Why The Legalization Of Marijuana Can Save The World.
Why the World Need Legal Cannabis Right Now from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
These are somber days around the world. The financial markets are sputtering as worldwide growth has slowed to 1% or less. Central banks and financial institutions are “out of ammo” as the pundits like to say, as negative interest rates continue to spread around the world. For those that don’t follow the financial markets or know that negative interest rates mean, governments of the world are so desperate for growth and financial stimulus, they have actually lowered the amount paid in interest to depositors to negative. It now costs money to deposit large sums at banks, this is where you pay the bank a small fee to hold your money there, not the other way around. Why on earth would anyone do this, pay a small fee to let a bank hold your money? One word, safety.
The world is afraid right now. Rumors of recession are leaking around every corner. Even though our President touts a big recovery and low unemployment, actual growth is hard to find. Until very recently, even wage growth was stagnant. We have the largest debt in history and millions of Americans are barley surviving on a week to week paycheck. Do you want a terrifying look at the shape of America? Check out John Maudlin’s weekly piece this week called “On The Edge”. The article points out the reality of life for many American’s, the health risks associated with stress, the stagnant wages for 30 years verse the cost of inflation, and the secret shame of the middle class. One interesting note is that 47% of American’s cannot afford a $400 unexpected expense without taking out a loan or selling something. That means almost half of American does not have $500 saved for a sudden tooth ache, pipe burst, fender bender, or roof leak.
The legalization of marijuana is a massive win for just about every part of society. Lets’ take a look at the reasons for legalization effect all aspects of our troubled society.
Taxation
Governments at all levels are running deficits. All the way from the National debt, down to your state debt (check Illinois and California), to your local towns. Underfunded pension plans are the next looming disaster as over 10,000 baby boomer retire each day. In the end, taxes will never go down, and more tax money is needed. That tax money can either come from the private sector, meaning higher taxes on your income, house, and assets, or from the public sector, as in a sales tax increase, or consumption tax. Colorado has been the guinea pig for watching how taxation can help a state, and business is booming. Colorado recently announced $3.4million in marijuana sales tax and in a related story $1.5million is going to help the homeless in Colorado.
In the end, it is always about money. The US government needs it, the state you live in it wants more, and the town you live in needs more. Taxation of legal cannabis will raise money in every state where it goes legal. This is also not counting the fees that could come from dispensaries, delivery services, and doctors.
Medical Costs Are Out Of Control And Only Getting Worse
Let’s face it, no matter what insurance plan you have, you are still facing rising medical costs. The problem with a national health plan set up with the way Obamacare was set is that, most young, healthy people didn’t sign up because the deductibles were high and, well, they are healthy. It was cheaper to pay the fine. Since the program allowed to preexisting conditions no matter what, guess what happened, a ton of sick people signed up. That is not to say these people don’t deserve our help and care, it is just to say that they are the most expensive people in the system.
One reason economist didn’t see a boom to the US economy when gas prices went from $4.50 a gallon to $1.90 a gallon over 12 months was the increase in medical costs. For every $20 saved in gas each week by a US driver, their health premiums, copays, and deductibles ate up any savings.
Legalizing marijuana and cannabis and allowing it open for full medical research supported by the US government has the opportunity as least to finally start to slow medical costs. Hemp, cannabis, and marijuana are all natural and easy to grow. Early CBD oil research on epilepsy, cancer, A.D.D, and fibromyagia show promise. If we can just get 3% of the population off current pharmaceutical drugs and on CBD or other forms of marijuana element, we could save hundreds of millions.
Opiate and Prescription Drug Addiction
America is currently in a massive crisis of prescription drug addiction and opiate addiction. This problem is not restricted to poor neighborhoods or African American areas. It is hitting young and old, rich and poor, White and Black. Prescription drug use was booming a few years ago, with opiates out of Florida “pill mills” being sold all over the country. The Wall Street Journal did a story on it through the “Freedom of Information Act", and Medicare and Medicad records of opiate prescriptions from certain locations in Florida. Six months later, there is a huge crack down and the pill mills were shut off and it became much more difficult to get oxy and Percocet.
Since so many people were addicted they turned to something else, which turned out to be heroin and heroin laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl is 1000x more potent than morphine. Both were extremely cheap on the streets and filled the void left by the prescription drug crack down.
The only problem with this strategy was that fentanyl and the current form of powder heroin can kill you on the first try. Thousands of people are overdosing each week as at least half lead to death. Local police departments are overwhelmed and understaffed to have any real chance at taking on this massive plague.
