Legal Weed? We Better Think …

(Opinion) Back in 1968 Aretha Franklin’s, ​“Think,” reached the pinnacle of the Hot R&B singles chart and rose to number 7 on the Hot 100. It’s a classic, ultimately becoming the unofficial feminist anthem of its time. The Queen of Soul declared, ​“You better think … think what you’re doing to me.”

Now, 50 years later, amidst the current stampede to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Connecticut, the old classic keeps creeping into my psyche like a melodic warning of impending danger.

The color of the day of changing cannabis laws sweeping the nation is certainly green. The passion for green leaves and green buds seems to be largely driven by the potential for many, many green dollars. 

As a nation, we had better learn to navigate these waters with careful consideration lest we be carried away. We really do need to ​“think” and demand that our legislators do the same. Granted, it’s time for a change, but the degree, scope and parameters of such change need to be thoroughly thought through.

There is too much at stake and too much that can go wrong. If dollar signs become the primary driving force that shapes policy without regard to other key factors, we are already too high for our own good. Our thinking is already far too clouded and what we get when this wave crashes may not be what is in the best interest of the generations to come. Yes, we had better think…

Arrest Disparity And Sheer Volume

To be certain, the criminalization of marijuana has led to gross injustices along racial lines. Our prisons are filled disproportionately with people of color as a result of the failed war on drugs. While statistics show that Blacks are likely to use marijuana at roughly the same rate as Whites, marijuana arrests of Blacks are 3.7 times greater. From a justice perspective, clearly there needs to be some changes made to the laws.

We are not talking small numbers. According to the ACLU, between the years 2001 and 2010 there were over eight million marijuana arrests in the U.S. Regardless of the racial makeup of the arrestees, eight million is an alarming number! Even if we fully accept the recent marketing pitches that marijuana is a relatively and comparatively harmless drug, that volume of arrests amounts to a lot of unnecessary due process (about $3.6 billion worth of it per year) and negatively impacted lives.

Granted, some of those arrests were totally justifiable, but not eight million. Locking people away and burdening them with an arrest record for minor pot violations is ludicrous. In Seattle, where recreational pot is now legal, steps have already been taken to vacate misdemeanor marijuana convictions. It’s a noble attempt to ​“un-ruin” some lives that were victimized in the days of highly enforced marijuana law enforcement.

Based upon these factors alone, there is cause to make some changes in the law, but there are many other factors that must first be taken into consideration

Think Realistically About The Revenue Shift

Criminal drug dealers and the for-profit prison system are the financial beneficiaries of illegally generated marijuana related revenue. While some argue in favor of legalization as a way of keeping revenue out of the hands of the criminal element and diminishing the potentially lethal impact of God-only-knows-what’s‑really-in-it street sales, we would be foolish to think that the criminal element will be eliminated. Criminals will adjust, not disappear.

The reality is that legalization will translate to regulation, and regulation will mean higher cost of goods sold and ultimately elevated retail prices. For as long as there is an opportunity to sell a cheaper or purportedly more potent product, there will continue to be an illegal market.

Colorado proponents of legalized recreational marijuana touted the prospect of reduced crime as one of the major justifications for their stance. Reduced crime has simply not been the reality. The black market is thriving and even growing. In Denver, there has been a 1000 percent spike in the amount of illegal marijuana seized — 937 pounds in 2011 versus over four tons in 2016. Some of the seized goods included Colorado pot heading to Prohibitionist states throughout the nation. Sadly, there is enough business to go around for everyone, both the legal market and the drug cartels. It’s big business and the cartels are not not about to let it go, even if it means murder. 

Forbes magazine reports, ​“California officials say marijuana legalization causing more violent crimes.” Quoting a report from the Cloverdale Reveille, The Forbes piece indicated, “[In] Sonoma County, which is around 100 miles outside San Francisco, some officials are complaining that all of this legal weed business has done nothing for their community but spawn ​“home invasions, violent crimes and robberies.”
In fairness though, the majority of major and violent crimes is associated with the theft and transport of goods from states where legalization has been embraced to states where it has not. If there were a national legalization policy, much of the high stakes violent crime could theoretically be eliminated.

According to The Gazette out of Colorado Springs, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman laments that there remains plenty of Mexican drug cartel money in Colorado and that illegal activity ​“has not decreased at all.” Furthermore, they report ​“Mexican drug producers have shifted their crops from marijuana to opium poppies — which produce the black tar heroin that has ravaged many parts of the country — and they’re ramping up production of methamphetamine.“

Last year, U.S. law enforcement agencies seized more than 2,100 kilograms of heroin coming from Mexico — almost triple the amount confiscated in 2009 — and about 15,800 kilograms of meth, up from 3,076 kilos in the same period… If legalizing marijuana is a chess move to thwart the cartels, we had had better anticipate and prepare ourselves for their next move!

