So, is the implication the one you might expect, that the "gateway drug" effect is real but due to having to buy it from sources that might sell other illegal drugs?

As the team reports, problematic consumption decreased slightly in the group with legal access to cannabis. Consumption is considered problematic if it causes or exacerbates health, social or psychological difficulties—even without dependency in the classic sense.

In particular, a more substantial positive effect through legal access was seen in people who used other drugs in addition to cannabis.

This part is a little confusing, like how do they tell what is the cause of difficulties? Do they mean these people were still buying other black market drugs in addition to getting weed from a pharmacy? If so what would be the reason for the improvement?

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

very cool they have some data on this, but we should acknowledge that they did not have a control group of abstaining participants. so they demonstrated that psychologically not breaking the law has fewer deleterious effects than breaking the law, that's very cool. criminalizing substance use is a fucking disaster. but we still need to examine whether cannabis use does harm

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It has been repeatedly verified to dish out mountains of less harm than alcohol does. That alone should already tell us where priorities lie.

Alcohol vs. Edibles: Is One Worse for Your Health Than the Other? (March 2025, so recent)

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee -3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

alcohol is irrelevant

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If it was then it wouldn't be so much more prevalent and widely available. Any argument made against cannabis, a federally illegal drug, because it causes harm should be triply made so against alcohol, a legal drug that has annihilated many more millions of lives than cannabis ever has or will.

I'm saying if you're (generic "you") checking for damage to try to make a case against it, you should be investigating a lot of other, worse stuff, not this.

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I do believe alcohol should be regulated much more than it is. That's irrelevant.

You don't have to deal with the shit i do. cannabis use disorder is a real thing, and it does fuck up people's lives. and i say this as a light user of both alcohol and cannabis.

we are currently going through a severe rubber band effect on cannabis. after decades of reefer madness, people are going the other direction and saying it's a miracle drug that cures everything and makes life better in every way. that's just not the case. the evidence behind marijuanas medicinal benefit is shaky at best, and we have demonstrable proof of harms that it causes.

and if you read any of this and and think I'm advocating against legalization, you're completely missing the point. we should be legalizing all drugs because penalizing people for having a medical condition is fucking insane. but that doesn't mean we need to pretend that it's not a problematic substance.

[–] Flagstaff@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Oh okay, gotcha. I agree with everything you said, especially legalizing drugs, except this:

the evidence behind marijuanas medicinal benefit is shaky at best

At correct doses... (that's the kicker) https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/medical-marijuana-faq

We have literally seen kids to adults during epileptic attacks be made to take cannabis, with massive, visible reduction in their seizures shortly after; no other natural substance can do this so fast of which I know.

The typical ∆8-/∆9-THC strains can also significantly boost appetite for people struggling with theirs. They strongly increase pain tolerance. They aid sleep (or they stimulate if taken in microdoses). They shut down anxiety (again, at correct, small doses, such as likely not when smoked—which is the absolute worst way to take it, or anything else for that matter).

I guess my point is that we know the harm that it causes already. There are specific fenceposts by which people should abide:

Pregnant women should do their best to never use it, obviously.
Unless dealing with a severe medical condition or emergency (like seizures), no one under the age of 25 should experience marijuana, due to addiction risk, psychosis risk, and the potential for permanent brain damage (even if minor; we could even argue for age 32-34 since that's really when the brain has truly finished developing).
Doses should be small and measurable, such as through edibles, oils, or maybe vaping—never smoking, ever.
It should not be taken recreationally; as a mind-altering substance, it should only be taken at home, ideally in the evening when one's tasks are done, and if there is a reason: the user is sick; or fatigued and has been battling insomnia and needs to ensure good sleep for a heavy, upcoming morning; or has experienced literal, physical pain; or is in the stress of a panic attack. Boredom is not a reason!
It is not a solution for anxiety because even when dosed correctly, it only blocks anxiety for the duration of the high, so it's just a Band-Aid; a permanent reduction needs to come from something more overarching, like potentially PMR (progressive muscle relaxation) or something else, like possibly psilocybin, depending on the circumstances.
Usage should always be tracked strictly, IMHO.

There's a whole ton of literature to back this all up which is why I think examining its problems is sort of spinning wheels. Compare that to the fact that it can prevent people from digging into heroin, etc. and I'd go with this stuff any day.

it's a miracle drug that cures everything and makes life better in every way.

A little off-topic but just for readers' information here: the miracle material out there is probably actually infrared light. I'm convinced that if God exists, He/It emits pure infrared light; even NASA uses red light panels to heal its astronauts' wounds faster: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22114-red-light-therapy

As for a miracle drug in the realm of mind-altering substances, it's probably psilocybin (or really psilocin if one wants to get technical): one single, well-designed trip can annihilate perfectionism or obsessions (and thereby depression or anxiety resulting from any such mental ruts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin_therapy

And none of these are any more addictive than sugar, as far as I know from all the research that has been poured into them—certainly not worse than alcohol or nicotine.

Sincerely,
A teetotaler