Jack in the Box celebrates marijuana with ‘Merry Munchie Meal’

Jack in the Box restaurants became famous as the first major chain to use an intercom and the first to focus on drive-through food service. Now they’re making news for a different reason: in honor of California’s legalization of recreational marijuana, they are offering the “Merry Munchie Meal.” The combo includes “the most craveable and snackable products that Jack in the Box has to offer.”

The marijuana debate

On January 1, California began selling recreational marijuana. Lines formed outside stores licensed to sell the drug long before opening hours. The state is expected to become the world’s largest market for legal recreational marijuana.

In related news, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the nation. Federal law continues to prohibit growing, buying, or using the drug. However, numerous states have legalized these activities.

The Obama administration announced in 2013 that it would not stand in the way of these states, so long as officials kept marijuana from migrating to places where it remained outlawed and out of the hands of criminal gangs and children. Sessions is rescinding this policy, allowing US attorneys across the country to decide what kinds of federal resources to devote to marijuana enforcement based on priorities in their districts.

I have voiced my opposition to legalizing recreational marijuana in the past. Health issues associated with the drug are enough to raise significant concerns.

For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana use significantly increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes and has been connected with cancer. Long-term use of marijuana negatively affects brain development. It also harms the lungs.

One in ten marijuana users will become addicted to the drug. Addicts may be at a higher risk of problems with attention, memory, and learning.

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