I recently made one of my best purchases. I’ve been listening to Dragnet, the old time radio show which ran from 1949 to 1957 and consists of dramatizations of police officers solving crimes. It later became a TV show, and ran until 1970, all starring Jack Webb. For about $15 on Amazon, I was able to purchase 60 hours of the show; it’s been good fun.
In many of these old episodes, the police officers are fighting against Marijuana dealers and suppliers. Those who use marijuana in the show lead depressed impoverished lives. And those who sell marijuana are described as the scum of the city. Times have changed.
Much of the news is now consumed with the legalization of marijuana and benefits of the Drug. These ideas started with with medical benefits of marijuana. For cancer patients, small studies have shown that marijuana can alleviate nausea and pain [1]. For AIDs patients, it can help with food consumption [1]. A clinical trial in Israel indicates that marijuana extracts help children afflicted with Autism [2]. There are many more examples of likely medical benefits of marijuana. I, personally, know a cancer survivor who uses marijuana to alleviate much of the pain that she continues to feel; it’s been an extremely beneficial influence in this person’s life.
More recently, marijuana has been lauded as a recreational drug and is becoming legal across the world. Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational marijuana and sold over $1B within 10 months [3]. Now, 10 different states in the US have legalized the recreational use of marijuana (though it still remains illegal according to Federal law) [4]. And the benefits of marijuana continue to be heralded. A recent study indicates that women experience increased sexual desire and improved orgasms with marijuana use [5]. Another shows that marijuana use amongst couples can heighten intimacy in their relationship [6].
So what happened to the themes of the Dragnet stories? Where are all the delinquents that marijuana caused? Those details remain, but they are much harder to find. After marijuana was legalized in Colorado, hospital visits due to car accidents, alcohol abuse, and drug overdoses increased [7]. A study of the biochemistry of the brain indicates that marijuana use reduces an individual’s motivation [8]. Another study finds that marijuana use increases the risk of a psychotic disorder [9]. And several studies show that marijuana users often move on to drugs with stronger addictive and altering effects [10,11].
Nevertheless, we (as a nation) are now permitting (or moving towards permission for) people to use the drug, either for their medical benefit or for recreation. There are, of course, risks and adverse health effects to drug use; presumably people will be made responsible for their own decisions. Or will they?
At the same time that marijuana legalization has passed over a tipping point, we are fighting the use of a legal drug. Specifically, the use of opioids is now called a crisis [13]. One might note that opioids have their own medical benefits including the reduction or elimination of pain for those suffering from disease. And many people enjoy legal opioids recreationally (e.g. Hydrocodone), though illegally, much like marijuana is enjoyed. But in an incredible show of hypocrisy, we are simultaneously mounting massive support for marijuana and massive opposition to opioids.
Currently, 44 states have sued Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyCotin, alleging deceptive marketing of the drug [14,15]. Legislatures have reduced the prescribing limits of the drug [16,17]. And Purdue Pharma, seeing mounting pressure from bad press, has voluntarily reduced its marketing of the drug [18].
The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, have “disputed the lawsuit[s] through a spokesperson’s statement, which called it a misguided attempt to place blame where it does not belong for a complex public health crisis” [19]. And they correctly note that the drug along with its prescription doses were approved by the Federal government’s Food and Drug Administration [19]. Nor did the Sackler family hide the drug’s addictive properties; they are listed on the patent application for the drug (submitted to the Federal government’s patent office) [19].
One might argue that marijuana is a much safer drug than OxyCotin. This is disputable, but let’s accept this as true for the moment. Another drug on the horizon is also making its way towards legality: Psilocybin [20,21,22]. This is the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms. Several studies have shown benefits with its use [23,24,25,26]. Others show significant detriments resulting from the drug [27].
So where does that leave us? The nation is embracing new drugs with benefits that have significant risks and rejecting another drug with benefits that has significant risks. This is the result of unprincipled thought processes and a lack of critical thinking. How long will it be before we are suing the manufacturers and distributors of marijuana for its negative effects. When will we start to blame marketing for crashes caused by driving high and for injuries resulting from people showing up and getting high on the job. How much will be consumed before we describe the Psilocybin epidemic as a crisis?
I wonder when we will permit people the freedom to make their own choices and hold them responsible for the choices they make.
[1] https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/marijuana-and-cancer.html
[2] https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/05/11/Medical-marijuana-may-help-children-with-autism/4601557582790/
[3] http://fortune.com/2016/12/13/colorado-billion-legal-marijuana-sales/
[4] https://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana-states-2018-1
[5] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-women-sex-marijuana/marijuana-may-improve-womens-enjoyment-of-sex-idUSKCN1RN2W3
[6] https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/social-instincts/201905/can-marijuana-improve-the-quality-your-relationship
[7] https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/UCSF-study-on-marijuana-legalization-finds-uptick-13847500.php?psid=5HamK
[8] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201307/does-long-term-cannabis-use-stifle-motivation
[9] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(19)30048-3
[10] , , . Stages of progression in drug involvement from adolescence to adulthood: further evidence for the gateway theory. J Stud Alcohol. 1992; 53: 447– 457.
[11] , . The natural history of drug use from adolescence to the mid‐thirties in a general population sample. Am J Public Health. 1995; 85: 41– 47.
[12] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/combating-the-opioid-crisis-one-doctor-at-a-time/2019/02/01/9d11c1a0-1a71-11e9-8813-cb9dec761e73_story.html
[13] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/combating-the-opioid-crisis-one-doctor-at-a-time/2019/02/01/9d11c1a0-1a71-11e9-8813-cb9dec761e73_story.html
[14] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/five-more-states-sue-oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-opioid-epidemic-n1006391
[15] https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/02/06/purdue-pharma-lawsuit-sacklers-opioid-crisis
[16] https://www.mainemed.com/opioid-law-q
[17] http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/prescribing-policies-states-confront-opioid-overdose-epidemic.aspx
[18] https://www.purduepharma.com/news-media/2018/02/purdue-pharma-l-p-issues-statement-on-opioid-promotion/
[19] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2019/03/28/opiod-lawsuit-sackler-purdue-pharma-drug-crisis-oxycontin/3304042002/
[20] https://www.marijuanamoment.net/california-activists-take-first-steps-to-decriminalize-psilocybin-mushrooms-statewide/
[21] https://reason.com/2019/05/06/denver-votes-on-decriminalizing-magic-mushrooms-tomorrow/
[22] https://coloradosun.com/2019/05/20/denver-magic-mushrooms-ballot-measure-still-criminal/
[23] https://www.inverse.com/article/55918-lsd-psilocybin-alcohol-addiction-stop
[24] https://www.psypost.org/2019/03/a-single-dose-of-psilocybin-enhances-creative-thinking-and-empathy-up-to-seven-days-after-use-study-finds-53283
[25] de Veen, Bas TH, et al. “Psilocybin for treating substance use disorders?.” Expert review of neurotherapeutics 17.2 (2017): 203-212.
[26] Carhart-Harris, Robin L., et al. “Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study.” The Lancet Psychiatry 3.7 (2016): 619-627.
[27] Espiard, Marie-Laure, et al. “Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder after psilocybin consumption: a case study.” European psychiatry 20.5-6 (2005): 458-460.
