AMAC Exclusive – By Neil Banerji
As more states look to decriminalize or in some cases even completely legalize marijuana, research is continuing to pile up pointing to the disastrous consequences of the pro-pot movement.
In May, Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize recreational pot use, along with Washington, D.C., and Guam. In April, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress also introduced a bill entitled “Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult Use Regulated Environment.” The legislation acknowledges that more states are likely to soon legalize recreational marijuana, and would remove pot as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
Marijuana legalization advocates have argued that cannabis is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol, and decriminalizing it will help reduce prison populations and alleviate the burden on overworked police departments without any adverse impacts on society or health effects for users .
However, actual evidence from states that have legalized recreational pot use presents a more complicated picture.
A study from the Journal of the National Medical Association from August of last year, for instance, found that “opioid mortality rate increased more rapidly in marijuana-legalizing than non-legalizing jurisdictions.” This finding lends more credence to the idea that pot is a “gateway drug” to other, even more dangerous substances.
Another study from 2020 found that marijuana use “is associated with substantially increased risks of homicide victimization.” According to the results of the study, marijuana users are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of homicides than their non-using peers.
In Maryland, which legalized weed last November, Baltimore police chief Robert McCullough has noted that local crime has skyrocketed due to the existence of an “underground economy for marijuana” within the city. An alarming growth in school violence, automobile accidents, and felonies has also taken place in Colorado after the state legalized marijuana in 2013.
Evidence also suggests that marijuana isn’t the worry-free drug that proponents make it out to be. Various research has found that cannabis use carries with it a greater risk of heart disease and heart attacks, along with a higher likelihood of developing chronic bronchitis.
Perhaps most significantly, a study released by Columbia University in May also found that teens using cannabis recreationally are far more likely to develop psychiatric disorders. Another study from 2021 reported that pot use can result in higher frequencies of suicide attempts and depressive thoughts.
Despite these alarming statistics, a record-high 59 percent of Americans now say that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults. Those percentages are even higher among younger people, with 72 percent in the 18-29 age bracket saying weed should be completely legal – including 62 percent of self-identified Republicans.
Likely hoping to cash in politically on this polling data, many Democrats at the state and federal level have made weed legalization a top issue. Last October, President Joe Biden pardoned all federal convictions for simple marijuana possession. Republicans slammed the move, with Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton saying, “In the middle of a crime wave and on the brink of a recession, Joe Biden is giving blanket pardons to pot heads — many of whom pled down from more serious charges.”
Some Democrats are hoping to take the drug legalization push even further. Members of the “Squad,” a group of far-left House Democrats, have repeatedly introduced legislation decriminalizing possession of all drugs, not just weed.
A similar policy implemented in Oregon in 2021 has led to disastrous results. The Drug Addiction Treatment Recovery Act, commonly referred to as Measure 110, was passed through a statewide voter referendum and made Oregon the first state in the country to effectively decriminalize personal use of all drugs.
Following implementation of Measure 110, overdose deaths skyrocketed 33 percent in Oregon. The overdose problem became so bad that the Oregon Department of Education created instructional materials for teachers to show students how to administer naloxone.
A majority (51 percent) of voters in Oregon now regret ever approving this law, and legislators have been forced to pass additional laws restricting possession of deadly fentanyl.
Nonetheless, liberals in other states are looking to follow Oregon’s lead. Earlier this year, a major push by Washington state Democrats to legalize all drugs fell just short. A number of other bills decriminalizing drugs have also been introduced in other state legislatures, although with less support.
With broad public backing for marijuana legalization, it seems only a matter of time before pot becomes legal and widely available in most U.S. states. What remains to be seen are the long-term downstream health and societal consequences of this development – and whether or not far more controversial drugs may be next on the legalization docket.
Neil Banerji is a proud Las Vegas resident and former student at the University of Oxford. In his spare time, he enjoys reading Winston Churchill and Edmund Burke.
