Fact check: Fox News’ Laura Ingraham claims marijuana causes mass shootings

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.

We’re only halfway through the year and there have already been over 200 mass shootings in the United States.

The deadliest of these, the Uvalde School shooting, which targeted a fourth-grade elementary school, was considered the worst since Sandy Hook. This is clearly a systemic problem in the United States, but Fox News host Laura Ingraham doesn’t think so: She made it clear she opposes legalizing marijuana, blaming cannabis laws for the mass shootings.

Speaking to Fox News last week at The Ingraham Angle, she said: “This is something the medical community is aware of. Yet you get the sense that billions of dollars at stake are more important than our children,” she said. “And what is happening, especially with young men in the United States who are frequent users of the potent THC that is now found in marijuana products legally sold in pharmacies in the United States. I mean, this requires at least a serious national conversation.”

Screenshot by Laura Ingraham

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Yes, she said that.

We’re shocked that anyone in this day and age still believes pot psychosis is a thing. I mean, that’s so Reefer Madness. Did Laura Ingraham get her research through the 1936 propaganda film and nothing else? Because that’s what it sounds like, and it lets itself sound so unrealistic.

There’s just so many ways her irrational statement had no legs. She said she’s heard some vague reports that the shooter smoked weed, but Ingraham believes the problem really just lies with the legalization of marijuana and the lax laws surrounding it.

fact check

Here are just a few reasons why Laura Ingraham’s statement is absolutely absurd. Ditch Marijuana Legalization!

• Relaxed gun laws: According to the Small Arms Survey reported by the BBC, there were around 390 million firearms in circulation in the United States in 2018, making the ratio of gun ownership to 120.5 guns per 100 people. The report also notes that gun ownership has increased significantly in recent years, resulting in 11 million people being exposed to guns in their homes.

Additionally, the Small Arms Survey finds that Americans are the #1 country whose citizens own guns. And Harvard researchers correlate this with their findings that if so many people in a developed country own guns, it will lead to many more gun homicides. And of course so many Americans own guns – it’s far too easy to get your hands on one! No matter where you live, you will come across dozens, maybe even hundreds, of shops that sell guns. There are gun fairs that happen almost every weekend and you can buy a gun from a friend or family member.

Only gun purchases in store require a background check, if one is available. There, gun buyers must fill out a form from either the ATF or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Such a background check takes only a few minutes and denials for gun ownership are rare. In fact, cannabis users cannot even own guns.

However, there are states with stricter gun laws like Washington DC, Chicago and New York.

• Marijuana legalization has been linked to a decrease in violent crime: There are several studies documenting how marijuana legalization has led to a decrease in violent crime rates. In a June 2020 study of the impact of marijuana legalization on law enforcement, conducted by the National Institute of Justice, they said that “legalization in several areas appears to have coincided with increases in crime detection rates, suggesting that legalization has become a… Network could lead to positive redistribution in the allocation of police personnel. Additionally, fewer people are being processed by the criminal justice system for nonviolent marijuana possession offenses.”

In Washington state, for example, the Drug Policy Alliance reports that since marijuana was legalized in 2012, violent crime rates have declined while overall crime rates have remained at a 40-year low. The National Incident-Based Reporting System also says violent crime in Washington continues to decline significantly.

• Profiling of Shooters: Scientific American has published a criminologist-compiled profiling that looks at the life history of mass shooters in the United States. Titled The Violence Project, one finds similarities between the shooters and there is nothing to suggest cannabis use. Some notable points here are the fact that almost half of all shooters were able to legally purchase their guns from a licensed dealer, private sale or otherwise, while others have borrowed guns and the rest are of unknown origin.

The Violence Project also found that the most common motivation for the mass shootings was psychosis, a type of mental disorder in which the person becomes unable to discern what is real and what is not. They also tend to have difficulties with employment, interpersonal conflicts with family, friends or co-workers. More than half of the shooters had previous criminal records, and many suffered from trauma or domestic violence.

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Those are the facts, and there’s nothing remotely related to marijuana use. Sure, people with psychosis shouldn’t use cannabis, but that’s not even mentioned in the profiling. The two issues here are strikingly clear and troubling: our gun laws are far too lax, while mental health services are rapidly declining. With the average age of shooters being 18, we need to pay more attention to the kids we are raising, look for clues and find a way to stop exposing them to guns.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.