Feds Eye Tighter Controls On Pot Use As Health Concerns Rise; NM Impact Weighed, Plus: CYFD Mess Draws More Reader Reaction

It is, after all, a mind-alerting drug but in the near euphoric rush to legalize recreational marijuana in 2021 the Governor and most of the Legislature brushed aside or did not even mention the possible adverse medical consequences that increased pot usage could have on the state's younger population, among the most disadvantaged in the USA. 

But now that 19 states and DC have legalized weed, the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost and the federal government is poised to get more serious because of health concerns being more fully revealed. The latest: 

A steady flow of data (has) emerged on health impacts, including emphysema in smokers and learning delays in adolescents. Lawmakers’ reaction to the bad news raises the prospect that the loosely regulated marijuana marketplace, worth $13.2 billion last year and growing 15 percent annually, could come under pressure. They’re now talking about standards on dosing, mandates for childproof containers for edibles, and advertising restrictions aimed at protecting children. They’re also concerned about high potency cannabis and its effects. “We really have to slow down,” said Leana Wen, George Washington University public health professor and former Baltimore health commissioner. “We’re getting so far ahead of where the research is.” In a Washington Post column column, Wen detailed “abundant research” that she said demonstrated “how exposure to marijuana during childhood impacts later cognitive ability, including memory, attention, motivation and learning.” 

Publicly, marijuana use here doesn't seem to have caused any severe dislocations, unlike alcohol which remains a leading cause of auto fatalities and premature death. The issue is individual health and if the Feds are looking for tougher messaging on pot that will trickle down to the states. 

NM IMPACT

In Santa Fe, where revenues from legal pot are forecast to take in anywhere from $25 to $35 million in annual revenue--a mere drop in the bucket in the state's over $9 billion budget--there is legislation making the rounds as the first anniversary of legal usage nears in April. 

However that legislation is from Republicans, not the Democratic majority. Still, HB 156 sponsored by GOP Reps. Bill Rehm and Andrea Reeb does contain proposals that could catch fire with Dems if they start hearing more about health concerns: 

The Cannabis School Use Prevention Resource Act, would require DOH to establish a Cannabis School Use Prevention Resource Program to provide to each school board and charter school governing body by July 1, 2023. The components Include: Research-based evidence on cannabis use by minors, a targeted advertising campaign regarding juvenile cannabis use. Also, specific reporting by the end of each year to the Legislative Education Study Committee and the Legislative Health and Human Service Committee. . .School personnel are to be taught how to identify cannabis and products containing cannabis. Information is to be disseminated using a website developed for the purpose, with a link from the DOH website. 

A PR response to the health consequences of pot would seem mild. But it is one the state could finance with tax revenue generated by pot sales. And a similar response is credited with cutting the rate of drinking and driving in the early part of the century under Gov. Richardson. 

In a state well-known for not being able to hold its liquor or a myriad of illicit drugs, the adverse impacts of partaking in a state-sponsored drug deserves attention. No, not a movie like Reefer Madness. We've come a long since the 30's but today's science says danger is present with this legal drug as it is for alcohol. Alerting the public to that could, so to speak, help nip the problem in the bud.

THE CYFD MESS (CONT.)

The CYFD mess we've regularly blogged of continues to draw reader reaction, including this missive from Ezra Spitzer, co-executive director of NMCAN that partners "with young people to build community, promote equity and lead change: 

The blog reader comments Monday about SB 128 and CYFD caught my attention. It seems to me that Senators Duhigg, Lopez and Hemphill should be commended for having the courage to at least try to meaningfully reform a system that clearly puts resources into the wrong places. Almost every other state in the nation has a child welfare system more similar to SB 128 than our current system. It seems very hard to defend current practice as the best path forward. Everyone wants CYFD to succeed, but they are not the Bureau of Magical Things. New Mexico suffers from profound levels of poverty. A vast majority of the children in CYFD custody are there as a result of neglect which is generally associated with poverty. Asking the state to raise more and more children is not a meaningful solution. If we aren't talking about solutions that profoundly and meaningfully equip families to raise their own children and get resources to families struggling to survive then we are having the wrong conversation. 

Meantime at the Roundhouse there is talk swirling that some kind of increased oversight of CYFD may be coming from the executive branch but critics are already sounding alarms that the planned oversight may not be independent of the executive or CYFD. Stay tuned. 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023