How has Medical Marijuana Affected the U.S Economy - Research Paper Example

? TOPIC: How has medical marijuana affected the U.S economy? Do s with legalized medical marijuana realize significant benefits? Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………. Legal……………………………………………………………………………….. Illegal……………………………………………………………………………… Results in California………………………………………………………… Results in Oregon………………………………………………………….. Results in Arizona……………………………………………………………. Financial Advantages…………………………………………………….. Financial Disadvantages………………………………………………… Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. INTRODUCTION: Cannabis is also known as Marijuana which is extracted from a cannabis plant and thought to be a very addictive drug but at the same time it is also been used for herbal treatment for many medical illnesses. Marijuana is suspected for several negative impacts on human health like psychoactive effects but still a huge majority supports it for its medicinal powers. Marijuana has proved to be extremely effective in some circumstances like nausea, Migraine, premenstrual syndrome, AID patients or in stimulation of hunger for a patient going through chemotherapy (Rugh Douglas 2002). The UN report of 2004 shows that approximately 4% of the world’s adult consumes Marijuana annually which is still rising with every passing day. In the year 2002, a medical review claimed that Marijuana has a great potential for curing different problems like inflammatory bowel diseases, migraine, glaucoma, asthma, colorectal cancer, depression, Hepatitis C and many more. Keeping its positive values in mind, there is a great pressure on the government of U.S.A to legalize it thoroughly as there would be other positive effect on U.S economy. After coming up with a fact that marijuana is as productive as any other drug, then a question arises that why not to legalize it for medical purposes which would also support U.S economy in two different ways: 1. People would earn under legal circumstances, therefore will pay due taxes and will no longer prevail government funds for medical, education or household purposes. 2. People would invest in this medical advancement therefore many individuals will be employed and new industry would flourish. There is a growing concern in U.S that Marijuana should be made legal to avoid double standards among people who are earning through illegal means and prove to be unemployed and avail every possible facility that is provided by the government. Around 17 states have legal circulation of marijuana for different medical purposes and it is widely used for life threatening diseases. Later in this report, a thorough study is given to unveil that how medical marijuana positively affected the U.S economy and states with legalizes medical marijuana realize significant benefits. LEGAL: Legal is a term referred to the permission granted by government to do any particular practice under rules of law of a country. In this context, the trade or harvest of marijuana should be made legal for medical purposes. A rule of law should be designed to carry out such practices within the directed parameters. This would keep people and their records straight for further options. Some of the several reasons are given to defend Marijuana and asked to legalize it: Government and other controlling bodies have failed to stop people from using Marijuana and it is still being widely cultivated and used across the world. For using Marijuana, Blacks and Hispanics are arrested in huge number although; whites are also involved in using Marijuana. Legalize it to implement law without any race or color discrimination. Teenagers are getting involved in supplying Marijuana for high incentives. If legalized, no more charm would be left as attraction for teenagers. Criminal gangs are sweeping away all the profit by providing Marijuana to their leaders, criminals or gangsters. If legalized, U.S economy could take the advantage of manipulating profits over Marijuana. Prohibition is based on lies and misleading information. It is like any other drug in fact it is less destructive for human health as compared to Alcohol. ILLEGAL: Illegal is an act which is done without any rule of law. Illegal practices are carried out at back stage without any legal permit. No matter what government does, the trade of marijuana was previously being done and still is going on. To avoid loopholes and indirect ways, it is better to declare the trade of marijuana for medical purposes only. There are several reasons including some of the historical reasons why Marijuana is kept illegal: It is an addictive source and dominates the life of people who use it. There is no evidence that it is a preventive medicine for any illness or it is a cure for any disease however, it is used to relief pain issues which is probably because it tranquilize the user. Historically, it is classified as an abnormal recreational drug and referred as a gateway drug. It leads a person to an extremely unhealthy lifestyle and makes an individual carefree, irresponsible of what a human should be. RESULTS IN CALIFORNIA: In 1996, California became the first state of America to approve Marijuana as a legal drug for medical purposes only. Medical Marijuana was legalized with quite satisfactory outline to follow for all departments. Medical practitioners, drug provider or chemist were made comfortable with an assurance that no harm would cause to them if rules will be followed responsibly. But within a short span of time, retaliation surfaced by the federal government and threats were given to the landlords and dispensary owners to stop their practices for Medical Marijuana. Tom Ammiano, an assemblyman of democratic state stood hard for this legalization of Medical Marijuana, and President Obama initially supported this law by adding that no raid would be done against dispensers or medical practitioners who prescribe Marijuana for medical purposes (R.J.Gerber, 2004). Ammiano suggested that Marijuana is the biggest cash crop of California and could contribute up to $14 billion in a year. However, opponents are against this rule that this would add to legal woes. John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Peace Association, clearly adds that Marijuana would be nothing but another mind altering substance to an array, U.S is already incompetent with alcohol and drug offenses. Yet Federal government is completely against the decriminalization of Marijuana and has built enough pressure that President Barack Obama is no longer in favor of Medical Marijuana and his attorney journal announced that possessing or selling of marijuana is a crime in federal laws (Tatiana Shohov, 2003). RESULTS IN OREGON: Oregon implemented the law of decriminalization of Marijuana in 1998 with the support of 54.6% and became the second state to declare the medical use of Marijuana. However, federal laws were still against it and penalties remained same. The possession, cultivation and use of medical marijuana were allowed within parameters. The law allowed possessing 7 marijuana plants at a time with only 3 mature