HEALTH
WHAT SCIENCE KNOWS ABOUT CANNABIS
By Rick Markley
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Surprisingly little
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DESPITE DECADES OF RESEARCH , THERE ’ S LITTLE CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE ABOUT HOW USING MARIJUANA AFFECTS THE FIREFIGHTER MIND AND BODY
LET ’ S GET SOMETHING OUT OF THE WAY UP FRONT : BEING HIGH ON WEED WHILE ON SHIFT OR RESPONDING TO A CALL FROM HOME IS NOT COOL . IN FACT , IT ’ S VERY UNCOOL .
Half of all high school kids know that being baked impairs your judgment , your sensory perceptions and your motor skills .
Again , being high on the job — career or volunteer — is not cool , not ever . It ’ s never okay to go to a fire , car crash or lift assist when you are stoned .
There , now that only the adults are left in the room , we need to answer this : With legalized marijuana use making it far more available than ever before , what does using it do to our health and wellness ?
Let ’ s start with a look at the state of things .
According to the U . S . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , more than 18 % of the U . S . population used marijuana at least once in 2019 . A Gallup poll from 2022 reported that 48 % of Americans have tried marijuana at some point in their life .
Since Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2012 , the total has grown to 24 states plus Washington , D . C . More than half the U . S . population lives in a state where adults can buy and use pot more or less the way they would alcohol . This comes despite marijuana still being illegal at the federal level . It became legal in Canada in October 2018 .
Given the evolving rules surrounding medical use and , later , recreational use , we ’ ve had a long time to sort out the usage issues .
Yet many issues persist . How much does a fire department policy control firefighters ’ behavior when they are off duty or on vacation ? When does a department test for intoxication – and what is the threshold ? How does alcohol or prescription medication use differ from marijuana use ?
68 | CRACKYL MAGAZINE