalised recreational marijuana during the last 10 years show that teenagers and young people are utilising stronger products more often.
Not every youngster who consumes a marijuana gummy experiences the end of their life. But since they are more susceptible to addiction and reliance than adults, and because they are used and available more often, there are more incidents of anxiety, sadness, psychosis, and even suicide.
Voters in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Maryland will decide in November whether to relax their own marijuana restrictions and allow revenue from the marijuana sector to flow into state coffers.
According to Renee Goodwin, who directs Columbia University’s study, “Cannabis usage is more widespread among teenagers and adults in places where cannabis use is allowed for recreational use.”
Legalization has evolved from being a social justice issue to the other extreme of big corporate commercialization without any of the constraints that alcohol and cigarette products now have to adhere to.