What if Marijuana Were Legal in all States?

What if Marijuana were legal in all states?

Well, let's see here.

1. Taxes revenues would go up noticeably. This would help now more than ever.
2. Crime would be reduced, and certain black market interests would begin to lose power.
3. Personal freedom would win a long awaited victory.
4. If it is finally pronounced fully legal, it would seem like hemp would accompany it.
5. If hemp were to be freed after Marijuana, all sorts of new products would emerge between the two.
6. Both Marijuana and hemp growing would create a whole lot of jobs here in the U.S.
7. It would open the door for people struggling with ailments that marijuana can help treat.
8. The United States could end up mastering this trade, and it may pressure other countries to follow, which would end up generating international income. Thus making the country more prosperous.
9. Legalization could help restore a little bit of respect for the law.
10. Further studies on the plant will be conducted.
11. People will begin to know who and where their product comes from. Which would make smoking/ingesting a little more comfortable.
12. Standards and regulations will be put into place to insure the product is grown properly.

First Big Corporate, the Illuminati, and TPTB would commercialize it. Great farms would be set up on 100 acres properties growing it by the ton. You could buy a pack of cigarettes and a pack of joints in the same store.

But people would get sick of that quickly. There is too much variety when it comes to weed to settle down with one type. The small growing operations would flourish and head shops would reemerge as they have in CO.

Finally, growing your own would become very popular. People would see how inexpensive it is to grow a few plants under artificial conditions and hydroponic gardening would become a mainstream hobby.

All the sales would be taxed and the state governments would prosper. It would lead to some jealousy by the federal government, who for not legalizing it federally would get nothing. Then it would be legalizaed nation wide.

It would lead to a international scene as pressure from citizens of Great Britain and other small countries would see America prospering and they would legalize it as well.

Crime would go down. Violent crime would be cut in half dramatically.

Finally, some asshole would give their kid weed to sell on the playground, or force their kid to smoke as punishment, or hurt someone because they were crazy in the first place and blame it on weed. Weed would get a bad rap, and everyone would say let's make this illegal. Yeah right.

I do not agree with Marijuana being legalized whatsoever, this also depends on what kind. If it's the kind that gets sold on the streets then definitely not.
One needs to distinguish between Marijuana sold by drug dealers on the streets that is full of 'junk' rather than the real thing, when you think you're actually taking the real thing, and of course real Marijuana that is a totally different picture.

Definitely, if it were to be legalized, less people would be in jail that's for sure and if proper Marijuana were actually sold out, would even boost the economy lol

Vd3mortia

I think that we've all known for a long time that none of this is about anyone's health. Money. Money and the Power that come with it have been the motivating factors in most of humanity's past. Notice that the main pushing point hasn't been the health benefits or the ability to consume a relatively harmless intoxicant, it's the tax revenue and the money saved on not jailing non violent offenders.
As far as additives go, if you do not know the person growing and their grow practices you are most likely getting a tainted product in some way. This goes back to monetary gain, it's cheaper to achieve the desired results. It's much cheaper to use pesticides and chemicals then it is to grow organic, and one study I read which I cannot source claimed as high as 70% of chemicals used were found in the smoke.

This is a potential multi - billion dollar industry and I would expect to see many different regulations in use across the country making a national brand cannabis product difficult. This will at least at the beginning most likely favor smaller businesses and state wide - scale productions. This may prove a hindrance in developing standards across the industry and lead to poorer quality product in some areas. This could be offset by allowing for import from other areas but may not be a viable legal option.

All in all this is a defining moment in American history as the majority of the population are in favor of one form of legalization or another, whereas those in government seem to be more evenly split with the majority still against. This could be a huge investment opportunity for a company with the right skill set and financial backing.
On a personal note, I hope to see more approved usage for pain .management as opposed to an opiod based approach that we currently see. Opiates as we all know are very addictive and there is an epidemic in our country of deaths related to Rx opiates and the eventual use of heroin. Remember there has never been an overdose of Marijuanna.

I think in states where medicinal cannabis is allowed there is a greater likelihood that the cannabis is grown correctly and organically. At least consumers in my state know that the cannabis has been tested and verified to be "clean". Same goes for recreational cannabis like in Colorado where I believe the new law requires all cannabis that is sold to be tested for pollutants/contaminants.

I do agree that what is sold on the streets can be tainted which makes legalization, regulation, standardization even more appealing don't you think?

a reply to: Vold3mortia

Tranquilone666

Actually I think there are a lot of growers that are going the organic route. It's not terribly expensive and I think most initiatives that call for legalization also include language about the safety of the product and requirements/standards it must reach before being sold and taxed.

And you are absolutely correct regarding opioid based medications. I work with sick and dying folks everyday that are whacked out on morphine/methadone for pain. A couple of my patients use cannabis for pain which allows then to still be in their right mind as compared to opioid based medications.

