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As I’ve written several times, medicinal cannabis simply hasn’t lived up to its hype. Anecdotes abound, but anecdotes are not evidence. Sure, you can (probably truthfully) say, ‘My grandfather smoked every day of his life and lived till he was 90,’ but all that tells us is that your anecdotal grandfather was a very lucky exception. The preponderance of evidence, on the other hand, shows that the majority of people who smoke heavily are going to be very ill and die much younger than they should have.
Unfortunately, most of the anecdotes about medical cannabis just don’t hold up to the blowtorch of double-blind studies. While there is modest evidence for some specific claims, overall it’s not looking good for ‘weed, the wonder drug’. The medical miracle peddlers are just an updated bunch of snake oil salesmen.
On the other hand, has legalising cannabis unleashed the devil in the lettuce that Reefer Madness warned us about? Well, a decade or so into America’s great cannabis experiment, the evidence is also not on the side of those who’d demonise the humble hemp.
Groups like the Cato Institute have rigorously studied the evidence for both sides, and their conclusion is blunt: the grand claims of both advocates and critics have been “substantially overstated and in some cases entirely without support”.
Other studies have arrived at similar conclusions.
“Many social ills that opponents warned about a decade ago have not come to pass,” said Brian Keegan, an assistant professor in the Department of Information science who uses data to anaylze both the chemical makeup of cannabis and the evolution of the industry. “DUIs and crime did not explode following legalization. And several studies have shown that opioid use and deaths actually decline in states following legalization.”
Violent crime didn’t explode. Teen use didn’t skyrocket everywhere. But nor did the promised golden age materialise.
As CU Boulder’s Angela Bryan, who runs one of the most rigorous cannabis research labs in the country, warns cannabis use is not without risks, especially for the young.
Cannabis use is not without risk, particularly for adolescents and young adults.
“I think we can confidently say that using heavily when your brain is still developing is a bad idea,” said Bryan.
Research from Tiffany Ito, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, has shown that college students tend to drink more alcohol when using marijuana, a combination that can potentially impact grades and graduation status.
Other CU Boulder research has found that heavy cannabis use among teens may boost risk of sleep problems later in life, and use among pregnant women may increase risk of sleep problems in their children.
But Bryan also points out that post-legalisation research is painting a more nuanced picture than the scary PSAs of the 1950s. “Before, research focused almost exclusively on the harms because it was only thought of as an illegal substance. Now we can focus on the full continuum.”
For instance, Bryan’s lab found that:
The myth of the bong-smoking, Dorito-munching couch potato does not bear out in the research.
In fact, the opposite may be true.
“The epidemiological data are pretty clear: Cannabis users have a lower body mass index, better waist-to-hip-ratio and are more likely to meet exercise recommendations than non-users,” Bryan said. “They also have better insulin function.”
It’s hard to tell what is causing what, because the studies have been done in places where marijuana is legal and in many of those states, like Colorado, a healthy lifestyle is the norm.
But, as is so often the case, the market tells the real story: which is that medical marijuana was very much a Trojan Horse for people who just wanted to get high without risking a criminal record.
States which legalised followed the much same pattern: decriminalise > medicalise > recreational free-for-all. Once the medical beachhead was secured, the recreational market swallowed it whole. Colorado’s $2 billion-a-year industry is overwhelmingly recreational.
Surprisingly, perhaps, one promise of legalisation that was sold as its great virtue, reducing the black market, has not only failed to materialise, but the opposite has happened.
Another touted benefit of legalisation was that states could reap the tax benefit. This has become true enough: Colorado pulls in nearly $20 million a month from recreational sales alone. And that may be what has driven the perverse outcome that, in many states, the black market has actually grown.
Simply because, like tobacco smokers fuelling the booming illegal cigarette trade, stoners don’t much like paying a buttload of tax, either. High taxes and heavy regulation simply priced legal product out of reach for some users. The criminal element didn’t vanish: it adapted. Cash-only businesses, smuggling across state lines, and underground grows are still thriving. The Cato team found “little to no effect” on overall crime rates after legalisation. The underground trade didn’t disappear – it just got more sophisticated.
That is, it might be said, less an argument against legalised recreational weed, than it is against greedy governments and their addiction to taking money by force – oops, I mean taxation – off citizens just trying to have a good time.
