Seems to be that way with gun control at least…
But with MJ, yes, there are valid medical uses too, and not everyone abuses - same as alcohol.
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The problem with legalization is that the illicit drug economy/businesses will not disappear with it. They will simply move to more potent drugs with a higher associated death rate, as they have in areas where legalization has been in place for years. We did not see this associated outcome with repealing Prohibition in 1933.
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We have that here too - MJ is not legal here. I don’t think traffickers care if it’s legal or not TBH.
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I’m with you on this. There’s too much money to be made on cannabis now. It’s viewed as a positive by both entrepreneurs and state tax collectors. That said, I think the risk of cannabis induced psychosis from flower procured at dispensiaries is much less than from street pot, which may not be pure. I know many parents and physicians railing against the legalization of cannabis. It is increasingly difficult for parents to make a solid case against cannabis use when its legalization makes teens think it’s perfectly fine.
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It’s gotten so bad that the public schools look the other way when kids vape or smoke pot.
Never used it, or even smoke, so fortunately have no personal stake in this - but…
as long as use is criminal, you’d pretty much have to self-incriminate to participate in study?
Therefore, much may remain unreported/unrecognized/unstudied, because the data of those most effected are probably the least likely to be included?
Back in high school, we had to cross the street to move cigarettes. Cigarettes and alcohol are a lot more physically addictive than MJ (I smoked for over 15 years, quitting was one of the hardest things I’ve done, my parents and some grandparents quit too). Back in the day, I smoked pot, got pregnant (at 28 and married), quitting was literally nothing at all. H smoked for over a decade, same.
My college friend was addicted to MJ. It’s definitely a possibility. My nephew says he’s not addicted, but his habit affects his life to an extreme.
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The son of a close friend is definitely addicted. Really sad story. Without going into details, he’s darned lucky to be alive.
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When I was in law school a girl living in my suite and her friend smoked joints EVERY night. She and the friend both graduated and passed the CA bar. I had to leave until the smell dissipated—I couldn’t tolerate it.
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It is a scary conclusion, but as others have said it is not clear if the cannabis use causes schizophrenia or other mental health disorders or is an early symptom/management tool. Impossible to test for. I have a friend who is sure her kid’s bipolar and now likely schizophrenia was triggered by use of LSD and pot. However, there were certainly signs of mental health issues prior to that usage.
Not sure that undoing legalization would change the usage. Did not seem hard for kids to get their hands on pot and other drugs before it was legal.
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My friend’s brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia in high school, he was a big pot smoker. However, my friend was diagnosed bipolar in college, was not a drug user, and there was probably mental illness in the family (her mom was raised in an orphanage).
I read about the following article some years ago, and thought some people here might be interested or helped by the study under way:
We had a friend who was experiencing a major mental health issue last year. Hard to diagnose and it did seem like it was early schizophrenia maybe. Very high IQ kid but no family history. The couple of doctors were relentless about questioning about pot. No history. Later diagnoses differently but it this issues has been pretty well known for years.
I watched a good friend just ruin himself in middle and high school and eventually diagnosed with both depression and schizophrenia and then kill himself in his twenties. He was an only child and parents tried so, so hard to save him.
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It’s hard for me to watch the current Bridgerton series because my son can be much worse than King George is portrayed. 
if there is even the slightest chance that pot can cause this disease , we should take the risk seriously.
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I think the authors meant to scare marijuana users with their conclusion. But I just find this “maybe there is causality” conclusion is just another way to blame those with schizophrenia for their illness. This article is cruel.
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Thank you for linking to this article.
It is important to understand that diseases and disorders are very rarely triggered by one thing and one thing only. Typically, there is an environmental trigger than causes a generalized response in some people who have a preexisting genetic tendency towards a certain health problem. This pattern I am describing is present in many diseases such as MS, cystic fibrosis, cancers (including but not exclusive to lung cancer), various psychoses, and that recently famous cacophony of symptoms known to the media as long covid. Ingesting a substance is an environmental trigger.
In my view, the leadership of recent generations has done much to recklessly increase human exposure to environmental triggers of disease and disorder, often in pursuit of economic gain. Our generation has found itself in the logical quagmire of arguing for an increase in environmental exposure with a cadre of banned drugs while pouring an incredible amount of money at the federal level to the problem of trying to reduce carbon emissions. The hypocrisy is not lost to me, and we are paying the price now. We are passing the buck of writing and legislating to remove these toxins and environmental triggers from public sphere to our children, all in the name of economic growth. It’s not the first time rank and file Americans have done this.
ETA: If you live in a state that has not legalized at least weed for anyone and everyone, here’s what you have to look forward to:
The weed lobby will try to slip a bill before your governor that permits weed smoking in restaurants. Absent vigilant legislators, this will become your law. If the legislators do act in time, the weed smokers will park themselves in their cars outside of every restaurant that normal people patronize and smoke in front of the restaurant proprietors, making outdoor eating areas intolerable for those of us who do not use. How do I know? It just happened where I’m living now, where the Weed-for-All bill just became law.
This may be invisible to elites in gated communities, but for the rest of us, we get to deal with the consequences of their decisions.
I remember when smoking was banned in bars and restaurants. Smokers complained loudly, but they did not harass nonsmokers.
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Legal and safe are two different things. Alcohol is legal but not always safe, for example. Legal distribution is helpful for most things because it takes it out of the hands of criminals and takes revenue from them. It allows quality standards.
More research needs to be done though, I think. It is possible that weed contributes to mental illness. It is also possible that those with mental illness self-medicate with weed and this delays or complicates diagnosis. Anecdotally, most of the people I know who smoked weed illegally for decades also suffer from anxiety.
Many things have long term implications. We should know these to make informed decisions.
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Has not happened where I live. Cannabis is legal for state purposes, but there is also strong opposition to smoking (anything) where others could be bothered by secondhand smoke. Many places do not allow smoking outside within a certain distance of doors or openable windows of buildings where indoor smoking is prohibited, and some (like medical offices) prohibit smoking on their entire grounds.
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