News that Minneapolis monster Robin Westman worked at a pot shop until just two weeks ago should give pause to those in the White House reportedly pushing President Donald Trump to take a landmark step toward federal approval of marijuana use.
Westman, 23, was apparently fired from Rise, an area cannabis dispensary, on Aug. 16 over chronic tardiness and absenteeism.
If you know anything at all about the culture of this biz, that tells you the odds are awfully good that he was using, too.
And medical research in recent years keeps producing fresh evidence strongly suggesting that heavy marijuana use exacerbates other mental-health issues, perhaps making young men five times more likely to become schizophrenic.
Heck, any New Yorker’s experience with some of the clearly crazed folks roaming the city indicates some link, even if the drug use starts as amateur self-medication.
Baby Boomers’ fond memories of their college years shouldn’t guide policy: Today’s pot delivers as much as 10 times as much THC as the weed sold in past decades — and the plethora of new pot products are far more potent.
Yet by all accounts the president is considering shifting marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III — an upgrade that would make it far easier for Big Weed to operate in the states that have legalized and doubtless fuel legalization drives in the rest.
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That move would open up major tax deductions for the $33 billion industry, and generally boost its expansion — one reason the CEO of corporate-pot firm Trulieve bought his way into a recent $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at Trump’s Bedminster club.
But it’d be a very odd thing for the prez to do when he’s pushing to fight urban crime.
Pot only fuels crime because it’s outlawed, the legalizers insist.
Yet the latest study on this, by South Korean scholar Sunyoung Lee, found that crime levels rose in US states that legalized.
Auto accidents thanks to DUIs spike, too.
We’re not prudes, demanding that no one ever have any fun, but we believe science needs to guide drug policy — not the corporate interests behind Big Pot.
Please play this one carefully, Mr. President.