What's it matter, if they're all gonna be dead in twelve years anyway?

Just a little dope

Marijuana’s effects on kids and young adults. Bad news for children, but the tax revenue is impressive.

The returns are in on Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana: (1) Large amounts of money are being made thanks to legalization, privately and by the state; (2) “horrible things are happening to kids.”

The quotation is from psychiatrist Libby Stuyt. She treats teens in southwestern Colorado and has studied the health effects of high-potency marijuana. Stuyt says: “I see increased problems with psychosis, with addiction, with suicide, with depression and anxiety” stemming from legalization in the state.

Stuyt’s report won’t surprise anyone who has read Alex Berensen’s book Tell Your Children, which I discussed here. Berensen noted that over the past few decades, studies around the globe have found that THC, the active compound in cannabis, is strongly linked to psychosis, schizophrenia, and violence. He interviewed far-flung researchers who have documented the contribution of THC to serious mental illness. 

Now, are we seeing these effects in Colorado. Libby Stuyt’s report from ground zero is bolstered by data. The Washington Post informs us that in the Denver area, visits to Children’s Hospital Colorado facilities for treatment of cyclic vomiting, paranoia, psychosis and other acute cannabis-related symptoms jumped to 777 in 2015, from 161 in 2005. The increase was most notable in the years following legalization of medical sales in 2009 and retail use in 2014.

As a reward for jeopardizing the mental health of its young people, Colorado is bringing in large sums of tax revenue. According to the Washington Post, in 2018 $1.54 billion in sales produced $266 million in fees, licenses, and taxes. The marijuana industry made out like bandits too.

And it’s not just Colorado where doctors are noticing what’s happening. From a summary of a NYT Op-Ed piece:

Two top doctors say legal marijuana should be banned for Americans under 25 years old because the drug hampers the developing brain. 

Cannabis is legal medically in over half of the US, and recreationally in 10 states and Canada - with other states expected to follow in the coming years, including New York and New Jersey.  

We still know very little about what the drug does to humans because it has been illegal, making it difficult for scientists to get access to study it. 

But Dr Kenneth L Davis, CEO of Mount Sinai Health System, and Dr Mary Jeanne Kreek, head of the Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases at Rockefeller University, warn that the few studies we do have all suggest weed deals a heavy blow to teen brains. 

It’s tempting to think marijuana is a harmless substance that poses no threat to teens and young adults. The medical facts, however, reveal a different reality,' they write.  

….

Now, more than two-thirds of Americans support legalizing recreational marijuana, and data show teens are increasingly trying weed before they try alcohol. 

But Drs Davis and Kreek warn 'natural' does not mean 'harmless', particularly for the youngest users. 

They cite eight peer-reviewed studies suggesting that 25 would be a better cut-off limit.  

'Researchers who tracked subjects from childhood through age 38 found a consequential I.Q. decline over the 25-year period among adolescents who consistently used marijuana every week,' they wrote. 

'In addition, studies have shown that substantial adolescent exposure to marijuana may be a predictor of opioid use disorders.'  

One of the studies found THC (the psychoactive part of the drug) altered brain connections in teen users, impacting 'cognition, including learning, attention and emotional responses.'  

'Simply because society has become more accepting of marijuana use doesn’t make it safe for high school and college students.'

And it turns out, legalization is bringing in another unwelcome development: The drug cartels are coming north to take over domestic growing operations. Aging hippies are no match for people wh will slit the throats of entire families just to make a point.

I’m pretty much a libertarian when it comes to drug laws, but it seems to me that our legislators are focusing their covetous eyes of marijuana legalization as a prime source of revenue and completely ignoring what they’ll be unleashing.