Judge argues against legalization of marijuana
A high school friend recently asked me what I thought of legalizing marijuana. In all candor, I voted for the state referendum legalizing marijuana for terminally ill patients several years ago. My thought was if people dying of a terminal illness can get some relief from their pain, what can be the harm? I still believe that.
However, it became clear the “terminally ill” threshold was just a sham. When “doctors” would meet with “patients” for two or three minutes and then give them a prescription for medical marijuana, it was clear the intent of the law, at least as I understood it, was being severely abused. After more research into the current potency of marijuana, and despite of a bit of a libertarian streak I have to let people do what they want, I am opposed to legalizing marijuana, and believe those states that have will regret it. Having said that, I am not in favor of prison sentences for marijuana possession—we need to save those cells for violent and repeat criminals. Some sort of probation, including a CD evaluation and follow up, would be in order though.
Let’s get some basic facts straight. Marijuana is the most common illegal drug used in the United State today. The marijuana of today is not the same marijuana the baby boomers were around in the 70’s. THC levels are considerably higher (no pun intended) than 40 years ago. In fact, THC levels are up to seven times more potent than the 70’s. Source: University of Washington, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. The THC is what gives the “buzz”. As one mom told me her teenage son said recently, “Mom, you don’t smoke pot unless you want to get high”.
This high, of course, is what affects the brain. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is under the National Institute of Health, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, marijuana affects the brain, both short term and long term, including brain development. These affects can be permanent. This information is scary. Rather than try to use my own words, this is a quote from NIDA:
“For example, a study showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily
in their teens and had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of eight IQ
points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities did not fully return in those
who quit marijuana as adults.”
Marijuana is also linked to mental illness, including temporary hallucinations and paranoia, and can make those with schizophrenia worse. Furthermore, marijuana is linked to depression, anxiety, and teen age suicidal thoughts. In the long run, according to NIDA, marijuana decreases life satisfaction, induces physical health problems, leads to relationship problems, and increases job absences, accidents and injuries.
Furthermore, marijuana is a “gateway drug”, meaning THC alters our internal reward system such that people using marijuana will want to self-administer other drugs, such as heroin, meth, etc. I will sum up with this sobering quote, again from the NIDA:
“Memory impairment from marijuana use occurs because the THC alters how
information is processed in the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for
memory function….For example, rats exposed to THC in utero, soon after
birth, or during adolescence, show notable problems with specific learning/
memory tasks later in life…As people age, they lose neurons in the hippocampus,
which decreases their ability to learn new information. Chronic THC exposure may
hasten age-related loss of hippocampal neurons.”
So what do I think of legalizing marijuana? I am quite sure it is a bad idea. Life is hard enough. Why legalize a drug that is demonstrably bad for people, with negligible redeeming benefits? (I would still support marijuana use for truly terminally ill patients in need of pain relief though).
— Judge Russel Fagg has been a State District Court for nearly 21 years, has been assigned around 25,000 cases, has tried nearly 200 jury trials, and held thousands of hearings. Fagg is a past president of the Montana Judges Association.