The editorial board of the Omaha World-Herald would lead one to believe that marijuana legalization is inevitable. However, by not legalizing marijuana in Nebraska we get the benefit of having a decade of research on marijuana use. Evidence demonstrates the many dangers marijuana legalization poses to our kids including anxiety, mental health, cognitive impairment, poor academic performance, suicide and psychosis.
Johnny Stack was from a suburban Colorado family who loved him. He had a happy life and a 4.0 GPA. Unfortunately, when Johnny was 14, the state of Colorado legalized marijuana. He started to “dab” marijuana that year as a freshman in high school. Three days before he died by suicide on Nov. 20, 2019, at the age of 19, he told his mom, “I want you to know you were right. You told me marijuana would hurt my brain. It’s ruined my mind and my life, and I’m sorry. I love you.”
An editorial by the Denver Post last week detailed how Colorado doctors are seeing an alarming spike in young patients suffering psychosis due to high-potency marijuana concentrates. This was a trend they admit they were skeptical of initially. The paper points to peer-reviewed research from top medical journals to back up their conclusion that high-potency marijuana poses a substantial risk to Coloradans’ mental health.
This led the Denver Post to call for regulation of marijuana like other harm-causing food, medicine or recreational drug such as caffeine, tobacco and grain alcohol. This is why I continue to urge Nebraskans to support the FDA process for the use of marijuana.
Marijuana was the most common substance present in recent data on Colorado adolescent suicides for ages 10–19. In 2016 in Colorado where toxicology data was available, marijuana was present in 31% of adolescent suicides compared to 10% for alcohol. This trend has been increasing since legalizing marijuana and is of serious concern because suicide is currently the leading cause of death of adolescents in Colorado.
Kids disproportionately bear the negative impacts of marijuana legalization. Actual physical changes in the grey matter of young marijuana users has been documented. Frequent marijuana use is associated with cognitive and learning impairment, as well as poor academic performance. Increased marijuana use is associated with greater risk of depression and suicidal thoughts. And while pot advocates love to mock the “Reefer Madness” of the ’70s, the evidence is clear that use of high-THC marijuana, especially at a young age, is linked with the development of psychosis.
Although no state allows the sale of marijuana to anyone under 21, the increased commercial availability of high-potency marijuana and THC products readily find their way into the hands of kids. In the Monitoring the Future Survey, almost one in 15 eighth graders used marijuana or THC in the last month, while almost one in 15 high school seniors use one of those daily.
High THC use by youth is akin to playing Russian Roulette. Young adults are risking their brains abusing almost pure doses of psychoactive THC in gummies, drinks, dabs and vapes. These products are marketed directly to them on social media and packaged for youth appeal.
The experience of other states has shown us what happens when states normalize the use of this Schedule 1 drug and increase access to high potency marijuana products. There is a recent study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs of over 3 million kids in seventh, ninth and 11th grades in California both before and after the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2016. It observed a 23% increase in past 30-day use among teens after legalization. The greatest increases were seen among the youngest kids — seventh graders.
It is irresponsible for lawmakers and thought leaders to ignore the growing body of evidence about the marijuana industry marketing to youth, accessibility to kids in states with legalization, and severe and long-term negative impacts on our kids.