Why should Marijuana be legal?

If you are a new to the world of Cannabis, I suggest that you read my introductory pages on Hemp and or Marijuana. Both are Cannabis plants but Hemp is bred and grown medicinally for it’s CBD content, not it’s THC content. Marijuana strains vary greatly, some are bred for super high THC and low CBD, and others are bred for a balance of both. Using Cannabis oil for pain has been ongoing for possibly thousands of years!

Hemp used to be the #1 crop for farmers around the world as it was so useful for so many purposes. See my post on Stop the War on Hemp, to understand why it almost disappeared off the map.

Marijuana became a banned plant, right along with Hemp for reasons that had more to do with Greed and Politics. True fact. Yet, while Hemp almost disappeared entirely in the civilized world, Marijuana continued to be used for pain and for healing various ailments, but in an ilegal way.

Marijuana plants could be grown in hidden areas of forests and jungles, or carefully hidden in urban and rural gardens. Most popular was and is the methods of growing Marijuana plants indoors, away from prying eyes.

You may have read and heard by now,

that our country, Canada, will be legalizing Marijuana as a recreational plant this year in 2018. Canada has already legalized Marijuana for medicinal use years ago, so this is a last step in bringing Marijuana out into the spotlight that it deserves.

Why is this so important? If it’s already legalized as medicine, then why bother going the next step, to allow the plant to be used as a way to get people ‘high’?

#1– As long as a plant like Marijuana is listed as a banned drug for possession and general use, there are too many rules attached to it even for research (at least not without Government support). Companies that want to research Marijuana further, have to follow so many rules that it becomes impossibly cost prohibitive and restrictive. It’s like trying to run a marathon while wearing ankle cuffs!

By making Marijuana a legal plant across the board, you allow for more medicinal use and research to be done. Israel has been ahead of this research for many years because of government support.

#2- our law enforcement is putting a lot of people in jail, just for having some marijuana in their possession. Thousands of people are being charged and jailed for simply having some marijuana in their possession, and hundreds of growers go to jail for trying to grow the plants.

Millions of dollars (yearly) are being spent to persecute people who want to use the plant for reasons other than medicinal.  As long as a recreational user does not use it iresponsibly, I see no reason to put them in jail.

Remember how I mentioned that marijuana has been used as a medicine even while it was illegal’s? Where do you think people were buying their medicinal marijuana from? Those same growers that were trying to avoid being caught because Marijuana is a banned drug! When people could not get locally grown marijuana, the other choice was from dealers that were connected with drug cartels in South America and Mexico.

Canada’s war on drugs has been a dismal failure, and has resulted in billions of dollars being wasted. Those Billions of dollars would have been better spent on health programs for true addicts of the hard drugs. Our dollars are STILL being spent in such a wasteful way!

 

I believe there are mainly two reasons that our Law Enforcement and many Bureaucrats are still  determined to keep Cannabis as a banned drug

#1- to loosen their hold on Marijuana and Hemp as banned drugs, would be like admitting that they have wasted our Tax dollars for all these years and still are….

#2–the war on drugs in general has been a great source of EMPLOYMENT for all those that work for these agencies.

Take away the war on drugs, and we will have more money available to put into place, for true drug addicts that are addicted to the hard drugs. How many millions of dollars go towards our Federal Prisons, housing people whose only crime was to break our laws regarding the use of Marijuana…. Our dollars would be better spent elsewhere, right?

I would love to see the money taken out of the equation for the war on drugs, and put into housing for the homeless, rehab centres for the drug addicts of opiates, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and many others. Marijuana does not deserve to be in the list of banned and dangerous drugs.

None of those hard drugs HEAL in any shape or form, while Marijuana and Hemp DO HEAL the body of many ailments, according to all the testimonies I have heard and read about.

By restricting and policing any drug,

you actually CREATE a black market for it. Criminal elements are going to find the loopholes, and are going to find ways of getting any banned product like Marijuana to those that want it.

South America and Mexico in particular, would not have the drug cartels that have killed so many people in their power struggles and wars with law enforcement, if there was no reason FOR a black market, right?

It’s nothing new, human nature is such that if you tell someone they can’t have something, they will want it that much more. Making something legal, has the effect of dropping the prices for the product too. Drug Cartels are in the business because of the  money they can make.

Prohibiting alcohol in Canada (and the USA) did not work so well back in the 1920’s until 1933. The whole idea behind the Prohibition was to reduce crime and corruption, to prevent the social conditions related to alcoholism and so on. It was a miserable failure. The crime rate ROSE, because the conditions were perfect for black markets to develop in response to the demand for alcohol.

Smugglers thrived and the Mafia made millions from the black market for alcohol. Wars were fought over control of black market ventures, and many people died. You’d think our government powers that be, would have learned from this lesson….apparently not.

I am not advocating there should be no rules regarding Cannabis or Marijuana to use recreationally. Just as you should when enjoying a glass or two of wine or other alcohol, it’s important to be sensible about it. You know the saying ‘Drink Responsibly’.

Those who enjoy relaxing and taking down their levels of stress with some cannabis, should do so responsibly. Regarding taking it medicinally, the same advice applies when taking a cannabis product that contains high amounts of THC. There would be no such warning for a Hemp product that only has a trace amount of THC.

Lets be frank, a drug addict does not take drugs to become an addict.

A person will make the choice to take a drug because of some emotional trauma or painful physical condition in most cases. Prescription drug addicts, become addicts with the ‘help’ of their physicians. Most opiate addicts become addicted through pain management of using opiate drugs given to and prescribed by their own doctors.

A old school friend of mine, became an opiate addict, through her doctors. It ruined her life, starting with her marriage, her relationships with her family and ultimately her life. Instead of using such damaging prescription drugs, patients (or anyone) should be allowed to use a plant like Marijuana to manage their pain, as medicine for cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS, Epileptic seizures and many many other disorders of the human body that people are using them for. Why should Marijuana be legal? For all the reasons I  presented to you and more, Yes!