Marijuana is slowly but surely
being decriminalized, legalized, and less enforced across the United States.
For this debate it seems as though just about everyone is either fully for it
or completely against it, and don’t plan on changing their minds. There are so
many bullet points on both sides, making every claim possible for or against
it. For every positive, there always seems to be someone there to counter it.
So how do we know who’s telling the truth?
I think this problem is just the same as every
other highly debatable subject, but since marijuana is the hot topic, everyone
is blowing up to be more than it really is. With every sort of drug or mind
altering product, there are going to be pros and cons. Nothing is perfect in
this world. With those types of products you are also going to have the
extremes of its effect. I have read several articles on documented cases where
the famous strain, “Charlotte’s Web”, has been an extraordinary breakthrough as
a medicine for kids with a rare epilepsy disorder that is resistant to all
other forms of medication. New York has just recently started a push to allow
the marijuana based medicine be imported into New York to treat kids that have nowhere
left to turn. Three children have died since July from that rare disease that
could have been treated and possibly saved. Not quite as extraordinary as
viable medicine for dying children, but marijuana has also served as
medications to a long list of chronic diagnostic issues; mainly associated with
pain or anxiety and so on.
On the other side, we hear reports
of extreme cases where some gets high and then goes crazy on a rampage or
something, or kills a family member. While yes this is a very serious
situation, there is usually something more behind the event than just a joint
or a quick bowl. However, people see this and see that they were high and don’t
look at the facts anywhere past marijuana. Usually these cases have something to
do with edibles, as you can’t tell how strong they are until you've already
eaten it. Not so much the professionally made and distributed ones but the guy
who decides he wants to try it himself and doesn't know what he’s doing. This
is a problem and officials have recognized it and are very strict with edible
standards.
In a time like this where we have been
doing things one way for so long and then they start to change, there is a lot
of action going on with the standards of the new way. Most of the standards
Colorado and Washington are making in response to the legalization seem to be
trial and error and extensive research. It would be interesting to see the
massive list a distribution center must have to follow to be in compliance and
open for business. However those who started early are most likely the ones who
cashed in big when the big day finally came. I think there is a lot that the government
has to think about now, with the biggest reason to legalize being the massive
tax revenues that become available from this new product. Where does the
government stand on the position of making a medicine that works so well for
seriously ill children in Colorado, illegal for the children in New York and
everywhere else? I believe there will come a time in the near future where the
prohibition finally ends on the federal level. The advances and the statistical
positive impacts it has had for the two states will soon win everyone over. We
can then focus our resources on the real drugs that ruin lives and are 100
times more dangerous than marijuana.
http://www.newsday.com/opinion/let-new-york-import-pot-extract-to-treat-epilepsy-editorial-1.9464933
Quick facts from the following article for colorado:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/six-months-marijuana-legalization-treated-colorado/193172/
Crime down 10.1% from 2013
Violent crime down 5.2%
Saving $10-40 million on not having to pursue minor possession cases
Estimated $60-$100 million in tax revenue by the years end
Charlotte's Web Article
http://www.bradenton.com/2014/07/13/5252835/parents-quest-to-bring-charlottes.html
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