plants for use. A Senate bill was passed in 2005 to increase the amount of cannabis plant from 3 to 6 mature plants, 18 immature plants and 24 ounces of usable cannabis. The penalty for exceeding the amount allowed for patients was also changed. This cause a serious concerns for people who were not in a favor of this medical practices that this would later cause a serious social issue and in 2007, a Donna Nelson initiated a resolution that no law enforcement official would use Marijuana. With the growing demand of Marijuana as medication, Medical cannabis activists filed an initiative 28, which emphasized that marijuana cultivators or suppliers should be asked to get a license, which would generate great revenues for the state and imposed licensing fees could be used on other productive issues but this balloting was defeated by 57.2%. RESULT IN ARIZONA: On November 2010, Arizona declared the legalization of Medical Marijuana. The proposition allowed that certain medical illnesses could be treated with a certain amount of Medical Marijuana. Attorney General of Arizona, Tom Home opposed the legalization of Medical Marijuana but couldn’t do much to stop it, however he proposed that medical marijuana should be taxed which would generate $40 million a year for Arizona. The taxed money could be used to other state issues and in creating awareness to stop youth in getting involved in Marijuana smoking. Arizona government is successfully following the system and has progressed to maintain its true use. Whereas, new laws were implemented from April, 2011 to keep Marijuana users and medical practitioners within designed parameters. Arizona imposed regulations are: 1. Users are not allowed to smoke in public. 2. Users need certificates instead of prescription to issue this drug from dispensary. 3. Dispensaries shall have a certificate for selling Medical marijuana. 4. Doctors can only recommend Marijuana if a patient is diagnosed with 14 listed illnesses. 5. No discrimination should be made to the qualifying medical marijuana patient. FINANCIAL ADVANTAGES: It is undoubting that Marijuana cultivation could do wonders in stabilizing U.S economy but that at the same time, it is threatening for the well being of upcoming generations. If taking this issue purely in economical grounds then it is a multi billion industry which is being wasted by not authorizing it as a legal practice. Most of the amount is smuggled into the country through illegal means and all the profit is going to the most wanted gangs, criminals, and dangerous organizations which help them flourish and stand on stronger grounds. If this is made a legal practice, than government can sweep away all the black market and could generate huge sums instead of spending on war on drugs. It would be regulated like any other drugs, alcohol or tobaccos are regulated. This marijuana can be made into different food products or can be made into rolled cigarettes which itself will lay industries and will provide fine employment opportunities to unemployed individuals. The imposed tax on users, suppliers, cultivators would generate unimaginable revenue which could be served for different recreational activities for those who want to quit it and for those who are in need but cannot afford to use it medically. A lot could be served from the regenerated amount on research work for producing an alternative of medical marijuana. It is preferable to legalize Medical Marijuana than to decriminalize it as this would not be as effective as it would be when legalized because gangs will again import it, whereas it will be profitable when Medical Marijuana is cropped potentially. A huge effort and amount would be saved on police force as there will be less incarcerations, patrolling or prison population which will save a great share of police funds. Police force would serve on some more productive crime issues then to look for drug addictives (Rudolph Joseph Gerber, 2004) FINANCIAL DISADVANTAGES: Financial disadvantages are not completely calculated like financial advantages but it can be foreseen by many law enforcement officials. Legalization of Medical Marijuana could result in serious crimes or other addictive health problems if not watched or regulated properly. Government will then serve on recreational activities to bring people back on normal. This doesn’t sound a big deal, but it could be problematic for generations who will not be able to earn because of this lousy drug addiction and government would then serve funds to accommodate them and will bear all their financial needs like education, medical, food and shelter. There could be massive financial disadvantages which will generate rapidly in the coming years Marijuana and its activities are not kept vigilantly watched. In other words, government will break their axes (health stability) to generate huge amounts of money and later provide them with food because people in drug addiction normally don’t work consistently. CONCLUSION: It is quite obvious that legalizing Medical Marijuana makes sense to improve U.S economy. For the past several years, U.S is trying to overcome economical instability, why not to go for a self made better option of legalizing Marijuana. Amsterdam can be a good example where Marijuana cigars or cigarettes are available at coffee shops and cafes but still they have the lowest crime rate and have a very high living standard. So Drug addiction cannot be a problem if high living standards and better opportunities are provided by the government to the civilians. Another strong point is under consideration, that U.S should not go on wars with every next nation if there are so many political and economical crises. Just to make great money, drugs cannot be left openly or cropped widely. However, it is a good option to consider for the betterment of U.S economy and at the same time medical advantages can also be achieved. REFERENCES: Andrew L. Cherry, Mary E. Dillon, Douglas Rugh, “Substance abuse: a global view” (2002), Greenwood Publishing House, pg 225. Rudolph Joseph Gerber, “Legalizing marijuana: drug policy reform and prohibition politics” (2004), Greenwood Publishing House, pg 123. Tatiana Shohov, “Medical use of marijuana: policy, regulatory, and legal issues” (2003) Nova publishers, pg 83-87. "Arizona Becomes 15th State to Approve Medical Marijuana". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-11-15 “Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?” U.S Time, Los Angles Retrieved 2009-3-13. LEWIN, TAMAR. "At This School, Everyone Majors in Marijuana." New York Times 29 Nov. 2009: 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 Oct. 2011. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=4e151016-eb53-4a0d-989b-2bc84cca4938%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=45464444 Binelli, Mark. "MARIJUANA AMERICA." Rolling Stone 1101 (2010): 62-85. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 Oct. 2011. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=e481e9a9-399d-4874-b1ec-2fb917c65913%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=48883191 Read More