Except me.

It used to be that I could count on a tsunami of comments and clicks when I aired my unalterable conviction that pot, weed, cannabis, marijuana, what ever you want to call the junk, was a blight on civilization, that legalizing it would be a big net loss on society, and that the elite advocates for legalization were selfish, irresponsible creeps who wanted their little highs at the cost of kids, the poor, and the less-than-bright harming themselves, their families, their employers and their future prospects. Once the states started giving up after the culture had pushed them into the mendacity that the drug was as harmless as Junior Mints, I gave up too. I was right, they were wrong, the embrace of stoned kids and adults would be one more malady in a nation where we have too many already, but the metaphorical genie was out of its bottle and there is stuffing it back in.

At this point in my life, the whole subject just ticks me off.

Now comes “expert” Aaron E. Caroll to explain that yes, well, we really did legalize grass before we really knew what the hell we were doing. [Gift link!] Huh! Who would have thought it? He writes,

“…we should acknowledge that policy moved faster than the evidence on public health effects. The challenge is whether we are willing to adjust course when we encounter unintended consequences…”

I wouldn’t call consequences that were completely predictable and likely “unintended.” The spoiled grown-up (sort of) college kids who just wanted their bongs had plenty of people—like me—telling them that siding with Cheech and Chong was irresponsible and reckless, but they didn’t care about kids, the workplace, side-effects, any of it. Next he writes in part,

Recent studies show that while overall rates of severe mental illness have not surged, a growing share of new psychosis diagnoses involves people with heavy cannabis use. Other research suggests that impaired driving risk might have increased in some places, even as measurement of road safety effects and enforcement lag reality. Emergency departments are seeing more cannabis-related visits, often tied to heavy use and dependence. It’s estimated that nearly a third of adult users have reported symptoms consistent with cannabis use disorder, meaning they continue to use despite significant negative effects on their lives. These harms are not evenly distributed. They cluster among heavy users, younger people and those who are already vulnerable.

Well of course.

Then the expert writes,

“I come to this not only as a policy analyst but also as a pediatrician and a parent. I still believe, as I wrote more than a decade ago, that marijuana poses fewer risks than alcohol for most people.”

Well goody for you. That was and is Rationalization #22. The Comparative Virtue Excuse or “There are worse things,” and I blame that rationalization and the intellectually dishonest pot advocates who wielded it for where we are now with marijuana, which is “stuck with it forever.” Gee, pot is not as bad as alcohol. That must make it good, right? We already had two deadly drugs killing people and wrecking lives, what’s the problem with adding another one?

Alcoholism killed my wife. There are over 27 million Americans who suffer from “alcohol use disorder,” the new politically correct code for “alcoholics.” Every alcoholic harms multiple people in various ways large and small, especially loved ones and anyone who trusts them. Let’s say each has 5 victims, which I think is a low estimate: if the disease doesn’t kill them early, alcoholics can and will betray, manipulate and harm dozens. Do the math.

Then there are all the people alcohol kills, all the broken marriages and damaged children, and the DUI victims, and the wasted money. But the good news is, cannabis isn’t as bad.

Whoopie.

The essay concludes with all manner of reasonable measured policy approaches, now that the barn is empty and the horses have bolted:

• “Today’s cannabis products are far stronger than those studied a generation ago. High-potency products should face higher taxes, stricter labeling and tighter marketing limits, much as higher-proof alcohol does”
• “Public education also needs to improve. We must avoid scare tactics and wellness slogans. Today’s cannabis industry markets high-potency products aggressively, sometimes overstating benefits or downplaying risks. Good science communication would include honest messages that risks rise with potency, early use, frequency of use and certain mental health histories.”

Yeah, all that worked so well before.

• “We need more research into how to best combat impaired driving.”
• “If cannabis is going to generate tax revenue, it should help pay for the consequences it creates…”
• “[W]e need better data. Legalization raced ahead of the surveillance of its public health consequences. States should be required to track cannabis-related emergency visits, poisonings and mental health crises. We cannot manage what we don’t measure.”

But that’s exactly what we did, wasn’t it? We let popular culture corner policy, our leaders didn’t have the guts to draw line in the sand, the government abdicated its moral function of defining right, wrong and bad for society (Hint: what’s bad without benefits should be illegal) , and we are exactly where I was telling everyone I could where we would be, from college until the battle was lost.

Yeah, but pot’s not as bad as alcohol…

And now, a song…