Marijuana Legalization Tied to Overall Increase in Drinking: New Study
A new study has tied marijuana legalization to an overall increase in alcohol consumption — especially among young adults.
Marijuana Legalization Tied to Increased Alcohol Consumption
A recent study published in peer-reviewed journal Jama Health Forum found that marijuana legalization may contribute to increased alcohol use.
Research conducted from 2010 – 2019 examined how recreational marijuana laws affected alcohol use by 4.2 million adults in the U.S.
Overall, the study found “recreational cannabis laws were associated with a 0.9 percentage point increase in any alcohol use among the population.” Increased alcohol use was most pronounced among adults ages 18-24, who were 3.7% more likely to report alcohol use.
These findings are significant because many marijuana supporters claim that marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol.
Even if that were true, this study indicates that legalizing marijuana may lead to increased alcohol use.
In other words, legalization does not encourage people to use marijuana instead of alcohol. If states legalize marijuana, people may simply use more marijuana and more alcohol, both.
It’s important to point out that increased marijuana use raises safety concerns of its own.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the CDC report that after alcohol, marijuana is the substance most often associated with impaired driving.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes in Washington doubled after the state legalized marijuana.
A 2020 study published in JAMA Network Open found that more than 1 in 8 teen drivers reported recently driving after using marijuana, and teens were more than twice as likely to drive after using marijuana than they were to drink and drive.
In Colorado traffic fatalities where the driver tested positive for marijuana have increased 138% since the state legalized marijuana in 2013.
All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
FBI Arrests Suspected Violent Drug Traffickers in Central Arkansas
Earlier this month the FBI arrested 45 individuals suspected of being tied to drug trafficking and violent crime in Little Rock and Pine Bluff.
The arrests and indictments reportedly were the result of FBI investigations into two rival gangs in central Arkansas.
In August of 2021 DEA agents and North Little Rock Police determined that methamphetamine and fentanyl “were being mailed into Arkansas from California, and these shipments—which included kilogram-quantities of methamphetamine and thousands of pressed fentanyl pills—were then distributed to individuals in Little Rock and Pine Bluff as well as Houston, Texas.”
Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered gangs were funding their violent crimes through the sale of high-grade marijuana.
Investigators reportedly found evidence of drug trafficking and travel between Arkansas and Texas, California, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
You can read more about these operations and investigations here.
As news outlets have reported across the country, the opioid epidemic is raging in America, and drug cartels are funding their criminal enterprises with marijuana — despite many states legalizing marijuana.
Contrary to popular belief, legalization does not decrease drug-related crime, and it does not alleviate drug abuse. If anything, it seems to make those problems worse.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.