As for the claim that nobody has overdosed from cannabis, you are correct again and anybody that doesn't believe that can just go over to the DEA drug facts site where it states "no death from overdose of marijuana has been reported"

And truth be told you can DIE from alcohol or nicotine poisoning but remember, cannabis is illegal, because it is sooooo dangerous and prohibitionists just want to look out for "public safety". What a crock of shiz.

Drink all you want, smoke all the tobacco you want, eat all the crappy foods you want, but stay away from cannabis because it just might make you think and see things differently.....

Anybody who supports cannabis prohibition should also want to prohibit alcohol or tobacco or risk looking like a hypocritical d-bag.

a reply to: tranquilone666

a reply to: ContagiousSpecialist

The law makes no sense and contradicts the essence of the Constitution.

I tried to have a civilized conversation with a police officer, one I went to high school with, about this and it did not go well. He is living in Texas, a very pro-prohibition state and him and his buddies had no good argument except that the 'law is the law' and if 'we don't make the laws, only enforce them'. Trying to reason and give some insight on the agenda behind prohibition did not go well, and the conversation quickly degraded into me being called all kinds of catchy names. I suppose my point is, Law enforcement blindly and strongly supports prohibition. It is very much a cowboys and indians mentality behind the blue line.

Legalization is one way we can help secure the blessings of liberty.

If pot was legal in all states these things would happen:
Less crime
Less drinking
Less accidents
Less dependency on pharmaceuticals
Friendlier people
Food sales would rise
National debt would go down
NSA would have the best computer programmers working for the us
More babies would be born

So would this be so bad

a reply to: ContagiousSpecialist

While the ability to provide end of life patients with pain relief and maintaining lucidity is fantastic, I feel the greater benefit would be to those everyday individuals in chronic pain. I'm 24 6'2 230-240 pounds and I've been on and off of opiod medications for about 4 years. In that time I have gone from the standard vicoden/percocet all the way to morphine/dilauded/pure oxycodone. The pain relief they provided was amazing, the toll it took on my life personally, financially, legally and on my body has been insane.
I'm 100% positive that had I used cannabis as an analgesic first, that my life would be in a completely different and better place. I can think of about 10 kids that i went to school with that have overdosed on prescription pain killers or heroin which is much cheaper.
The way the system is set up almost makes it look like those who created it knew exactly what they were doing to ensure a steady money making machine and a steady flow of blood into the penal system.

a reply to: Goldenwilys

Less crime: since a certain plant is criminal this would instantly reduce 'crime' but make it tougher for the prison farms to find 'talent', law enforcement gets kickbacks from big brother for drug enforcement, lawyers make a killing of defending simple possession, the court system makes a lot in the way of fines, forcing evaluation and 'treatment' and random drug tests are another way some have managed to profiteer from the drug war.

Less drinking: the alcohol cartel(big brother) loses money...

Less dependency on pharmaceuticals: we know who loses money here

There are many reasons why prohibition has lasted so long. There are some who still blindly support a bogus war on the 4th Amendment.

a reply to: jrod I don't know if your agreeing with me or not but from what I'm gathering from what your saying is people of United States win lawyers prisons cops criminals and pharmacutical companies lose. Sounds like you agree unless your one of the ones mentioned

originally posted by: freetheuniverse
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Vaping is becoming increasingly popular. If health is a high priority on their list, more likely than not, they will seek an alternative to lighting it up. There are no additives in MJ like cigarettes, that is assuming they're not going to ban us from growing it ourselves and making us buy from privately owned corporations who decides to drench it in additives. More and more studies are being released revealing the medicinal benefits of THC.

That is a good point about the additives and aprox 4000 chemicals tobacco corporations add to the plain tobacco leaf during processing it for our consumption.

It's not really a massive surprise that smoking tobacco cigarettes gives you cancer, when at least a dozen of the 4000 chemicals added to tobacco, are known and industry recognised carcinogens, or in other words, directly contribute to Human beings developing cancer and are highly toxic to us....yet they put known cancer causing additives into the tobacco..to keep it moist or fresh or smell nicer or taste good...not really good enough reasons to suffer dying from cancer i think.

Cannabis on the other hand, if one knows the plants origin and growth history, processing history etc...knows that while igniting and smoking anything is always going to be a bad thing for the lungs, smoking pure, unadulterated, naturally dried and cured Cannabis is without doubt going to be a safer option to be putting into ones lungs than tobacco imo.

I agree the best method for recreational usage and to a lesser extent medical use, will be to vape Cannabis...MUCH healthier, being that you don't smoke it, so no harmful smoke in the lungs.

