Marijuana has economic benefits, but public health risks are undecided
In an opinion piece published in The Hill, Dr. Jonathan Fielding points out the lack of evidence behind health claims associated with marijuana.
The marijuana business is booming in the U.S. medicinal marijuana is legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Eight states have legalized recreational marijuana. Sales figures are up wherever it is legally sold. In Colorado, for example, marijuana sales topped out at nearly $6B since 2014’s legalization. In 2017, sales there reached $1.5B and this year’s sales are on track to surpass that figure. This includes CBD (used medicinally — not the subject of this article) and plants with high levels of DTHC or THC, cannabis’s main psychoactive compound.
This is all excellent news for municipalities and states that benefit from increased tax revenues and for savvy marketers who now sell marijuana at the rate of alcohol. Unfortunately, marijuana’s public health risks are not as clearly understood as the risks of alcohol.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
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