Table of Contents
For decades, marijuana has been bastardized by the media, politicians, and overall been a misinformed topic to many people. Slowly, as a society, we are making marijuana less of a taboo topic, but an abundant amount of people continue to remain stagnant in their ways of thinking. Rather than looking at the economic and health benefits, marijuana naysayers continue to argue cases that were proven incorrect years ago.
While as a nation, we cannot change these people’s logic, we can come together and stop the widespread false claims that are hurled towards marijuana advocates. If we begin this trend now, the legalization for recreational use of marijuana will be passed. While marijuana is not as widely demonized as it once was, people continue to look down upon it as we are not incorporating it into our everyday society.
As of 2019, recreational usage of marijuana has been legalized in ten states. Along with that, usage of marijuana based alternatives are prescribed to patients with various illnesses more and more with each passing day. Public ignorance is in an abundance with marijuana, this can be seen especially when discussing the medicinal usages of the plant.
127 our experts are availableright now
Marijuana Legalization Reasons
If marijuana was taxed and legal in all 50 states, the United States would be debt-free. Colorado has marijuana legalized and Colorado taxes marijuana by 2.9%. As of 2019, in the state of Colorado since January, they have made a solid $87,662,566 just in sales for marijuana. Their total revenue since February 2014 is $$993,170,982 (Marijuana).
One of the most common misconceptions about medicinal marijuana usage is that people create fake ailments in order to scam the system and get high. This could not be further from the truth. Studies have shown that many people are scared to even suggest the solution to their doctors. Along with that, medicinal marijuana is not similar to recreational marijuana in terms of how they affect your motor skills and how you interact with others. Normal marijuana maintains very high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabivarin, more commonly known as “THC”.
THC is what makes most people get high. This is the element that causes people to become fatigued, hungry, and slow their motor skills. Marijuana soothes their anxiety and depression. People with Parkinson’s disease smoke to tame their twitch (Drug Policy).Many people do not recognize the fact that just like every other plant, you’re able to breed marijuana to some extent. So as opposed to recreational marijuana, medicinal marijuana holds high percentages of the element “CBD”.
To say that CBD can change a person’s life is an understatement. CBD, scientifically known as cannabidiol, has a plethora of uses. It can act as an anti-inflammatory, which is why many professional athletes are making the switch from prescription painkillers to CBD. This is also why some doctors prescribe marijuana to cancer patients going through chemotherapy. It can help control acne and can even help IBS just to name a few uses (Drug Policy).
Even though recreationals usage of marijuana is rising due to more states legalizing the product, there is still an unreasonable amount of people in prison serving sentences on minor possession charges. It is simply not fair that we live in a society where person A can make profit off of owning a successful marijuana dispensary, while person B is in incarceration for possessing an ounce of marijuana. In 2010, 52% of the arrests were for marijuana (Brady).
Marijuana is used commonly by teenagers and adults. Whether it’s for a medical reason,just for getting high, helping with anxiety and depression, or just for socializing, marijuana has affected us in our everyday lives. If marijuana was legalized crime rates and prison population would be reduced. Even though marijuana is illegal in most states, it’s not hard to get ahold of it.
Not only does marijuana affect short-term memory loss, coordination, learning, and the ability to problem solve allowing it stay illegal makes no difference in the use of it but also inflicts on other more important issues that should be solved.
Conclusion
With legalization of marijuana as a recreational and medicinal drug, America may see major changes in economics, health in the majority of the population, and incarceration rates. As a nation, we need to come to a common consensus and decide our ultimate stance on the issue. We also need to become more informative about the topic and stop tiptoeing around it. Because avoiding issues will be beneficial to no one.
