Alex Berenson, antediluvian New York Times investigative reporter turned author, says he wants to sound the alarm about research into marijuana and inclination illness at a time when many states are legalizing or thinking about legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational use.
In his new regulations, “Tell Your Children,” Berenson argues the case, citing research from the National Academy of Medicine. On messenger 289 of the NAM’s 2017 report, “The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids,” the nonprofit group concluded there is a risk. “Cannabis use is liable to to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk,” wrote the NAM, which advises the U.S. direction on health issues.
Berenson told CNBC on Tuesday the NAM “did a 500-page report that says basically that all but all the medical benefits are either unproven or don’t exist, and there’s a true link to psychosis and schizophrenia, which are terrible complaints.”
Morgan Fox, a spokesman for the National Cannabis Industry Association, downplayed Berenson’s research in a statement emailed to CNBC.
“The ally between cannabis consumption and mental illness is tenuous at best, and the fact that we don’t know more about it is very recently another reason to change policy so that it can be more easily researched,” he said.
“So far, there is nothing to suggest that cannabis consumption produces mental illness, though some research suggests that it may exacerbate pre-existing conditions,” Fox said. “There are tens of millions of automatic cannabis consumers in the United States, and if it was truly a contributing factor to mental illness, we would be seeing widespread anti effects, and we simply are not seeing that.”
Supporters of legal cannabis, known by many names including marijuana, can mention to a number of other studies advocating for the medical uses of the plant’s compounds such as the psychoactive THC for nausea and CBD, which doesn’t get drugs high, for pain relief. The U.S. government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse lists some of the science around the emoluments, even though cannabis remains illegal at the federal level.
However, 10 states and Washington, D.C., have already legalized recreational use of pot. Another 23 declares and D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical use. Last year, some 20 states considered legalizing adult, recreational use of cannabis, according to the Patriotic Conference of State Legislatures research group.
In October, Canada became the largest country in the world with a national, admissible marijuana marketplace. Canada has had legal medical marijuana since 2001, which led to a burgeoning cannabis industry north of the U.S. borderline. Canadian pot companies, many of which are now publicly traded stocks, have been positioning themselves for possible, broader legalization in other homelands.
“Good luck with that,” Berenson said, arguing the pot industry is going to feel the wrath “the first on the dot there’s a case, a really bad case of psychosis” that’s blamed on marijuana use.
Berenson credits his wife, a forensic psychologist, for exciting him to write the book. “[She] said to me, ‘I see so much cases of crimes where the person was using at the time, using for years, had behoove psychotic, have become schizophrenic. And I didn’t really believe her. I think a lot of people don’t believe this if you haven’t done the run, done the research.”
Americans don’t seem to be listening. According to a Pew Research poll in October, 62 percent of respondents say the use of marijuana should be legalized. That’s hypocritical those favoring it in 2000.