Cannabis Harm Reduction

Jan 12, 2023, The American Spectator

Steven Greenhut

SACRAMENTO — The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has indicated an interest in investigating various federal agencies, with the latest news being that lawmakers will vote on…

Nov 15, 2022

Jillian Snider Testimony on the House Oversight Committee’s Hearing on Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level

Jillian Snider

Watch here:

Submitted Statement of
Jillian E. Snider
Policy Director, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
R Street Institute
Before the
Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil…

Oct 17, 2022, The Hill

Cannabis pardons are good for public health—but they’re not enough

Stacey McKenna

When the Biden administration recently announced that it would pardon federal cannabis possession charges and review the drug’s Schedule 1 status, it was cause for celebration among harm reduction…

Sep 20, 2022

Can Cannabis Help Solve the Opioid Crisis?

Stacey McKenna

Summary
In 2021, drug overdose deaths in the United States—the vast majority of which were attributable to opioids—topped 100,000, an all-time high. The overprescribing of OxyContin and…

Jul 18, 2022

R Street Testimony for FDA’s Proposed Tobacco Product Standards for Menthol in Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars

Mazen Saleh & Jillian Snider

The R Street Institute (R Street) respectfully submits comments on the proposed tobacco product standards for menthol in cigarettes and characterizing flavors in cigars. R Street is a…

May 10, 2022, RealClearPolicy

Weed Can Help Veterans Reduce Opioid-related Harms … if it’s Decriminalized

Stacey McKenna

Between 2010 and 2019, 42,627 U.S. veterans died of a drug overdose. In fact, military veterans are 1.5 to 2 times as likely to die of an accidental overdose than the general population. The…

May 2, 2022, Newnan Times-Herald

A Confused Approach to Harm Reduction

Marc Hyden

If you want consistent approaches from the government to society’s many problems, then you’re likely to be disappointed. Nowhere is this clearer than in the responses to the tobacco and opioid…

Apr 29, 2022, Orange County Register

States’ latest tobacco ‘protections’ are trying to kill us

Steven Greenhut

I consider myself a rational person, someone who is swayed by solid data and persuasive arguments, yet every afternoon after my work is done, I jump on my three-cylinder Triumph motorcycle and take…

Apr 13, 2022

Cannabis Concerns: Fact or Fiction?

Alexandra McCandless

WASHINGTON (April 13, 2022) – In a new report, R Street Institute Senior Fellow Stacey McKenna and Research Fellow Chelsea Boyd identify and analyze common arguments voiced by opponents of cannabis…

Apr 13, 2022

Cannabis Is Not Risk Free, but Smart Policies Can Reduce Harm

Stacey McKenna & Chelsea Boyd

Test your knowledge about cannabis risks

It has been almost 30 years [1] since California legalized medical cannabis and nearly a decade since Colorado and Washington first allowed adult recreational use, and the United States seems to be leaving its “Reefer Madness” days in the dust. Indeed, Americans now overwhelmingly support [2] some degree of cannabis legalization [3], and both parties have shown an interest in federal decriminalization [4]. Despite this shift in perspective, opponents of legalization still make their argument by pointing to fears about how cannabis use and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) intoxication may affect public health and safety.

In this policy paper, we identified five top concerns from anti-legalization efforts, assessed their validity and outlined relevant policy implications. Before you dive into the details of the paper, test your knowledge here!

1 / 5

THC levels are higher than they were in the past. True? False?

True

Sort of true

Neither true nor false

Sort of false

False

2 / 5

Cannabis use causes mental health conditions. True? False?

True

Sort of true

Neither true nor false

Sort of false

False

3 / 5

Legalizing cannabis leads more teens to use. True? False?

True

Sort of true

Neither true nor false

Sort of false

False

4 / 5

Accidental cannabis poisonings are a danger to children. True? False?

True

Sort of true

Neither true nor false

Sort of false

False

5 / 5

Driving under the influence of THC causes more accidents and road fatalities. True? False?

True

Sort of true

Neither true nor false

Sort of false

False

Your score is

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Since California legalized medical cannabis almost three decades ago, support for relaxed laws around the Schedule I substance has spread throughout the United…

Endnotes

“30 years”: https://www.businessinsider.com/legal-marijuana-states-2018-1
“Americans now overwhelmingly support”: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/16/americans-overwhelmingly-say-marijuana-should-be-legal-for-recreational-or-medical-use/
“legalization”: https://www.mpp.org/issues/legislation/key-marijuana-policy-reform
“federal decriminalization”: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/federal-cannabis-reform-2022-year
“decades past”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26903403.
“5 percent”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26903403.
“17 percent”: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-019-00983-5
“around”: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230167
“20 percent”: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13886
“illegal”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26903403
“legal”: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/was-marijuana-really-less-potent-in-the-1960s/387010
“methodological”: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/was-marijuana-really-less-potent-in-the-1960s/387010/
“limitations”: https://goodlabcolorado.com/2016/05/19/potency-testing-gc-vs-lc/
“evidence”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X13000187
“emerging”: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03408.x
“evidence”: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/210748
“implicates”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5984096
“use”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5911228/#:~:text=Self%2Dmedication%20with%20drugs%20or,leading%20individuals%20to%20self%2Dmedicate.
“consumption”: http://monitoringthefuture.org/data/21data/MJ/MJ_jsFigures.htm
“studies”: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00952990.2018.1559847
“specifically”: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-018-0933-2
“examined”: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2718512
“cannabis”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31568933.
“exposure”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24507243.
“states”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749379715004006
“legal”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24507243
“study”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26054783
“climbed”: https://www.nhtsa.gov/behavioral-research/drug-and-alcohol-crash-risk-study
“states”: https://aaafoundation.org/cannabis-use-among-drivers-in-fatal-crashes-in-washington-state-before-and-after-legalization
“mild”: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30872375
“moderate”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457521003572?via%3Dihub
“risk”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457512002412
“blood THC levels”: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2020.1851685
“experiences”: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2788264

Cannabis Harm Reduction

Publications

Endnotes