OPINION: It's official. Legalising weed means more people smoke it, more often and addiction rates go up, starting with kids as young as 12.
Be careful what we wish for folks, this is our future staring at us in the face if we are not careful.
One of the world's most respected cannabis researchers has compared half a million people by looking at what happens when an American state legalises weed for recreational use compared to states that don't.
And at every age level in every cohort, every race, creed or LGBT plus any ABCDEFG I've left off - where the green herb got the green light - they all got lit alright.
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Dependency increased, and of real concern 12-17 year olds had the worst results of all the different age groups surveyed.
There are more addictions and more people smoking it more frequently - especially men in their 20s.
So overall, there are more health issues as a result.
This is going well.
The research also says social justice goals were advanced - sounds wishy-washy doesn't it?
This study is regarded as important because it's the first one that compares states where cannabis is legal against states where it is not.
And overwhelmingly, I can't find anything in the study that says it's a good reason to legalise weed. What are we doing?
The fact it's illegal is the last card left in our parental pocket to say to the kids.
Lots of kids don't want to break the law but give cannabis the green light and clearly society will change forever.
This study is our warning - public health worsens - by how much we don't know - so given that we don't know, why even put the question to Kiwis in a referendum?
Why are we even contemplating this change?
Stick your "OK boomer" phrase Chloe Swarbrick and start to digest the inconvenient truth - your support for a law change is misguided and irresponsible - your position might even steal someone's childhood.
It's time to accept the facts and step outside your echo chamber of yes men and sycophants.
Duncan Garner is a host of The AM Show.