Think Beyond The Revenue Streams

It is true that legalized marijuana will open up the doors for billions in legal profits. State coffers will be bolstered by increased tax revenues. Colorado pot-related revenues went from $68 million in 2014 to $247 million in 2017. Viewed from a tower of ignorance, that sounds great. It sounds like a promising answer to state budget woes across the nation.

While proponents of total legalization are seeing dollar signs flash in front of their eyes, they often fail to consider the inevitable and potentially outweighing costs to society that will also be incurred. In the same way that alcohol has had its cost to society, increased marijuana consumption will take its own toll. According to legalization opponent, pharmacist Robert Mabee, costs associated with treatment, injuries, loss of work and damage to property are predicted to exceed the potential tax revenues generated.

When dollars stand to be made, greed can become a blinding force. We tend to myopically see what we want to see, and fail to consider the dangerous downstream effects. Clever marketers have made a science, an often amoral and sometimes immoral science of increasing their revenue share.

Joe Camel of cigarette fame may or may not have been intentionally aimed at young people, but it was certainly suspicious and warranted concern. More recently, we see e‑cigarette maker Juul having an apparent awakening regarding social media marketing that was, as some feared, appealing to young people.

Vaping among children and teens has become a genuine epidemic, up 900% in recent years. It took the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s announced investigation into e‑cigarette marketing to cause them to have second thoughts and change their tactics. There is much more that needs to be done in the areas of education and regulation concerning vaping. It’s not as ​“harmless” as most people believe.

There are cues from the current e‑cigarette learning curve that need to be translated to the coming pot wave. As marijuana becomes increasingly legal and the greed factor takes full effect, real thought needs to be given in advance as to the kinds of constraints that will need to be placed on marketing efforts, education and regulation.

It won’t be just big businesses that seek to cash in. Individuals and small Mom and Pop operations understandably want a piece of this potentially lucrative green pie too. But here again, the floodgate cannot be opened up without necessary constraints put in place in advance. People are already looking for points of access into the perceived new green goldmine. A Google search of the term ​“how to make money with legalized marijuana” resulted in several pages of results suggesting everything from potently lucrative stock IPO’s to ​“Bud and Breakfast” cannabis friendly lodging.

On the television news recently, there was a story about wedding planners offering pot themed weddings featuring bongs and cannabis laced appetizers and candies. Any kids at these weddings? America is built on marketing niches, often without regard to perhaps unintended, but inevitable negative impact.

Think About The Children

Consider Colorado. They first allowed medical use of marijuana in 2000 but availability didn’t take off until 2009 when the Feds backed down on prosecution. Recreational use of marijuana became available in January 2014. A 2016 study reported by the journal JAMA Pediatrics showed that the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, including toddlers increased 150 percent in the two years following the introduction of recreational marijuana. This is particularly attributed to the appearance of so-called edibles, cannabis-laced cookies and candies making their legal appearance on the counters and tabletops of people’s homes.

The data comes from marijuana related visits to hospitals, urgent care centers, and a Regional Poison Control Center. There were nearly 250 such cases during the study period. A similar study out of France, where cannabis is illegal but use is high revealed a 133 percent increase in children who were admitted to emergency rooms for unintentional marijuana intoxication over an 11-year period. Between the two studies it is clear that the more available/utilized marijuana is among adults, the greater the very real danger to children.

Of particular concern is the impact of pot smoking on the teenage brain. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (see below) has much to say on the matter.

Think About The Long-Term Implications

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as reported on its ​“Drug Facts” page, here are some of the major reported concerns. Without stirring up an unwarranted ​“Reefer Madness” frenzy, these issues represent valid concerns that deserve serious thought. The list of marijuana-related dangers below is paraphrased and supplemented with my own commentary.

• Adverse impact on brain development in teenagers, potentially impairing thinking, memory, and learning functions. One referenced study out of New Zealand reported a non-recovering IQ drop of 8 points in people who started heavy marijuana use as teens. While no one is talking about legalizing marijuana for teens, the reality is that making it legal for adult recreational use will make it much more readily available to teens.

• Potential adverse physical effects. Among the physical problems reported are, breathing problems, increased heart rate, problems with child development during and after pregnancy, and intense nausea and vomiting.

• Potential mental effects include temporary hallucinations, temporary paranoia, worsening of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among teens.

• Quality of life. Compared to non-users, heavy users report lower life satisfaction, poorer mental health, poorer physical health, more relationship problems, less academic and career success.

