With Nov. 8 (Election Day) less than a week away, Californians will be voting for their favored political candidates as well as a slew of propositions.
Among those is Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which would allow adults aged 21 or older to consume marijuana recreationally.
Currently, the propostion is polling at 61 percent approval among likely voters in the state according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California in September this year.
But not everyone thinks this is a good idea. On Nov. 1, documentary filmmaker and Central Coast resident Jody Belsher presented her documentary, The Other Side of Cannabis, along with a panel discussion at a town hall meeting at the Santa Maria Public Library’s Shepard Hall.
The hour-long documentary, which received a first place award at the Los Angeles Sunset Film Festival in 2015, is told through researchers and individuals who explain how today’s marijuana has changed, and detailed its negative effects on people under 30 years old.
Belsher, who resides in San Luis Obispo, said her son was the impetus for the documentary because mental health problems were triggered in him after he used marijuana.
“The potency of THC today is triggering mental health issues in vulnerable individuals,” Belsher told the Sun. “Today’s marijuana is not what it used to be, and our culture needs to catch up to the science.”
She doesn’t discount the legitimate use of medical marijuana, which contains cannabidiol (CBD), the chemical in cannabis with recognized health benefits. It was tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or the psychoactive component, that Belsher said harmed her son.
“There is a true medical marijuana, the CBD, which his very different than what kids are smoking,” Belsher said.
Several doctors in California agree that marijuana could induce psychiatric illness. Dr. Tauheed Zaman, an assistant professor at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and addiction psychiatrist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, cited several studies that marijuana could contribute to mood disorders, anxiety, and even psychosis among young adults.
However, at a panel discussion held Oct. 15 at the San Francisco Zoo, Zaman expressed that he was in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana.
In addition to the negative affects on young adults, Belsher cited several more reasons for voting no on Proposition 64, such as more intoxicated drivers on the road, as well as massive water consumption for plants during the current drought.
The last time California voted on recreational use of marijuana was in 2010 with Proposition 19, which received more than 46 percent of the “yes” vote.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2016.