In an article National Review published this month, the author chronicles the alleged negative effects of marijuana legalization, yet his claims are dubious. Marijuana is only legal in 18 states, and it is still a federally illegal Schedule I substance, so it is far too early to make any conclusions on legalization. That said, the preliminary data we do have can tell us a lot about what marijuana legalization might look like on a broader scale, and given what we know, this article missed the mark.

The author’s primary argument for prohibition is that “weed is unhealthy,” citing evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, weakens your immune system, and can possibly lead to psychosis. If he wants to fix the negative consequences of smoking, why not ban tobacco? Cigarette smoking is responsible for the deaths of more than 480,000 Americans each year, yet cigarettes are sold in nearly every gas station and convenience store. This logic also ignores the fact that legalization allows marijuana to be used in much safer ways, such as consuming edibles, which make up an increasing share of the legal market.

But tobacco is far from the only legal drug with proven negative effects. Alcohol is a staple of American culture, yet more than 100,000 Americans die each year from alcohol‐​related causes. Both alcohol and tobacco are demonstrably unhealthy, but that doesn’t mean we should prohibit them. It is ultimately absurdly paternalistic to ban a substance for health reasons, but if we were to do so, we should be honest about which drugs do the most damage.

The author also failed to mention the many health benefits of marijuana that continue to be discovered. Research on the potential benefits of marijuana was federally illegal from 1970 to 2018 and is still heavily regulated. Even so, researchers continue to discover positive uses for the drug, including treatment for conditions ranging from PTSD to prescription drug addiction.

Ultimately, whether marijuana is unhealthy is still up for debate, and the answer probably varies from person to person. However, the negative health consequences of marijuana prohibition are crystal clear. Marijuana presents a healthier and more effective alternative to using opioids for pain treatment, but its gray‐​area legal status caused by federal prohibition continues to push more Americans down the path of opioid abuse.

Additionally, despite the booming marijuana industry in many states, 40,000 Americans are still incarcerated for marijuana‐​related offenses. Marijuana prohibition has not only wreaked havoc on our criminal justice system by putting thousands of otherwise‐​innocent Americans in prison, it has also severely hampered the effectiveness of police.

As the author correctly states, legalization has led police to deprioritize marijuana crimes in favor of more serious offenses. Police should focus on arresting murderers and other serious criminals rather than hassling pot smokers. When police are allowed to arrest someone on just the suspicion of marijuana possession, it gives them carte blanche to violate innocent Americans’ rights and imprison whomever they please. This is likely one of the reasons why confidence in the police is at an all‐​time low, especially among people of color.

The author then argues that many of the arguments for legalizing marijuana have been proven false by recent trends, claiming that because a black market still exists, legalization has failed. This claim is disingenuous for many reasons.


First, it is important to note that marijuana is still federally illegal, and black markets will continue to exist while that remains the case. Second, in the states that the author lists, legal marijuana is burdened by excessive taxes, regulations, and market distortions. If the marijuana market were completely unregulated, an ounce of legal weed would only cost a few dollars, compared to its current price of about $300 an ounce. Taxes and regulations have allowed black market sellers to outcompete legal ones, which has been compounded by the corruption and unreasonable capital requirements that come with starting a legal marijuana business in most states.

Third, despite the existence of a black market, states where marijuana is legal have experienced immense economic benefits. Colorado has benefited tremendously from its booming marijuana industry, raking in more than $135 million dollars in tax revenue in 2015 alone. Despite having one of the most oppressive marijuana tax systems, California still collects more than $50 million dollars a month from marijuana tax revenue, which would certainly be larger in a freer and unburdened marijuana market.

Finally, the author’s assertions rely on the presumption that marijuana legalization causes an increase in use rates. He claims that legal states have experienced “major spikes in usage,” citing this chart from a Cato Institute policy analysis. But the same paper makes it clear that this trend existed long before legalization, and that increased use was likely what led to legalization, not the other way around. This graph does not depict a “major spike,” but a steady increase of a few percentage points, likely caused by a variety of factors.

The same policy paper demonstrates that there were no changes in crime, traffic safety, or underage use in legal marijuana states relative to preexisting trends. Given the many benefits of legalization that have already been mentioned, it is difficult to comprehend that one could read this analysis and still conclude legalization was a mistake.

Overall, it is clear that the author’s personal biases clouded his judgment. This is not surprising, as conservatives have been waging a culture war against marijuana since it was first brought to America by Mexican immigrants in the early 20th century.

While it is ultimately still too early to tell what legalization will bring, we have only begun to heal the wounds caused by prohibition. But the data we have so far is very promising, and the article in question highlights that there is still much work to be done before legalization can be fully realized.



Lachlan Mersky is a former intern with the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. He recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics, and currently works for an NGO in the DC area.

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