{"id":5158,"date":"2016-08-14T08:25:58","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T14:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=5158"},"modified":"2016-08-14T08:25:58","modified_gmt":"2016-08-14T14:25:58","slug":"when-will-we-reach-peak-pot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/08\/when-will-we-reach-peak-pot.html","title":{"rendered":"When will we reach Peak Pot?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"from<\/p>\n

and what will it look like?<\/p>\n

I wrote on Friday<\/a> about the Gallup poll<\/a> reporting a huge rise in the number of people identifying themselves as current marijuana users, from 7% in 2013 to 13% in 2016.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a startling increase.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s difficult to compare this figure internationally, since the standard metric is percent of respondents who have used pot at some point in the past year, such as in this set of Wikipedia statistics<\/a>, which reports that, in 2009, 13.7% of adults reported having used pot in the past year. \u00a0For comparison, in the Netherlands, famous for its de facto legalization, in 2005 (seeming the most recent year available), that figure was 5.4%.<\/p>\n

A separate prevalence survey<\/a> in the U.S., published in the JAMA, reported that in 2001 \u2013 2002, the annual usage rate was 4.1%, and this climbed to 9.5% in 2011 \u2013 2012.<\/p>\n

What accounts for these different prevalences \u2013 13.7% vs. 9.5%? \u00a0The 9.5% figure comes from face-to-face interviews, so perhaps a certain number of interviewees were more hesitant to acknowledge use.<\/p>\n

Now, the \u201csales pitch,\u201d if you will, for de-criminalizing pot is that, at present, white middle-class kids get away with it and poor black kids land in jail, so, in order not to ruin young lives with jail sentences, we need to end the penalties. \u00a0That, minus the race issue, is the premise of many of the articles now defending Malia Obama, such as \u201cWhy Should Malia Obama Face No Consequences, and a Poor Black Kid Face Jail?<\/a>\u201d at HeatSt.com, and \u201cMalia Obama Allegedly Smoking Pot Isn\u2019t a Big Deal, President Obama\u2019s Foot-Dragging on Marijuana Reform Is<\/a>,\u201d at Reason.com.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re clearly not seeing stable use of pot \u2014 the rationale that \u201cthey\u2019re going to do it anyway\u201d isn\u2019t seeming to be credible. \u00a0Perhaps<\/em> one can argue that rates were always high, and only in recent years are people willing to admit to pollsters that they smoke pot. \u00a0But ever-increasing numbers of people tell pollsters they believe alcohol is more harmful to one\u2019s health than pot \u2014 70% in a recent Pew study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are these growing rates temporary? \u00a0Is this \u201cyouthful experimentation\u201d on a national scale?<\/p>\n

The experience of the Netherlands is often cited (such as in this Washington Post article<\/a>, and its comments) to make the claim that, if only we decriminalized pot, it would no longer be a forbidden fruit, and thus the vast majority of Americans would lose interest. \u00a0But I just don\u2019t see many people being attracted<\/em> by the criminality of the endeavor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a matter of culture. \u00a0The Dutch culture is, well, very middle-class<\/em>. \u00a0So far as I understand, the various, ahem, \u201curban\u201d pathologies we have in the U.S. aren\u2019t as much of an issue as there is a strong cultural push to, well, behave<\/em>. \u00a0Heck, this is the Dutch, who ride their frickin\u2019 bikes everywhere, regardless of weather. \u00a0Fun fact about the Dutch: \u00a0we got a speeding ticket, via a speeding camera, for going two miles<\/strong> over the speed limit. \u00a0And there is, I think, a clear stigma against using pot \u2014 the Amsterdam coffeeshops are frequented primarily by tourists, not by the locals.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening in the U.S. is not just legalization but more of a removal of the stigma, the cultural message that there\u2019s anything wrong with it \u2014 coming at a time when the stigma is being simultaneously removed from so many other things. \u00a0Sure, no one\u2019s out there saying, \u201cwe should welcome and celebrate our pot-smoking brothers and sisters\u201d but I suspect a message of \u201ctolerance\u201d is being heard with respect to pot in the same way as it is for same-sex marriage, transgenders, and everything else now put in that \u201cgood\u201d category, even as smoking cigarettes comes in for an extra dose of stigma. \u00a0(Heck, there was even an article in the Washington Post the other day that pot is better for your sex life than alcohol, and there are further articles popping up suggesting we\u2019d all be better off if alcoholics were potheads instead.)<\/p>\n

So my question is this:<\/p>\n

if pot is fully or de facto legalized, and if there is a cultural shift in the United States towards an acceptance of pot-smoking as a perfectly fine activity for one\u2019s spare time, is there\u00a0a \u201cnatural\u201d upper limit on the number of pot smokers in the U.S.<\/strong>? \u00a0\u2014 Consider too, increasing concerns about young people adrift, and the extended adolescence that seems to be increasingly the norm, with seeming perception among young people\u00a0that, so long as you haven\u2019t unintentionally procreated, your 20s are a time for enjoying yourself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an upper bound: \u00a0in Yemen, according to Wikipedia<\/a>, 70 \u2013 80% of men chew khat at least occasionally, and 60% daily.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

image\u00a0from pixabay.com; https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/foliage-cannabis-marijuana-lush-1157792\/<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

and what will it look like? I wrote on Friday about the Gallup poll reporting a huge rise in the number of people identifying themselves as current marijuana users, from 7% in 2013 to 13% in 2016. That\u2019s a startling increase. Unfortunately, it\u2019s difficult to compare this figure internationally, since the standard metric is percent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":5162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[447],"class_list":["post-5158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pot"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen will we reach Peak Pot?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"and what will it look like? 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