Garcia 1

Joan Garcia

Dr. Sterling

May 2, 2017

ENGL-1302

The high times of marijuana

Throughout the years marijuana has been the most controversial topic discussed in the U.S.

Various groups of people insist that the drug should remain as contraband because of its effects

and has become a gateway drug. While others object and defend the plant as a drug that is

beneficial in modern day medicine and has the potential to eliminate some of the many problems

in America. However due to recent studies over the substance, has led to the legalization of

cannabis consumption due to its copious amounts of benefits gained from the drug. California

was the first state to legalize medical marijuana back in 2010 and in 2012 Washington and

Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. Many states in the U.S. have

followed in either legalizing recreational or medical marijuana. Cannabis should not be shunned

anymore since it has created more jobs, lowered criminal activity, helped ill patients, gained

plenty of revenue, and has minimized safety hazards hidden in cannabis purchased from

unlicensed dealers.

Because of the recent popularity with the ganja industry has lead to the creation of more

jobs. Entrepreneurs have invested in owning their own marijuana dispensaries and has generated

more jobs available. A couple of jobs include store clerks, librarians, web designers, botanists,
and many more. In an article from CBS, Where the jobs are: Americas pot industry states that

Cannabis-related companies now employ an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 full-time and

part-time workers. Employees are required to be licensed and pass certain test before acquiring

a job depending on the state since the industry is highly regulated. Edibles (food containing

THC) for example, are produced by employees who have some sort of experience in food

production. There have been claims that newspaper and flower shops will also help increase jobs,

this is just to show that marijuana has also affected other companies also. The increased demand

of ganja has allowed the growing industry to create more jobs that lower the unemployment rate

in the U.S.

Now that weed has been legalized, crime rate has gone down which will benefit law

enforcement and lower drug trafficking. Before weed was legal there were countless cases with

individuals caught with possession of marijuana. However with recent times, police officers and

judges are able to spend more money and time on serious offences. Money that went into

reducing marijuana activity can now be spent chasing the real criminals who commit devastating

acts of crime. Prisons will also save as much as 1 billion a year by reducing its cost of inmates

who are in jail for marijuana related crimes. Article Legalizing Medical Marijuana May

Actually Reduce Crime, Study from the HUFFPOST, explains that alcohol is a much more

significant factor than marijuana when it comes to violent crime. Police have reported that

homicide, sexual assault, and robbery cases have gone down. Another factor to keep in mind is

that drug trafficking will go down due to the population's easy access to cannabis. Although

politics have tried to convince the population that marijuana will increase crime rates, research

shows that criminal activity has dropped 10% in states where weed is legal.
 Patients with severe cases of cancer and other types of terminal illness have referred to

consuming cannabis rather than swallowing an abundant amount of pills. Marijuana is used to

treat cancer, seizures, poor appetite and other kinds of diseases. Some of the key factors from

utilizing ganja is that it reduces swelling and inflammation and alleviates nausea as well as

increasing appetite which are beneficial in some health problems with these symptoms. Cnn

states in the article 7 uses for medical marijuana that In the United States, pain is the most

common condition for which medical cannabis is taken. The thing that makes marijuana a

perfect drug for pain is that the user cannot overdose upon frequent use. Many worried parents

have accepted cannabis as a solution for their children with certain health problems, of of them

being epilepsy. There have been plenty of cases where children are seen recuperating from life

changing health problems simply by consuming oils with high THC potency to alleviate some of

the pain and help the immune system. Recent studies have shown that marijuana has the ability

to stabilize patients who suffer from bipolar disorder. It has also been said that cannabis stops the

spread of cancer which is beneficial for patients and doctors to find and effective way to beat it.

Arthritis is one of the many diseases that are common in the United States with over 54.4 million

cases yearly. Symptoms include pain, inflammation and discomfort all of which can be reduced

with just utilizing a little bit of THC. Patients have resorted to the use of cannabis because of the

many health benefits gained from use of the substance and is much safer than other drugs offered

by pharmaceuticals.

The large and growing marijuana industry has gained plenty of popularity in recent years

and with that so has profit. Research shows that by 2026, the industry is said to be worth 50

billion. After some years of legalizing marijuana, dispensaries have stated that sales have
increased by the year since it has become more accepted by society. An article published by

CBS, Legal marijuana:A $44 billion business by 2020?, states that retail sales of medicinal and

recreational marijuana this year are expected to grow as much as 26 percent over 2015, totaling

as much as $4.3 billion. As the industry gets less hate and shows more of itself to the public,

revenue will continue to increase and offer more to the economy. The government will also take

advantage of the money plant by gathering taxes from dispensaries. Not only that but states can

use that money to help out the community such as creating more roads, increase funding for

certain departments, and help create more events. Reports claim that Washington may gain as

much as 500 million dollars in taxes from marijuana. States can also gather money by charging

planters a fee to be able to grow and sell cannabis. Places where cannabis is legal have acquired

plenty of tax revenue and will only increase as times change which will help the economy in

many ways to make a change.

Acquiring ganja from individuals who are not licensed dealers may have substances that

can cause harm instead of good. Licensed growers pay close attention to their harvest since the

plants can contain certain pesky pesticides and will gain no profit due to its highly regulated

business. Whereas unlicensed growers do not care for such things since they know that their

consumers are not experienced enough to check for hazards and tend to produce a larger crop.

Other types of hazards include fungus, yeast, ecoli and aspergillus with some of them being

deadly if consumed. Phosphorus has shown a lot of use in the planting of marijuana and

improper use may lead to its consumers to gain cancerous cells. HelloMD provided an article

called 5 Reasons To Get Legal and Stop Buying Marijuana from a Dealer explains that

Phosphoload is what is known as a bud hardener and create a larger more beautiful
bud-Phosphorus which is the main component in phosphoload, is deemed to be carcinogenic to

humans.