BALTIMORE — Recreational marijuana, whether it’s good or bad for the state, depends on who you talk to, but that’s going to be a key issue on the ballot next week.
Some voters are like Jayden Strong, all for it.
“I want it legalized. I feel like it’s good benefits for us,” he said.
Others on the other hand, not so much.
“My thought is, they shouldn’t legalize it because I think it would create more problems,” another voter shared.
Maryland joins five other states this month making that decision at the polls.
“We want to advocate for people to make informed choices,” shared an Associate Professor for the School of Social Work at Morgan State.
Dr. John Gallagher has spend decades treating those with marijuana addiction.
While he stopped short of stating his stance, he notes both positives and negatives with the issue.
“The anticipated benefit, which I certainly see as the positive benefit for urban African American communities for Black and brown communities, would be a reduction in arrests and criminal prosecution of marijuana because it's legal now,” said Gallagher.
The key for him is making sure the right information about it is out there, specifically surrounding addiction.
“Not everyone who uses marijuana will become addicted to it. Not everyone who uses marijuana even frequently will become addicted to it,” he said.
Estimating about 30 percent of frequent users, that’s about four to five times a week, will develop an addiction.
This shows up in four related symptoms: increased tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, cognitive craving and the fourth, and loss of control where an individual becomes unable to maintain the boundaries of use they’ve set for themselves.
That’s his concern from a clinical social worker’s lens.
“If more people are using it, there’s certainly a higher likelihood of more people becoming dependent on marijuana just by the sheer fact that more people where it’s available and they’re using it,” he stated.
But voters like Jayden make a common comparison that based on stats suggests it’s less lethal.
“You take drinking and marijuana. How many more deaths are you going to see for marijuana compared to a DUI,” questioned Strong.
If majority of voters vote yes to question 4 the state’s constitutional amendment will will legalize the recreational use marijuana for individuals 21 years and older in July of 2023.
