Student debates cannabis legaliztion, cash crop capabilities

If products like tobacco and alcohol are legal when they have caused more deaths and problems than cannabis, why is cannabis illegal? In the U.S. today, only 23 out of 50 states, including The District of Columbia, allow the use of medicinal marijuana. It can be used for treating chemotherapy, muscle spasms, seizure disorders and other medical issues. Because of the improvements it makes in the medical field, it could and should be legalized within 10 years throughout the U.S. for all medicinal purposes.

When used medicinally, cannabis can offer a positive effect. In 2014, 19 out of 24 states who released information on how many medicinal marijuana users resided in each state added up to over one million users and 7.7 users per 1,000 residents. During the same year in California, a poll created by the Public Health Initiative, who worked with the Center for Disease Control, found that 92 percent of medicinal marijuana users agreed that it helped “alleviate symptoms or treat a serious medical condition”. Even one of the most anti-cannabis states, Alabama, had support for legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes earlier this year, but the legislation failed.

Besides medicinal purposes, 2016 presidential candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (D) of Vermont and Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky would likely put forth an extensive sin tax on marijuana after legalization. There are other candidates in both parties that support its legalization, even the new Prime Minister of Canada is pushing for its legalization.

Cannabis has also been proving of late in assisting the economy. The latest proof comes from the state of Oregon that sold $10.8 million in less than a week (six days to be exact) after legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana. It is legal to sell cannabis in 4 states including D.C.

Another argument for legalization is to create a prison reform that would free many inmates and reduce the punishments for having marijuana in possession. Over seven million people were arrested for having cannabis between 2001 and 2010. Studies have also shown that over 50 percent of drug arrests were for marijuana and that most who were arrested were not drug kingpins but just people with small amounts of cannabis on their hands. In 2010, every 37 seconds in the U.S. someone was busted for having cannabis. Every year, states waste more than three and a half billion dollars on enforcing marijuana laws each year. This almost undoubtedly proves that it would cut the “War on Drugs” in half. To top that off, over 55 percent of America supports the legalization of cannabis.

Despite where Americans stand on this broad issue, there may be too much support for legalization to ignore that the support is growing larger day by day. In all honesty the legalization of marijuana relies heavily on who the next president of the United States will be.