*Updated 2024
Long regarded as a social ill, support for recreational marijuana use has been gaining traction across the United States and the globe. Twenty four states have legalized it for recreational use, and 13 states allow the drug for medicinal purposes. With Canada having legalized marijuana in 2018 and other countries following suit, it is more important than ever to understand the possible economic, social, and health impacts – good and bad – that have accompanied or may still accompany increased access to marijuana. While proponents of legalization believe marijuana’s biggest drawback to be increased calorie intake, health professionals and lawmakers have offered less optimistic analyses. However, the tide might be turning since federal researchers’ recently recommended that restrictions on marijuana be eased because it is less risky and prone to abuse than other tightly controlled substances
In this article, we’ll explore the question of whether legalized marijuana a pitfall to be avoided, or the inevitable recognition of the non-criminal nature of one of America’s most popular pastimes.
Just say no.
Growing green isn’t green.
Federal law, security concerns, and desire to produce plants with higher levels of THC have driven domestic cannabis producers to grow their crops indoors, at a truly hefty price for the environment. Indoor pot production has a massive carbon footprint. The electricity consumption of marijuana growhouses is significant. For example, one indoor growing facility can require as much lighting as operating rooms in hospitals, which, themselves, are 500 times greater than the recommended reading light levels. Denver’s indoor pot farms accounted for an estimated 4% of the city’s total electricity consumption in 2018. In total, cannabis production has been estimated to cost $6 billion in energy expenditures a year and predicted to hit $37 billion in sales by 2026. As the globe’s second biggest producer of carbon emissions, the US should not support the rise of another industry with unsustainable energy demands.
Legalized marijuana poses real threats to public health and safety.
Just like smoking cigarettes, smoking pot contributes to the development of respiratory diseases and increased risk to lung health. In addition, doctors and health officials assert that there is a direct connection between marijuana use and psychosis and schizophrenia. With the legalization of marijuana use, the prevalence of marijuana-related illnesses may grow with the number of people who use it. For example, following legalization, Colorado health professionals noted a surge in cases of extreme illness in children who ingested marijuana edibles (it is no help that many such edibles look exactly like gummy bears). Law enforcement, too, has complained of the difficulty of identifying drugged drivers, whose level of intoxication cannot be easily verified as with alcohol. In addition, research suggests that drivers under the influence of marijuana are 1.65 times more likely to be responsible for fatal accidents.
Legalized weed is detrimental to the poor.
Various studies have established a connection between the risk factors of poverty and substance use and abuse. Liquor store owners have either exploited or contributed to this reality; most low-income neighborhoods have a disproportionately high number of liquor stores. California marijuana dispensaries took notes from urban liquor stores and have been setting up shop in Los Angeles’s poorest neighborhoods for over a decade. The same phenomena repeated itself in Denver, where over 200 grow and sell operations have flooded low-income areas since weed became legal.
Don’t criticize it, legalize it.
Legalization is correlated with lower rates of drug abuse.
Somewhat counterintuitively, one of the more effective ways to discourage drug use is to legalize it. When Portugal decriminalized all drugs, the country’s drug abuse rates were cut in half and there was no increase in use of weed or any other substance. Still today, rates of drug use in the country remain below the EU average. Other drug-tolerant nations, like the Netherlands, show significantly lower rates of lifetime and occasional marijuana use. One year after Colorado legalized recreational pot use for adults, a survey of 17,000 high school students showed a decline in teen marijuana use. The rate was still on the downswing even as of 2021. It seems marijuana legalization may have stripped the drug of its rebellious appeal and returned Colorado teens to other means of weekend thrills.
Prohibition is extremely expensive.
Throughout America, municipalities that support decriminalization (legalization’s half-sister) policies, have saved money on drug enforcement. For instance, sources estimate that state and local governments spend around $29 billion on marijuana prohibition annually, with an additional $18 billion spent by the federal government. Meanwhile, full marijuana legalization would bring in $19 billion in state and local tax revenue and $39 billion in federal tax revenue. Clearly, the legalization of marijuana can cut government spending. This consequently saves resources for other societal uses (like finding a new approach to dealing with the country’s ongoing opioid crisis). Not to mention, the legalization of marijuana can generate tax revenue that could go towards transferring income from drug producers and consumers to public funds.
The pot industry creates jobs and bolsters the economy.
The global legal marijuana market size is estimated to reach $102.2 billion by the end of 2030, according to a Grand View Research, Inc. report. If that’s not telling enough, a study conducted by the Marijuana Policy Group concluded that Colorado’s legalized pot industry created 18,000 jobs and generated over $2 billion in economic activity in 2015. Since then, the marijuana industry has boosted a number of business sectors, from agriculture to materials to transportation. Even more so, the industry has brought US veterans back to work, through security positions on farms and in dispensaries. In an economy where workers regularly lose jobs to overseas operations and automation, governments cannot afford to turn their backs on industries that create new opportunities for their citizens to earn a decent living.
The Bottom Line: There is plenty of evidence to suggest that marijuana legalization has been a boon for the states that have introduced it, but as South Park creator Trey Parker cautioned, the consequences of marijuana use might be different than we expect: “Pot makes you feel fine with being bored and it’s when you’re bored that you should be learning a new skill… If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you’re not good at anything.” Does that ring true for you? How do you think marijuana legalization will affect people?
