Saagar Enjeti: High-Potency Marijuana Is Lobotomizing The American People | Video

SAAGAR ENJETI: It’s not a victory lap, because a victory lap for me is a tragedy for our country.

We have tens of millions, almost 5% of the U.S. population, a significant part of our adult population, using high-potency marijuana on a daily basis. This is lobotomizing a significant portion of our population. It lowers IQ. It lowers testosterone. It’s dangerous for pregnant women. We could go down the list.

This is the number one pushback I get — and you may find this shocking — I’ve spoken about some of the most controversial issues of our time: ICE, BLM, daylight savings, property tax, you name it. Nothing inspires more hatred toward me personally than talking about the ills of marijuana.

In particular, the biggest pushback is about so-called medical benefits. I need to remind everyone that a massive study just came out — not even three months ago — written up by the New York Times, by JAMA, major medical journals — showing that almost all of the claims about medical marijuana are completely fake.

There’s something insidious and dangerous about this drug: the worship of it by many of its users. Alcoholics do not try to justify their alcohol use by saying it’s “curing” them. It’s a shameful activity — and frankly, I think it should be. If you need to drink every single day to function, you have a real problem. The same thing applies to marijuana — except its proponents say there’s nothing wrong with that.

Our cultural norms around marijuana are encouraging high-potency indulgence by huge segments of our population. There is no proper regulation. And unfortunately, a significant part of bipartisan America is being seduced by what is now Big Weed. These people make Big Tobacco look like choirboys with the way they’ve been lobbying administrations to get Americans as hooked on this drug as possible, and to keep out responsible vices warning about these problems.

I highly recommend Alex Berenson’s book Tell Your Children. If you are a parent, you need to read it and keep your kids away from this substance.

BLAKE NEFF: We agree with you, but we get a lot of emails — even yesterday — from people who say, “I have cancer, I use marijuana, and it helps.” Do you think those stories are authentic, or are people confusing other effects with marijuana?

SAAGAR ENJETI: Anecdote is not data. The actual medical review of these claims does not hold scrutiny.

One of the biggest pushbacks I get is, “Why don’t you talk about alcohol?” I don’t drink alcohol. I’ll happily talk about the dangers of that. But again, alcoholics don’t justify their drinking as medicine.

There was a recent study — I believe out of Ohio or Michigan — showing a significant portion of driver deaths involved people with high levels of THC in their blood, potent enough to cause impairment in driving. We correctly talk about DWIs, but nobody wants to acknowledge we have a significant crisis of people driving while high.

The same way I talk about the dangers of SSRIs — it may have felt like it worked for you, but in longitudinal studies, it doesn’t show the promised benefit — especially compared to safer alternatives like exercise or diet.

These claims don’t hold up in the long term.

And not to be lewd, but I was joking yesterday about cannabis suppositories — which I didn’t even know were a thing. They’re extremely high potency. I went to the website selling them. The first line says, “A discreet way to use cannabis.” Even the sellers know it’s a joke. They use medical marijuana as a veneer of health when it’s about addiction.

Marijuana is not a costless drug. Read Berenson’s nook about psychosis. Look at Andrew Huberman’s work. It’s ruining sleep. For young men, especially, its effects on testosterone and fertility are serious. People are not being told the truth.

Similarly, for pregnant women. Every pregnant woman knows to stay away from alcohol, because of the medical worship cult around marijuana, they are using it for pain relief. It’s already causing problems for children in the womb.

There’s also cannabis hyperemesis syndrome — “scromiting,” severe vomiting from high-potency use. Ask any ER doctor. They know exactly what I’m talking about. This is a crisis. A full-blown crisis.

ANDREW KOLVET: The driving-while-high issue really hits. High school kids treat it like a joke.

And then the schizophrenia angle — especially with today’s much higher THC potency compared to the 60s and 70s.

We’ve also gotten emails from libertarians who say: alcohol and cigarettes are legal — marijuana should be treated the same. What’s your response to that?

SAAGAR ENJETI: I hear you. But total freedom would be anarchy. We accept as a society that we need norms.

When individual freedom begins creating high societal costs — medical crises, violence, impairment — we must respond. We haven’t even talked about the mass shootings angle, the number of mass shooters who are cannabis addicts is unbelievable, even among a relatively small subset. SSRIs also need to be discussed.

I’m not saying someone holding a dime bag should go to jail. I’m saying we need established norms and regulations.

These companies are selling extremely high-potency products, with no advertising limits, no real analysis of claims, and insufficient safeguards to keep it away from children.

This is a normative cultural conversation. The same way we largely conquered smoking in the U.S., and reduced heavy drinking in elite circles — we need to do the same with weed.