As pro-marijuana legalization forces chalk up more state victories, it’s time to consider how to regulate emerging cannabis markets to safeguard public health. A Framework for Marijuana Control, published by National Families in Action and Smart Approaches to Marijuana, is based on alcohol and tobacco best practices and includes comparisons to what legal marijuana states have already enacted. It offers guidelines on critical issues such as the impact on adolescents, fetus and newborns; effects on both general and mental health; and how to ensure communities have the ability to opt-out of retail distribution. It also suggests ways to curb marketing to underage consumers, by prohibiting all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including on the Internet.
Meanwhile, the House has passed a bill with bipartisan support to expand marijuana research, following its recent approval of another bill to decriminalize marijuana on the federal level. The new bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act to remove limitations on researching marijuana, which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree is necessary to study the health effects of the drug.
And finally, Chicago and surrounding Cook County is the latest metropolitan area to report soaring opioid overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials say it will be the worst year yet for fatal overdoses with 1,500 deaths so far—surpassing last year’s record-breaking tally. Latinos and Blacks make up 63 percent of the deaths, although they represent less than half of Cook County’s population. Overdoses are spiking across the country due to the isolation and stress of corona virus restrictions, as well as lack of access to drug treatment services.