Is this the main disadvantage of legalizing marijuana?
Marijuana has been legal in some parts of the United States for around two decades. It all started with the legalization of a somewhat liberal medical marijuana program in California in 1996 and evolved into a scene where adult residents in 17 states are now free to buy cannabis the same way they buy beer could.
It’s a concept that prevents thousands of people from going to jail for their personal marijuana possession each year. It also boosts the local and state economies, creates thousands of new jobs, and helps put food on the table for more than 200,000 families across the country. But are there downsides to marijuana legalization that should be considered?
Legalizing marijuana itself seems to be working in most of the states where this new way of life has taken hold. There are often concerns that legalizing the paper creates a situation that increases youth consumption and addiction rates and, in some exceptional cases, puts society in a downward spiral of apocalyptic decline. But the reality is, none of this seems to be happening.
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Some anti-legalization people say it’s too early to say what types of diseases will emerge for society immediately after legalization, but in places where weeds have been legal for several years, everything around the neighborhood seems relative to be good. Even former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, a man who once spoke out against legalizing marijuana, admits that your kids are likely protected from legal weeds. “We haven’t seen a big increase in consumption” he said during a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone. “The only increase in consumption is seen among seniors.
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“Certainly the worst things that we were very afraid of – consumption peaks, children, people who drive at high altitudes – we haven’t seen any of them.” he went on. “We were very concerned that legalization would make this more psychologically accessible to children. We didn’t see that. If anything, we’ve seen fewer drug dealers. “
If there’s an area where society has struggled to adapt to an area where cannabis products are legal and readily available, many people still have no control over how to use food properly. A Recent study Information published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that marijuana-infused candy and groceries are sending more people to the emergency room in Denver. The majority of these cases involved symptoms ranging from rapid heartbeat to psychotic episodes.
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There are also some pointers that more children accidentally consume marijuana foods. In Colorado, of the 265 marijuana-related poison control calls in 2018, around a third were for children under the age of nine.
However, it is important to understand that these statistics did not involve individuals who subscribed to the concept of “responsible use”. Cannabis use after recommended dosage (5 mg or less for beginners) and keeping cannabis products out of the reach of children (all warnings on packaging) could have prevented these nasty occurrences entirely. Legalization isn’t the culprit, just stupidity and negligence. Of course, as we learned with alcohol, stupidity and negligence must be taken into account. Taking personal responsibility is a long way.
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