Elizabeth Warren is leading a charge in the Senate and petitioning the FDA and EPA to fast track medical marijuana to be used as a gateway drug to get people of heroin and prescription drugs. Did you ever think you would see the day where marijuana was considered to be a GOOD gateway drug, used like a nicotine patch for smokers, to get people off heroin and opiates?
A recent study found that in states that had legal marijuana for opiate abusers, the overdose rate dropped by 24% since the introduction of legal marijuana. A stunning development that even conservatives can’t ignore.
The Rise of Middle Class Suicides
With low growth and high debt, the middle class is seeing the highest suicide increases of any demographic. Whites are actually the fastest growing sub group. Why are so many middle class White people deciding to end their life? It could be the massive stress it takes to live and compete in America. The utter disappointment in not being able to save or get ahead, where a sudden medical bill or unexpected car accident can put you into bankruptcy. Marijuana is a calming drug. It destresses as well as releases anxiety in the mind and body. You cannot overdose on marijuana. It is 100x better to use marijuana to destress and release anxiety then say alcohol or drugs like cocaine, tobacco, or opiates.
As it’s reputation says, weed will help you relax, chill and decompress. It allows a user on a bad day to take a deep breath, relax, and calm down. In the same sense that a yoga class, workout, or a couple stiff drinks act to release stress or numb the pain of life, weed is also a safe and easy option to give people time to sort things out, to not panic, and to not to do rash things.
Government Waste
This relates to the first point in that governments spend lots of money. If we can raise more money or lower the cost of spending, we start to balance a budget. The war of drugs has been a failure, or at least he war on marijuana. The US spends billions a year fighting a war on marijuana that is has already lost. Anyone can get marijuana at any bar or street corner, it Is cheap, high quality, and easy to use. We can save hundreds of millions of government dollars by legalizing and taxing marijuana, and by taking that money and putting it toward heroin, opiates, and cocaine trafficking.
The US recently learned a valuable lesson in the war on drugs by seeing how the legalization of marijuana, just in its partial forms around the country, is already causing Mexican drug cartels problems. The price for a pound of marijuana has gotten so cheap due to such large supplies around the world, that illegal drug cartels can’t make money on it anymore. Local farmers in Columbian and Central America say they now make more growing coffee beans and other legal crops that are in high demand around the world.
Once you lower the price so much that the black market can’t make enough money on a product for the risk associated with selling the product, it tends to shut down the market. Do you think the price of weed is going to be going up anytime in the next 10 years? There are literally miles and miles of grow facilities and fields being planted for the legalization of marijuana, all around the world. Within 2 years the world will be awash in so much marijuana some growers will go out of business.
It’s the Right Thing To Do As Americans to Help Other Americans
If you have followed some of the stories of families moving to Colorado to get their sick children CBD oil, you have been heartbroken to see how little research there is on CBD oil and how these parents are being treated as criminals. There are many stories now that are in the press of parents willfully breaking the laws of their own state and traveling to Colorado to get their sick children help. Families are living in tents and trailers as that is all they can afford.
The Brookings Institute issued a scathing report against the US government and how we are treating our own citizens who choose to find help for their children as criminals and abusers. The gut wrenching stories of families being torn apart as the bread winner of the family has to go back to their home state to work and has leave his family behind in Colorado. Included in these stories is the fact that if a family gives their child CBD oil and then travels outside of Colorado with that child, they can be arrested in some states for child abuse, and lose their children to DSS.
In a country like America, this is absolutely a travesty. No matter where you fall on the whole “marijuana weed” debate, you cannot in good conscious allow Americans trying to help their sick children to be put in this situation We would all do anything for our own children, so imagine yourself with a sick child and hearing that CBD oil may help his or her seizures or tumors, you would do the same as these families. “F” the law, I will do anything to help my child.
The days of thinking that the legal marijuana movement is just about a few people wanting to get legally stoned all day are long gone. Marijuana has proven benefits for many medical conditions, not to mention psychological ones as well. As we have already seen with 19 states that a have a medical marijuana program, and 3 having both recreational and medical programs, the money created in taxation has been a boon for the states, and the zombie apocalypse did not happen. Colorado did not turn into a state of stoners and zombies. Just the opposite, teen use of marijuana dropped (the cool part was gone) and tax revenues and business boomed. Jobs were created, people spent money on marijuana and health actually improved on a state wide level. More people got off prescription drugs and crime rates actually decreased in most areas.
The world needs a spark to turn the tide of slow growth and moribund economic results. Can marijuana solve all the worlds’ problems? No, but it can start to help change the way we think about our future and help solve a plethora of problems that are growing in the world today.
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