Admittedly, marijuana is not as dangerous as cocaine or heroin, but to say it is harmless or nonaddictive is to deny science. The National Institutes of Health reports that 1 out of every 6 adolescents who try the drug will develop an addiction. This may not amount to the experience of the Woodstock generation, but scientists now know that the average strength of today’s marijuana is some five to six times what it was in the 1960s and 1970s (and some strains are upward of 10 times stronger than in the past). This translated to almost 400,000 marijuana-related emergency room visits in 2008 due to things like acute psychotic episodes and car crashes.
In fact, according to the British Medical Journal, marijuana intoxication doubles your risk of a car crash. Mental health researchers are also noting a significant marijuana connection with schizophrenia. And educators are seeing how persistent marijuana use can blunt academic motivation and significantly reduce IQ – by up to eight points according to a very large recent study in New Zealand. Regular marijuana use hurts America’s ability to learn and compete in a global marketplace.
Kevin A. Sabet is the author of “Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana” and the director of Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), which he founded with former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy. He was a senior adviser in the Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2009-2011.