However, popularity doesn’t mean the product is safe: The Department of Health and Human Services recommended [4] the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reclassification, but there are inescapable health risks associated with regular marijuana use [5] including a higher risk [6] of stroke and heart attacks; negative impacts [7] on attention, memory and learning in young people; an increased risk of developing schizophrenia [8]; and harm [9] to fetal brain development.
The number of daily marijuana users is now higher [10] than the number of people who consume alcohol daily. While alcohol can also be abused (as regulations on sale and consumption reflect), there is increasing evidence [11] from serious long-term effects of high-potency THC [12] (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant) marijuana use such as cardiac and lung problems [13].
Health concerns, especially [14] among the African American population, are reason enough to object to the reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule III drug. Unfortunately, many people are choosing the grandiosity effect [15] of smoking weed over the established health risks.
Links
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/27/opinions/drug-cartels-lower-risk-classification-marijuana-brown/index.html
[2] http://www.rethinkpot.org/taxonomy/term/941
[3] http://www.rethinkpot.org/tags/legalization
[4] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN12240
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827335/
[6] https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/06/health/marijuana-heart-stroke-risk-wellness/index.html
[7] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/4392-marijuana-cannabis
[8] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/young-men-highest-risk-schizophrenia-linked-cannabis-use-disorder
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252200/#:~:text=Cannabis%20is%20the%20most%20commonly,lasting%20impacts%20on%20cognitive%20functions.
[10] https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-cannabis-alcohol-drinking-daily-use-b91c2c5957fdb2d48e6616c3baa14c13
[11] https://newsroom.heart.org/news/marijuana-use-linked-with-increased-risk-of-heart-attack-heart-failure
[12] https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/cbd-thc-difference
[13] https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/substance-use/is-cannabis-safer-or-healthier-than-alcohol
[14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8896813/
[15] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/psychiatric-effects-of-cannabis/08CDBE0BEB6E53A59BE52538D810E9B0