Is Marijuana a Danger to Society?

The argument that marijuana is a gateway drug and causes psychosis, violence and crime has long been used to support its criminalisation, the war on drugs, and draconian control measures. In this article, I will argue why these claims are not based on reality.

Is marijuana a gateway drug? Gateway theory has long been used as an excuse to restrict individual rights, including recent claims that non-malicious edgy humour leads to genocide or the long-argued claim that use of marijuana leads to harder drugs such as heroin and meth.

In reality, most people who smoke weed never go on to use harder substances. The claim that marijuana is a gateway drug lacks scientific evidence - correlation does not equal causation. Whether someone goes on to harder drugs has more to do with individual circumstances.

Does marijuana cause psychosis or violent criminal behaviour? Very few people who use marijuana cause problems for other people. Where people use marijuana and have mental issues, it is often incredibly difficult to determine whether the marijuana is contributing to the mental problems or whether the person is using marijuana to cope with their mental problems.

This is especially true in jurisdictions where marijuana is illegal and lacks quality control, and can be mixed or even completely replaced by other substances with no accountability.

Even if we assume marijuana causes problems in a select minority of individuals, that does not justify criminalisation. Adults should be free to make decisions about their own bodies even if there is risk involved. Furthermore, I do not believe the risk of harm is enough to justify government intervention.

To intervene in a personal choice, the government ought to prove that an act inevitably creates an imminent threat to others, such as with drink driving. The claimed potential risk of psychosis, let alone violent psychosis making someone a danger to others, falls far below a level that justifies state intervention to restrict adult marijuana use. The marijuana debate very much mirrors the gun debate in that it seeks to enforce collective punishment against the majority for the actions of a tiny minority.

Does marijuana cause people to commit crimes? People should always be personally responsible for their own behaviour, yet society and the justice system often allows people to avoid personal responsibility by claiming ‘drugs made me do it’. The potential for marijuana and other drugs to completely override free will is not consistent with reality and their effects are not the fiction depicted in the media.

If someone uses marijuana knowing it causes them to engage in poor behaviour, that person is still responsible for the outcome because they knew the risks and did it anyway. A situation where someone uses marijuana for the first time, has a bad reaction and commits a violent act against another is incredibly rare. Voluntary drug use should never be a defence in the court of law.

I would further argue that the criminalisation of marijuana and the war on drugs in general negatively affects public safety and fuels violence due to demand from the black market. Limiting supply does not change demand, and the illegal marijuana trade funds terrorist groups and organised crime. The cost of putting people through the justice system and in jail economically burdens the taxpayer and takes time and resources away from crimes which have actual victims.

Are users of marijuana doomed to be non-functional losers? There are many people who smoke marijuana and are perfectly functional and even successful in life. In many cases, you would never know unless they told you. For example, the successful podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan has been open about his use. There is also evidence indicating that historical figures such as Shakespeare and George Washington may have used marijuana. That stoner stereotype is not a representation of all marijuana users.

Why should any of this concern you if you don’t use marijuana? Even if you don’t use marijuana and swear to never touch it, you are not protected from the ramifications of marijuana criminalisation and the war on drugs. For example, it is the reason a police officer can claim they smell weed and search you and your belongings, and is an excuse for the government to seize your property without a criminal conviction in many jurisdictions.

Since its inception, the war on drugs has been used as an excuse to erode civil liberties and restrict personal freedom and privacy. It is a reliable excuse for police and the government to claim the need for intrusive and invasive powers. As drugs continue to win the war on drugs, government authorities become increasing desperate and further erode your rights in the process.

The fact that the government can punish you for something that you do to your own body, even in the privacy of your own home, is incredibly invasive. There is nothing more dangerous than an unrestrained government that can violate your rights with impunity under the guise of your own good.