Healthy Habits: Marijuana Legalization Concerns

Advocates of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States point out that Canada has already done so as have several states including California.  They also claim that marijuana is as harmless as alcohol.  Others claim that marijuana is far more dangerous.  They claim it can lead to severe depression, schizophrenia, and over 100 health issues.  Some believe that legalization could make marijuana our next great addiction crisis.  Yet the rush to legalize recreational marijuana appears on.  Many predict that with a Democratic Congress, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions gone, legalization could happen in 2019.  So is marijuana harmless?  Should it be legalized?

I had a chance to interview Dr. Antoine Kanamugire, a leading physician and author of the book, The 21 Unspoken Truths About Marijuana.  Dr Antoine is advising a lot of caution in the debate around legalization of marijuana. He advise to state the facts about potential health risks associated with marijuana usage, because ignoring this message and minimizing the risks in the debate might create more addicts and another health crisis that might make medical costs sprital out of control. 

1. Why is marijuana sometimes seen as harmless?

When I started the ‘’BecauseWeCare’’ campaign, a campaign aimed at promoting prevention of substance abuse including cannabis, especially for our young people, I was aware of this perception of marijuana by many people as a harmless substance and I decided to write a non-ideological, non-political, non-judgemental and easy to read book ‘’The 21 Unspoken Truths About Marijuana’’ with a sole purpose to share with my fellow citizens about what we know about cannabis or marijuana.

Cannabis, also known as marijuana is the most commonly used addictive substance after alcohol and tobacco and it has been used for thousands of years. Many people who have been using cannabis or marijuana tend to normalize or minimize its negative effects while praising its positive effects.

We also need to mention that the majority of cannabis users, especially those who use it very occasionally, or lightly and during adulthood, might not get or feel negative effects of marijuana which might prompt them to conclude that cannabis is harmless.

But it would be inappropriate and unfair to say, based on the experiences of light and occasional adult users who might not get or at least feel negative effects that marijuana is harmless because it's not harmless to many other people, especially teenagers and young adults whose brains are still developing.

Some cannabis activists who favor legalization tend also to promote the substance as completely harmless and this message tend to resonate well with some young people who might really genuinely think that cannabis is harmless. 

So I implore those in leadership positions, activists, politicians who might favor legalization to please state the facts that cannabis is not harmless especially for our young people. You can be for whatever position you want, but please do not minimize or distort scientific facts , for the sake of our young people who might interpret your message as a green light to use cannabis, please state the facts that cannabis also carry potential risks and then be for whatever political or social issue you want. BecauseWeCare

2. What are some of the very real health issues it can cause?

Again when I answer these kind of question, I don’t want to sound alarmist, and I am not an ideologue or an anti-cannabis activist, I am a medical doctor, speaking from a physician perspective, speaking simply as doctor who cares about the brains our young people who might be at risk of negative effects of marijuana usage. 

Yes Cannabis or marijuana might not be the most dangerous drug out there but it certainly carries its own risks; Cannabis is indisputably known to  increase the risk of psychosis for all users;  but for heavy marijuana users, especially young people, the risks of psychosis is 2 to 5 times higher. Marijuana users, especially teenagers, are 2 to 4 times more likely to experience depressive symptoms sometime in their lives; 1 teenager out 6 who use cannabis will slide into addiction; these are just a few of the risks that are associated with marijuana usage, I talk about more in my book. I strongly advice my fellow citizen, especially parents to educate themselves on this subject, because this is a growing issue that is here to stay. Studies show that the abuse of drugs or substance abuse in teenagers are slowly going down except for one: cannabis, this is the only substance for which the usage in teenagers is still not going down. I strongly recommend all parents to educate themselves about this substance. BecauseWeCare

3. What public health risks would exist if marijuana is legalized?

One of the things we need to worry about most when it comes to legalizing marijuana is ‘’Trivialization’’ or normalization of the substance, which leads to minimization of the health risks that marijuana can lead to, especially for young developing brains of teenagers and young adults. And this minimization of the potential health risks, especially mental health risks, can lead to increased usage of the substance especially in teenagers and young adults, a population that is most vulnerable to effects of cannabis. 

So again I call upon all political leaders, especially those who are in favor of legalization to consider this fact and please, even if you continue to promote your point in favor of legalization, just do not distort the facts or minimize the health risks of cannabis usage especially for your young constituents because it might be a great disservice for those you serve. BecauseWeCare