In the next election, five states have ballot measures to legalize marijuana including Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Honestly, I had not really been paying close attention to the effects of marijuana because I knew that public sentiment has majorly shifted and most seem to believe a little weed once in a while is no big deal.
Thanks to a conversation with Jim Kinyon, co-founder of Protecting South Dakota Kids, I have been doing a deep dive. I now believe the moderate effects of marijuana on brain health have been significantly understated. We have current, accurate data and it is clear to me that a vote against recreational marijuana is essential to the health of our nation.
I don’t believe anyone can deny that smoking, vaping and weed use among our nation’s young people is at serious level. I have learned how pot use brings the dangers of weed being laced with fentanyl by the drug pusher can create an immediate addiction and increased death risk.
Aside from the dangers of fentanyl added to the marijuana, addiction is the biggest problem with American young people. Information shared by Narconon Addiction treatment centers suggest that of those going to rehabilitation for addiction to weed, 45% are under 21 years of age. When those 24 and younger are included, the percentage rises to 55. It is important to let our youth know the risks, rather than letting them accept the misinformation campaigns that make it seem acceptable and without harm.
The average potency has risen from 3% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol—the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana) a couple of decades ago to 9%. There are some samples of weed that measure as high as 25% THC. In addition, chewables are just short of 100% THC and that is the brain-damaging component that leads to the addiction.
THC, acting through cannabinoid receptors, activates the brain’s reward system, which includes regions that govern the response to healthy pleasurable behaviors such as sex and eating. Like most other drugs that people misuse, THC stimulates neurons in the reward system to release the signaling chemical dopamine at levels higher than typically observed in response to natural rewarding stimuli. The surge of dopamine “teaches” the brain to repeat the rewarding behavior, helping account for marijuana’s addictive properties.
In addition to the clear and present dangers identified above, I discovered the negative impact of marijuana on the environment. Colorado State University did an update in 2021 on the research originally brought to the forefront by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2011.
“Their research shows that U.S. indoor cannabis cultivation results in life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of between 2,283 and 5,184 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of dried flower. Compare that to emissions from electricity use in outdoor and greenhouse cannabis growth, which is 22.7 and 326.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide, respectively, according to the New Frontier Data 2018 Cannabis Energy Report. Those outdoor and greenhouse numbers only consider electricity, while the CSU researchers’ estimate is more comprehensive, but the comparison still highlights the enormously larger footprint of indoor grow operations.
“The high-energy consumption of cannabis is due in part to how the product is regulated, Quinn said. In Colorado, many grow operations are required to be in close proximity to retail storefronts, and this has caused an explosion of energy-hungry indoor warehouses in urban areas like Denver. According to a report from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, electricity use from cannabis cultivation and other products grew from 1% to 4% of Denver’s total electricity consumption between 2013 and 2018.”
I see recreational use of marijuana as a tax on the energy system, a tax on the cycle of life and a tax on the budget of each of us in the United States whether we choose to use the product or not. I hope and pray that the folks will actually seek the truth and there will be no brain fog in defeating all of these measures.
Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not represent the views of High Plains Journal. Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].