The push to legalize marijuana and psychedelics is terrible for society
Christopher Tremoglie
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Nothing good can come from the recent national push to legalize addiction. Inevitably, it will lead to the corrosion of the moral fabric of society and obliterate the social order.
There will be a gradual decline of the pillars of society, with the collateral damage being hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives lost to drug addiction. And elected leaders, people tasked with protecting the country’s general welfare, will have enabled it. Many will die because elected leaders encouraged people to get high.
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Drugs are bad — they always have been and always will be. They destroy countless lives each year, from those who die from overdoses to the family members left to grieve them. Yet, despite the long history of their ill effects on society, a movement of contemporary politics and pop culture has foolishly supported legalizing harmful narcotics under the guise of drugs being beneficial.
Inexplicably, drugs have undergone image rehabilitation. Messaging is used to urge people to “just say no” to drugs. Today, drug use is often celebrated as a way to live an easier and more enjoyable life. First, it started with humorous and positive portrayals of marijuana in music, television, cinema, and other media in popular culture. Predictably, that evolved to people promoting even more dangerous drugs such as psychedelics. It’s all part of a manipulative and misguided propaganda campaign that has created unnecessary and preventable hazardous situations.
Iconic NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers touted the use of psychedelics at a conference in June. In particular, Rodgers celebrated using ayahuasca, a plant-based psychedelic drug, usually converted to tea or another kind of liquid to drink. Rodgers called the experience “radically life-changing” and part of his “medicine journey.” He attributed some of his recent sporting success to using the drug.
“You know, it’s going to be hard to cancel me because, you know, the previous year, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions,” Rodgers said at a conference organized by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. “We had a good season. Ayahuasca, 48 touchdowns … MVP. What are you going to say?”
The implication was a scientifically unproven claim that ayahuasca was some magical potion that increased his performance. But Rodgers’s logical fallacy is disingenuous at worst and misleading at best. Nothing factual shows his performance was directly related to psychedelic use. Moreover, if using sports accomplishments is the barometer for whether to legalize such drugs, the most obvious reply to Rodgers would be that Tom Brady, another legendary NFL quarterback, won seven Super Bowl championships without having to get stoned and hallucinate.
However, encouraging the recreational use of psychedelics is potentially dangerous. What Rodgers failed to mention was that psychedelics have significant neurological impacts. They alter reality and “produce changes in perception, mood, and cognitive processes.” They cause users to experience extreme euphoria and enlightenment and hallucinate. Additionally, studies have shown that psychedelics can lead to significant physical, emotional, and psychological impairment, especially in young people and those with mental health abnormalities. Also, psychedelics were previously linked to “cases of manic behavior” and other detrimental health issues such as comas, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and seizures.
Rodgers also failed to mention that research showed drugs such as ayahuasca do not have any proven medical benefits. Meanwhile, existing research on psychedelics demonstrated they could have dangerous side effects such as paranoia, hysteria, elevated heart rates, and extreme emotions such as fear, confusion, panic, tremors, high blood pressure, trembling, and headaches, among others.
Psychedelics have also been connected to an increased likelihood of addiction and abuse. And the American Psychiatric Association has refused to support using psychedelics like the ones Rodgers was promoting. They claimed there isn’t enough research on psychedelics yet, and they are unsafe to treat.
“There is currently inadequate scientific evidence for endorsing the use of psychedelics to treat any psychiatric disorder except within the context of approved investigational studies, the official statement read. “APA supports continued research and therapeutic discovery into psychedelic agents with the same scientific integrity and regulatory standards applied to other promising therapies in medicine. Clinical treatments should be determined by scientific evidence in accordance with applicable regulatory standards and not by ballot initiatives or popular opinion.”
Furthermore, Rodgers’s endorsement of psychedelics mirrored the publicity surrounding marijuana legalization years ago. Whether it was lyrics in a song, plots of movies, or anyone among the entertainment elite class who celebrated weed, it was regularly promoted in popular culture. Additionally, to further persuade people, many advanced the narrative that anti-legalization efforts were ploys of the criminal justice system to reinforce systemic racism or a narcotic with a bad reputation that, essentially, evil, greedy, and strict politicians wanted to keep illegal.
It was purely propaganda to rehabilitate the image and perception of marijuana. Because while the benevolence of marijuana is often celebrated, the reality of marijuana is always ignored.
According to a study from 2020, marijuana legalization is “associated with increased traffic fatality rates.” Moreover, analysis has shown that nationwide legalization of marijuana would lead to an additional 6,800 “roadway deaths per year.” Other data from multiple states reinforced the hazardous connection between traffic fatalities and weed.
In Virginia, 60% of people who claimed they used weed in the past three months acknowledged driving while high on marijuana. Additionally, studies of marijuana users in Virginia showed that 26% of people “reported driving under the influence of marijuana at least once a week.” Further, 28% of people claimed to have been a passenger in a car where the driver was high on marijuana more than once in the past year.
In Michigan, data from the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center showed that the number of people who tested positive for cannabinoids, the primary psychoactive compounds found in marijuana, more than tripled between 2004 and 2017. In Colorado, “1 in 4 road deaths” involved marijuana, according to the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. Also, the number of fatal crashes “that involved marijuana” nearly doubled between 2013 and 2020, according to information from the 2021 Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area report.
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Statistics also indicated that marijuana users were about 25% more likely to go to the emergency room than non-users. Moreover, such incidents increased by over 75% between 2011 (455,668 incidents) and 2021 (787,769). Furthermore, research showed that marijuana legalization significantly threatened the country’s children. Studies showed a precipitous rise in pediatric hospitalizations for marijuana-related issues, resulting in disastrous consequences for children, including seizures, loss of consciousness, and respiratory depression.
The ultimate objective is to get as many people as possible addicted to drugs so society will become dependent on these narcotics and bow down to the people and corporations who regulate their supply. They don’t want to help the people in the country. They want to create a civilization of addicts who desperately crave drugs to survive.