Marijuana revisited
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
The recent Senate committee report on the legalization of cannabis as medicine was signed by 13 senators which moves the bill closer to being passed by the Senate. Alongside this significant event is the American Congress passing a bill decriminalizing marijuana possession and use. Further, US President Biden has moved to reclassify cannabis as a low-risk drug, which will remove it from the Schedule 1 drugs list under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule 1 drugs are heroin, LSD and ecstacy, really bad stuff compared with marijuana. The move puts marijuana in the schedule drug list which contains ketamine, codeine and other painkillers which is considered to have low to moderate likelihood of dependence.
How did marijuana become a prohibited drug in the first place? The history of marijuana dates back to 12,000 years ago. It is believed to be one of humanity’s oldest cultivated crops. In ancient China, the cannabis plant was fully used, from the roots for medicinal purposes, cloth, paper and rope from the stems, and the leaves and flowers were used as medicine and intoxicants, even as a surgical anesthetic. Cannabis was also used in ancient Egypt as medical treatment.
Cannabis was introduced to Europe by French soldiers returning from Egypt and the Americas through the slaves who brought along cannabis seeds that they sprouted in the new world. Since most cannabis farming and its use for spiritual, medicinal or recreational purposes were almost always by the poor working classes, it was deemed as a threat by the ruling class, mainly because of possible disruption of the political, economic or religious order that they enjoyed. Predictably, the ruling elite resorted to the unsupported argument that marijuana use leads to violence, depravity or use of more dangerous drugs. These are the reasons still being used throughout the world for banning marijuana. Naturally, the ones who were targeted were the poor and the oppressed, which led to massive numbers of incarcerations for merely possessing and using marijuana.
Now, more evidence and research showed that cannabis is not that harmful as “hard” drugs like cocaine or prescription drugs like Fentanyl. Marijuana does have many medicinal properties that can treat many disorders such as epilepsy, chronic pain, chemotherapy relief and other conditions for which modern medicine has no remedy, attitudes are starting to change.
Today, more countries are decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana, for medical and recreational use. Uruguay was the first country to legalize cannabis for any use in 2013. Canada was the second followed by Ecuador. Many countries have legalized medical marijuana use and have also decriminalized recreational use and possession. In the USA, a number of states have legalized both uses, while others opted for just medical use. A minority still have stiff enforcement of marijuana use and possession for whatever purpose. The general trend worldwide is for decriminalization or outright legalization.
Research on the effects of marijuana use after decriminalization is still ongoing but preliminary results indicate a mix of untoward and good effects. Among the untoward effects are an increase in daily use of cannabis especially among young adults (in some studies) and higher rates of psychiatric disorders, suicides and hospitalizations.
On the other hand, legalization has also led to decreased rates of opioid prescribing (translating to less opioid overdose deaths), significant drops in rape, property crimes and thefts. Police allocations for other divisions increased leading to better law enforcement in other crimes. The availability of medical marijuana is a much welcome development among patients who have no other treatment options as well.
It can be seen that the ill-effects of cannabis decriminalization are mostly on an individual level, which can be countered by better public information campaigns and non-legal interventions. On the other hand, we see a mostly beneficial effect in terms of social justice and legal metrics, like less criminal activity, better alignment of law enforcement, and less impact on the more disadvantaged sectors of society, often the targets of drug arrests and subsequent killings, extrajudicial and otherwise. Drug offender incarceration constitutes a significant proportion of the prison population, which is bursting at the seams in the Philippines (More Justice, Less Jails, June 13, 2023).
US President Biden also said: “No one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana. Period. Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana and I’m committed to righting those wrongs.”
It is sincerely hoped that our lawmakers will take that into consideration when they start debating marijuana decriminalization, not just medical marijuana which is a no-brainer (No Laughing Matter, May 23, 2023). The economic implications of legalizing marijuana should also be taken into account, with the prospects of new industries, reduced costs of enforcement and higher tax revenues. Not a bad thing at all!