A Misinformation Pandemic

"The cannabis pandemic, like other challenges to public health, requires consensus, a consistent commitment across the political spectrum and by society at large. Today, the harmful characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin."

- Antonio Maria Costa, Head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime

As justification for this bold claim, Costa brought out the tired old excuse that marijuana is much stronger than it used to be. It's easy to just laugh at this, and that tends to be what most people do, but I think it's valuable to actually explain why that statement is so silly.

To be clear, I don't doubt that marijuana is stronger than it used to be. The amount of the intoxicating chemical in marijuana, THC, can be controlled through selective breeding and other techniques that have been improved upon greatly in the past few decades. But that's really a distraction from the real point. The point is that unlike cocaine, opiates, and amphetamines, THC is not chemically addictive. The effects of the drug can be psychologically addictive, where users can find it difficult to quit, but the body doesn't crave THC after prolonged use the way a meth addict or a heroin addict (or a cigarette smoker) craves their respective drugs. As a result, longtime marijuana users don't start craving higher and higher quantities of the drug. As an addiction, it has more in common with gambling or sex. It can become a behavior that an individual sees as a crutch, or as a sole source of hope or happiness. But no matter how potent it becomes, it will never become as dangerous as heroin or meth. People will just use less of it at a time to experience the mood elevation that they desire.

With meth, as we've seen, the increased purity of the drug coming out of Mexico that has replaced what used to come out of home meth labs has given a modest rise to addiction problems, despite the fact that usage rates have stayed fairly constant. But as the purity of marijuana has increased over the past few decades, there hasn't been any statistical increase in the rate of addiction. Even with alcohol, where the likelihood of chemical addiction appears to be selective (and based on genetics), there's a bigger concern from an addiction standpoint, but I doubt that Costa is ready to tell the world governments they need to start thinking about alcohol as being as dangerous as heroin just because it's possible to make 190 proof liquor.