A recent study at Montreal University says that regular use of marijuana by adolescents increases the incidence of “psychotic-like experiences” by 159 percent. And according to a 2013 study by the University, the perception of marijuana as harmless is scientifically inaccurate.
Now that jurisdictions are legalizing marijuana for recreational use, one might expect such research to impel a rollback of legalization. However, the financial incentive of new state and local tax revenues from marijuana sales may instead hold sway. For example, Colorado dealers sold $1 billion worth of marijuana in 2016 and the state raked in $200 million in taxes, As the Colorado population is converted to potheads, the state is projecting $20.2 billion in sales by 2021.
And now that the opioid crisis is in full swing, pharmaceutical companies are raking in millions selling “Medication Assisted Treatment” drugs for a crisis that Ohio and other sources think that the pharmaceutical industry started. If marijuana legalization is just another pharmaceutical marketing scheme, expect to hear soon about new drugs to treat “reefer madness,” or “pot rot.”
