Definitely an interesting article. I feel that some of the criticism about the negatives of the emerging market and effects of cannabis use is valid, but a lot of it sounds left over from the 80s and 90s. The drug treatment/law enforcement complex (DARE and rehab) acted as if cannabis was a major public health and addiction threat and a truly dangerous drug for decades. Witness Jeff Sessions saying, in 2018, with no supporting evidence, that cannabis is as dangerous as heroin - such claims went almost unquestioned in the past. People who built a trade on that sort of thinking now need to redefine their businesses.
I have operated socially and professionally in circles with rather high cannabis consumption and have certainly seen people over consume to he point that it is pointless or unenjoyable. Those times are certainly far less harmful than such instances are with alcohol, to a degree where comparison seems absurd. Nobody fights, gets violent, spills anything (maybe breaks a piece of glass), vomits, falls, passes out, wrecks their car, or engages in unhealthy sexual activity. We simply grow quiet and awkward and don’t effectively conduct our social or commercial business.
I haven’t witnessed anyone have a great struggle quitting cannabis. I do know many people who have moved on from daily usage as they reached their 30s and 40s, and many who have not.
Most of the negatives I’ve seen and experienced come from attitudes and beliefs of others, including the law and police. Often parents or non-consuming wives/girlfriends have a belief that cannabis consumption is harmful, probably from decades of continuing propaganda and lack of firsthand experience and accurate information. By trying to pressure people to stop a habit that is enjoyable, possibly beneficial and probably not harmful, they create interpersonal problems. Imagine if your spouse became convinced that all of your personal problems were because you drank 3 beers a week, or a daily coffee, and wanted you to seek counseling. It would seem absurd and sort of intrusive.
As far as the emerging legal market, it is an odd mishmash of recreational, fake medical-recreational and least of all
now, legitimate medical. Places that specialize in helping ill people who can especially benefit from symptom relief and antioxidants found in cannabis have been overshadowed by recreational use. I have a medical cannabis card in New Mexico, suffer from various ailments that qualify in various states, and I don’t feel like the stores that sell cannabis in NM are medical facilities, or the employees are qualified to dispense medical advice. The system seems like a bizarre compromise between recreational stores and medical facilities and it is poor for both groups. It would be nice if they were medically aware, because as I’ve been rather ill for 1-2 years cannabis is the only medication I have for symptom relief and quality of life. Aspirin is way too little, anything swallowed is a bad idea, and any opiates are out of the question.
In the emerging market there are certainly companies who I don’t trust to make good decisions. I feel like the processes and semi-synthetic products created from cannabis are likely to be less healthy than current whole plant preparations. There seems to be an emerging disparity between cannabis sold like coffee or tea as a whole plant, natural extracts, chemical extracts, and prefilled vaporizer cartridges.
There is a bewildering profusion of products on the marketplace now, both consumables and hardware, that have not been evaluated for any sort of safety with the rigor most consumer products would be. Whenever government regulatory officials take an eye to this, it will be a tremendous upheaval for the industry.