Gabe Lopez

Professor Roberts
November 11, 2016
Research Paper
New Age Marijuana
Marijuana or Cannabis sativa, the plants technical name. Is a plant that has been around
since the dawn of time and continues to be used by many people, for many reasons across the
globe. Here, in the United States of America Marijuana is evolving into a projected billiondollar industry. Because the view on marijuana is rapidly changing and here are some of the
reasons why.
When marijuana became mainstream in the 1920s and 1930s the Government was quick
to respond. Because of prohibition, marijuana began to grow in popularity and tea pads clubs
where marijuana was smoked began to appear across the nation (Levinthal). The Federal Bureau
of Narcotics countered this with killer weed, they produced copious anti-marijuana campaigns
and programs such as Reefer Madness (Levinthal).
These campaigns depicted people doing outrageous acts such as murder, suicide, and
rape. Even bank robbery, all because they smoked some marijuana. The Federal Bureau of
Narcotics succeeded with their campaigns, the American view on marijuana changed to a very
negative one. Then the Marijuana Tax of 1937, imposed that all states have a uniform law
regarding marijuana and President Franklin Roosevelt signed federal legislation that banned
cannabis use, production and sales; including for industrial hemp (NORML).
However, the stigma of killer weed dissolved over time. Because there was no evidence
marijuana made people commit the outrageous things claimed by the Federal Bureau of

Narcotics. A while later in the mid 1960s marijuana became popular with the Hippie
community and has continued to grow in popularity since. Largely because of decriminalization.
Despite the 1970 ruling, The Controlled Substance Act that classified marijuana as a
schedule one drug with a high potential for abuse; no currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States (NORML). But, by 1973, Oregon was the first state to
decriminalize marijuana. In doing so, it made the penalty for marijuana a fine. Rather than jail
time and serious charges. By 1980 eleven states had decriminalized marijuana and popularity
was on a slow steady increase. Then, in 1991 San Francisco becomes the first United States city
to legalize medical marijuana and have it readily available for patients (NORML).
The next state to produce medical cannabis laws with no issues was Maine in 1999.
Marijuana continued to increase in popularity and was beginning to be accepted in numerous
states across the nation for medical use. In the years to follow by 2011 several more states such
as Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, and six other states legalize medical marijuana
(NORML). The next year contained marijuanas biggest breakthrough in United States history.
Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalized the use and sale of
recreational marijuana in the November 2012. "Colorado will no longer have laws that steer
people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they
prefer. And we will be better off as a society because of it," said Mason Tvert, co-director of the
Colorado pro-legalization campaign. (Coffman). These states became the guinea pigs of new age
marijuana but, they did not start selling to the public until January 1st 2014 (Newsroom).
They made they legal age 21 and older, just like alcohol. Except they tax it a whole lot
more. Marijuana has a whopping 25% tax on it, a 10% special marijuana tax and a 15% excise

tax on wholesale marijuana transactions (Szalavitz). This lead to a $76.2-million-dollar tax

revenue for Colorado in 2014. While Washington brought in $44 million dollars in tax revenue
the same year (Johnson). All this money is being used for schools, parks, roads and so much
more.
The next year held even bigger numbers. In 2015, Colorado made $87.6 million dollars in
revenue and Washington came in at nearly $70 million dollars in tax revenue (Imam). However,
these were not the only states to reap the benefits from marijuana. The District of Columbia, our
Nations capital legalized recreational marijuana and made nearly 20 million dollars in tax
revenue. These states collected millions of dollars in tax revenue, just by legalizing the plant in a
few states.
Now, in November 2016 the amount of states with legal medical and recreational
marijuana is over half of our country. There are now 28 states with legal cannabis laws.
California, Nevada, and Maine just joined the legal recreational marijuana states. While
Massachusetts passed medical and recreational marijuana but, recreational laws have yet to be
enacted. Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania also joined the medical
marijuana states this year (ProCon).
In Colorado analysts predict a $1.35 billion-dollar finish for 2016 according BDS
Analytics (Baca). This company tracks the dispensaries point of sales systems to collect their
data. The rate of growth in this industry never ceases to astound us, said BDS Analytics
founder and CEO Roy Bingham (Baca). This is just one states billion-dollar prediction and we
now have 28 states with legal marijuana laws. As marijuana continues to gain in popularity the
United States people will benefit from having access to marijuana and the taxes that come from
it.

In conclusion, marijuana is evolving into a booming billion-dollar industry across the

United States. Creating millions of dollars in tax revenue that directly influence public schools,
roads and people in the states. It wont be long before more states join the marijuana movement
and marijuana becomes legal in all fifty states. Only time will tell exactly how much marijuana
will impact the life of the American people.

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Levinthal, Charles F. Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. 8th ed. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 2002. Print.