Posted on October 7, 2024 View all news
“…a rapidly changing cannabis policy landscape presents a complex public health challenge. Regulations vary from state to state, and most were developed without a robust public health strategy; instead, legalization prompted the creation of commercial markets, driving an industry focused on profit over public health.”
~ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Backed by the Big Marijuana industry, special interest groups continue to push for the rapid expansion of legalized cannabis. But public policy has not kept pace, and the laws governing the cultivation, production, distribution, sale, and marketing are generally inadequate, wildly inconsistent, and frequently ignored.
These shortfalls pose severe risks to public health, especially to youth, who are the most vulnerable.
To best evaluate the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) assigned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to examine the public health consequences of marijuana legalization.
Here, we present some of the summary of their findings, as published in their report, Cannabis Policy Impacts Public Health and Health Equity.
Current Cannabis Laws are Inconsistent
One of the biggest problems with the too-rapid – and irresponsible – expansion of legalized marijuana is there are no universally accepted standard regulations.
NO Standard Business Models
For-profit cannabis business models depend on addicted customers. Currently, only two states have adopted non-profit “monopoly models” that do not create financial incentives to sell more marijuana and that they claim will undercut the black market.
NO Standards for Retail Operations
Individual states have differing rules regarding what is and is not allowed – location, density, hours of operation, maximum purchases, home delivery, payment methods, and required employee training.
There is not even an agreement about how old caregivers must be to purchase marijuana for minors with qualifying conditions.
This puts the public at risk in several ways. For example, in some states, customers are allowed to purchase up to three ounces of flower marijuana in a single day, regardless of THC content.
To put that in context, consider the following:
- 1 ounce of weed = Up to 84 joints
- 1 joint = 4 hours of intoxication
- 84 X 4 = 336 hours of continuous high
Do people really need to buy 2 weeks of round-the-clock intoxication every single day?
As another example, a 2015 study found that the more cannabis dispensaries there are in a local zip code, the greater the number of hospitalizations for marijuana abuse.
NO Standard Potency
While all states place at least some restrictions on the amount of THC allowed in marijuana edibles, there is no agreed-upon limit.
Of even greater concern is the fact that many states have no limit on how strong flower marijuana or concentrates can be. Some of these specialty cannabis products can contain over 90% THC.
Again, to put that in perspective, about a generation ago, the average joint contained around 4% THC.
High-potency weed has been linked to severe mental illness, including psychosis.
The report concluded in 6-1 (pg. 223) that “The risks associated with THC consumption (including psychosis, suicidal ideation, and cannabis use disorder) increase as the dose increases. Legalizing products with a high concentration of THC allows users to administer high doses in a short time and may increase cannabis-related harms. Research is urgently needed to describe the relationship between high-concentration THC products and adverse effects to better inform public policy.”
No Reliable Way to Detect Impaired Driving
Every state has laws concerning cannabis-impaired driving, some smartly adopting zero-tolerance policies, while others set specific THC limits. But these “per se” limits vary wildly, ranging from 2 to 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. That is quite a difference.
However, there are several problems with anything other than a zero-tolerance approach.
- Marijuana impairs driving, even in the absence of acute intoxication.
- Due to individual differences such as tolerance and method of ingestion, blood levels are not a reliable indicator of impairment. Neither are roadside coordination and cognitive tests.
- Attempts to make a viable cannabis breathalyzer suitable for widespread use by law enforcement have proven difficult.
Stoned driving is a huge public health concern. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Ottawa, marijuana-related traffic accidents requiring treatment in an emergency room rose 475% between 2010 and 2021, the study found.
Recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada in 2018.
During that same time frame, crashes due to drunk driving increased by only 9.4%.
Look what is happening in some of the states where marijuana is legal.
- Arizona: Drugged driving arrests jumped from 1153 in 2009 to 7140 in 2019, a 519% increase.
- California: In 2018, the Highway Patrol reported a 142% year-over-year spike in the number of marijuana-related crashes that resulted in injuries.
- Colorado: DUIs involving marijuana skyrocketed from 12% in 2014 to 31% in 2020. 2020-2021 alone, the number of arrests for marijuana DUIs climbed 48%.
