My son is a video gamer. I have fond memories of us playing Tecmo Bowl, Punch-Out, Donkey Kong, and, of course, Super Mario Brothers. At the time, we had a basement set up with an early Nintendo, an old box-style TV monitor, and two chairs, giving us some good father and son time.
Today, my son is in his early 40s, and he is still a gamer. My grandkids also spend a closely supervised amount of time playing video games that are much faster, glitzier, and much more lifelike. But one thing has remained constant as video games have advanced: No matter how many times the main character dies or fails to reach the goal, they always come back for the next round.
One can say the same for marijuana and the South Carolina Legislature. Each session for at least the last six years, opponents of medical marijuana (a term used by proponents that is misleading and masks the true purpose of the legislation) have successfully prevented “The Compassionate Care Act” from becoming law. But as the 2025 South Carolina legislative session begins, just like Mario or Luigi, marijuana returns for another run.
The scientific evidence continues to pile up, pointing out the medical, physical, and psychological dangers of any amount of marijuana — this, as proponents of legalizing marijuana continue to pile on pressure to open the door to medical marijuana, paving the way for South Carolina to become the 25th state to embrace full legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Proponents pledge to stop pushing once marijuana is legalized for medicinal purposes. But the language of S53 establishes the infrastructure that will allow a fast transition from medical to recreational marijuana. Many states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana began by legalizing its medical use.
Here is some of the most recent scientific information revealing the dangerous effects of marijuana use. According to the National Library of Medicine, the short-term effects of marijuana include impaired short-term memory, impaired motor coordination, and, in high doses, paranoia and psychosis. Long-term effects include the possibility of addiction, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and an increased risk of chronic psychosis disorders. In a May 10, 2024, opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Bertha Madra, a Harvard psychology professor who has spent 60 years studying psychoactive drugs, called efforts to reclassify and legalize marijuana “a political decision, not a scientific one.” She added, “And it’s a tragic one.”
Madras pointed out that even if people quit using pot, “it can persist in their brain for a while.” This means the negative effects of marijuana on the brain are greater and longer lasting than the effects of alcohol. Today, THC levels in marijuana are up to four times higher than they were 30 years ago. According to the Wall Street Journal article, this fact alone heightens the risk of marijuana use leading to “anxiety, depression, impaired memory, and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.”
Before South Carolina starts down any road that is sure to end in the recreational use of marijuana, wisdom suggests a close examination of marijuana’s impact on the state of Colorado. According to a 2021 NIH study, Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana has led to many negative effects on its citizens, concluding that “Medical and recreational marijuana legalization is destroying the health and social fabric of Colorado. Suicide, overdoses, ER visits, hospitalizations, and domestic and street violence due to cannabis are soaring, while cannabis tax revenues are an anemic 0.98 percent of the 2021 state budget.”
The South Carolina Legislature should make sure 2025 is a “game over” year for the marijuana industry. We need to stop the dangerous game of allowing the legalization of marijuana to gain new life and another opportunity to negatively affect our state.