It’s been a little over a decade since cannabis was first legalized recreationally in the United States. As of today, recreational weed is legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia, and Americans have never been more pro-weed. In a Gallup poll from last November, 70 percent of U.S. adults said they support the federal legalization of marijuana, up from 50 percent in 2013 and a mere twelve percent in 1969.
In May, the Biden administration moved to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I, where it sits alongside heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, a category of drugs that the DEA says have a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” States with legal marijuana report economic benefits, a reduced burden on the criminal justice system, and positive health outcomes for patients with chronic pain and epilepsy.
But is legal cannabis really such a no-brainer? A recent study found that marijuana use—whether through smoking, edibles, or vapes—is associated with a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Other studies have consistently shown that so-called “high-potency cannabis” increases the risk of psychotic episodes in young users.
Today, a debate with two leading advocates both for and against the legalization of marijuana: has decriminalization worked? Or should it be reconsidered with more sober eyes? And is the most widely used and most socially acceptable illicit drug in the world, actually. . . dangerous?
Dr. Peter Grinspoon is a physician and medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana.
Kevin Sabet was a drug policy adviser for presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. He is the co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an advocacy group that has emerged as the leading opponent of marijuana legalization in the United States. He is the author of Smoke Screen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know.
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Well, that was a lopsided win.
It was as though the good doctor was commenting with as much interest and feeling as he could muster from from a deck chair on the yacht from which he was recording, while Sabet was speaking directly from the trenches, reporting the world at it is, with the energy and forcefulness that that world demands.
For my part, from the far southwestern corner of Massachusetts, ground zero on the eastern seaboard for legalized weed, I can report that the physical and mental harms are all around, and it is, in large part, young people of modest means who are bearing them.
Peter was my primary care doctor back in the 2000's. He and I are the same age and have similar family demographics. I assumed it would be a lifelong partnership, but at the time, he was battling addiction and dropped out of private practice for a while. I respect his opinions, but from what I can see, legal weed is doing more harm than good.