A lot of people in America have had a perception that people who are using marijuana have horrible characteristics in common, but the truth is that they failed to understand Marijuana have a lot of importance to not only the body of the user but to the entire life of an individual. Indeed, the threats of Marijuana have dependably been misrepresented, and its arrangement has been an exit from extent. The perspectives about the utilization of the cannabis have been developing throughout the decades. Indeed, as the plant has been there for centuries, its legality to use and distributed as a natural resource has been free, but come the late 1800s, and early 1900s, cannabis restriction, and regulation came to take its course on how it impacts the economy. Between 1930 and 1940, through the Marijuana Tax Act, the drug was put under a legalization policy again. This is why this paper is putting a lot of focus on the reasons as to why the growing and distribution of the hemp plant should be legalized in the United States as a way to combat her rising economy.
Marijuana has been around as a recreational drug. This was the case even before the early 1900s. Its use of the same can be backdated back to as early as 7000 B.C., when it was mainly used in making woven fabric. The earliest known uses of the helm plant were to make the clothes, shoes and even ropes. Cannabis was also used in doing cooking work as well as for recreation purposes. Cannabis for long has also been known for treating many ailments conditions. Among these circumstances are the people who have low immune system due to the effects of HIV in their bodies. The drug has proved to be beneficial to such people since it can boost their appetite level. This is also helpful to such people since they are highly susceptible to low calories intake and malabsorption by the body digestive organs and tissues. A survey done in 1970 proved beyond reasonable doubt that people who use the drug are enjoying food more after they take a puff of marijuana smoke. These are the key reasons as to why the use of Cannabis should be legalized to improve US economy since it will reduce expenditures in many sectors particularly medical institutions. Similarly, the case reflects how revenues are collected from the states which have legalized the recreational weed, for example, Colorado State. Considering the fact that there are fifteen other states which have legalized the use of cannabis, these states have reaped a lot of benefits from the trading with the drug. People who smoke it have encouraged the coming of tourists from other States where the drug legalization has not been rooted. In the process, the returns have become massive. The economy of Colorado for instance, always shoot up during the winter season when many tourists are seen to be coming to enjoy the recreational weed which is prohibited in their States (Caulkins, et al. 2012).
More people have come to realize that legalizing marijuana will bring a lot of benefits. It not only offers benefits related to medical but it could be the chief source of revenues This will in return save the taxpayers a lot of dollars which is spent on the costs of enforcement. The problem only arises when the drug is abused, but if it is used in a way that it cannot depict substance abuse then huge benefits will be seen in the economy. If legalized, marijuana will significantly expand the economy in many ways. For instance, jailing a person found to be in possession of cannabis will cost $78.95 to keep an inmate behind the prison gates. Assuming that there are 807,000 arrested criminals charged with possession of the drug and are supposed to face a gaol term of three years, it implies that the government will be forced to part with $191 million in those three years just for upkeep of these inmates. This is the whole lot of capital which could have been invested in other income-generating projects so that the economy of the country will rise.
Legalizing the drug will again see the rate of revenue collection of the country rising. The research has shown that legalized marijuana would bring $6.2 billion a year in tax revenue collection if it can be taxed the way alcohol and tobacco are taxed. The same will again see that government has created a lot of job opportunities in industries where the drug products will be processed thus expanding the economy and increasing the rates of Gross Domestic Product of the country. The level of job creation will begin at its entire production process. It starts with growing, harvesting, processing, distributing and eventually selling it to the final consumers. Job creation will also be seen in the research stations, especially when studying on high yielding varieties of Cannabis. Scientists will, therefore, be employed in these institutions so that they can be resourceful in the process of research. When not legalized all the illegal imports of the helm plant will land in the hands of drug traffickers or even criminals when the government herself could have invested in the multi-billion dollar industry.
Adopted from https://www.sott.net/article/272461-Marijuana-for-the-Masses-Legalized-cannabis-and-why-the-government-wants-us-to-go-to-pot
Therefore, the moment marijuana is legalized, all black markets of the drug will be eliminated or decline in the long run. General legalization of the drug will see many Americans indulging in the process of its production, which will eventually increase the Gross National Product in relationship to the Gross Domestic Product. In this regard, Per Capita Income of each American citizen who will have made the decision to produce the plant will indeed rise. On the other hand, the government would save billions of dollars in her expenditures and revenues collected in the form of taxes on the regulated sale of cannabis which would be in billions of dollars.
