The Biden administration recently declared that no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana and that individuals convicted of simple possession at the federal level shall be pardoned. This ruling is consistent with the decades of scientific studies that have established the need for serious reform of marijuana policies. Clearly, our nation’s approach to substance use and addiction should always be conceived of through a public health rather than criminal justice lens.
A public health approach also demands that we consider the effects of reforming marijuana laws on the health and well-being of young people and that we ensure such reform is done in a manner that fully considers the bulk of scientific evidence.
Irrespective of where the public stands regarding the decriminalization or legalization of the adult use of nonmedical marijuana, our concern is with the impacts on adolescents, as the loosening of these laws inevitably conveys to them that marijuana is not harmful. In reality, it can be harmful if used during development when it is most likely to impair mental and physical functioning, especially given the intense potency of today’s marijuana.
