58% of Americans favored the legalization of recreational marijuana. More than 80% of voters favor legalization of medical marijuana.
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ACEP Now: Vol 33 – No 10 – October 2014
As an emergency physician, I know marijuana is safer than alcohol. In my 20 years as an emergency physician at Marin General Hospital, I saw fewer than 10 patients with a chief complaint related to the consumption of marijuana. I never had a single hospital admission related to marijuana use. As an intelligent, responsible adult, I believe I should have the right to choose marijuana to relax or socialize because it is much safer and less toxic than alcohol.
As an emergency physician, I know marijuana is safer than alcohol….I have never had a single hospital admission related to marijuana use.
Prohibition of marijuana has many adverse unintended consequences. Americans’ insatiable desire to use marijuana has resulted in the real war on drugs, where drug cartels in Mexico and Central and South America have killed tens of thousands of people in the last decade. The tremendous illegal profits from these drug cartels are corrupting and destabilizing these countries. The legal costs to arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate people for marijuana possession waste billions of dollars each year.
Finally, I believe that the legalization and regulation of marijuana is safer for our children. Drug dealers don’t ask for IDs or proof of age. They are not concerned about the potency or purity of the products they sell. The claim that marijuana is a gateway drug to heroin, cocaine, etc., has been debunked. The problem is that illegal drugs are a gateway to other illegal and more dangerous drugs. Adolescents in the Netherlands, which has had de facto legalization of marijuana for more than 30 years, use marijuana at a significantly lower rate than adolescents in the United States.
Dr. Bedard is chairman of Marin Healthcare District in Greenbrae, California. He is Past President ACEP (1986–1987) and a CEP America emeritus partner.
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One Response to “Legalizing Marijuana Will Make It Safer”
February 23, 2015
Will legalizing marijuana increase the burden on the Pediatric Emergency Department? | Your weekly PEM dose.[…] Some states have already legalized marijuana and others are likely to follow. This is a hot topic of discussion in Washington DC. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently reaffirmed its position on keeping marijuana illegal “http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Reaffirms-Opposition-to-Legalizing-Marijuana-for-Recreational-or-Medical-Use.aspx“, while the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has a more tolerant view on this subject by suggesting that a more responsible use of marijuana might be expected if legalization were to be considered, as suggested in the the article here: “https://www.acepnow.com/article/legalizing-marijuana-will-make-safer/” […]