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1 1 (March 25, 2026)

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Key  Points

   ' The   combInation of increased use and collateral health effects of recreational mariuana raises
        the question how government should educate the pubDlic and whether it should dsco: rage
        or limit cannabis use.
   *    A review of canbihis packaginq warning labels reveals wike variion across Stutes-. with
        manystates requiring the labels to provide only minimal information about health risks.
   * In   light of state-to-state variation, a federal agencv should suggest standardized warning labels
        text and packagino.


The  lecalization of recreational mariuana sale and
use has spread dramatical: siCce it 'aS first adopted
by Colorado  and  W5'ashi gton in 2012 As  of 205,
24 states and  the District of Columbia have  legal-
ized cannabis or passed enabling legisl'aton do so.'
The rmajorityof the US popuatior lives ir the jur isdic-
tons. Owing in part to those changes, AYmerican use of
m]arijuaAna and cannais-based products has increased
dramatically. Survey research from 2024 has found that
self-rcpo r:ed daily' marijuana use incrersed by 5. times
between  1992 and 2022, becoming mor  xcfiommon than
daily alcohol use?
   At the same  time ongoing  mdical   esearc  con-
tinues to reveal new health risks related to marijuana
use, including increased r*sk of umaor Cariovascular
events.3 The federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention warn  that canrinabis users are morc likely
to develop psychosis . and long-lasting mental disor-
ders, including schizophrenia, especially users who
starr: using cannabis at: an. earlier age and use cannabis
more  frcqucntly.4 Further, because of its effects on


coordination, nmemory, and judgmenot, cannabis use
can rmpar  important skil's required for safe drving.5
The Jcoural ot Stud/es on Alcohol amd Drus fou nd that
recreational marijuanalegalization hs been associated
with a 6. percCnt ircrease in inury Crash rates arid a
2.3 percent increase n fatal crash rates.o
   The  cornbinatiori of increased use and collteral
health effects of recreational nar ijuana raises the ques-
tion how  govcrnment  should educate the public and
whether  it should discouragc or lmait cannbis use as
it does with tobacco, another leaal but dange rous prod-
uct. Unlike tobacco, however, inarijuana's .r:unusual lecal
standina-ilegal under federal law but subject to state
legalization-means a'y attempts to discourage its use
must be undertakemn not by th federal gcvernment but
bV each state that has Icgalized the drug. Although tech-
nically still illegal urder federal law, notwithstandirng
President Trump's December   202  decision to reclas-
sify the drug as less dangerous-----the federal response
to states' legalizingmarijuan.a largely' has been to allow
states to implement their own laws3 The absence of