As more states legalize marijuana, new research shows that a greater number of users are struggling with serious health consequences. And many who were hoping for its promised medicinal benefits aren’t finding the relief they expected.
Approximately 27% of adults in the U.S. and Canada report having ever used cannabis for medical purposes, according to a recent report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, it states, “Evidence from randomized clinical trials does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most conditions for which it is promoted, such as acute pain and insomnia.”
The New York Times editorial board supported marijuana legalization over a decade ago, but now admits many of the predictions they believed back then turned out to be wrong, and as a result, now details the seriousness of the miscalculation in an editorial entitled, “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”
Current surveys show that daily pot users now outnumber daily alcohol drinkers. An estimated 18 million people reportedly use marijuana more than 21 days per month, compared to less than one million in 1994.
Meanwhile, since the early 1990s, the concentration of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana that makes a person “high,” has exploded from 4% to up to 90% in many cannabis products today.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, told CBN News THC has a direct impact on brain function.
“The higher the dose of THC,” she said, “the higher the likelihood that you will end up with a psychotic episode and that will lead you to end up in the Emergency Room Department.”
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Former marijuana addict Zach Plant told CBN News that’s exactly what happened to him.
“I had thoughts of other people wanting to hurt me,” he said, “thoughts of the only way of being safe was to end my own life.”
The CDC reports, “Researchers do not yet know the full extent of the consequences when the body and brain are exposed to high concentrations of THC.”
However, frontline doctors who increasingly treat patients suffering from marijuana-related complications are getting an idea.
“As it became legal, definitely saw more delirium, hallucinations, paranoia, and then even normal depression and anxiety,” Internal Medicine physician John-Paul Jansen, M.D., told CBN News. “They would come in and have been having long bouts of being unable to eat. This would last for three or four days, and it was well known it was due to marijuana.”
Official estimates indicate that about a third of marijuana users suffer from cannabis use disorder, meaning even though the drug causes problems in their life, they can’t stop using it.
Aubrey Adams, director of Every Brain Matters, an organization that educates about the dangers of marijuana, told CBN News that the legalization of marijuana is directly responsible for the destruction of lives.
“The legal marijuana industry has to addict their users,” she said, “so the more potent the product, the more at risk they are of becoming addicted.”
While marijuana might not harm everyone, counselors often recommend scripture to help someone decide whether to use the drug.
“I think for Christians they should heed what the Bible says in First Peter that, ‘We should be sober and alert,'” Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an alliance of organizations and individuals dedicated to a health-first approach to marijuana policy, told CBN News. “I think that if you’re somebody who believes the Bible, you should look to verses like that and see that getting high, whether it’s marijuana or any other drug, not a very good idea.”
