Nearly a decade into legalization, July saw a flurry of reflection on what it's meant

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91.6 percent of cannabis users partake in other substances, like the occasional glass of wine.

Americans took a good look at their relationship with cannabis over the final days of July. These stories show that we're learning more about how we consume the drug, how we feel about its presence in our society and how our legal system has failed at it in the past.

WE'RE CONSUMING MORE THAN JUST CANNABIS
A study by researchers from the University of Washington published July 22 in the Journal of Cannabis Research took a look at substance consumption patterns among Americans who use cannabis. They found that among Americans who reported consuming cannabis within the past 30 days, only 8.4 percent consumed no other psychoactive substances, which includes illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco and prescription medications used in a way not prescribed by a doctor.

These results might seem to paint a picture that cannabis users are substance-abuse fiends. However, the methodology employed means that someone who reported smoking a joint within the past month, and also reported enjoying a glass of wine with dinner on occasion, falls in the 91.6 percent of cannabis users who use more than just cannabis.

NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ENDORSEMENT
In editorials published in 2012, 2014 and 2018, the USA Today Editorial Board gave its opinion on legalization, and each time the board came down against it. This past weekend, however, the board reversed course and expressed its opinion that federal prohibition does more harm than good.

In its 2022 editorial, the board cited the economic impact, the dramatic shift in public opinion from split to overwhelmingly in favor, the racial inequities of prohibition and the declining use among minors in legal states — which was a concern the board had worried about in previous opinions against legalization — as reasons why it's time to end the federal ban.