JAMA Article Implications Colorado Marijuana Legalization

The Journal of the American Medical Association released a one sided article summarizing the results of Colorado’s year long experiment involving marijuana legalization. The article, not surprisingly appears to focus entirely on the negative aspects alone. The good news is that as hard as they try to discredit the movement the evidence they bring forth isn’t very convincing!

One highlight of the article focuses on the number of people coming to emergency rooms for marijuana related illnesses caused by the ingestion of too many edibles. The normal complications range from nausea to an upset stomach, but to date there have been no documented deaths. Not in Colorado in the past year, nor in 5,000 years of recorded history.

The article mentions the lack of dose information on packaging. But marijuana edibles are now being tested for THC content and labeled accordingly. Furthermore, unlike big pharmas hillbilly heroin (aka exycontin) where even small dosages can be lethal. The lethal dose for marijuana is so high that very few people if any would even attempt to consume a lethal dosage because of the cost and sheer volume required. So the margin of error for marijuana consumption is huge and people will self regulate themselves based on the strength of the marijuana they are consuming.

In the bigger picture more people may be using marijuana now but at the same time less people are using hard drugs such as alcohol or prescription drugs. Exactly as Holland has experienced during their decades long experiment with legalization, and just as the RAND companies studies predicted.

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