Marijuana affects its users mentally and physically — that much has long been known. As more states legalize its use, research is making clearer exactly what those effects are.
This matters because cannabis use by adults rises after legalization. So a look at the health effects indicates what the consequences of legalization could entail for the state as a whole.
Some might be positive: The idea that cannabis has health benefits has spurred legalization of medical marijuana in other states, and there is some research suggesting upsides.
There is also research, a great amount of it, showing harmful consequences. We review the principal findings here.
The Badger Institute is not arguing for or against legalization either in this paper or in any of the other policy briefs we’ve compiled on the topic. Our aim is simply to present research in states that have legalized in the belief that, whatever decision Wisconsinites make in the years ahead, the outcomes will be better if the decision is informed by facts.
This part of the series follows previous installments:
- An introduction to the project.
- A finding that Wisconsin has drifted into de facto decriminalization as prosecution for criminal marijuana offenses has become rare or nonexistent in much of the state.
- A finding that legalization elsewhere has led to either neutral or positive effects on crime, but an increase in highway crashes.
- A finding that legalization for recreational or medical use increases the use of the drug among adults, while research on youth use is less conclusive.
- A finding that, in other states, legalizing cannabis for adult use reduced unemployment and increased labor force participation, and that it seemed to have no impact on wages but led to a reduction in workers’ compensation claims.
- A review of research specific to laws on medical use.
- A finding that legalizing all adult use of cannabis is likely to increase the uncontrolled and harmful use of the drug — that is, “cannabis use disorder” — in Wisconsin. Researchers are more divided on whether legalizing only the medical use of marijuana has similar effects, and adult recreational legalization also is likely to reduce opioid use and overdoses.
- A finding that setting tax levels too high will drive users into the illicit market.
- A finding that the potency of cannabis being seized by law enforcement is much more potent than what users decades ago encountered, and that consumers of cannabis increasingly prefer high-potency forms.
