Cannabis: Still so much to learn

Americans’ concerns about marijuana use can be traced to the early 20th century. Government officials in 1917 claimed that Mexican immigrants smoked cannabis – another name for marijuana -- for pleasure and expressed concern they could assault women under its influence.

That report comes from Emily Dufton’s book, “Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America.”

While there was no evidence tying large numbers of Mexican immigrants to illicit drug use and violence 100 years ago, fear of recreational drugs grew for decades after those reports were made public.

By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana, according to a timeline of the plant’s history compiled by pbs.org .

By the 1950s, federal laws had established minimum sentences of 2 to 10 years in prison for first-offense marijuana possession.

Even as late as 2020, New Mexico considered more than 8 ounces of marijuana possession a felony crime.

But in the 1960s, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson commissioned reports suggesting marijuana concerns were overblown. By the 1990s, many believed cannabis provided pain relief for cancer patients and others.

California in 1996 legalized medical marijuana. Washington and Colorado legalized recreational use in 2012.

Today, about half of the states in the U.S. have legalized recreational cannabis use; more have OKd medical cannabis. Monday marks two years since New Mexico has regulated and taxed recreational cannabis.

Evidence still not clear

Ironically, there is not much more research proving the benefits of cannabis today than there was evidence marijuana was causing violent assaults 100 years ago.

“The evidence is mixed at this point,” Johannes Thrul, an associate professor of mental health, told Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in an interview published online last year.

“There hasn’t been a lot of funding going into testing cannabis in a rigorous way. There is more evidence for certain indications than for others, like CBD for seizures — one of the first indications that cannabis was approved for. And THC has been used effectively for things like nausea and appetite for people with cancer.”

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration remains adamant that marijuana use can lead to “serious health problems.”

Those problems range from irritability and sleep difficulties to bronchitis, emphysema and suppression of the immune system, DEA claims.

So why legalize it? Thrul, in the interview with Johns Hopkins, offered this:

“(O)ne of the big benefits is taking cannabis out of the underground illegal market. … You’re taking it out of the illegal market and giving it to legitimate businesses where there is going to be oversight and testing of products, so you know what you’re getting. And these products undergo quality control and are labeled.”

Clovis native ‘Shoulda Said No!’

The front-page newspaper stories of Sept. 1, 1948, called her a “blonde bit player,” but many thought Lila Leeds was a future Hollywood star.

The one-time Clovis Water Carnival Queen was just 20, but had already appeared in eight films, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Fan magazines had dubbed her a “Lana Turner lookalike” and she was engaged to Turner’s ex-husband, Stephen Crane.

She’d appeared in a Red Skelton film and had a contract with Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. The crowd she hung with included future Academy Award nominee Robert Mitchum and former child star Jackie Cooper of “Our Gang.”

Then she got busted for smoking pot.

That’s why she was on the front page of dozens of newspapers – from Pennsylvania to California – the morning after the “dope raid” that resulted in four arrests at the starlet’s luxurious Laurel Canyon home in Hollywood, Calif.

Police said they had been “watching Mitchum and Miss Leeds for eight months.” They’d been peeking in the rear bedroom window of Leeds’ home for 2 ½ hours the night of Aug. 31, 1948, feeding her watchdogs to keep them quiet, before busting in to catch their targets with marijuana cigarettes in their mouths.

The “marijuana smoking party,” as police called it, resulted in a 43-day jail sentence for Mitchum. Leeds was sentenced to 50 days in jail.

While Mitchum’s career recovered – he appeared in 137 films in a 55-year career that ended with his death in 1997 – Leeds’ life was never the same.

A year after her marijuana conviction she was accused of misdemeanor reckless driving.

She appeared before a Superior Court judge who gave her a lecture reported by the Long Beach Independent newspaper.

“You are a member of a profession upon which you have brought great disgrace,” the judge told her. “You have given a bad reputation to all others in the profession.”

The newspaper reported the actress’ lips began to quiver and then she burst into tears. The judge ordered her to leave California for at least four years.

Her final credited movie role, in “She Shoulda Said No!,” hoped to capitalize on her marijuana arrest. It was issued under multiple titles but struggled to find an audience.

Leeds told Collier’s magazine it was the only offer she had after her arrest. “I took it. I was broke,” she said.

She also told reporters she took the role in hopes it would prevent others from trying drugs.

Leeds died in 1999 at age 71 in Los Angeles where she had established a church and was most famous in her community for her volunteer work.

Pot pendulum swings

As a society, we’re no longer blaming cannabis for violent crime and police are no longer using resources to stake out the homes of suspected pot smokers in effort to catch them in the act.

Instead, we are taxing the plant and promoting its economic benefits in our communities.

