There are many discussions and debates in today’s society about Marijuana and the legalization of it. A large topic of discussion that marijuana is legal. Many people express their feelings and say that marijuana is horrible and shouldn’t be legal. It is embedded in the minds of many people that marijuana is horrible for people, you, but studies have found that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.
Marijuana is very popular in today’s society and that’s why it became a non-criminal offence. There are many reasons why Canada made the possession of marijuana a non-criminal offence. A few reasons why possession of Marijuana is not a non-criminal offence is the taxation of are taxing marijuana is very good for the economy. There will be less money going towards illegal distribution and keeping money out of the hands of criminals. Finally, legalization can promote further research and development into medical uses of marijuana. (Good start Nawaf)
Canada’s economy is one of the best in the world. With the decriminalization of marijuana the economy grew even stronger. There are millions of dollars involved with the marijuana industry. This is already a proven fact, aAll of the states that have legalized marijuana have seen growth within the economy of the state. For example, “in 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana”1. As you can see Therefore it is obvious that, there are millions of dollars to be made off of taxing marijuana sales. “California, which is much larger in size and population than Colorado, could exceed $15 billion in sales revenue and $3 billion in tax revenue”. This is really big for the economy, the government makes money and there are jobs created.
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Thousands of jobs have been created due to the decriminalization of marijuana. “The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales”. With just under 100,000 jobs created, there becomes a lower rate of unemployment. This is good for the people and the economy. Canada’s unemployment rate is already quite low at 5.7%. The economy will also benefit off of investors that invest in the stocks of marijuana.
“Canada’s legal marijuana economy has grownrew at least tenfold ($400 million to $4 billion) in size… almost overnight”4. This means that stocks and their prices rises resulting in people making copious amounts of money from the stocks. “Investors in select publicly traded cannabis companies stand to make a fortune”5. Canada can learn from the states such as Colorado and California when it comes to the decriminalization of marijuana, it will help not only the economy but many ordinary people who invest in stocks greatly.
With the decriminalization of marijuana, it is expected that people that are in the business of selling drugs, specifically marijuana will see a decrease in profits. For local and big time drug dealers, this is an issue. The money that people will be spending on marijuana will be going towards the government, economy and investors, not criminals. With the legalization of marijuana, the government is “about to unleash a $150 billion market that was previously underground”.
The only commodity that marijuana trails in gold. “For decades, prohibition has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars in cannabis profits to drug lords, corrupt government officials, and thugs. But those days are numbered…”7.With money that the government earns from the legal sale of marijuana, they can invest in putting an end to major crimes.
Due to the legal market, the government saw a decrease in possession of marijuana charges to “adults who are 18 years or older”8, this will be because they can legally purchase marijuana at specific stores. This will help the government save money, it is expensive for the police to enforce laws regarding marijuana. “Annual cost of enforcing marijuana laws (police and courts)”9 is $500 million. This money can help the police crack down on people who are in the business of selling illegal substances, in particular, marijuana. With Canada legalizing marijuana, they are only hurting the criminals who sell the substance to make a living. There is also money that can now be spent of taking down drug dealers and major crimes.
Marijuana has countless medical benefits and legalization of cannabis can help further research into the medical benefits of the substance of cannabinoids. “As early as 2700 B.C ancient doctors used cannabis as a treatment for gout, digestive disorder, rheumatism, insomnia, and even poor memory”
Today some medical benefits of cannabinoids include treatment of PTSD, helps reduce nausea in cancer patients, treatment of chronic pain, and has been proven to be less addictive than opiates and much safer due to the fact that it is near impossible to overdose on marijuana. “The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) one of the 483 known compounds in the plant including at least 65 other cannabinoids”
Legalization helped further research into this yet unexplored substance. “The most common use for medical marijuana in the United States is for pain control.
While marijuana isn’t strong enough for severe pain”, it can help people with lesser pains. Marijuana “can take the place of NSAIDs such as Advil or Aleve, if people can’t take them due to problems with their kidneys or ulcers or GERD”13. For people that use marijuana for medical purposes, they claim that they are able to “resume their previous activities without feeling completely out of it and disengaged”14. Marijuana is also a very good muscle relaxant “and people swear by its ability to lessen tremors in Parkinson’s disease”15. For veterans that use marijuana to help them with PTSD, it is reported that they have a “drastic improvement and clamor for more studies, and for a loosening of governmental restrictions on its study”16. Therefore the legalization of marijuana injected more money into medical research to help uncover the benefits of this miracle drug to cure ailments and illnesses not thought possible.
There are countless upsides to having marijuana legalized in Canada even though some people may think that it is bad and should be illegal. There is a negative stigma attached to cannabis. This is due to lack of knowledge surrounding the substance and because it has been seen as illegal for so long. There are many upsides to the decriminalization of marijuana, these include the growth of Canada’s economy, the cuts on illegal distribution of the substance, and the medical uses of marijuana. The positives of legalized marijuana out way the negatives. This is why Canada should follow through with its plan in making marijuana legal to those that are of age. Not only will the decriminalization of marijuana help the government, it will help the citizens of Canada.
References
- DrugFacts: Marijuana | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- Cannabis | World Health Organization (WHO)
- The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
- Cannabis in Canada | Government of Canada
- Marijuana | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- Marijuana – StatsCan
- Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research | The National Academies Press
- Medical cannabis: not anymore just a smoking issue – a brief guide to the clinical use of cannabinoids
- Cannabis and cannabinoids for medical purposes
