Marijuana legalization movement linked to a 'massive increase' in mental illness in US, doctor warns

The push to legalize recreational marijuana across the U.S. has been linked to a troubling rise in mental health issues, suicides and an increased risk for psychosis, but "money-hungry" cannabis investors are leading the charge to commercialize the drug nationwide, Dr. Kevin Sabet warned Sunday.

Sabet, a former White House drug policy adviser to Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton, highlighted the unintended consequences of legalizing the substance on "Sunday Night in America," slamming the "addiction for-profit" pot industry for encouraging widespread drug usage to benefit their bottom line.

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"The net result hasn’t been good at all. Marijuana is the most misunderstood drug in our country today, it is so much stronger than it used to be…. this is a totally different drug," Sabet told Fox News host Trey Gowdy.

Cannabis plants grow at a True North Collective growing facility in Jackson, Mich.  (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

"It’s been genetically bred to be much stronger than it ever has been. And It’s been driven by a money-hungry addiction for profit industry that resembles really the worst of tobacco and alcohol. If you think about it, it gets you intoxicated like alcohol and tobacco and then you inhale all these harmful compounds," he said.

At least 23 U.S. states have already legalized recreational marijuana for adults with more expected to follow suit in the coming years. Washington and Colorado became the first states to approve legal recreational use in 2012. New York legalized marijuana recreationally in 2021.

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"We are seeing a lot of problems," Sabet, who is the current president and CEO of the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana, told Gowdy. 

"There is a massive increase in mental illness as a result of this increase in marijuana use. We know that today’s marijuana can quintuple your risk of psychosis and schizophrenia which is the worst thing you can imagine. It increases about six times the risk of suicide. We have a suicide epidemic in this country."

He argued that "99% of people" who become addicted to drugs like cocaine, heroin and fentanyl start using alcohol and marijuana first. 

"We can’t turn back the station for alcohol. We’re living with that issue," he continued. "Why would we make the same mistake again for marijuana and legalize it and make it legitimate?"

Sabet said the path the country is going down with marijuana is a "huge, huge mistake."

"You can’t walk down the streets of so many of our major cities without smelling it everywhere. We’re seeing second-hand smoke issues on the rise. Driving is a huge issue, unlike tobacco which doesn’t impair you on the road, marijuana does. We’re seeing huge increases."

Jeremy Baldwin tags young cannabis plants at a marijuana farm operated by Greenlight, Oct. 31, 2022, in Grandview, Mo.  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Sabet dismissed the argument that prohibiting recreational pot led to racial inequities which could only be corrected through legalization, telling Gowdy that the movement to legalize has only "targeted" America's minority communities.

"By the way, they are not Black and brown communities benefiting from this. If anything, they are being targeted by this industry by putting pot shops in the poorest communities of our country…we’re not seeing social justice. We’re not seeing a reduction in any kind of incarceration as a result. So no, I mean, it’s been a huge boon to the shareholders. It's just a lot of people pretending to care about civil rights and social justice when they really just want to smoke weed. They want to legitimize their own lifestyle, and the reality is, we’re paying a huge, huge price for this," he said.

Gowdy said that neither he nor Sabet is advocating for incarcerating people for marijuana usage, but "we don’t want it legalized and normalized."

"We don’t want it legalized, commercialized, normalized," Sabet agreed. "You can’t walk down a street like New York without smelling it and seeing it everywhere in your face. 

Maryland passed a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the state. (AP Photo/Marina Riker, File)

A report from MJBizDaily showed Americans spent roughly $30 billion on legal marijuana in 2022, eclipsing sales of "feel-good" products, including beer, opioid medications and topical pain relief.

Sabet called for an awareness campaign to educate young marijuana users about the risks of permanent impairment.

 "I don’t want to see people in prison. I don’t want to give them a criminal record. Let me be careful to say I’m not talking about criminalizing anybody for this, but the reality is we need an education and awareness campaign in this country warning people about the issue of marijuana, warning people about their brains, how your brain is developing until age 25 or 30, and when you take in THC, it attacks very critical centers of your brain. We need an awareness campaign," Sabet said.

 "We should know that more marijuana doesn’t benefit anybody," he added, "except these really rich investors who got in early."