Pot is dangerous, not funny -- a doctor tells us why

The legalization of marijuana became a hot topic in the past week. First, recreational use of the drug became legal in California at the start of 2018. Next, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would allow U.S. attorneys to decide whether to enforce federal laws outlawing the use and sale of pot in states that have legalized the drug.

Sessions ended an Obama administration policy that discouraged federal prosecutors from enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that allow the drug’s medical or recreational use. It’s not clear yet what impact the attorney general’s action will have.

As a physician, my doctoring knowledge tells me that making marijuana legally available is a bad idea, except perhaps for certain medical conditions. Marijuana is a potent mind-altering drug that can cause serious harm, as I explain below. It will be just one more substance we have to warn our children to stay away from.

As we all know, many people use marijuana even where it remains illegal. But legalization will lead to increased use and make many people believe it is not all that dangerous.

The growing acceptance of legalized pot is an alarming trend. It has quickly spread in the past few years and today seven states and Washington, D.C., allow recreational marijuana. A total of 29 states and the District of Columbia allow some form of medical marijuana.

Sadly, it’s very likely that the American people will become more and more acclimated to marijuana use in the years ahead, acknowledging it as just another way to “feel good.”

It sure looked like CNN was doing its best to indoctrinate the public on the normalization and acceptance of marijuana. As a medical doctor, I found this encouragement and joking to be both irresponsible and disappointing.
How do we as a society benefit from legalizing marijuana? Maybe it makes sense from a financial standpoint – perhaps it will cut illegal sales and it will certainly generate tax revenue and create jobs. But what about the overall health of our citizens? Shouldn’t that take precedence? Can there not be other creative ideas for generating money and reigning in crime?

From a health standpoint, why is legalization of another mind-altering drug the right thing to do? The U.S. is already in the midst of a devastating prescription opioid and heroin crisis. And individuals from all walks of life struggle with the abuse of alcohol and drugs.

It may be too late, but taking an illegal drug and making it legal needs to be well-thought out, to determine what impact this major step will have on future generations.

Too often, marijuana is treated as a harmless substance – something to joke and giggle about, and something that we see the people we admire on TV, in movies and elsewhere enjoying as a break from the workaday world. The message? Treat yourself to an ice cream cone, a piece of cake, a beer or some pot. It’s OK to enjoy yourself.

There was no better illustration of this then when the cool guys and gals at CNN celebrated the arrival of the 2018 on New Year’s Eve with what turned into a nationally televised pot party.

“The most trusted name in news” televised a haze of marijuana smoke enveloping party-goers at a Denver New Year’s Eve celebration. The “puff, pass and paint” party was spotlighted by CNN reporter Randi Kaye, featuring revelers partaking of “hits,” and using bongs and even a special gas mask while getting high in the mile-high city.

It sure looked like CNN was doing its best to indoctrinate the public on the normalization and acceptance of marijuana. As a medical doctor, I found this encouragement and joking to be both irresponsible and disappointing.

What is marijuana?

Let me give you some facts about marijuana that every American should know.

Similar to hemp, marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems and seeds from the cannabis plant. The plant’s primary mind-altering chemical comes from delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It can be smoked; vaped (inhaling the vapor); eaten when mixed in foods such as brownies, cookies or candy; or brewed as tea.

What is especially concerning is the fact that the marijuana of today is not the same as it was back in the 1960s or 1970s. Over the past few decades, the concentration of THC in the cannabis plant has been increasing, making it more potent than ever.

A fairly recent popular method of getting high is smoking THC-rich resins extracted from the plant. Extracts are quite powerful, delivering very large amounts of THC to the body. This has sent many users to the emergency room.