By Monterey Bud
Now Legal in Washington, Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon – the 10th Amendment and marijuana legalization have kept the petri dish of American democracy alive and well in the 21st century. Pleasing the majority while confusing the minority, constituents in each state voted their conscience and have now realized the freedom that is legalized recreational marijuana.
Demonized as a gateway drug and a threat to public safety, some considered the legalization of marijuana a blight on society – while others claim it an overdue rebellion. Regardless of your position on the sticky topic, global leaders have watched these pro-pot states germinate the seeds of legalization and have put the world’s population on notice – marijuana prohibition has been a costly failure.
Four years into this social experiment, and with a general election just around the corner, this seemed like an opportune time to whip out the microscope and examine the petri dish, scrutinizing the pros and cons of legalizing pot in the United States.
Legalizing Marijuana Pros
Winning the high ground of increased tax revenue, while losing low ground of an institutionalized populace, states hoping to decrease their burdensome prison population while fattening their coffers are looking hard at legalization. Imprisoned and impoverished, states that prohibit weed continually brawl over their dwindling revenue and growing expenditures. As such, many states have been scrounging for creative ways to grow their revenue and fund their projects. Thanks to legalization and American’s love of getting high, many now believe weed could generate millions of dollars in new taxes for the states that embrace it.
Making room for real criminals, the legalization of marijuana effectively killed the senseless stream of stoners being sent to jail for their love of cannabinoids. Displacing pot smokers with real criminals, the legalization of weed allows police officers to allocate their precious resources toward going after real criminals committing violent crimes.
South of the border, there are few substances that are more profitable than illegal marijuana. Valuable due to its prohibitive status, many understand this cause-and-effect. Cognizant of the fact, that by legalizing recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21, the U.S. can profit from legalizing pot and redirecting the illegal drug trader’s marijuana revenue to the state budget. Supporters of legalization argue that by legalizing this peaceful plant, the U.S. would make the substance less profitable for criminals – resulting in a substantial decrease in drug-related violence.
Before legalization, growing marijuana was all about the green: Loaded with pesticides, herbicides, and other life-threatening contaminants, prohibition allows black-market cultivators to get away with murder. Conversely, after legalization, states have institutionalized a framework of checks and balances mandating both recreational and medicinal marijuana be tested for contaminants. Testing that keeps toxic and unwanted chemicals out of our bodies.
Let freedom ring: By prohibiting the legal use of marijuana, the federal government has systematically intruded on our personal liberties. Regardless of it’s perceived harmful effects by the ill-informed, “We the people” still maintain the right to decide for ourselves. Historically viewed as a “victimless crime,” smoking pot is an issue of individual morality in modern society, not law.
Marijuana Legalization Cons
While no one wants to drive with someone who’s impaired and behind the wheel of a speeding one-ton death-rocket, driving while high on marijuana has shown an increased likelihood of crashing of approximately 1.83 times. Still representing an elevated risk, a 2015 study found that “While useful in identifying how marijuana affects the performance of driving tasks, experimental and observational studies do not lend themselves to predicting real world crash risk.”
As most would agree, kids should not have access to recreational edibles; that said … shit happens. Inadvertently harming fewer kids than pharmaceuticals found in the average American medicine cabinet or household cleaners under the sink, JAMA reported last month that 430 American citizens contacted the American Association of Poison Control Centers, for cannabis related issues. Young, impulsive, and big fans of anything sweet, kids lack the ability to distinguish a satirical knockoff of their favorite candy bar from today’s potent edibles. Their bodies are clean and have no built up tolerance to handle the intake of today’s potent cannabinoids. Like the pharmaceuticals in our medicine cabinet or the cleaning fluids under their kitchen sink, caution must be taken to protect our kids’ developing minds and bodies. As such, when marijuana use is legalized, parents need to be vigilant in assuring their children don’t mistakenly get their inquisitive little hands on any recreational supplies. Understanding children are curious and often find that random cigarette, or an open bottle of booze, prohibitionists point to edibles as a primary reason for any state to think twice about legalizing recreational marijuana.
3. Marijuana: The gateway argument
Despite the fact that most scientists have acknowledged that cannabis/ marijuana is not a gateway drug, that doesn’t stop this argument from being one of the major complaints issued by those who would like to keep their foot on the neck of the legalization movement – maintaining the status quo and perpetuating the prohibition of marijuana. Understanding that those with addictive personalities can become mentally addicted to just about anything, rather than physically addicted, I suppose it’s hypothetically possible to develop an addiction to weed, however, highly unlikely.
