Expert: Jacqui - 9/10/2011

Question
I have done research myself, and looked at many statistics on Marijuana, and from my understanding legalizing Marijuana could increase the U.S economy greatly and help millions of people. I do smoke Marijuana, and from all of my experiences I have never been harmed because of it. I remember before I smoked I used to be very shy, and could not concentrate in school and my A.D.D was horrible, but since smoking everything has gotten better, but my mom cant seem to agree. She grew up in the age when "reefer madness" was popular and all these crazy anti-marijuana schemes, so she is pretty much brainwashed. I came to you because of one key point you said "I won't be judging anyone", I will not reveal my age though due to your opinions could change about the subject. I'm basically trying to ask, how can I convince my mom that Marijuana is not harmful. She strongly disagrees, and I always argue with her about it but she can never come up with a legitimate answer. It usually leads back to "its illegal" well its not illegal anymore in Michigan so she can't really say that. I would just like an expert to tell her the facts about Marijuana.

Answer
Hey Christian,

It is really tricky to convince people that drug prohibition is not a good thing.  I take a judgment neutral stance on drugs - i.e.: I don't say they are bad and I don't say they are good.  All substances that we put into our bodies can do us harm, so it is about making sure that the substance isn't have a negative affect on your life or any negative health consequences.

The most often cited "danger" of cannabis use is related to increased risk of psychosis.  This is difficult to confirm, it is not possible to do a randomised controlled study (which is generally the basis of western scientific theory) to measure the effects - i.e.: you can't get two totally randomly assigned groups, give one group high doses of cannabis for 5 years, then see if there is a statistically significant difference in the incidence of schizophrenia.  So the data is generally of the correlational variety.  This does not mean that it doesn't cause mental health problems, but the links between psychosis and cannabis may be related to the fact that people who are prone to psychosis are more likely to want to smoke in the first place and the argument that "my son was fine until he started smoking cannabis" may be confounded by the fact that schizophrenia often emerges in late teens, early 20s when people are also most likely to smoke.  Having said that, it cannot be said that it is 100% safe as smoking anything isn't great for your lungs and use of too much cannabis can certainly induce a feeling of paranoia and hallucinations in people.

Probably the most compelling argument about drug use is that no society has ever really been able to stop it happening.  In fact, there are drugs in prisons which pretty much sums up how hard it is to stop humans putting substances into their bodies.  Humans have done so for thousands of years and are unlikely to stop.  This doesn't mean that you can convince your mother that cannabis is a good thing though.  I am guessing you are an adult, and probably the best way to approach it - rather than trying to change her mind - would be to simply ask her to respect your decision as an adult.  As you said, the illegality issue doesn't apply for you, so you are able to make the choice to smoke it without any negative legal consequences.  Many parents don't agree with everything their children do.  Mine doesn't like the fact I am riding a motorbike around Cambodia (probably a much more risky prospect than smoking cannabis by the way) but she understands that I am going to do it anyway (and having taken reasonable precautions - i.e.: not buying a local helmet because they are useless and instead bringing one from Australia).  So by you explaining to her that you have made an educated choice, are aware of the potential risks, and on weighing up the risks and the benefits, have made your decision.

I hope that helps.  Please don't hesitate to contact me again if there is anything else you would like to discuss.

Take care and whatever you do, do it safely.

Jacqui