Additionally, the helm plant has been found to have active chemicals which inhibit psychotic symptoms among the people suffering from schizophrenia. These compounds have been analyzed as Antispasmodic and Anattremoric. The compounds explain the significant effects of smoking the weed which is associated to be of calmness and chilling. Medical costs will thus be reduced as a result of this while economy shoots. Therefore, people must stop looking at this from a negative angle for people suffering from other ailments such as Parkinson's disease, Seizures, and even Huntington's chorea have been found to have relaxing effects as a result of smoking the cannabis. There is an observation here that the moment this drug will be legalized in the US the lives of such individuals suffering from the above conditions will change to be a life that goes beyond the side effects of the harsh prescribed drug (Rosenthal, et al. 2013).
Furthermore, the plant has been found to control forms of nausea and puking (vomiting). This is a condition which has been associated with chemotherapy and decreased glaucoma effects. The study conducted by the John Hopkins University in 1999, observed that there are no great cognitive differences among the people who smoke the drug and those who don't smoke it at all. Opposers, on the other hand, do argue that marijuana health effects are most contradicting since the plant has an illegal, substance that has the same or worse health impacts which in this case according to them they see it as negative. Alcohol has even been found to have adverse health effects as compared to marijuana. Alcohol impairs the brain functioning, but cannabis stimulates the brain functioning power, yet alcohol has been legalized as compared to marijuana, this is a question to ask. (Clements & Zhao, 2009).
Though opposers argue that smoking marijuana can cause lung damage, still cigar smoking, which is sanctioned, results in the same lung damage. This is to say that if the government is busy maintaining that legalizing marijuana is a good way to preserve the health of her people, then these other substances such as alcohol and cigarettes must not be made legal to the users (Fine, 2013).
Marijuana has seen the economy of sixteen States, which has legalized the use of the drug to rise substantively. Marijuana has been categorized together with other drugs such as the Ecstasy, heroin, methane even the LSD. This means that if the drug is legalized, it can keep the innocent people who might have faced the jail terms because of its use to be out of prisons. It is
the best way to deter these people from meeting with real criminals in the prisons. And by doing so, the rate of crimes will immensely reduce and give room for the economy of the nation to grow. Legalization of marijuana will, therefore, reduce the state and federal deficits since the government will eliminate the expenditure on enforcement detention prohibition and prosecutions. Again, this will give room to the government to collect taxes on legalized sales made from the drug, a situation that will boost the economy.
Adopted from http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/how-government-bribes-police-arrest-people-smoking-pot
With prohibition pressure, only the drug dealers stand a chance to gain because illegal drugs tend to have higher prices due to the heightened risks in the production and distribution of the drugs. The legislation would have to lower prices, thus decreasing the need for addicts to shift to secondary crimes of raising money to feed their desire.
The notion that the people will openly disobey the marijuana prohibition law shows the degree in which the government prestige has been belittled by the users of the drug. Therefore, for a country to strike a balance between the users of drugs like tobacco and marijuana, they should leave these people to enjoy themselves regardless of limiting their rights to the use of these drugs. Hemp plant should be understood that it is the necessity for wealth creation and survival of many people, particularly the users. By allowing free trade of the drug can see the country reaping massive profits from it and thus encouraging the positive growth of the economy.
In conclusion, the cynical feeling that the government have had concerning the use of the drug should come to a standstill. Statistics have proved that use of Marijuana is even much safer that the use of tobacco. Why not legalized the drug then? The right policy is to legalize cannabis, but using regulation and forms of taxation which will ensure that the drug will not be abused or irresponsibly used. In its pure form marijuana has been found to have no effect on the user, unlike other harmful drugs such as the tobacco which have been associated to cause lung failure. The government should stop putting their focus in the arresting recreational smokers who are interested in gaining medicinal effects of marijuana, but the government should promote growers and dealers and spend millions on their investment on the drug. In this regards, people have to stand up and defend the notion that has been circulating regarding the use of the drug. The concept that the drug can cause more harm to the user rather than look at the ways of investing on the drug to earn revenues. Yes, the substance if abused can result in diverse conditions, but almost all edible products, when misused, can lead to increased complications. The government should look at the positive part of the plant rather than just focusing on its abuse. And by doing so, they can generate and boost the economy of her country (Hecht, 2014).
References
Caulkins, J. P., Hawken, A., Kilmer, B., & Kleinman, M. (2012). Marijuana legalization: What everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press
Clements, K. W., & Zhao, X. (2009). Economics and marijuana: Consumption, pricing and legalization. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Fine, D. (2013). Too high to Fail: Cannabis and the new green economic revolution. New York: Gotham Books.
Hecht, P. (2014). Weed Land: Inside America's Marijuana Epicenter and how pot went legit. University of California Press
Rosenthal, E., Kubby, S., & Newhart, S. (2013). Why marijuana should be legal. Philadelphia: Running Press.
