By Gina Christian
(OSV News) — A bid to legalize recreational marijuana fell short in Florida, while North Dakota and South Dakota have rejected doing so, according to general election projections.
The Catholic bishops of those states had urged their respective flocks to vote Nov. 5 against such propositions, citing church teaching and scientific data on the physical, behavioral and social dangers of marijuana use.
Voters in Nebraska appeared to overwhelmingly approve legalizing medical marijuana, with over 70% approving the move, according to projections.
Nebraska brings to 48 the number of U.S. states that permit medical marijuana, which is also legal in the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
If the Florida ballot measure had passed, the Sunshine State would have become the 25th state to allow recreational marijuana, along with the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories (Guam and the North Mariana Islands).
In Massachusetts, voters rejected a move to legalize the use of five psychedelic drugs (psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine, mescaline and ibogaine) and to create a state “Natural Psychedelic Substances Commission.”
The Massachusetts Catholic Conference had opposed the ballot initiative, saying in an Oct. 11 statement on its website that such substances “can alter one’s perception of reality, cause extreme feelings of euphoria or despair and can worsen mental health issues.”
In statements posted to their websites ahead of Election Day, the Florida and North Dakota Catholic conferences both quoted church teaching from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which holds that “the use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life.”
The Florida bishops said that legalizing marijuana “creates the impression that it is safe to use,” while a number of studies — including data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — have highlighted the risk of addiction and cognitive damage.
Both Florida and North Dakota’s Catholic conferences said the increased concentration of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) — the psychoactive component of cannabis, which can reach levels of 90% in some marijuana supplies — compounds that risk, particularly for younger users, whose brains do not reach full maturity until the mid- to late-20s.
“Marijuana is not the harmless drug that some imagine it to be,” said the North Dakota Catholic Conference, which noted that state’s voters had rejected similar ballot initiatives in 2018 and 2022. “Rather, there is ample evidence that regular marijuana use impairs brain functioning, stunts brain development, damages the lungs, and is linked to a lowered immune system.”
The South Dakota Catholic Conference said legalized marijuana “throws fuel on the fire of America’s mental health crisis, being linked to depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and psychosis.”
Researchers from the Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health and the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse found that between 15% to 30% of cases of schizophrenia in males aged 16-49 could be attributable to cannabis use disorder. Among females, the rate was 4%.
Marijuana use “threatens the common good,” with legalization leading to more fatal accidents from intoxicated driving, emergency room visits, usage by minors, and poison control center calls, said the South Dakota bishops.
Their North Dakota counterparts echoed that list of harms, and pointed to the experience of states where marijuana has long been legalized.
“Things have gotten so bad in Colorado that Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver, the former bishop of Fargo, issued a lengthy pastoral letter last December cataloging the extensive harms caused by recreational marijuana since its legalization in 2012, characterizing it as ‘disastrous to our society,'” said the North Dakota bishops. “Just a few months ago, our brother bishops in Minnesota issued a pastoral letter warning of the serious risks of marijuana usage in the wake of its legalization last year. Why would we ever want to go down this same path?”
