Instead of fighting the war on drugs like I have been advocating for literally decades, many Democrats and even some libertarian-minded conservatives have thrown in the towel. In 2018, Vermont became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana. Up to that point, marijuana had been decriminalized or legalized for medical usage in various mostly Democrat states across the country, including Colorado; which was the first state to legalize the sale of marijuana in 2012 with the promise of an enormous haul of tax revenue (that ended up being surpassed by the even more enormous cost of marijuana-related law enforcement). As things stand today, 23 states and three US territories have legalized recreational marijuana. As marijuana use has become more widespread, the effects on human health are just now beginning to be seen.

A new article on CNN Health highlights two new studies on the impact of marijuana on users' heart health and stroke risk as they approach and surpass 65 years of age. One of the studies took the additional step of filtering out patients who used tobacco and examined millions of patients in the process. That study looked at over 8,550 marijuana users (who didn't use tobacco) and saw they were 20% more likely to suffer a stroke or cardiac arrest when in a hospital than a population of over 10 million patients.

The second study saw similar risks with heart failure where the heart stops pumping oxygenated blood through the body. In this study that looked at patients 54 years old and older over the course of 5 years, those who used marijuana were 34% more likely to suffer heart failure.

These studies are not outliers either when it comes to scientific research being done into the dangers of marijuana. In February, the results of another study were released showing a 34% increased risk of coronary artery disease for marijuana users compared to those who don't use the drug.

Back in August 2020, The American Heart Association released findings showing abnormal heartbeats in marijuana users one hour after smoking the drug. Speaking of 2020, we have also learned that marijuana usage increased the risk of COVID-19 complications.

We've falsely heard for years that weed was safe. We also heard that it wasn't addictive. It turns out is is indeed addictive and tens of millions are hooked on the high. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody because any chemical that changes your brain chemistry can create an addiction as your brain tries to rebalance itself and counter the effect of the drug, often having long lasting consequences opposite to whatever it was you were seeking from the drug.

Marijuana is NOT safe, and by putting it out in the open in hopes of getting a cheap buck to help fund the mismanaged pension funds in Democrat led states, the state legislatures that legalized marijuana have opened pandora's box and have cost taxpayers millions of dollars in medical costs in each of their states.