Reasons to Legalize Weed

Let's legalize marijuana. You'd think it would be as easy as saying it, or maybe as easy as rolling up a pearl joint, but even that can get tricky sometimes. As is the case with legalization. No one's died while using marijuana (at least, as far as anyone knows today), and as far as we're concerned there's more benefits in cannabis consumption than practically anything else, besides maybe Bayer Aspirin. So, why isn't it legalized yet?

To the mass public, the little green psychoactive plant known as cannabis is still very much a dangerous narcotic. The men and women who are in office creating these laws and drafting these memos are witnesses of the rise in hippie culture, the War on Drugs, and just the plain old 1990s. To most of them—and, luckily not all of them—marijuana is highly addictive and habit forming. As many like to call it "the gateway drug," while this is not even close to actuality. Let's discuss the reasons to legalize weed, and breakdown the myths to uncover the legend of pot culture.

Safer than Alcohol and Tobacco

It doesn't take a genius to realize how unbelievably safer marijuana is to that of cigarettes and liquor. Let's see, over 480,000 people die each year not only from smoking itself, but exposure to it as well, and add that to the 5.6 million young ones under 18, the ones who will eventually contract a deadly smoking-related disease, it's clear that marijuana is far safer.

Alcohol, while maybe not as deadly, is still highly toxic for the brain and ultimately makes you an angry, loud, or otherwise rude human. Alcohol consumption and its addiction is among many reasons to legalize weed; those subservient to liquor or cigarettes can turn to marijuana for a safe and non-habit forming substitute.

Most Officials Agree

I'm not talking about the political landscape of marijuana prohibition, I'm talking about law enforcement. That's right, reasons to legalize weed can also be underlined by the reasons why cops want to legalize marijuana.

For one, they've seen it at street level, and understand the value and commodity inherent within the science of marijuana production. While recreational marijuana may still have a long road to bear before being admitted acceptance by the entire public, there's still much to be had with the traits of medical marijuana itself.

Industry Growth

Ironically, quite similar to the plant in question, the marijuana industry has been topping the market with some pretty hefty revenues. According to Forbes, legal cannabis consumption in North America earned $7.3 billion in 2016 sales alone, and that number jumped to $9.7 billion in 2017.

Say what you will about the brand and the image, but their exponential growth is only one of many reasons to legalize weed. A prohibited drug, raising over billions of dollars within only a few years of existence? That's remarkable, mind blowing even to the non-pot smokers.

Medicinal Properties

There are a plentitude of medicinal and medical qualities inherent within marijuana and THC. For one, we know that cannabis fights against cancer cells, could possibly limit HIV from evolving into AIDs, it kills cramps, nausea, headaches and, on a softer level, some major pains. Treatments using medical marijuana are ahead of their time and implore a certain outlook on the future of our life.

Aside from viral and physical bodily breakdowns, cannabis can also heal the mind. From mood and uplifting one's tension, to bolstering creativity and literally opening one's mind to an endless berth of potentialities, weed isn't all that evil as many make it out to be; weed, after all, does wonders for people with anxiety and depression. It doesn't necessarily cure those symptoms, but it sure does rid them for a time.

State-Level Legalization

So far, eight American states have completely rendered recreational and medical marijuana use legal. That's a stunning turn of events, given a GOP controlled White House and Senate, but the fact that there are well over 25 million Americans that use medical marijuana on a daily basis, it's not so difficult to see just how plausible the schedule 1 narcotic might be.

It may not be set in stone yet, but all likelihood points out that Arizona, Rhode Island, Utah, and many more all might be next in line among states likely to legalize marijuana in 2018. There's still a plethora of time left on the development and initiation of certain bills, but we may be witness to an all-green country within the next decade, or less.

Limits Diabetes and Obesity

Thanks, largely, to the avidly named "munchies" attack, which hits all of us stoners with a heavy hand of gnarling stomach action, surely benefits the digestive system, in some way. You're correct.

Studies have shown that adults who smoke weed regularly are prone to higher levels of insulin, HDL, and tend to have smaller waist sizes. This means smoking weed can limit your chances of contracting diabetes, plus as an even bonus you're soothing your digestive track (in addition to your entire body).

Corruption

Besides the fact that marijuana prohibition is riddled with a host of issues, from the funding of gangs and cartels, to the unnecessary raising of funds and resources with consistent failure; people smoke pot, so much so that those who don't tend to just ignore it by now, and with its health benefits (added to the fact that it's still killed nobody) marijuana prohibition seems to look a lot like the early days of alcohol (and, almost seemingly identical in years, too).

The only thing the prohibition on cannabis has and will continue to do is celebrate the evil of other harmful narcotic elements, by raising the prices for cartels and drug traffickers. If there's a domestic product, one that is far better than the foreign supply chain, why prohibit cannabis if there's a possibility of not only taxing it, but then making a commodity out of it (like, say, I don't know...tobacco!).

Millions in Tax Revenue

The costs in continuing marijuana prohibition not only directly aid overseas kingpins and the illicit trafficking industry, they also benefit the country and economy very little. Last year was our celebration for the 8th anniversary of the Marijuana Tax Act, but there was no fiesta held for that particular day.

Since the initiation of the war on drugs, the costs of arrests for marijuana possession has only skyrocketed to $1 trillion in prosecution fees and paints a grueling image of our penal system. The states still utilizing prohibition are simply wasting resources when there's plenty of reasons to legalize marijuana; like taxation. Of those four states that have legalized marijuana, they've together coalesced somewhere around $200 million in tax revenue.

Minorities & Youth

The most affected individuals who have felt the blunt and ravaging ends behind prohibition, plus the connotations behind it, are minorities and the young. They're one of the most important reasons to legalize weed, for it not to save the lives of our youth, why else?

A safer and more conducive environment of the marijuana industry is just how legalization intends on rectifying this issue with young people and ethnic/racial tensions. Marijuana stands out not only as a form of recreational and medicinal form of reliever, it's also a cultural movement. This is why so many young people and minority groups have defended the legalization of marijuana from its inception, and will continue to do so well into the future.

Industrial Hemp

Marijuana isn't just a plant you smoke, or even a cultural icon of a movement; it's also a recourse tool for the future. You have to remember, the founding forefathers of America themselves had their own marijuana plants, simply because of its extreme versatility. Many eventually grew afraid, mostly due to its psychoactive effects on the body, but when analyzed together one can see a boundary within the reasons to legalize weed.

Industrial hemp, as in the utilization of marijuana in a variety of different contexts, is now taking the Americas by storm. As the technology begins to grow and the industry itself enhances, we'll begin to see anywhere from clothes and fiber, to foods and fuel all through the cultivation of Mary Jane. That's something to spark up to.

Pharmaceutical Supplement

Besides the differential of the occasional smoker, pothead, and medical marijuana consumer, there's also an identity many tend to forget, or at least overlook: rehabilitation. Marijuana can serve as a safe and organic form of either substituting one's addiction with, or altogether avoiding using cannabis.

It's a really tough bridge to cross, especially for those going through heartbreaking mental issues and negative life happenstances; the point being that when viewed in the context of modern day society, marijuana is an eye-opening phenomena reminiscent fondly of early prohibition period issues. We'll lock up those we're supposed to be helping, one's in desperate need or in trifle amounts of pain, yet we'll also shell out millions in fees to pay for said trials that do nothing but make the system worse. This is one of the most concerning among reasons to legalize weed, and one day soon I hope is amended.