Today, January 1st, 2018, pot became legal for recreational use in California, despite the fact that it will still be illegal at the federal level. And, not just illegal, but a Class 1 drug. Attorney General Sessions continues to call it a gateway drug despite the fact that forty years ago when Denise Kandel coined the phrase, her work suggested nicotine, not pot, was most likely to lead to the use of harder drugs. But, cigarettes are legal and pot is still classified along with drugs like heroin, LSD and cocaine.
So, why is this so important? No one is going to come to California and arrest those selling it. It’s important because the claims of the drug’s benefits and/or possible dangers go on with little or no hard research to support either.
In April of 2014, Business Insiders wrote an article about 23 health benefits of Cannabis. The problem with such claims lack in the proper validations needed to support them. Research groups remain reluctant to do the necessary studies to determine if these claims have merit or if those benefits have a short shelf life or cause more dangerous side effects. For a drug to reach the patients in the US, it must go through years of tests and costs over two billion dollars. No reasonable pharmaceutical company or upstart would even consider making such an investment in a drug that could never be passed by the FDA. So, what our leadership is doing is sentencing the American public to either a world without that quality option for many of the most serious ailments we face today or to keep them in the dark regarding the dangers, risking their health and well being. Neither of which is acceptable.
Later this year, Canada will make marijuana legal. So, why should we care? Because, they will have that freedom to do that research and determine whether these claims are viable options or not. Canada just gave their companies a license to win, while our government won’t even let us play in the game. While Canada will be able to do the necessary researched science behind the medicinal properties of pot and develop products that will benefit people all around the world, we are left with nothing more than some crude homegrown remedies. The economic ramifications are great. We could be creating a brand new pharmaceutical industry that regulates the use by using precise proportions that can actually help the people of the world while sparking a revenue stream like never seen before in our history. Polls show that as much as 50% of Americans have tried pot in their life. If there is actual medicinal properties that could be sold over the counter for a reasonable price, how many more Americans would not hesitate to take the step. Now, if you close your eyes and imagine a world market, your head just might explode. And, I’ve not even talked about jobs. Jobs at the labs, jobs in the chain and jobs on the street. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!
A Randumb Thawt
It’s time for the US federal government to legalize this drug, and allow science to do what it does best, instead of perpetrating the fictional saga of Reefer Madness. Why give all that money that could potentially be made in the pharmaceutical industry to the wisdom of the Canadian Government. The US should legalize it now, so we can get our share of the prize. Meanwhile, it is beneficial for you to know just what these claims of healing and well being are by clicking here and reading the Business Insider’s “23 Health Benefits of Marijuana.”