When it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana, American lawmakers should listen to the nation’s sheriffs and just say no.
Or at least not yet — or not until one heck of a lot more research is done.
The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard reports that the National Sheriffs’ Association is urging both state and federal lawmakers to stop marching toward making pot legal, because jurisdictions that already have legalized it have experienced large spikes in crime and highway accidents. The sheriffs certainly believe that in this case, correlation and causation might be amply linked. Indeed, 84% of them said weed legalization is significantly responsible for increasingly impaired driving.
The sheriffs’ position dovetails nicely with that of the Washington Examiner, which editorialized in March that when it comes to legalization, “the better policy would be to go slow, based only on solid science.”
In addition to links with more crime and worse driving, the editorial noted that non-medical marijuana use is anything but safe.
“Despite myths to the contrary, marijuana is a serious health risk. It does indeed result in unhealthy dependence among nearly one-third of users. It is a definite risk (perhaps deadly) for lung health, and it is especially dangerous for heart health. Some studies also show that it substantially increases risk for a form of testicular cancer.”
In a nation already struggling to contain soaring costs for healthcare, both private and public, this reality should concern not just patients but taxpayers as well. And in an age where the suicide rate is expanding rapidly, it should be of deep distress that adolescent marijuana use is linked to a hike in the risk for later depression and suicide by up to 40%.
As a potential public health crisis and crime crisis, cannabis legalization is foolhardy. The sheriffs are right. For now, marijuana legalization should go up in smoke.
