The New York Post reported that, according to Camelot Counseling, 20% of its patients are addicted to marijuana, with an increase of clients with marijuana-related abuse at its outpatient clinics since before the state legalized it.
Luke Nasta, the president and CEO of Camelot Counseling of Staten Island, told the Post, “It's one of the stupidest things our society has done — they legalized cannabis during the opioid crisis.”
The article cited a study that revealed almost a quarter of New York City residents above the age of 20 partook in marijuana in 2023. A different study showed that the U.S. has seen an increase of 11 million cannabis users since 24 states legalized marijuana for recreational use and 40 for medicinal use.
Luke Niforatos, executive vice president at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), said this could have been avoided had people listened to their warnings.
"We said that this would be Big Tobacco all over again," Niforatos told AFN. "We said that more kids would be hooked, and we said that when you have more people using marijuana, more drug use in your community, that's going to lead to more crime and more problems and that's exactly what's happened in New York City."
Niforatos added that today's marijuana is not the same pot that previous generations might have used.
"The drug has been totally supercharged and genetically modified to be much more dangerous," warns Niforatos. "Now, the research is showing us that, for the people that use these high-potency products, they are five times more likely to develop schizophrenia or psychosis from the regular use of these drugs. So, it is much more deleterious to your mental health now than it ever was."
