Legalization has led to more cannabis use, but also reduced use of almost all other drugs

Legalization has led to more cannabis use, but also a decrease in the use of these other drugs

In the last twenty years we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the acceptance of cannabis on a global scale. Even in the East, where drug trafficking and use were severely punished, we have seen cannabis markets emerge.

It’s safe to say that the global “attitude” towards cannabis has changed quite dramatically and continues to change in the public sphere.

With this ongoing social redefinition of what cannabis means in public spaces, a new study suggests that legalization may have increased cannabis use by as much as 20%, according to the newspaper.

Entitled “Trends in Alcohol, Cigarette, E-Cigarette, and Nonrescribed Pain Reliever Use Among Young Adults in Washington State After Legalization of Nonmedical Cannabis” – which is pretty self-explanatory and a very specific title.

The age groups they talked about were two main groups, namely “18-20” and “21-25”. They used Washington state data from 2014 (two years after legalization) to 2019 (just before the world slipped into the seventh layer of hell).

What they found was quite interesting;

The prevalence of alcohol use, heavy episodic alcohol use (HED) and last month cigarette use, and the prevalence of past year abuse of pain medication decreased, while the prevalence of last month e-cigarette use increased since 2016 (the first year assessed). . Across years and age groups, the prevalence of non-cannabis use was higher among occasional and frequent cannabis users than among non-cannabis users. However, the associations between occasional (1–19 days in the previous month) and frequent (20+ days) cannabis use and painkiller abuse, and between frequent cannabis use and HED, weakened over time in individuals aged 21–25 years.

In other words, while cannabis use increased, there was also a decrease in alcohol use and in ‘heavy episodic drinking’, ie binge drinking. There was also a decrease in cigarette use but an increase in e-cigarette use.

This is an important finding, as they mention in their “discussion”:

Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, the introduction of legalized non-medical cannabis has coincided with a decline in alcohol and cigarette use and painkiller abuse. The weakening association of cannabis use with the use of other substances among those aged 21 to 25 requires further research, but may indicate an increased importance of cannabis-specific prevention and treatment efforts.

According to this data, the legalization of cannabis appears to be associated with a decrease in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs. All of these elements are incredibly beneficial to society as a whole.

Of course, the study also suggests that it would be best to place more emphasis on cannabis-related treatment and prevention methods. This makes sense as it appears that cannabis is rapidly gaining market share within the legal framework.

As more and more young people choose cannabis over alcohol and vaping takes the market share of cigarettes – not to mention Phillip Morris championing a smoke-free future – this trend is set to continue as there is much more profit to be made in the vaping industry .

Overall, the “experiment” of legalizing cannabis seems to be going quite well. Considering that alcohol consumption has been linked to violent crime.

A number of those serving time in prison have committed alcohol-related crimes. Offenses range from minor to serious and include property offenses, misdemeanor offenses, drunk driving, assault and homicide. On average, around 40% of inmates detained for violent crimes were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crime. Many of these criminals had an estimated blood alcohol content (BAC) of more than three times the legal limit at the time of their arrest. – Source(1)

With every person who chooses cannabis over alcohol, we potentially decrease the incidences of robbery, sexual assault, aggravated assault, intimate partner abuse, child abuse, homicide, etc. “An estimated 1.4 million alcohol-related violent crimes against strangers are committed each year.”(1)

While the study in question didn’t say how much alcohol consumption has decreased, we’re talking about 70,000 potentially thwarting alcohol-related violence, even if it’s 5%. Of course, I’m not suggesting that violent people wouldn’t use violence when stoned – there’s no evidence that cannabis deters violent impulses – but it’s certainly not a fire accelerant like in the case of alcohol.

Typically, people who smoke weed tend to be “calmer and more relaxed,” while people who drink alcohol tend to become more aggressive in their behavior. Even if legalization could help thwart 10,000 potentially violent events every year, wouldn’t that be worth the effort?

What do we do now?

While legalizing cannabis isn’t all sunshine and happiness, there are many things that can be improved. However, when we look at the overall impact cannabis can have on society, it appears that keeping it illegal costs society more than the cost of legalization.

As the study suggests, a far more rational and effective strategy would be to refine prevention and treatment programs — especially since this affects a minority of the overall consumer group. If you have effective “exit strategies,” educate the public appropriately, and break taboos on adult drug use, you can pursue sound drug policies that focus on the health of the individual, rather than punishing the masses for potential ills of the few.

We should stop debating whether or not cannabis is good for society. This has been answered. Legalization is the only way forward.

The problem we need to focus on now is, “How do you legalize on a global scale?” Depending on your geographic location, many models will surely emerge. Which is the best? We will see!

One thing I do know is that it will balance itself one way or another, offering freedom for home growers and smaller “farmer’s market” style traders, as well as for large corporate cannabis. The truth is there is enough for everyone.

The biggest problem is getting greed out of the equation. While some regulation might be a good thing, it should focus on quality control, consistency, etc. for commercial use. However, in smaller markets, peer-to-peer bartering, home-growing, etc. should be as free as possible.

The fact is, if you embrace full cannabis acceptance and liberal legalization of the plant, you will remove the drug from the list of drugs the cartels are selling.

If the cannabis plant becomes as commonplace as the tomato – there would be no place for it on the black market.

But this should only be the first domino of many. The whole concept of drug prohibition should be abolished. After more than 50 years of active “war” on drugs, I can say without a doubt: “DRUGS WON!”

If I want to inject heroin tomorrow, I might not know where to get it. But give me about 2-3 days and I can track it down. do you need some coke Acid? Mushrooms? Any drug you can think of I can probably find within a week or two.

Illegality is not a deterrent to drug use and has consistently provided drug cartels around the world with a payroll. That’s one reason the Sinaloa Cartel was (and still is) “big shit.”

Of course, it would be naïve for me to say that we should just legalize all drugs and not restrict their use – that would be like giving a live hand grenade to a toddler to play with. I believe that certain guidelines should be in place for certain medications, but there are many medications that should have little or no restriction on a consenting adult.

After all, no one is advocating for children to use drugs – all in the context of adult consent.

The point is that we are at a stage in our global evolution where we have the opportunity to close the chapter on a war that has only brought pain and suffering at the expense of everyone. This untenable policy was used against the people as a weapon to legally confiscate property and people and force them into slave labor.

The drug war never ends. The only way we “win” is to abolish all penalties entirely and create a legal recreational drug market. Hell, Elon Musk is talking about sticking wires in people’s brains, and we can’t go to a store to buy some acid.

Is this the “clown world” I’ve been hearing so much about lately?

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