Can Cannabis be Legal Federally in 5 years?
Over the past decade or so we have seen a vivid uptick in terms of support for legal cannabis. With 8 more states legalized marijuana in some form or another in November 2016, we know that a majority of Americans are on board with legal marijuana.
Of course, the current presidency has made it clear that they are not so keen on legalization, however knowing the cannabis industry, we will not go quietly into the night. Even under prohibition marijuana flourished, proving that you can’t keep a good weed down. And while the current administration might not be “friendly” with the idea of legal marijuana, there are other Congressmen that are singing to a different tune.
Meet Blumenauer
Congressman Earl Blumenauer has long been in favor of legalization. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the bowtie wearing badass that schooled the head of the DEA last year. He recently introduced a legislation package to tax and regulate cannabis on a Federal level and believes that the end of prohibition is near.
"Marijuana legalization is cresting," said Blumenauer. "This is a pivotal time. The long term is clear. I've stated and I strongly believe in five years every state will be able to treat marijuana like it treats alcohol."
With cannabis receiving more votes last year than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, we now can safely say that cannabis is no longer a taboo subject. It’s out in the open, people want it and they get angry if you try to take it away from them.
The legislation package will allow legal marijuana businesses to take tax deductions besides cost of goods sold and will remove all federal barriers to conducting research on cannabis. Blumenauer believes that this might even happen before Trump steps down from presidency.
According to the Congressman, there is bi-partisan support for allowing cannabis businesses to use federally insured banks. If this were to happen, we’d see an explosion within the cannabis industry like never before. Suddenly, cannabis will go from a cash-only business model to being able to use credit.
Can you imagine going to a dispensary and purchasing your weed on a 6 month, zero interest scheme? It would be glorious!
What should we do to help?
Now that you know that there are politicians batting for you on the issue of cannabis, there are a couple of things we can do to help speed things along.
Firstly, it is of the utmost importance that the cannabis industry continues to mature in educating the public on proper use as well as adhering to the standards and policies implemented by each local industry. This means that there needs to be processes to check if the cannabis isn’t moldy or have pesticide residue (which is quite bizarre seeing that your food has pesticides in it), in addition to creating a framework that will maintain the industry.
Secondly, as an individual you could always call up your Congressmen and urge them to join the other supporters of cannabis within Congress. It’s time we all raise out voices in unison and declare that we want weed; and we want it now!
Finally, it helps when you spread this type of information to people you know, even those who don’t want smoke cannabis. Helping spread the information allows people to get behind these bills, because if they don’t know it exists, then they won’t be able to show their support.
First the Country, then the World
I have long said that once the United States legalizes cannabis on a Federal level, the rest of the world would follow. This would mean that there will be a new industry on a global scale that would work conjointly to supply to consumers, industries and so forth.
For instance, places like Mexico, Uruguay, Jamaica etc, would primarily focus on the production of hemp and creating raw materials for places like the United States and Canada to process. This is how most other crops work since it’s cheaper to pay for labor in third-world countries as opposed to first-world countries.
What this would mean for the weed you and I love, is it would become radically cheaper. We’ll see an “industrial scale” of cannabis production and odds are that many tobacco companies, pharmaceutical companies and alcohol companies would want to jump in.
It’s okay if all of these vice companies want to get in on the weed game, it will ultimately be up to the consumer to decide whether they want “artisanal grown cannabis” or factory produced cannabis similar to how we pick organic vs non-organic.
Some cannabis consumers are worried about the likes of Monsanto getting ahold of the cannabis industry, however as long as continue to support the pioneers within the cannabis business, it’s irrelevant whether Mega-Companies want to buy into the industry. You’ll be one that chooses what you buy, “home grown” or “processed”.
Until then, lets keep tokin'
OTHER STORIES YOU MAY ENJOY...
WHY TRUMP WILL HAVE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, CLICK HERE.
OR..
REASONS MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGAL, CLICK HERE.
