It seems that some are very concerned that a vote that would legalize Cannabis in California might also upset supply and demand that Medical Cannabis values could plunge by as much as 90 % and perhaps challenge the tax bonus that marijuana supporters have used to sell the proposal, a study in print Wednesday found.
An intensive study by the independent RAND Drug Policy Research Center projects some attention-grabbing possibilities if Ca in Nov becomes the second state, after Alaska, to legalize cannabis for entertaining use by adults and the first to tax commercial marijuana sales sales. Do you think marijuana should remain medical
Rand Researchers are stating Cannabis prices may well plunge from $375 an oz., within the state's present medical marijuana regulation to less than $38 per oz. prior to taxes.
Something that seems to be getting more and more attention in today's society is the legalization of marijuana. In this article I will discuss the reasons that Marijuana should be legalized in not only the United States but everywhere else it is illegal too.
Often groups that campaign to keep marijuana illegal use the statement that marijuana is a gateway drug, otherwise meaning that it could lead to the use of other, more potent or dangerous drugs. Now take note that I said marijuana opponents use the statement that marijuana is a gateway drug. There is a large amount of conflicting information in this area; numerous studies have found that marijuana could be a gateway drug where others have found that marijuana is not a gateway drug. There may be a logical explanation for marijuana being a possible gateway drug when someone purchases marijuana there is the possibility that other harder and more dangerous drugs may be available and the buyer may be pressured into buying other substances. Along with other drugs possibly being available someone may be around other people that are using marijuana and be pushed into using other substances through peer pressure. If marijuana were to be legalized it would be available to purchase where other illegal substances are not available.
Another argument against the legalization of marijuana is that if marijuana were legal people will drive themselves into poverty because of the price of the substance. Now assuming that marijuana prices remained at what they are right now that would be very possible, however if marijuana were legal the price would almost be guaranteed to drop. One needs look no further than prohibition to see this principal at work, when the sale or transport of alcohol was made illegal prices skyrocketed. The price of beer during the prohibition era rose about 700% if this same factor were applied to marijuana today the price would drop substantially. According to one of my friends, in my area the price for an ounce of marijuana will run about $400-500, if the price dropped by 700% an ounce would cost about $65, and that would be enough to keep one person constantly stoned for quite a while. It is estimated that in 1990 US consumers spent $9 billion on marijuana, with inflation this could easily be over $12-15 billion now. That is $12-15 billion that is not being put back into our economy. Now with a 700% drop in price that is about $2 billion that could be put back into our economy instead of Mexico. Better yet, assuming that the government had a huge tax on it, all of that could be put into government programs or even used for tax cuts.
One common problem with anything illegal is that there is a black market for the items. Unlike the free market the black market cannot be regulated to control inflation and validity of transactions. The only way to control the black market is through violence, which is why drug related crime is common. There is no doubt about it that drug related crime is impossible to stop but it can be reduced. With the legalization of marijuana there is a good possibility that drug related crime could drop due to the ability to purchase it on the free market not having to deal with dealers that will take your cash and shoot you on site so that they can take their business elsewhere. Not to mention that bank robberies could possibly be reduced because of people robbing them to obtain drug money, with reduced prices there would be less of a need to do so.
One major argument for at the very least decriminalization of marijuana is medical purposes. Opponents to this argument say that marijuana has no medical use and that marijuana causes more damage than it helps. This is a half-truth, true marijuana can cause damage to brain cells but that is when it is used in extreme excess, however it can also be extremely useful to people on chemotherapy. It does this by calming nausea that is induced by chemotherapy. It can also be used as a mild painkiller, similar to the effect of aspirin or ibuprofen; it can also be used to stimulate appetite, treat glaucoma and has a relaxing or calming effect on the user.
Marijuana may also be one of the safest drugs around. Nicotine and Ethanol have absolutely no health benefit at all but they are legal, and widely abused drugs. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is probably the safest of all three.
NOTE: LD50 level is the level at which a substance will kill 50% of the tested population.
The LD50 level of Nicotine, the active ingredient in tobacco, is 9.2 mg/kg in a dog.
The LD50 level of Grain Alcohol is 5500 mg/kg in a dog.
The LD50 level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is 525 mg/kg in a dog.
According to this a domestic dog would have to consume nearly 1/3lb of pure THC to kill it. And at a 15% THC level in marijuana that results to consuming about 2.2lbs of marijuana.
Not to mention that marijuana can be consumed in a safer manner than nicotine or alcohol. When one uses a tobacco product in any way you are exposing yourself to cancer-causing carcinogens. When drinking alcohol you are putting yourself at risk for alcohol poisoning and liver damage. Marijuana can be consumed in several ways where each has a different possible health effect. Smoking marijuana is basically the same as smoking a cigarette, using a bong or vaporizer reduces the carcinogens that your body s exposed to. However there is one way to use marijuana that exposes your body to as little danger as possible, baking the marijuana into a lipid (fat) releases the THC in a safe non carcinogenic way.
In order for marijuana to be legalized and still be controlled several restrictions would have to be placed on the sale and production of it.
1) You must be 20 or older to purchase marijuana.
2) The sale of marijuana would be restricted to government-approved businesses.
3) Marijuana may only be consumed in private due to the effects that the smoke may have on people that do not wish to be exposed to it.
4) Import or massive private production of marijuana would be illegal to prevent lower prices on the black market to allow better control over the substance. Breaking this restriction would have massive charges attached to it, similar to what is in effect today.
5) Small scale private production of marijuana would be legal but it must be strictly for private use and may not exceed 'x' size of plant/garden etc.
6) Driving stoned would carry a penalty similar to DUI, with a suspension of your license and possibly jail time for endangering the lives of other people.
7) Those in the medical business or any other business that people's lives depend on should be forbidden to use marijuana, we can't have people doing brain surgery high.
Following the above steps Marijuana could be legalized and be just as controlled as it is now only without the going to jail for having a plant part.
