According to a May 13 article published in USA Today, the number of emergency room visits for cannabis-related issues in New York between the years 2019-2021 shot up an astounding 44%, reaching a total of 84,000 visits in 2021, the year cannabis was legalized in the state. The Mid-Hudson region was the most affected with a rise of 147%, while New York City was up 52%. On a national level, between the years 2011–2021, the number of ER visits for people in the 19–30 year age range rose 14%. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/05/13/marijuana–emergency–room–visits–new–york/70205633007/?gnt–cfr=1)
Despite massive brainwashing over the years that marijuana is a harmless, non-addictive drug, perfectly suitable for recreational use, based on state and federal research approximately three in ten users do in fact develop a form of addiction known as “cannabis use disorder.” According to Jana Wu, a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor and Director of Cultural Integration at Mountainside Treatment Center, “some New Yorkers rushed to ERs for cannabis use suffer a form of temporary psychosis—effectively not knowing what is real amid hallucinations and paranoia…. The psychosis risk increases the younger marijuana use begins and the more frequently the drug is used.”
