Legal Weed

I Was For It, But The Effects Are Not Good

Marijuana was illegal forever. It was the protest drug of choice in the 60s. The decriminalization movement started in the 1970s, and finally, in the 2010s, weed became legal.

Libertarians were for legal drugs. Milton Friedman famously told Richard Nixon that if he fought the war on drugs, he would lose.

Freedom-loving people were for legal drugs, especially weed. Keep the government out of our business. Other things like cigarettes and alcohol weren’t “good” for us and were legal. Prohibition gave the Mob a chance to get a foothold in America, and the Drug Lords weren’t any different. Violence happened frequently over turf wars on drug distribution. I remember every spring in Chicago, the gangs would fight over which one would control which beach.

During Covid, blue state governors kept their pot stores open to keep people medicated and to keep tax dollars flowing.

Also, remember how legalization was going to give an opportunity to certain segments of society? That didn’t happen as crony capitalism dominated the distribution of licenses to sell pot in stores. “Sin Businesses” are always full of crony capitalism.

The pot business runs like any other. It is subject to the same economic laws as any other business is subject to. On the floor, we always joked “pot futures” would be a growing business with an endless market of new highs every day. It is a commodity business. There is no real futures market to hedge in yet, probably because it is not needed.

I was for the legalization of drugs as long as there were no government support systems for abusers. If they wanted to kill themselves, let them. On the floor, I saw people destroy their lives over cocaine and heroin. Some got help, many did not. The ones that didn’t aren’t around to tell their story.

I turned down every single marijuana start-up pitch I ever heard because I wasn’t going to be the Joe Kennedy of pot. I did one only because I have a trusted friend who is leading the deal, and it’s a medical one that has to go through rigorous FDA testing to get to market. It’s not a consumer-facing company, though if successful, it will help people with migraines.

I think I might have been a bit wrong about my opinion on legalization. Maybe it is time for some limits on marijuana.

Now, in many urban areas of the US, I can’t walk down the street without smelling the stank. I smell it inside public places too, and it’s not because there is an odor on someone’s clothes. People recoil at cigars and cigarettes being smoked, but somehow are supposed to be tolerant of weed. Why don’t weed smokers have to adhere to the same laws as cigarette smokers?

However, now there is science. We all believe in science, right? The strength of marijuana these days is far, far stronger than it was back in the 1960s or 70s, or even 80s. Strains have been engineered to have very high THC contents.

The link between psychosis and marijuana in teens has been proven to be real. The linked article was written by Carrie Bearden, who is a professor of psychiatry, biobehavioral sciences, and psychology at UCLA. She directs a clinical research program focused on early intervention for psychosis spectrum disorders in young peopleJournalist Alex Berenson has written a book about the dangers. I lifted this from the article. Check out the charts and the information in it.

Another big question we are trying to answer: Why is the increased risk of psychosis so profound in teens? The researchers in my field think it has something to do with the significant rewiring that happens in adolescent brains, which continues into our early 20s, when symptoms of psychotic disorders typically start showing up. The same molecules and receptors in our brains that interact with THC (known as the endocannabinoid system) play an essential role in brain development. And there is growing evidence from both animal and human studies that early cannabis exposure can disrupt the way brain cells, or neurons, respond to what we experience and how they communicate with one another to make those experiences memories.

I copied and pasted this comment from a social media site so you can see more citations of scientific studies.

Regardless of how people feel about legalization and use, the science is clear. Regular cannabis use in people under 25, especially high potency is strongly linked to psychosis. If you believe in science, you cannot refute this. Here are just a few of the articles. To put it in perspective, it is similar to the increased risk of asbestos and cancer.

Di Forti, M., Quattrone, D., Freeman, T. P., Tripoli, G., Gayer-Anderson, C., Quigley, H., et al. (2019). The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI). The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(5), 427-436.

Kiburi, S. K., Molebatsi, K., Obondo, A., & Kuria, M. W. (2021). Cannabis use in adolescence and risk of psychosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J of Adolescent Health, 68(2), 262–269.

Polkosnik, A., Hryhorczuk, A. L., & George, T. P. (2021). Cannabis and psychosis: A critical review of the evidence. Current Addiction Reports, 8(1), 1–9.

Hasan, A., von Keller, R., Friemel, C. M., Hall, W., Schneider, M., Koethe, D., et al. (2020). Cannabis use and psychosis: a review of reviews. European Archives of Psychiatry, 270(4), 403-412.

Putting an upper limit on the amount of THC in pot and gummies seems like a good idea, given the fact that it can be severely detrimental to our brains. Sure, it’s supposedly illegal for people under the age of 18, but in practice, we know that isn’t happening. It didn’t happen in the 1960s either, when it was illegal.