Should Pennsylvania legalize pot?
There ARE clear public health benefits. But balancing the pros and the cons can get hazy.
Should Pennsylvania legalize pot?
By Jonathan Purtle
Earlier this month, Pennsylvania State Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery-Delaware) announced plans to introduce a bill that would legalize marijuana — not just for medical purposes, as New Jersey recently did, but also for recreational use. The substance would be regulated by the state in a way similar to alcohol and tobacco. As Leach describes on his website, the bill is founded on the idea that marijuana is no more harmful, and less addictive (this is debatable), than both these substances and that the financial costs of keeping marijuana illegal are enormous. Citing data from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Leach points out that 24,685 marijuana arrests were made in Pennsylvania in 2006 — translating into $325 million in criminal justice costs.
Leach’s proposal follows referendums in Colorado and Washington that recently gave those states the green light for recreational marijuana use. And while the Pennsylvania bill will likely go up in smoke — Gov. Corbett has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk — it seems high time to explore the potential pros and cons of legalizing marijuana from a public health perspective.
First the cons.
Let’s assume that marijuana is 100 percent bad for the mind and body and that legalization would lead to increased consumption. While the notion that marijuana is all harm and no good is debatable — advocates of medical marijuana tout its therapeutic benefits — evidence of its adverse health impacts is strong. A White House document entitled “The Public Health Consequences of Marijuana Legalization” synthesizes some of this research. Outcomes include respiratory problems (smoke is never good for lungs) and cognitive impairment.
The science says that the less marijuana a population consumes the better. But would legalization actually result in more people toking up more often? The answer is hazy. Economists at RAND, the non-partisan think tank, crunched the numbers and concluded that marijuana consumption would probably increase with legalization, but they had little idea how large the increase would be.
Now the pros.
The most clear-cut public health benefits of marijuana legalization would likely result from reductions in incarceration. While there are many ways in which incarceration negatively impacts public health — by disrupting monogamous sexual partnerships, for example, which increases the number of sexual partners that people have, and thus the spread of sexual transmitted diseases — let’s just focus on the financial costs of putting people behind bars for weed. As Senator Leach notes, Pennsylvania taxpayers spend around $325 million annually on marijuana-related arrests. While not all of this goes to incarceration, legalization would free up a lot of public money that could be invested in health.
As described in a previous post, research has documented a link between increases in public health spending and improvements in population health. A large, multisite study found that a 10 percent increase in local public health department spending was associated with a 6.9 percent decrease in infant mortality, a 3.2 percent decrease in deaths from cardiovascular disease, a 1.4 percent decrease in deaths from diabetes, and a 1.1 decrease in deaths from cancer. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s budget would double if the state took $200 million of marijuana-related criminal justice savings and invested it in the city’s health. This would translate into a substantial number of lives saved. Exactly how many? We can only speculate.
Data from the 2010-2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicate that an estimated 10.82 percent of Pennsylvanians over the age of 12 used marijuana in the past month — as did nearly one-third (31.16 percent) of residents between the ages of 18-25. The estimates are similar for New Jersey — 10.73 percent and 31.79 percent, respectively. While uncertainty abounds regarding the public health costs and benefits of legalizing marijuana, one thing is for sure — people are using it, legal or not.
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I think this is a great idea.It will generate tax revenue and it will save big municipalities like ours in administrative costs courts arrests etc.People that are against this are morons.It will knock the black market and local dealer out of business.When was the last time you have heard someone smoking a joint then killing someone.?The only thing they will kill are the munchies haaha.— cityslicker- Legalize ALL drugs. Time to thin the herd.— Barbouze
- A few of yous have seen Reefer Madness too many times.
You ever seen two guys smoking weed get into a fist fight like in the bars?
Get a clue.— drenner - Absolutlely, Positively...there is no reason not to......and they also should legalizw sports gambling and prostituion.....for real....legalize and tax.....the state gets the money, instead of the mob and the bookies and both industries are cleaned up.....it is just common sense.....as NO attemt to end either has ever been successful...— nuggett
- I don't see pigs flying. So no, USA will NEVER legalize pot because we are too convervative in our policies.— penncrow19
- If you inhale it through a vaporizer, it severely reduces the toxins generated in burning the plant but still gives the same high, or so I'm told.— CoettaGarner25
- "Take away the attraction (and associated crime) of using an illegal substance, regulate it and tax it just like alcohol and call it a day."
I do not think that the illegality of the drug is the draw. It is the cool factor or desire to either fit in or do something bad. If it becomes legal, that does not mean that parents want their teenagers doing it. Of course the law will clearly state that you must be 21 just like with alcohol. YEA RIGHT! How's that working for us as a society? Underage drinking is rampant though alcohol is a legal substance. Pot is rampant though illegal. What does legalization of pot do for this equation? Employers will begin to test more employees for drug use and legalization will ruin lives of decent people who use a legal substance. I'd bet that we spend almost as much in court fees fighting overin the first five years as we spend fighting the trafficking now.— truthfirst - Pot promoters always ignore the basic, fundamental moral questions. It is utterly wrong to alter your consciousness through drugs, to disrespect and perhaps destroy your brain cells, to go through life stoned and addicted. It is even more wrong to encourage others to do so. It is bad enough we are stuck with alcohol, and there is no excuse for adding yet another drug. It should be criminal, it is reprehensible, period. It is addicting. It is false experience. I am not convinced it is medically necessary, either. But if so, then carefully regulated and administered. But you know people will cram their way into doctor's offices and do whatever they can to get prescriptions, so it is pointless as long as people persist in such degenerate behavior. What we need is unified, complete opposition and leadership from government, parents, society, religion. In other words, continue Prohibition. The Prohibition on alcohol did not necessarily fail. We need to re-examine that. It is not compassionate to allow people to become drug addicts. It has to be fought, most of all, in Hollywood and popular culture, to remove the "cool" association completely, or the coolness of "cool." When I was in high school, back in the 70s, all the potheads got held back one or two years before they could do the work to graduate. And those who use are most likely to deal.— Zindorf
- Let me see. Something you could tax the hell out of and absolutely no one will give a sh*t. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. Even you people who think us stoners are morons can see that. Oh yeah. I make close to a 6 figure income and I smoke pot every day.— SafetyPro420
- Yes legal. It is no different than alcohol. In fact, it is safer on many levels.
Allow adults over 21 to possess 1oz or less and smoke in privacy of homes.
You can also ingest and use vaporizers instead of smoking which is healthier.— Four4Four
