The legal battle over marijuana use is a focus of contention in the United States. It is basically a “red state, blue state” issue. The coasts say legalize it and the middle says criminalize it! Our country is currently at odds between the Federal Laws that criminalize marijuana use and the State Laws which have been voted for by the people, for the people, laws such as California’s Proposition 215 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code. Minus the jargon it is simply the “Medical Marijuana Act.” Under Federal standards the states are breaking the law which classifies marijuana as a Class 1 Narcotic, right up there with heroine, LSD, cocaine, and amphetamines. In a world where the middle of the country is suffering from skyrocketing meth-amphetamine, and LEGAL pharmaceuticals abuse I find it ironic that there is so much focus on marijuana.
Plant the seed, make it grow, protein, fiber, pain killer, omega fatty acid, agricultural inter-crop, the uses of marijuana and hemp are boundless. Hemp is the innocent bystander of marijuana criminalization, which has a sad side effect on the profitability of the American farmer. Not to mention, the fact that all American made hemp commodities are produced from an import rather than a domestic crop. The economics just don’t make sense, but the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) loves the added funding to their annual budget which comes from keeping marijuana in the same class as much stronger and far more addictive substances. Then there is the age old problem of overcrowding in our nations prison systems, where people who have committed crimes involving marijuana sit next to murderer’s, rapist’s, and major drug traffickers. The American taxpayer spends millions of dollars annually on the court systems and prison systems that house marijuana offenders.
Ounce for ounce, good marijuana is worth more than gold. That’s saying something, and the only reason that stands true is because of supply, demand, and the fact that it remains illegal. You’re looking at the largest agricultural cash crop in our country, yet the government doesn’t get a penny of taxation on the multi-millions of annual revenue this commodity generates. Legalization would lead to taxation, and added funding in the government coffers. Industry lobbyists come from the beer, and alcohol giants. Anheuser Bush is one of the largest annual contributor’s towards criminalization of marijuana, followed closely behind by pharmaceutical and tobacco industry giants. Follow the paper trail, what do these lobbyists have to lose? Apparently a lot if marijuana were to be legalized.
Narrow minded people seem to come up with lots of reasons why marijuana should be considered a drug, but are these people speaking out against the highly addictive painkillers like Oxycontin which is basically legal heroine, or the alcoholism epidemic that our country and our teens are suffering from? Statistics are showing that the home medicine cabinet is more to blame for teen drug abuse than “street drugs” these days, but these are the same parents who are screaming about legalization of a PLANT!
Which is the lesser of two evils?
It’s a rare case indeed that a teen overdoses on pot!
Wake up and smell the…..