A top federal official on health says that as states continue to legalize cannabis, it’s “crucial” for the products to be regulated.
Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA), said that although it would be “ideal,” if states took their time enacting reforms, “states have already legalized it,” and that “we need to know right now what we can do to minimise harmful effects.”
Volkow, speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, said, “That includes, among other things regulating products being sold and educating the public regarding the adverse effects.” “I believe that’s crucial, because as you may know, most states in the United States either legalized recreational marijuana or medical marijuana.”
While the official didn’t call for federal legalization explicitly, a change in policy would be needed to impose national regulations on cannabis products and sales across state markets.
Watch the NIDA Director discuss marijuana policy on the video below.
Volkow discussed the recent research that looked at a possible connection between marijuana use, and an increased risk of psychosis. He said “Unfortunately, marijuana isn’t as benign as we wish it were–because we would love it if it were a very harmless drug.”
She said that in 2021, she has not seen any evidence to support the idea that adults who occasionally use marijuana are at risk.
Several bills for legalization have been introduced by the Congress in recent sessions, but have not yet been passed. This has led to a patchwork of state-level regulatory models.
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Volkow told a Senate Committee this month, that new evidence is emerging that psychoedelics have “significant potential” for treating certain mental conditions. This topic is of “great interest” to researchers.
In recent years, the director has become an outspoken critic of the criminalization of drugs in general, pointing out racial disparities and the ineffectiveness in treating addictions as a criminal matter, instead of a public health issue.
In an interview with a government official late last year, the official claimed that drug criminalization “created a system structurally racist” where Black people were treated “worse than other races”.
She also spoke about the relationship between racial bias and drug criminalization by 2021. She said that the U.S. “is currently reckoning with a history of discriminatory, racist policies, some of which are still in place today.”
In a blogpost last year, Volkow stated that it’s urgent to reshape the addiction treatment. This includes putting more resources into identifying “preaddiction”, to help people before they develop the disease.
Nebraska Activists take first step to put medical marijuana legalization on the 2024 ballot
The post Federal Health Official Urges Regulation of Marijuana Products — Which is Only Possible With Legalization first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
