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Call me a curmudgeon.
Given some of the stances I take, it may surprise readers to learn that I’m not all that enthused about upstate’s legal retail pot market that a spokesperson for the state’s Office of Cannabis Management said should spring up by the end of winter, with nine licenses currently granted in the Capital Region and Mohawk Valley.
No, I’m not about to launch into attacks to do with strong odors in public places, nor am I going to spout outdated and misinformed mythology about cannabis being some especially dangerous gateway drug.
In fact, if the legalization of pot could somehow be isolated from other already legal vices in our society – alcohol, tobacco, the lottery – I’d probably be popping a celebratory gummy. It’s long past time that a substance that is used by all races equally but has been used to unfairly target people of color will no longer result in any arrests. Overall, I support the legalization of retail pot, if for no other reason than the social justice factor.
But the problem is pot use isn’t isolated from other behaviors. Its legalization represents just the latest potentially addictive and harmful habit that’s about to be normalized and legitimized in our area.
In our text chain, my friends were sure to point out my flawed way of thinking, quick to note arguments I agree with about tax revenue and the improved safety that comes from a regulated, legal market.
My reservations come down to this: I harbor a kind of elegiac longing for a world that never existed. Ultimately, I wish our world was moving more toward the movement that’s taken root in recent years, especially among Millennials, emerging from the 2019 book by Ruby Warrington called “Sober Curious.”
The concept is essentially about questioning why alcohol is so present in our society. Notably, many people who profess to be sober curious use pot as an alternative to alcohol, but to me the movement causes second-guessing of many things common in our daily lives and whether, in an idealistic world, we’d be better off without much of it.
Of course, as my friends needled, where do you draw the line? Sugar? Social media? Fast food? Football?
I’m enough of a realist to understand the world is full of good and bad. Most things are not entirely dangerous nor entirely beneficial.
But when thinking about my kids, currently 5 and 1, I’d rather they never drank, never smoked, never felt the need to alter their state of mind or chase manufactured adrenaline. I wish their dopamine and endorphins came entirely from love and exercise, not from a TikTok video or a shot of tequila.
Again, I know I’m being unrealistic, if not a little cranky.
So as I turn from my pipe dreams based in fantasyland to the reality of retail pot, let me describe some hopes for what actually happens.
My biggest hope is that problematic pot usage doesn’t spike.
Data supports it won’t. In 2020, our state had about 1.6 million adults, or 12.8%, who reported using cannabis within 30 days, according to a New York State Department of Health study. More than half of those adults consumed pot fewer than 20 days per month, with the remainder using pot nearly every day.
Mitch Earleywine, a professor of psychology at the University at Albany who studies cannabis policy, doesn’t expect the number of users to change much as a result of legal retail sales. He said frequency among users can be expected to rise about an extra day a week.
“Almost invariably there is a subset of adults who end up using if there is a legal market, but not a huge number who aren’t already using,” Earleywine said.
Data from other states with legal retail sales show the number of people who develop an addiction to cannabis as a result of legalization doesn’t spike, either, Earleywine said.
Still, I think there is reason to be cautious. Consider the impact of mobile sports betting, which became legal in New York last year, resulting in more than $900 million in revenue for the state.
That’s held up as a big win, but there is an underbelly that too often gets ignored. Sports betting can result in addiction as real and as serious as addiction to chemical substances, leading to troubling consequences, including suicide. About 600,000 New Yorkers deal with gambling addiction, according to the New York Council on Problem Gambling.
“With the increased accessibility, the advertisements, the promotions, we’ve definitely seen an increase in calls for help,” said Brandy Richards, a team leader at the Northeast Problem Gambling Resource Center. “What we’re not seeing is that balanced message about the risks and the potential harm.”
In 2022, there were 2,402 calls and texts made to a state problem gambling helpline compared to 1,899 contacts in 2021. To be sure, the line had 2,977 contacts in 2019.
Sports gambling addiction is often laughed off in the same way that Cannabis Use Disorder, which is defined as an addiction by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is downplayed.
In no way should we be paranoid about such dangers, but we should be aware. So, thankfully, as with the legalization of mobile sports betting, some of the tax revenue from retail pot sales will go toward addiction treatment and prevention services.
Specifically, 20% of the revenue generated from pot sales will go to the state’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports and will help pay for a variety of initiatives, such as education campaigns and treatment services.
My hope is that all of that gets taken seriously. Assuming it does, I’ll be thankful my kids will come of age in a state where pot is normalized rather than demonized. We’ll be able to talk openly and discuss the importance of moderation and responsible use. If it ever becomes necessary, we’ll be able to tap into addiction support resources that wouldn’t be as well-funded if not for retail legalization. All of that is beneficial, even if I’d rather the world be full of nothing but apples and yoga classes.
Back in the real world, I’ve dabbled with sober curiosity. At one point, I went three months without having anything stronger than caffeine. My wife went nearly a year.
But I didn’t stick with it because I enjoy having a beer with the guys on occasional Thursdays. It’s relaxing to clink cocktail glasses on the deck with my wife. It’s likely this summer there will be Saturday evenings we opt for a pot soda rather than a bottle of wine.
In the end, we all have to make choices that work for our own lives and decide which risks outweigh which benefits. With retail pot, as with other things, I do believe the benefits to society outweigh the risks, which is why I support it, even if my enthusiasm is muted.
If that makes me a curmudgeon, so be it. I’m pretty sure my friends will still hang out with me, whether or not I decide to take a hit.
Columnist Andrew Waite can be reached at [email protected] and at 518-417-9338. Follow him on Twitter @UpstateWaite.
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