By Blake Downs, Editor-in-chief
Ever since the legalization of marijuana in New Mexico by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the Cannabis Regulation Act of 2021, marijuana usage has increased in the state. According to a June 2023 report by news outlet KRQE, pot shops now outnumber liquor stores in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city. This is a trend evident in other cities across the state. Even though the legal age to consume marijuana is 21, the tragic reality is that teenagers are the most vulnerable victims of the decriminalization of marijuana as its access has led to greater usage of a drug that is not as harmless as it once was.
The proponents of legalization argue marijuana usage has proven to be a high-value industry while promoting a low-impact drug. According to the Office of the Governor, New Mexico issued over 2,000 cannabis licenses in its first year of legalization alone and saw $300 million in sales among adults. As referenced before, retail sellers of cannabis are on the rise, and, in the eastern plains city of Clovis alone, there are currently over 15 cannabis shops open, according to WeedMaps, a marijuana-focused tech company. The demand for it certainly has led to this large number for such a small community of just under 40,000 residents. Those who support cannabis usage also point to marijuana as a better exception to harder substances such as methamphetamine and fentanyl, as it traditionally has not had as many negative side effects as such harder drugs.
All these positives don’t take into account that underage students now have easier access to cannabis–in a state already struggling with a drug problem. New Mexico was ranked first in a list in the US for marijuana usage among teens, according to a 2009 CBS report. There is a reason the AMC hit television show “Breaking Bad” was set in this state as the drug culture already permeated New Mexico’s landscape; the legalization of marijuana was a reckless acceleration of this problem.
According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, New Mexico teens are 37.04% more likely to have used drugs within the last month than most American teens. Of the teens surveyed in the Land of Enchantment, 84.21% reported using marijuana over the course of the last year. Educational professionals are also reporting an increase in drug usage among students, who many times confess of obtaining it from their parents. Says one Clovis teacher at Clovis High School Freshman Academy, “It used to be that we would hear about a kid busted with marijuana once a month or so. Now, it is an everyday occurrence to smell it in the halls and classrooms,” though some of this may be residual from use at home.
Another factor that those who have welcomed the legalization of marijuana don’t consider is that the drug is not as benign as it may have been before, and therefore, its impact on teens, whose brains are still developing, is detrimental. A 2016 study conducted by the University of Mississippi found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels had increased in marijuana while cannabidiol (CBD) levels had decreased over the course of the 20-year study. The former is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, causing more temporary effects on the mental capabilities of users, while the beneficial and alleviating aspects of the drug–CBD–are less accessible. According to the Mayo Clinic, healthy brain development is impaired in teenagers by marijuana usage, and it can cause memory, learning, coordination, reaction time and judgment problems, not to mention extreme mental and emotional effects, such as paranoia and hallucinations. Students’ education and full development—physically, mentally, and emotionally—are on the line and at stake when they have easy access to marijuana.
Even though it is a cliche that many attempt to refute, marijuana is indeed a gateway drug. The National Institute on Drug Abuse points to studies that found that even though the majority of marijuana users do not go on to use harder drugs, “early exposure to cannabinoids in adolescent rodent decreases the reactivity of brain dopamine reward centers later in adulthood… this could help explain the increased vulnerability for addiction to other substances of misuse later in life…” Marijuana usage at a young age is more likely to lead to stronger addictions to other even harder substances (This could account for the cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamines–or their metabolites–found in many New Mexico high schools’ wastewater in tests conducted back in December 2023).
Marijuana usage is up in New Mexico due to its legalization, but this policy has negatively affected the most vulnerable group and will only lead to an adverse future for our teens. Even though it isn’t a popular opinion, something drastic must be done—more than just education about uses—to limit access students and future generations have to the drug so that they are given a greater opportunity to have a gratifying life–even if that means some sort of re-criminalization.
