By Ed Feulner
A lot of things can date an old movie or TV show: clothes, furniture,
cars. And another thing: cigarettes. They’re all over the place in many
films, markers of an era when smoking was far more common.
It
took a while—the surgeon general’s report came out five decades ago—but
the percentage of smokers has declined, and rather drastically. Growing
awareness of the health risks of tobacco helped bring a sharp drop in
public acceptance.
So why are we witnessing the total opposite when it comes to marijuana?
At
one time, marijuana was widely (and correctly) perceived as
detrimental, and acceptance was low. Today, however, polls show that
some 60 percent of Americans think it should be legalized. Four states
(Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska) have done just that,
legalizing it entirely, while 23 states and the District of Columbia
approve it for medical use. Why this sea change?
It’s not because
we’ve learned that the health risks were overstated. Advocates have
insisted for decades that pot is no more harmful than tobacco and
alcohol. Indeed, many go so far as to claim it’s safer. Unfortunately
for them, the medical research does not back them up.
An article
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, published last year in the New
England Journal of Medicine, documents many negative effects of
marijuana use.
And the research continues to pile up, showing how it can
harm the developing teenage brain, increase the risk of heart attack,
and diminish IQ.
“More than smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol,
smoking marijuana can damage the heart, lungs and brain,” write William
J. Bennett and Robert A. White in the new book “Going to Pot.”
“Moreover, it immediately impairs cognitive abilities and motor
coordination, interfering with the smoker’s judgment, driving skills,
and other basic abilities.”
It delivers more tar to the lungs than
tobacco does, along with cancer-causing chemicals. Many long-term or
heavy users develop symptoms of chronic bronchitis. In high doses,
paranoia and psychosis result.
Many older adults who remember
“smoking a little grass” back in school may scoff. Hey, they used it,
and they’re just fine, right? What many of them don’t realize is that
today’s marijuana is very different from the allegedly harmless joint
passed around a party back in the ’70s or ’80s. Today’s pot is much more
potent.
Years ago, the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the
stuff that gets you high) in marijuana was much lower—around 3 to 5
percent. But today’s “turbo pot” tends to be around 13 percent, and up
to 20 or even 30 percent in some cases.
“It is like comparing a
twelve-ounce glass of beer with a twelve-ounce glass of 80 proof vodka,”
writes Bennett, former drug czar for the United States. “Both contain
alcohol, but they have vastly different effects on the body when
consumed.”
The main reason for the shift is the advent of “medical
marijuana.” That put a halo of safety around the substance, making
those who oppose it seem insensitive to the needs of people in chronic
pain.
But, Bennett and White point out, it’s not as if doctors are
prescribing it in places where it’s legal. In most places, a physician
gives a patient who says he’s suffering “severe pain” a note that allows
him (and the vast majority are, in fact, males under 35) to obtain a
medical marijuana card.
The pot he can then get is of unproven safety or
purity—and much of it winds up in the hands of children and teenagers.
There’s
another reason this shift occurred: Our nation’s leaders are no longer
sounding the alarm on drugs as they once did. When hardly anyone hears a
word about the many health problems associated with pot, and everything
they do hear is about how medically beneficial it is, should we be
surprised public opinion has changed so much?
Thanks to a long, sustained campaign, we successfully stigmatized tobacco use. The same can—and should—be done with marijuana.
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