How Legal Weed Has Changed the US
US President Joe Biden ordered a review of how federal law addresses marijuana and said he would pardon thousands of Americans convicted of possession.
Photographer: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesTurn an illicit product into a highly taxed and regulated one and you have a classic business experiment. Do it with a little-studied psychoactive substance that has both medical promise and addictive potential and you have a public health trial, too. That’s what the US has done with cannabis, otherwise known as marijuana, pot or weed. Changes in state laws since 1996 have given 74% of the US population access to some form of legal cannabis. Now President Joe Biden is taking steps toward decriminalizing marijuana on the federal level.
It’s been difficult to measure, as each state tracks data differently, if at all. What evidence there is shows that while legitimizing cannabis has generated jobs and tax revenue, the larger effects on society are a mixed bag. The effects on crime rates and social justice have been positive, but not entirely so. Some people seem to benefit from access to marijuana, but there are signs its easy availability puts more people at risk of addiction to it and increases cases of impaired driving.