Marijuana is finally become less and less criminal in Louisiana with new dispensaries being opened, even in our backyard of Monroe. This is something that will be met with some criticism, but shouldn’t. Marijuana holds a label that it simply does not fit. It is not like any other “street” drug. Weed has been proven to do a few things including facilitating hunger, according to WebMD, doctors have prescribed medical marijuana for multiple reasons. Muscle spasms, nausea, poor appetite, seizures and Crohn’s disease are some of things marijuana is proven to help with.
This really highlights why medical marijuana should be explored further in the reaming states. An argument against marijuana is that smoking anything may be harmful to the body. However, this is not the case as a rate of absolutely zero deaths from a marijuana overdose have occurred, ever.
Another reason marijuana is slowly becoming more and more accepted nation wide is revenue. Revenue is the main reason I think every state in America should legalize medical and recreational marijuana. Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois and Michigan are some states that have legalized medical weed. According to Forbes, all of these states have seen significant money form the industry.
Arizona and Michigan earned 407 million and 633 million respectively. Illinois saw 91 million dollars and Connecticut raked in over 50 million. Delaware earned the lowest with 7 million, but what state couldn’t use an extra 7 million? These numbers become even higher when dealing with states that have legalized recreational marijuana.
Colorado and Washington trail blazed the path of legalizing the drug for recreational use, followed by seven other states as well as Washington D.C. California earned well over 2 billion dollars while Colorado was not too far behind totaling 1.6 billion dollars. Oregon tallied 500 million for recreational sales and another 275 million in medical. Washington provided 975 million (recreational) and an additional 61 million (medical).
Hell, D.C. alone pulled in 18 million dollars of legal weed revenue. All of these numbers prove one thing, America is sitting on a gold mine. It would be irresponsible, in my eyes, to not expand marijuana legalization of the recreational and medical nature. This should be expanded to every state in the country.
According to the business insider, marijuana legalization could inject over 130 billion dollars into US taxes by 2025.
Up to a million jobs will be added to the country through legal Mary Jane as well. Simply put, the country could be leaving billions in tax revenue on the table by keeping the status quo.
I’m not coming at this as a 4/20 friendly, weed friendly college student, but as a citizen of one of the poorest countries in the United States. It is not often that a perfect opportunity presents itself at the prefect time. But it is happening right now with the marijuana boom in America. The plant holds the key not only to a stress free life.
It may also hold the key to boosting America’s economy.