For medical use, i would imagine the best method of usage would be to consume it, eat it. That way a lot more of Cannabis' 60 odd other very valuable compounds, in addition to just THC, can be consumed by eating in the form of adding to pretty much any food really, or i suppose even powdered Cannabis placed into gelcaps can just be swallowed easily.

a reply to: tranquilone666

I completely agree. It's just that I see how much it could help these poor folks that have weeks to live and they can't have any meaningful time with their loved ones because of all the opioids they are on.

I broke my back 5 years ago and was also given every pain killer/muscle relaxer you can think of. Thank God one of my docs recommended cannabis. It really helped me. And that's all I'll say about that so as to not condemn this thread. I am really enjoying the debate/conversation we are having here!

Peace
CS

Yes, for maximum medicinal benefit, ingesting cannabis as a food product/drink is the way to go.
For immediate pain relief though you gotta inhale something. Some people can't wait 1-2 hours for the digestive process to complete and have the needed cannabinoids do their thing.

Vaping is great but the latest comprehensive study shows that habitual cannabis smoking does not correlate with a higher likelihood of developing cancer. I provided a link to the study in one of my earlier posts.

But in spite of the study's findings I think Vaping is the way to go because it is safer/healthier especially for heavy consumers.

Peace!
a reply to: MysterX

I think it is strange that for the wide usage of the substance there is relatively very little 'scientific' data on the effects of using it. Much of that is because of how hard it is to run a legal study. For every scientific study published there is another one that claims the opposite. The best, most accurate data we seem to have so far is from polls of marijuana users.

If it was legal across the country we would see a decrease in crime similar to what has happened in Denver. It would open the multi-billion industry for corporate marijuana, which would bring both positives and negatives for the substance. The black market would be decimated because marijuana trade has a lot to do with what keeps these networks connected. IMO, while you would get a more consistent product commercially it is more likely that commercial MJ would have 'additives' that would keep their customers coming back to their particular brand. It isn't economically feasible for small time players to add anything to the product when the product already sells itself and is cheap to produce. Americans would get the increasingly rare taste of freedom again, and for many it will feel like they just won the Revolutionary War. I think the powers that be are afraid that if they give the people an inch, they will try to take a mile.

I'm sure it would violate the site rules but I would like to see the results from an anonymous poll here on ATS about marijuana use. I think that MJ is possibly a 'propaganda desensitizing' agent (like ATS is itself) and that is another reason for the government's fear of legalization.

so did I miss the memo. It's completely fine to have Marijuana topics on ATS now ??

a reply to: Plotus

I guess you did. Talking about marijuana is fine as long as you're not talking about your own illegal use of it.

originally posted by: SouthernForkway26
I think it is strange that for the wide usage of the substance there is relatively very little 'scientific' data on the effects of using it. Much of that is because of how hard it is to run a legal study. For every scientific study published there is another one that claims the opposite. The best, most accurate data we seem to have so far is from polls of marijuana users.

A lot of the studies won't happen until after it's a legal substance. If the result is that there truly are health risks, a generation or two from now will be trying to ban it. That was the point of this thread. I personally don't care if people use it so long as it doesn't affect me negatively. Unfortunately, there are plenty of other people who think they need to tell everyone else how to live their lives.

I am completely satisfied with the "majority" of the replys within this thread...seems people are finally standing up and not afraid of the unjust social stigma and negativity that comes with discussing this miracle substance. With that being said I am providing a short video, watch it and you will clearly see just why this plant has been so highly regulated and deemed illegal.

Never forget, NEVER allow any authoritive figures, judicial, educational, religious, or otherwise any oppressive entities TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN NOT DO WITH YOUR LIFE & YOUR BODY. It's just that simple.

Some people live incredibly miserable and sad lives accepting authority as truth rather than truth as authority.

It takes a lot of patience and will power, you must rely on only YOURSELF, research all and everything you can, write notes, create a daily journal/notebook of acquired facts research. Condense all the knowledge you can from the fine literatures written by the great men and women before you. This is the quickest and most efficient way to better yourself as a human being. Take it all in then expelle anything that does not stick with you.

I was born in the early 80's. I remember all the war on drug propaganda we were exposed to in the public school system, I remember DARE. I also remember how the legalization debates were in the mid 90's back when we had dial-up and I was able to use the world wide web.

Watching the marijuana debate evolve over the past 2 decades, I can look back and see how much propaganda was dumped into demonizing a non-toxic plant with medicinal and industrial benefits. There are some who still fall for that propaganda, however they are declining and more are realizing how wasteful the War on a certain plant has been.

I just read an interesting article that highlights how the DEA still refuses to evolve with society. As far as my generation is concerned the propaganda war on a certain plant is over. The facts are overwhelming. A free society does not criminalize a plant. While it still make take some time to clean out the DEA or even dissolve the agency, my generation will not allow this bogus war continue and legalization is around the corner.

www.chicagotribune.com...