The landscape of legal marijuana has changed pretty drastically from ten years ago, when it seemed like it could only bring prosperity. So have we made a mistake?
The New York Times editorial board has put out an article arguing this point of view. Their arguments are interesting and worth mulling.
For one, they claim that usage has skyrocketed. A graph shows that daily smokers has gone from 6 million in 2012 now to 18 million, a 3x increase. This number is higher than alcohol.
But what’s the big deal if marijuana isn’t addictive? They point out that 2.8 million people a year suffer from CHS, or scromiting, as we’ve put it recently in an article. And paranoia from marijuana is also on the rise.
So what’s their solution? Do we just revert back to the dark days of criminalization? The NYT board falls into the middle ground viewpoint of what they call “grudging toleration.” This isn’t full legalization, but it also isn’t criminalized. It would limit how marijuana could be sold without banning its use, or even growth.
Their approach is one of spreading awareness. An issue I think we’d all agree with is that the more people are aware of potency the better we fare. The large, sometimes out of hand industry around marijuana prospers when weed seems like a harmless substance no matter how much you consume. It’s Big Weed that NYT has an issue with, and I agree on this front.
Some of their solutions include a high federal tax on weed in order to deter heavy use. This is where they lose me. Marijuana is in a unique spot when it comes to taxation because the illicit market is there waiting as soon as a joint becomes too expensive on the legal side. It’s a balancing act that states like California are losing, and any more taxes on top of what’s there already will teeter it way over the edge.
Another solution they list is a cap on potency at 60% and have higher taxes on higher potency, just like liquor being taxed higher than beer and wine.
It’s a drastic move for the editorial board to come out against legal marijuana, and they bring up some interesting insights. Perhaps this is a sign of where things will lead in the next few years. Maybe we have reached peak legal marijuana in the US.
Read the article at the New York Times.