Since cannabis was decriminalized on April 1, 2022, in New Mexico, sales have topped $1 billion in more than 21 million transactions.

In Clovis alone, sales are nearing $30 million. Portales and Tucumcari have each topped $8 million in sales.

Texico, whose population is barely 1,000 on the Texas-New Mexico border, has recorded more than $3 million in sales from four cannabis shops.

Clovis has two dozen shops, and Portales and Tucumcari have about a dozen each.

And all of those sales are increasing city coffers.

Clovis has collected $553,667.39 in excise tax since cannabis became legal, according to City Clerk LeighAnn Melancon. That’s an average of $24,000 per month and those numbers are rising – almost $45,000 was received in March, she said.

Portales has been collecting about $7,000 per month from cannabis sales this fiscal year, according to records provided by City Manager Sarah Austin.

By all accounts, thousands of jobs have been created by the pot shops across the state.

And not only have we embraced cannabis as a societal “norm,” we’re providing taxpayer dollars to help the industry grow.

Clovis city commissioners last month voted unanimously to act as the fiscal agent to distribute $90,000 in taxpayer funds to a local cannabis business.

The Local Economic Development Act funds “enables us to expand our operations, foster local job creation, and continue our commitment to working towards uplifting our rural community,” according to Riddhi Bhakta, the chief operating officer for Vana LLC.

“By continuing to work closely with the commission, we aspire to create a ripple effect, not only generating employment opportunities but also contributing to the economic growth of our community,” Bhakta told The Eastern New Mexico News.

Hard to quantify ‘impaired’

But the impact of legal cannabis has not all been positive.

“For some professions, the use of marijuana within three years prior to the (job) application date disqualifies the individual from employment in that profession,” according to Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice.

“For our safety-sensitive positions at the police department we require the applicant to be clear of usage of marijuana for two years prior to applying for a position.

“The argument from the applicant is that marijuana was legal to buy and use so it cannot be held against them. But the laws governing employment do not allow the exception for marijuana use. We have fewer people meeting employment eligibility in sensitive positions because they cannot meet the drug-free qualification.”

Law officers also have difficulty proving impaired driving allegations in court.

“There isn’t a simple test to determine/prove if an individual is impaired by marijuana as there is with alcoholic beverages,” Rice said.

“Presently, there are no standards defining levels of impairment for marijuana … If a person is tested, the result will show if the individual has marijuana in their system but their level of impairment would be arguable in court without a legal definition or standard for an impairment.”

As for Clovis’ jail population since cannabis was legalized, that has dropped significantly – from a pre-pandemic average of 215 inmates per day to 163 inmates per day in 2023, according to Joe Alaniz, Curry County’s acting jail administrator.

But multiple factors have impacted those numbers and law enforcement officials insist they’re not related to the legalization of cannabis.

Clovis Deputy Police Chief Trevor Thron said most marijuana cases prior to 2022 were for misdemeanor possession, which resulted in citations, not jail time.

If Lila Leeds had lived today, her alleged transgression would have been treated like a traffic offense. Her story would not have made the front page of any newspaper.

CDC says more research needed

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate more than 48 million people use marijuana today.

The negative social stigma from generations past has largely disappeared.

But as with alcohol and tobacco, cannabis use can have a wide range of health effects on the body and brain, CDC warns. At the same time, there is growing evidence supporting cannabis use for some health benefits.

On its website, cdc.gov, it answers the question: Is marijuana medicine?:

• “The marijuana plant has compounds that may help symptoms for some health problems. While more states are making it legal to use the plant as medicine for certain conditions, scientists are still learning the ways that marijuana may help or harm people. For example, smoked marijuana may damage your lungs and respiratory system.”

• “Certain compounds in marijuana products may affect your brain or body in harmful ways. In addition, no federal standards have been implemented for the quality and safety of marijuana products sold in state-based medical marijuana dispensaries. These products are not approved by the FDA.”

• “Research on the medical use of marijuana is still in early stages, and much remains unknown about the plant and how it interacts with the body. Currently, the FDA has approved one plant-based marijuana drug (Epidiolex), which contains purified cannabidiol (CBD) from the marijuana plant. The drug is approved for treating seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy (Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome) as well as seizures associated with tuberous sclerosis complex, a rare genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to form in many parts of the body.”

• “The FDA has also approved two medicines (dronabinol [brand names: Marinol and Syndros] and nabilone [brand name: Cesamet]) made from a synthetic or lab-made chemical that mimics tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). These medicines are used to treat nausea in patients with cancer who are having chemotherapy treatment and to increase appetite in individuals with AIDS who do not feel like eating (wasting syndrome).”

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