National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Prev Med. 2017 Nov;104:10-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.06.026. Epub 2017 Jun 23.
Science needs to drive our thinking as we navigate a new legislative environment in which many Americans have access to marijuana for therapeutic or recreational use. With the responsibility to fund, conduct, and make use of the research on marijuana, and understand the impacts of new policies, comes the obligation of not thinking in simplistic, black-and-white terms about this substance. The drug's unique harms include neurodevelopmental impacts that may be long lasting or permanent, yet some evidence suggests the drug may benefit people with certain medical conditions (e.g., chronic pain). Marijuana use is also entangled with other substance use and should not be considered in isolation. Finally, policy options are not limited to the extremes of prohibition vs. full commercialization; a spectrum of intermediate options can and should be considered and evaluated as states create new policies around this drug.
当我们在一个新的立法环境中导航时，科学需要引导我们的思维，在这个环境中，许多美国人可以获得大麻用于治疗或娱乐用途。有责任为大麻研究提供资金、进行研究并加以利用，并了解新政策的影响，这就带来了不要用简单、非黑即白的方式来思考这种物质的义务。这种药物的独特危害包括可能持久或永久的神经发育影响，但有证据表明该药物可能对某些医疗条件（例如慢性疼痛）的患者有益。大麻的使用也与其他物质的使用纠缠在一起，不应该孤立地考虑。最后，政策选择不仅限于禁止与完全商业化的极端情况；在各州围绕这种药物制定新政策时，可以并且应该考虑和评估一系列中间选择。
