I'm just one man, but I use marijuana daily. Over the course of two years there is an inverse correlation between marijuana use and depression, which just so happens to also effect a decrease in weight and alcohol consumption. I've never used more marijuana in my life, I'm also in the best shape of my life, mentally and physically.

Sure, it could be classified as a habit. I do it daily around the same time and rely on it's effects to help regulate my reality. But the same could be said about caffeine. And frankly, lately I've been thinking about cutting back on caffeine because it makes me clench my teeth and dental work is extremely expensive in my country. Also, half the time I'm using caffeine it's to make me a more effective employee, which benefits my boss more than me, and is pretty weird behavior if you view it objectively.

The phenomenon they've identified doesn't seem to be cannabis-specific at all. The finding really seems to be, "capitalism will pursue profits at the expense of customers' well-being".

Which isn't going to be news to anyone but the most deluded libertarian. It's a great example of why we absolutely need government to impose sensible regulations on business, because otherwise short-term profiteering will win over long-term societal good.

Cannabis, as it moves from illegal black markets to legitimacy, is just in an interesting position to highlight these kinds of effects.

I stand by legalization being the correct choice

seems consistently like harm is associated with the context of profit-driven rather the substance or activity.

Yeah and if i can get less profit seeking in weed stores sure, but fuck having to go back to dealers

The number of times a doctor has said "You know, cannabis can cause depression..." or "It's a depressant like alcohol". Like sure, I get that overuse can snap back and leave some neurotransmitter gaps, and I'm very mindful of that. It's not the best situation to feel off without it, but that's not always the case. You know what I'll definitely feel off without? Any prescribed meds. And I'm not even dissing those because they've helped. I get it though, it makes their job harder when dosage is near impossible to regulate.

Only once or twice has a doctor or therapist told me "Look, you're the one who's used it for the better part of a decade, you know more than me about how it affects you". I know the attachment/crutch can be an issue at times, but usually that's because people tend to scoff and assume abuse, and so naturally you feel like an outsider.

• Just one other man

I liked the phrasing of other headlines that reported this as “commercialization” being correlated with harms (because “legalization” doesn’t mean that to most people who read this).

Look how evil marijuana is, it corrupts capitalism!