Last week, I read an opinion by the New York Times editorial board that gave me pause and left me shaking my head in agreement.
The editors pointed out that daily marijuana use in the U.S. has climbed from about six million in 2012 to nearly 18 million today, as has the number of people (youth and adults) with pot-related illness and marijuana-linked paranoia and chronic psychotic disorders.
And another number has also risen. According to a 2023 study published in the journal Pediatrics, the number of edible cannabis exposures among children under age 6 increased by about 1,375 % from 2017 (207) to 2021 (3,054). According to Washington Poison Center, “One of the most common calls we receive about cannabis is little kids mistaking an edible for candy.”
The bottom line for the NYT editors? They still support legalization. But their position has evolved, and they now say the feds need to step in — with a federal tax on pot, by restricting high THC and other harmful types of marijuana, and by “cracking down” on spurious and unproven health claims about weed.
Thankfully, Washington has been been forerunner in two of those three areas. In this state, pot is subject to a 37% cannabis excise tax along with regular sales tax (state + local), making Washington one of the heaviest taxing states for legal cannabis. And while the state does not limit THC concentration in marijuana flowers and concentrates, it does limit each edible “serving” to no more than 10 milligrams of THC. In fact, Oregon lawmakers are considering mirror legislation right now to prohibit the sale of individual edibles that have more than 10 milligrams of THC. According to a report in the Washington State Standard last week, in 2023, children ages newborn to 5 made up one-third of all cannabis-related cases reported to the Oregon Poison Center.
There’s good news when it comes to cannabis. Over the last decade, teen use rates have not risen in King County or Washington state. They have gone down by most measures. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports declines in current cannabis use among King County students (grades 8/10/12) from 2008-2021; the Washington Department of Health’s 2023 Healthy Youth Survey notes youth substance use stayed mostly stable post-pandemic, with current cannabis use around 8% among 10th graders.
President Donald Trump supports states’ rights to legalize pot. For once, I agree with him. If alcohol — despite its well-documented health and social harms — is legal and regulated, then marijuana should be treated the same way. I believe that added federal regulation of THC levels (my vote would be for lowering it to 5% in individual edibles), is an important next step and would go miles to discourage weed companies from creating new, stronger strains. Cannabis has gotten significantly stronger over the last 20 years — cannabis growing is a business, and its bottom line is money, not addiction control. And yet, research shows the newer strains of pot are addictive — and that most addiction begins with teen use.
Cannabis companies don’t care if a new strain is strong or addictive. They care about making money.
For now, if you have cannabis at home, heed the poison center’s warning, no matter how old your kids are: “Keep your kiddos safe by always storing your stash up high, out of their reach, and locked up.”
TAKE ACTION: Do you have an opinion about whether the federal government should legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis? Make your voice heard. Contact your members of Congress.
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