• ​“Gateway Drug?” Not everyone who uses marijuana will move on to more dangerous drugs, but scientific evidence does show concerning connections between marijuana use and enhanced responses to other addictive substances, including an increase in addiction-like behaviors.

Think About The Potential Loss Of Competitive Edge And Diminishment Of Life Fulfillment?

Unquestionably, we live in an increasingly competitive world. In order to rise to the peak of our potential we need to stay at our best. No doubt, some individuals can get ahead while dabbling in a recreational buzz here and there. There are plenty of lawyers, business people and other professionals who manage to do well despite their (currently) illicit marijuana habits. The problem is that this ability is not universal.

Some who think that they are just harmlessly ​“dabbling” are actually diminishing their potential, their relationships, and their lasting joy. For some, it will be a costly path to choose; get high on chemicals, or reach the heights of their potential in life. We all need to find our own ways to reduce the impact of stressors in our lives, but clearly some options for doing so impose a higher cost than anyone should rationally be willing to pay.

Among regular pot smokers, the reduction in the brain’s production of dopamine (the chemical that is linked to motivation and reward-driven behavior) is scientifically proven. Many are adversely affecting their highest potential snuffing out the brain’s natural driving forces. Their motivation and competitive drive are going up in a cloud of smoke. People who are trying to get ahead, particularly against racial, gender, socio-economic odds or traumatic experiences cannot afford to dull their drive in this manner.

Think About The Impact On Public Safety

I was privileged to have my first car with me up in Boston for my sophomore year at Northeastern University. It was a 1967 Toyota Corona. While the car was already about six years old when purchased, it served the purpose of getting me around town and back home to family on holidays and vacations. It was the first vehicle I ever owned and my first vehicle to have an accident. While high on pot and distracted fiddling with the radio, I managed to hit a parked car. Fortunately, no one was hurt. While I can look at my relative driving inexperience and the distraction as contributing factors, there is no way to discount the role that the marijuana played. It was a major factor in the accident.

Scientists are now debating the methodologies of study and their early conclusions regarding the impact that marijuana has had on accident rates in states where it has been legalized. Although driving under the influence of alcohol is acknowledged to be significantly more deleterious to public safety, driving under the influence of marijuana is far from safe.

There is enough data already collected to cause David Zuby, the executive vice president and chief research officer of the Institute for Highway Safety to state, ​“Worry that legalized marijuana is increasing crash rates isn’t misplaced. [The Highway Loss Data Institute’s] findings on the early experience of Colorado, Oregon and Washington should give other states eyeing legalization pause.” Yes, we had better pause to think about what needs to be done in advance to minimize the potentially life-threatening impact of hosting greater numbers of impaired drivers on our roads.

What We Really Need To Think About

Does the world really need to legitimize more ways to get a buzz? Honestly, if it were up to me I would love to see the nation take a pass on complete legalization for recreational use and simply make sure that proper guidelines and restrictions are in place concerning medical use. The reality is that this recreational wave is already in motion. It’s coming to a state near you whether you like it or not.

I simply want the legislators who will usher in new laws to know that we are watching you. It would do us well to heed the cautions coming out of Canada. After fighting an uphill and very expensive battle to close down brazen and very stubborn illegal marijuana retail stores, Canada ultimately gave in. Just one month ago Canada began what many are referring to as a ​“national experiment” by becoming the first major world economy to legalize recreational marijuana.

According to the New York Times, Mike Farnworth, British Columbia’s minister of public safety says of the national change, ​“It’s an octopus with many tentacles, and there are many unknowns, adding, ​“I don’t think that when the federal government decided to legalize marijuana it thought through all of the implications.” (Italics added). Yes, my point exactly.

Please, my dear local legislators, think it through before moving forward, not after the fact. Do not take the downsides lightly. Do not get carried away in the wave without considering the debris that will come along with it. Don’t sell out future generations for the sake of closing budget gaps.

There is much more to consider than green dollars and the promise of good times. Consider all of the dollar implications, both the income and the outflow. Consider the offset to those promised good times.

They won’t all be good. In fact, it’s likely that some of the future that is now being staged will bring great sorrow to many.

Change is justified, but not without careful consideration and precautions in place. Along with lessening the penalties around personal possession, there needs to be significant stiffening of penalties for those who would selfishly abuse the privilege. As you make your decisions, please consider the intervention, education, and regulations that will minimize the downstream negativity that could very well influence generations to come.

We’re watching you. You better THINK.

Todd C. Foster is the former lead pastor of New Haven’s Church on the Rock. He can be reached by email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and by phone at (203) 654‑9744.