The Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Marijuana: Use In Medical Industry And Other

Willie Nelson 'The biggest killer on the planet is stress and I still think the best medicine is and always has been cannabis'. There has been a lot of disputes about the legalization of marijuana in various countries worldwide proposing that it will cause more harm to the society than good. Marijuana according to Merriam Webster, is a psychoactive dried resinous flower bud and leaves of the female hemp or cannabis plant that contains high levels of THC and are extracted, smoked, vaped, or ingested. In spite of the dissension, the legalization of marijuana will eventually do better than harm because it has the potential to increase economic growth and also help within the medical industry.

Firstly, legalizing marijuana will present the possibility of monumental benefits to economies on a local and national scale. Legalizing marijuana provides an important advantage over prohibition because it allows the Government to collect taxes from the legalized drug. (Hajizadeh, 2016). Furthermore, this allow the government to use the money collected from taxes for the country’s improvement. Is it possible for the legalization of marijuana to provide jobs for the unemployed? In a research done by the RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. (Krishna, 2019). According to R. McCray in his article entitled 'Marijuana Prohibition cost Billions, Legalization would earn Billions' it predicts that legalizing marijuana will save the government $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement. Jamaica which is known to produce a large amount of marijuana could attract a lot of top businesses and tourists worldwide which could generate a large amount of revenue for the country.

Secondly, the legalization of marijuana will help tremendously in the medical industry. Marijuana is composed of THC and CBD which make is a valuable source to be used in medicine. A highly promising area of research is its use for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans who are returning from combat zones. Many veterans and their therapists report drastic improvements. (Grinspoon, 2018). Have you ever considered the financial strain of cancer patients? Can the use of marijuana help with such a predicament? It was found in a study, published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, that Cannabidiol (CBD) can stop cancer by turning off a gene called Id-1. In 2007, researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco reported that CBD may prevent cancer from spreading. The researchers experimented on breast cancer cells in the lab that had a high level of Id-1 gene and treated them with cannabidiol. (Kabir, 2019).

Many individuals have argued that the legalization of marijuana will cause more harm than good because it can result in a lot of health risks. Based on the causal effects of marijuana use disorders, schizophrenia, lung cancer, and road traffic injuries, Imtiaz and colleagues showed that marijuana use caused 287 deaths and 66346 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2012. (Hijizadeh, 2016). In some states, patients are permitted to grow their own marijuana. In addition to contributing to problems such as contamination and concentration as discussed above, this practice also invites drug diversion. (Wilkinson, 2013).