Marijuana
LivWell store manager Carlyssa Scanlon shows off some of the products available in the marijuana line marketed by rapper Snoop Dogg in one of the marijuana chain's outlets south of downtown Denver.
 AP/David Zalubowski
 
By Daily Journal 
The nation and the populace is adjusting itself to the trend of legalizing marijuana.
A national study reported in The Washington Post reveals 61 percent of the nation opposes any prohibition on marijuana. In Illinois, the legalization is for medicinal purposes.
But here's the rub, as the laws against marijuana use are loosened, more are using it. More troubling, the number of people who use it regularly is up dramatically.
As The Post says, the percent of adults who smoke marijuana has risen from 10.4 percent of the population in 2002 to 14.1 percent in 2016. In short, we have gone from about one in 10 to one in seven. There is the occasional weekend smoker. Then, there is the steady consumer.
The survey found about one in every five users of marijuana smokes it just about every day.

That figure has risen by 50 percent since 2002. Many people compare daily recreational use of marijuana to, say, a daily glass of wine. It might interest you to note, the survey says, the percentage of marijuana smokers who consume every day is three times as great as the percentage of wine drinkers who drink every day.
There is no going back. But it is also time to send a warning. Daily use is not for everyone. Can you afford it? Is it affecting your judgment?
There is a parallel here with gambling, which society also largely has legalized. For many people it is acceptable when moderation is practiced. There are others, though, who are badly hurt by it through addictive, destructive behavior.
The vast majority of marijuana stories we have seen in the past decade are all about the bucks the government is making or will make. What seems to get lost is the adage of "use responsibly." You get those warnings in beer ads and for the lottery. They might pertain to drugs, too.