Pot use is degenerate and it poses a risk to your health. Here’s why.
Recently, the New York Times published an expose on the more sinister health effects of regular marijuana use. One of these is called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS)—basically severe nausea and vomiting, leading to kidney and heart failure. It’s curable if marijuana use ceases, but apparently one third of regular users have some form of this syndrome. There’s another problem called ‘cannabis use disorder’ which describes continued use after adverse effects, and is eerily similar to alcoholism.
Like those of any other drug, the effects of cannabis vary from person to person. A problem like CHS can go away, but a genetic predisposition to addiction, psychosis, or mood disorders will not. Cannabis can aggravate or awaken such problems with life-long effects. Long-term cannabis use increases the risk of testicular cancer in men by 50%, and recreational use lowers sperm count. Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC (the psychoactive element in cannabis that gets you high) is stored in the fat cells; and so prolonged cannabis use is correlated to infertility in women as it “disrupts the normal ovulation cycle”. The National Institute of Health in America has also noted higher instances of women giving birth to babies with Down Syndrome in Canada in comparison with non-weed smoking countries. And there is evidence that cannabis can even cause epigenetic changes, which means altering whether and how genes are expressed within the human body. Such changes have been linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The mental health angle here is perhaps the most concerning. About 40% of Millennials in the West suffer from mental health disorders like depression and suicidal ideation. Gen-Z is doing no better. And yet, recent research shows that marijuana use among young people is rampant, and has been getting worse since the pandemic. Gen-Z is practically an entire generation of stoners. And while some say cannabis “takes the edge off,” higher doses increase paranoia and panic.
But we’re not talking about your grandfather’s cannabis here. The hippies of old smoked marijuana cigarettes that were between 3 and 5 percent THC. But now, some of the genetically modified cannabis products available in Canada are as potent as 90% THC. The risks associated with medical and recreational marijuana use may vary considerably depending on its potency. But our acceptance of its use clearly does not. Varying potency seems to have no effect on society’s view that marijuana in general is basically the new alcohol.
This state of affairs cannot possibly be good. And I suspect that we’ll soon regret legalizing cannabis in Canada. Since 2018, it has been legal for an adult Canadian to have up to 30 grams of Marijuana — enough for 30-60 marijuana joints, depending on the size and admixture of tobacco — and since 2019, it has been legal to possess anywhere from 3 to 12 edibles, depending on its potency. Some observers assumed Trudeau hoped to win the youth vote. Others (including the Liberal Party itself) said it was to minimize the cost of drug enforcement. This may well have worked. In Canada, illegal purchase of THC products has dwindled since legalization in 2018 — though this was not the case in California where the black market for marijuana grow-ops accounts for 75% of sales. But whatever we’ve saved in law-enforcement costs will probably be offset by expenditure on health care.
From a user’s standpoint, some wonder whether legalization has improved weed’s reputation. Most Canadians who smoked up before it was legal had no problem lighting a joint in the streets in broad daylight. Canadians have always had a relaxed attitude toward cannabis use. Just look to Toronto’s national marijuana day of celebration on April 20th in Queen’s Park before legalization. An entire park, surrounded by law enforcement, chalk full of people smoking bong, pipes, and blunts with impunity.
But what if the reason for legalizing pot was actually fundamentally different? I can’t help but think of alcohol in the former Soviet Union. There, booze was cheap and widely available. Men overindulged in huge numbers as a method of numbing their senses and avoiding seeing totalitarian cruelty with clear eyes. When Gorbachev’s government tried to intervene with an anti-alcohol campaign in the late 1980s, it was far too late. Alcoholism in Putin’s Russia is once again rising, and this doesn’t bode well for the future of that regime.
Is weed a similar ‘cope’ for Canadians? If so, then we have far greater social and political problems than most people would be prepared to admit. Doing drugs regularly has become normal and that’s a mistake. Perhaps it’s a sign of the discontent of a nation. Perhaps it’s time to put down the pipe and clear out the smoke of self-deception about cannabis. Perhaps it’s time to embrace reality with a sober mind.
Alexandra Jackson-Bonner is a mother of 3. Having graduated with honors from philosophy at the UofT, she is now completing her Masters in Theology. In her free time, she loves to be in the kitchen with her kids and sell real estate.