- Massachusetts: Marijuana is the most commonly found drug detected in the system of drivers in fatal crashes.
- Michigan: After legalization in 2018, there was a 140% increase in the number of total wrecks and an even bigger 430% spike in the number of marijuana-related fatal crashes.
For the U.S. as a whole, between 2000 and 2018, traffic deaths involving marijuana went from 9% of the overall total to 21.5%.
Cannabis-related car accidents are more likely to result in the deaths of both passengers and people under the age of 35.
NO Standard Advertising Regulations
The rules governing marijuana advertising are literally all over the place, depending upon the individual state. Some states do not allow any form of advertising, others forbid misleading content, and others dictate the size of an establishment’s signs.
Interestingly, some states prohibit dispensaries from advertising any health benefits associated with marijuana use. This is surprisingly contradictory since claims of supposed benefits provided the framework supporting the push for first medical marijuana and now recreational pot.
On the other hand, however, perhaps it is not so surprising after all, because the evidence shows that any claims that marijuana is a safe and effective medication are unproven at best and completely disproven at worst.
All of this is important because according to a study cited by the CDC, young people are disproportionately affected.
“Exposure to marijuana advertisements was associated with higher odds of current marijuana use among adolescents,” the authors wrote.
No Effective Protection Against Marketing to Minors
The regulations that are supposed to limit youth exposure are woefully inadequate, and many products are purposefully marketed to underage users. And, while, as with alcohol, there are supposed safeguards, they are easily circumvented.
For example, in 2022, a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found that companies selling recreational marijuana very often illegally use marketing designed to appeal to teenagers and even children, particularly on social media.
The study looked at an entire year of social media posts from cannabis companies – 2660 posts from 14 companies in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Alaska, and the findings are troubling. These posts could be viewed by anyone, including children.
- 35% of the posts illegally offered promotions or discounts.
- Less than half contained the safety warnings that are required by law.
- The companies purposefully posted content that could appeal to underage users, such as cartoon characters and young models.
Even though such content was against state regulations, the sheer volume makes it nearly impossible for authorities to monitor it all and catch the violations.
Dr. Megan Moreno, MD, the study’s lead author, says, “Some cannabis companies generated dozens of social media posts per day. No current system in place to monitor or enforce these regulations on this scale.”
How do we know this prohibited marketing poses a legitimate threat to the health and well-being of the most vulnerable and impressionable demographic?
Two ways.
First, underage marijuana poisonings have ballooned dramatically.
- Between 2000 and 2020, the number of marijuana-related calls to poison control centers involving minors ages 6-18 rose by 245%.
- 80% of those calls involved underage teens.
- Between 2017 and 2021, the number of accidental marijuana overdoses among small children under the age of 6 exploded by an alarming 1375%.
Second, among young adults between the ages of 19 and 30 – who were adolescents and teenagers during early legalization – marijuana use is at an all-time high.
Evidently, the marijuana industry copied Big Tobacco’s playbook and hooked a new generation of addicted users. Remember Joe Camel, the hip cartoon character who helped sell cigarettes by making it cool to smoke?
It’s happening again with marijuana.
Dr. Moreno says, “It is important for parents to know that cannabis companies are actively sharing youth-friendly and restricted content. Parents should talk with their kids about how cannabis companies seek to influence them.”
What Can We Learn From All This?
Supporters of expanded legalization would have us believe that marijuana is, first and foremost, a safe and effective medication and that it just also happens to be a harmless social intoxicant. According to the Big Marijuana Industry, people who use their products are simply exercising their personal freedoms.
Science and statistics tell a different story.
This report, commissioned by the CDC and the NIH, shows just how far short existing regulations and enforcement efforts fall and how those failures put American citizens in real danger of harm to their physical and mental health.
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EVERY BRAIN MATTERS is a non-profit community developed by families negatively impacted by industrialized marijuana.
We reject the false narrative that marijuana is a harmless expression of personal freedom. Based on scientific evidence and personal stories, our position is that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug, and like all drugs of abuse, it can and is destroying lives.
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