Over the last decade, the drive to legalize marijuana has been the subject of a significant public relations campaign. Throughout the country, the push to erase any stigma associated with marijuana has essentially become part of contemporary pop culture. In a vast effort to influence perceptions, musicians, actors, media personalities, and professional athletes have endorsed legalization of THC.
Now, the propaganda calling for the legalization of marijuana and THC-laced products like gummy bears and vapes has reached the steps of Pennsylvania’s capitol.
Under the guise of bipartisanship, one Republican and four Democratic state senators introduced Senate Bill 846, which would legalize the use and sale of high-potency marijuana and THC drugs in the Keystone State. As we’ve seen in other states that have experimented with full-scale commercialization of these drugs, this measure will do more harm than good.
Serious consequences for public safety should be top among Pennsylvanians’ concerns. An analysis from 2020 showed that a staggering 24.3% of drivers involved in fatal traffic crashes tested positive for marijuana — an increase from 14.8% just seven years earlier. Moreover, in Michigan, the percentage of people who tested positive for marijuana use in fatal car crashes tripled between 2004 (6.7%) and 2017 (23.4%). Legalizing these drugs would undoubtedly make Pennsylvania’s roads less safe.
Next, consider the numerous health concerns associated with marijuana, especially today’s high-potency pot products. Emergency room visits have skyrocketed in other states following the launch of commercial pot shops. There were more than 918,000 marijuana-related emergency department visits in 2022, up from 804,000 in 2021. The causes of these hospital visits range from a toddler inadvertently ingesting a parent’s edibles to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, characterized as severe marijuana-induced screaming and vomiting.
Additionally, research shows that marijuana users were about 25% more likely to be hospitalized or go to the emergency room than non-marijuana users. Today’s pot is scary stuff.
California saw an 89% increase in emergency department visits because of marijuana use, according to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. Colorado had a 148% increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations after the drug was legalized. And Arizona witnessed a startling 267% increase in emergency room admissions due to marijuana use between 2012 and 2020.
Given this data, it is abundantly clear that politicians pushing legalization are paving the way for a health-care crisis at a time when Pennsylvania’s hospitals are already facing capacity and staffing issues.
The industry’s public relations campaign is meant to woo politicians and users; it does not address the real, proven dangers of today’s THC drugs, which remain federally illegal. Multiple studies have shown a correlation between states legalizing marijuana and a precipitous rise in adverse health conditions, especially in children.
Research shows that the more states legalize marijuana, the more susceptible children are to ingesting marijuana products, leading to disastrous consequences, such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and seizures. A growing body of scientific and medical evidence links marijuana use to IQ loss, psychosis, suicidality, and schizophrenia. Not surprisingly, nearly all medical associations oppose the legalization of marijuana and are concerned about its harms.
In addition to the false advertising that describes these drugs as “recreation,” the industry has spent millions convincing elected officials and civic leaders that commercialization equals social justice. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pot shops in America’s cities have their heaviest concentrations in lower-income and minority neighborhoods. African Americans were still twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana in Colorado and Washington, both states that have legalized recreational use and sales.
Commercial sales of marijuana and THC-laced drugs also haven’t been the economic boon elected officials hoped for. The health and public safety consequences of commercializing addictive drugs means that every $1 in marijuana tax revenue is outweighed by $4.50 in costs to mitigate its harmful effects.
This isn’t 2010. Elected officials can no longer plead ignorance to the reality of buying into another addiction-for-profit industry’s marketing line. The data is increasingly clear. Today’s high-potency marijuana products create dangerous and unhealthy outcomes. The pot industry is a clear threat to the welfare of Pennsylvanians. There’s very little good that comes from using marijuana, unless you’re an investor in a pot company.
Some of Pennsylvania’s most powerful and influential legislators want to ignore the facts. Pennsylvanians should not let them cause unnecessary harm just so a few people can get rich and high.
(Kevin A. Sabet is a former White House drug policy advisor to Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. He is currently the President and CEO of the non-profit Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). This article was originally published by RealClearPennsylvania.)
