NORML has responded to a New York Times editorial (“It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem,” February 9) which alleged that “American lawmakers should do more to regulate” adult-use marijuana products.
Notably however, the Times editors call for a number of regulatory ‘fixes’ that are already widely adopted in legal markets, including imposing taxes on commercially available cannabis products, limiting the THC content available in certain products, and placing restricting on the marketing of products designed to be appealing to young people.
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano highlights this disconnect in a letter to the editor, which the New York Times published this weekend.
The letter states:
While wisely resisting calls to recriminalize cannabis, the editorial board nonetheless fails to make appropriate distinctions between regulated and unregulated marijuana markets.
For example, those products that The Times suggests target children are almost never licensed by states. In fact, most if not all regulated state markets explicitly prohibit the production and marketing of products that either mimic existing brands or that could be perceived as especially appealing to young people.
Further, most markets legalized by states impose limits on the potency of available products [as well as the total amount of THC permissible per single serving]. Legalization provides governments with the ability to oversee markets, establish regulations and best practices for those who participate in it, and to sanction those who don’t play by the rules.
The board is correct that most Americans don’t want a cannabis free-for-all. But they are also no longer supportive of policies that perpetuate the prosecution and stigmatization of adults who choose to consume cannabis responsibly.
NORML’s letter is among five separate responses published by the Times.
NORML has long called for the imposition of regulations on adult-use cannabis markets, including enforcing age requirements, requiring third-party testing of products for purity and potency, prohibiting public use in non-designated areas, and limiting commercial billboard advertising, among other requirements.
NORML’s fact-sheet, ‘Core Attributes of Adult Access Regulations,’ is available online.
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