Commercial cannabis legalisation linked to increased psychosis and usage rates, challenging decriminalisation narratives
Original framing: “Cannabis commercialisation not decriminalisation drives up usage, study finds” — The Guardian - World
Cannabis prohibition in the 20th century was rooted in racist and xenophobic policies, such as the 1937 US Marihuana Tax Act, which targeted Mexican immigrants and Black jazz musicians. The shift toward commercialisation mirrors historical patterns of corporate co-optation of plant-based medicines, from opium in 19th-century China to tobacco in colonial America. Decriminalisation movements often repeat these cycles by failing to address the structural drivers of harm, instead normalising corporate exploitation of psychoactive substances.
The study’s findings reveal a paradox: decriminalisation, when stripped of corporate exploitation, does not inherently drive harm, but commercialisation does.
This mirrors historical patterns where sacred or medicinal plants—from opium to peyote—were co-opted by colonial and capitalist forces, eroding traditional knowledge and exacerbating social crises. The solution lies not in prohibition or unchecked markets, but in models that centre indigenous wisdom, public health, and reparative justice. Countries like Uruguay and Portugal demonstrate that policy can prioritise well-being over profit, but only if marginalised voices and historical injustices are acknowledged. The trickster’s lesson is clear: the market’s 'freedom' is a Trojan horse, and the only way out is through collective, community-driven resistance to corporate capture.