Marijuana Legalization Tied to Increased Use Among Young Adults Who Don’t Attend College

Marijuana

Research shows that marijuana legalization leads to increased use among young adults who do not attend college.

Researchers from Oregon State University analyzed marijuana use among young adults ages 18-23.

Their findings — which were published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine — revealed that marijuana legalizations was tied to higher use among young adults who were not enrolled in college.

The findings are significant, because young adults who use marijuana face serious health risks.

For example, an NIH study published this year found young men who use marijuana heavily are at an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. As many as 30% of schizophrenia cases among men between the ages 21 and 30 could have been prevented by not using marijuana.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found adults under age 45 who frequently use marijuana are roughly twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack as adults who do not use marijuana.

And a 2021 report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found self-harm rates rose 46% among men ages 21 to 39 in states where commercial marijuana sales were legalized.

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.

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Saline County Quorum Court Votes to Put County Judge Over Library

Library,

The Saline County Quorum Court voted on Monday to give County Judge Matt Brumley authority over the county library.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes that Monday’s measure prevents the county library board from hiring or firing library employees or regulating their salaries. The measure also subjects the library to an annual audit, and it effectively places the quorum court in charge of the library’s budget.

The move in Saline County comes after extensive controversy over the placement of inappropriate children’s books in the library’s catalog.

Family Council has heard repeatedly from people who are deeply troubled by obscene and inappropriate children’s books that some librarians have placed on the shelves of their local libraries.

For example, the Jonesboro public library has been at the center of multiple controversies over its decision to place books with sexually-explicit images in its children’s section and for failing to adopt a policy that separates sexual material from children’s content.

The library in Jonesboro went so far as to post on Facebook that it isn’t the library’s responsibility to protect kids from obscenity.

Following the controversy in Jonesboro, voters opted to cut the library’s millage in half last November.

Other public libraries in Arkansas have included graphic children’s books in their catalogs and failed to separate sexual material from children’s material as well.

Public libraries are supposed to be for everyone.

Families should be able to take their children to the library without worrying what their children might see.

Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize graphic novels that depict explicit images of minors engaged in sexual acts.

Hopefully, the Saline County Quorum Court’s vote this week will help ensure that library material in their community is appropriate for all ages.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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