Proponents of marijuana often like to cite the benefit of tax revenue as an impetus for legalizing the narcotic. Then, such people fabricate a fanciful mythical reality of a whimsical herb that cures human pain and generates enough tax revenue to fund infrastructure.
It’s as if the slogan could be, “Legalize marijuana: it will get you high and fix your highways.” It’s a wonderful fantasy, but, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
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Using tax revenue or infrastructure benefits as reasons to legalize marijuana is an emotional manipulation meant to distract from the negative ramifications associated with legalizing weed. Any policy decisions surrounding the legalization of marijuana must focus on the damage it causes in society, not financial projections for government spending. Politicians considering legalizing pot must put principle before profit.
Addiction profiteers, like those who run THC drug companies or lobbying firms that push commercial high-potency marijuana products, will naturally attempt to lure legislators into their camp with promises of tax revenue. Their line of “make marijuana legal, and the money can pave roads, improve education, and help underserved communities” is a clever ruse.
The tax revenue argument for legalization falls flatter than the industry’s claims that the drugs aren’t addictive. For fiscal 2022, marijuana tax revenues in states among the first to legalize were a pittance. In Colorado, pot revenue amounted to just 0.09% of the state budget. In California, Oregon, and Alaska, the numbers were equally abysmal at 0.49, 0.3 and 0.29%, respectively.
For good measure, for all the concerns about climate change, a 2022 Larkin and Sweeney report estimated that indoor marijuana grow operations for the industry increased emissions equivalent to 3.3 million cars on the road.
The “pot’s not addictive” line has been medically proven false. The industry’s social justice narrative has also been proven a lie, as Big Marijuana is still dominated by wealthy whites, and the industry is victimizing communities of color. The mental and physical health risks, ignored by the industry, are now being verified in study after study. The drugged driving incidents, accidents, and death figures are becoming hard to gloss over as well.
Legislators shouldn’t buy the tax revenue line for another reason: it ignores the costs. Marijuana may be making private sector investors cash, but in Colorado, every dollar brought into state coffers is associated with $4.50 in costs.
Proponents of marijuana legalization cite public polling to suggest that legalization is what people want. However, this is an oversimplification. And, as more people become educated on the dangers of weed, more are rebuking the industry’s line.
The industry’s misrepresentations have had success, of course. Statistics show that the percentage of people who use THC daily now exceeds those who drink alcohol daily. Even more disturbing is that the surge in users has been exceptionally high among young adults. Research found that users between 19 and 30 years old increased from 17% in 2011 to 29% in 2021, the highest rate ever.
The science has also debunked industry claims that marijuana is not addictive. Recent research out of Washington State showed that more than 20% of THC users develop marijuana dependency. A study found that young users are “four to seven times more likely to develop a marijuana use disorder than adults.”
There are also the dreaded realities of the links between marijuana use and the decline in cognitive functions. The American Journal of Psychiatry showed that long-term marijuana use “can impact midlife cognition.” Another significant revelation was that “the impact of cannabis on cognitive impairment was greater than that of alcohol or tobacco use.”
Research has found that using marijuana long-term led to a decline in IQ by an average of 5.5 points.
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The mental and physical impacts don’t stop there. Scientific studies are now increasingly linking THC intake to psychosis, depression, suicidality, and schizophrenia. A study in the British Medical Journal found that using marijuana is a “risk factor for the development of incident psychotic symptoms.” And numerous reports showed that many of the country’s recent mass shooters used marijuana before their attacks.
The public and elected officials need to know that the new industry messaging doesn’t hold water. There is no windfall for states, and no rural infrastructure project is worth the human cost of more drug addiction in our communities.