Legalization of Marijuana
Economic, Medical, and Prison Reform Benefits
Economic Benefits
- Cotton, oil, medicinal drugs, technical textiles (twine, rope), and fiberglass
- Every one acre of hemp produced contains four times more usable paper pulp in comparison to one acre of old growth forestry
- OGF process takes fifty to one hundred times longer to replenish the soil in which it grows, while hemp actually nourishes the soil it grows in.
- Fuels made from cannabis hemp biomass are much cleaner when it is burnt, and if this biodiesel is spilt, there are absolutely no repercussions seeing that it is biodegradable
- Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development estimated a gross revenue for Canadian; hemp seed production between $30.75 million and $34 million
- Cannabidiol hemp production is able to yield $21,000 per acre and another $12,500 for the bast fiber and hurd
- In first year of legalization in Colorado, $700 million in sales, $63 million in addition tax revenues, $13 million for licensing and fees, and $17 million for the public school system.
Medicinal Benfefits
Marijuana can potentially be utilized as a means of coping with the symptoms being experienced, not to be confused with curing them.
- In the state of Iowa, Marijuana falls under the most dangerous drug schedule as a hallucinogenic substance, the definition of a Schedule 1 Drug: With no current acceptable medical use and high potential for abuse and with potential of severe psychological or physical dependence.
- In patients with AIDs, Dronabinol is able to stimulate the appetite and therefore encourage weight gain.
- In patients with glaucoma, when cannabis or dronabinol are consumed, it relieves the intraocular pressure in the eye by as much as 25%.
- Dronabinol, nabilone and levonantradol cannabinoids in cancer patients who are receiving Chemotherapy have been shown to help with the prevention of nasuea.
- Cannabinoid antagonists and cannabinoid do not produce any psychoactive effects and have only a therapeutic value.
Prison Reform
“There is no war on drugs, because you can't war on inanimate objects. There's only a war on drug addicts.Which means we are warring on the most abused and vulnerable segments of society.”(Dr. Gabor Mate)
- The amount of federal and state prisoners expanded 10 times from that of what it was in 1980 up through 1993, with amount of non-violent drug offenders increasing by same margin.
- Costs of building a prison is anywhere between $60,000 to $75,00 per each inmate, and while running about $60 per day per inmate, estimating an annual $22,000 per year for one single inmate.
- From the Office of National Drug Control Policy, state and local governments have spent an estimated $16 billion on the War on Drugs each year since 1991. ($400 billion)
- Most states have abandoned rehabilitation methods for these offenders, thus leaving them with a 65%-80% recidivism rate.
- The Bureau of Justice Assistance released reports stating that only 28% of prisons have substance abuse programs, and within that only 7% have comprehensive treatment, counseling and transitional planning.
Why does this matter to you?
I would love for my grandkids children to see this beautiful place we call Earth someday. If we were to implement hemp product into our everyday life, this might just be possible. The possibility of having a biodiesel fuel derived from hemp that would cause no environmental harm if spilled is life changing. Farmers harvesting hemp would be able to replenish their field instead of over farming and destroying the top soil. And above all, the tax revenues it would bring to our state and the schools and infrastructure within it.
Guess who finances the War on Drugs? Thats right, him, her, me, you, your parents, and every single tax payer in the United States of America. I believe it is absolutely insane to finance an operation where the government is set out on a mission to end this imaginary War on Drugs. I do not wish to spend my taxes persecuting otherwise law abiding citizens for utilizing a herb that makes them happy or healthy.
Color Spectrums
Green: Statistical information
Blue: Empathy and concern