The Harmful Impact of Marijuana Increases in American Society

Despite the growing trend of legalizing marijuana across the majority of states throughout the United States, the drug may not be as safe as it is perceived to be.

Currently, marijuana has been legalized for medical use in 38 states and Washington D.C., with 24 states and Washington D.C. legalizing it for recreational use.

Although there are clear health benefits to marijuana in some patients; which include but are not limited to relieving pain especially when related to damaged nerves or treating nausea and vomiting in cancer patients; there are also real harms related to the drug.

Between 2016 and 2022, marijuana-related diagnoses in America jumped by more than 50 percent, from nearly 341,000 patients under 65 years of age to 522,000, according to data from the Health Care Cost Institute as reported by The New York Times. With increased access to the drug comes the potential for increase harm, abuse and detrimental health effects.

Marijuana can have broad adverse physical and mental health effects. Smoking marijuana, for example, puts individuals at risk for developing bronchitis and obstructive lung disease, since the smoke from marijuana has some of the same toxins as tobacco smoke. In addition, marijuana is known to have adverse effects on thinking, learning, attention, memory and coordination.

Another physical condition that those who use marijuana regularly can develop is known as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which is characterized by nausea, marked vomiting and pain. What’s worse, is the condition can lead to severe dehydration, seizures, kidney failure and rarely even death. Since being documented in 2004, there have been a sharp rise in cases and nearly 6 million people are estimated to suffer from the syndrome, according to The New York Times.

The deleterious effects of marijuana can also profoundly affect mental health. With more states legalizing marijuana, doctors are seeing more cases of psychotic disorders associated with marijuana. Substantial evidence links marijuana with the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Research from The Lancet Psychiatry shows that those who regularly use marijuana with at least ten percent THC (the psychoactive component of the drug) are nearly five times as likely to develop a psychotic disorder compared to those who never use it.

A common misconception among Americans and even those that use marijuana is that the drug is safe and there is little potential for abuse. The data suggests otherwise. Three in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana use disorder, according to the CDC. This means that more than 14 million Americans who use marijuana take it despite it causing problems in school, home and work. Again, more than 14 million Americans!

The rise in marijuana use has also raised concerns about impaired driving. Similar to alcohol, marijuana impairs motor skills and reaction times that are critical to driving safe. Research shows an increase in marijuana-induced deaths from driving accidents in states that have legalized marijuana recreationally. Despite this, no legal limits have been defined in America that constitutes how much marijuana is safe or what driving under the influence of marijuana actually means, in contrast to alcohol where such limits do exist.

Marijuana is a drug and should be treated as such. While there may be some beneficial therapeutic effects of marijuana, the public and particularly marijuana users themselves must understand the real harms that can occur when taking the substance. State officials, government personnel and health care policy leaders must enforce stricter regulations on how the drug is used and how much can be used. Without addressing this critical issue, the lives of more and more Americans will continue to be harmed.