Heritage
Foundation
Why
You Should Be Alarmed About Marijuana Legalization
Rob
Bluey
May
30, 2014
Marijuana
legalization poses a significant health risk to America’s youth—and
many parents have no clue about the consequences, says a former Obama
administration drug policy adviser.
“Today’s
marijuana is not the marijuana of the ‘60s, ‘70s or ‘80s. It’s
five to 15 times stronger,” Kevin Sabet said in an exclusive
interview with The Foundry. “I think a lot of Baby Boomers’
experience with pot—a couple of times in the dorm room—they don’t
correspond to what kids are experiencing today.”
Sabet,
a former senior adviser at the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, wrote the book “Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths
About Marijuana” to shed light on the marijuana legalization
movement.
He
pointed to Colorado, which has operated with de-facto legalization
for five years, as a case study. By 2011, Denver had more medical
marijuana shops than Starbucks or McDonalds.
The
state has more kids using marijuana, he said, resulting in more kids
in treatment and higher rate of car crashes. There have even been two
deaths tied to marijuana use, including one involving domestic
violence.
“Legalization
in practice is a lot scarier than legalization in theory,” Sabet
said. “It means a pot shop in your backyard, mass advertising and
commercialization and greater health harms.”
In
the book, Sabet takes on the myth that marijuana isn’t addictive.
He said one in six kids who try marijuana will become addicted—the
same as alcohol. That’s because young people are vulnerable than
adults.
“There
are more kids in treatment for marijuana today than all other drugs,
including alcohol, combined,” Sabet said.
He
worries that as other states and the District of Columbia consider
legalization, more people will be hurt by the drug.
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