Gregory Long

80558896

Professor Zepeda

7/19/17

The Legalization of Marijuana on People and the Economy

Marijuana has become a hot topic in the united states recently due to the legalization

of recreational usage in Colorado and Washington state. Recently academic literature has

produced a lot of content relating to topics involving marijuana. In This essay, some

literature discussing the various aspects of marijuana will be discussed and compared to

developed a well-rounded understanding of the topic. The legalization of marijuana has been

a conflicting issue for our nation. There was a study done by American Public Health

Administration that compares states that have legalized recreational use of marijuana to

states that did not legalize it. After the study was concluded they found that there was a

reduction in that car crashes after the legalization of recreational use of marijuana. In the

study done by the American Public Health Administration shows that the amount of fatal car

crashes in Colorado and Washington decreased by nearly fifteen percent.

Even though the states that legalized the use of recreational marijuana have seen a

decrease in the number of fatalities the states that didnt legalize marijuana decreased too.

The study that was conducted by the American Public Health Administration was done from

the year 2009 to 2015. The results that were found by the American Public Health

Administration conflicts with a Study that was conducted by the Denver Health and Hospital

Authority with the help of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado

Anschutz Medical Campus. The American Public Health Association only observed crashes
where the drivers ability was only impaired by Marijuana. The Denver Health and Hospital

Authority include the usage of alcohol and marijuana into their studies. The addition of

Alcohol consumption to the use of marijuana affects the results making the studies conflict

with each other. The Denver Health and Hospital Authority found that after the legalization

of marijuana on January 1, 2014 for recreational usage the amount of fatal car crashes

remained neutral and the use of recreational marijuana had no negative effect on the divers.

Marijuana is only seen in the bad ways that people may use it in such as getting high

or getting a buzz off of it. Marijuana can solve many of the health problems that are killing

off many of our loved ones that die from cancer every year. Marijuana has been known to

stop the spread of cancer throughout the body.

The legalization of marijuana is a very controversial topic everywhere you go. It is so

controversial because of the different mindsets of many people. Some believe in the idea of

using only herbs and ingredients that come from the ground to heal their bodies, more than

likely they would be for the legalization. Others, might use religion such as Christianity as a

factor as to why they would be against the legalization. According to the bible your body is a

holy temple and therefore no foreign substances should be entering the body. It is simply a

topic like many others that can never seem to get a majority on either side. But just like

everything in life there are pros and cons to a situation. Like mentioned earlier in the essay it

has many positive outcomes when it comes to health issues. There are a range of different

types of diseases and disorders that can be cured with medical marijuana such as Alzheimers

disease, arthritis, and migraines. According to an article written by TV cheat sheet there are

many celebrities that use medical marijuana to find relief in their illnesses, for example

Whoopee Goldberg uses medical marijuana to help her with her glaucoma. Many times,
there are more sever situations in which medical marijuana is used, the perfect example is

Melissa Etherridge who had breast cancer. The marijuana helps slow down the cells that

mutate and are considered the cancerous cells.

Going back to the benefits of marijuana when it comes to cancer it can do a whole lot of

good. It was found that marijuana when smoked can help treat nausea and vomiting when

people are doing chemotherapy N.a. (March 16, 2017). When marijuana is smoked it can

help with neuropathic pain which is pain that is caused by damaged nerves N.a. (March 16,

2017). It is proven that patients that smoke marijuana instead of taking pain medicine are less

dependent of pain medication in the long run N.a. (March 16, 2017).

Many might think that using marijuana to treat patients of cancer and other illness is

just a silly excuse to get their hands on a nice high but by legalizing the use would benefit so

many people and more. Approximately 38.5 percent of men and women will be diagnosed

with cancer of any site at some point during their lifetime, based on 2012-2014 data.

Prevalence of This Cancer: In 2014, there were an estimated 14,738,719 people living with

cancer of any site in the United States. That number of people with cancer is absolutely

ridiculous. The number of people that have to go through treatment after treatment on their

bodies, and the people that have so much pain in their bodies that have very limited time to

live can all be given a second chance at life with the help of medical marijuana. Like stated

earlier, marijuana helps in more than one area of the process of curing cancer. Also,

according to the website, the estimated amount of new cases of cancer in the United States

are roughly 1,688,780. Unfortunately, the estimated amount of deaths in 2017 will be around

700,000. The graph below shows the many of people with all different types of cancers in
2010 just to give an idea of how many people were affected even just a short while of seven

years ago.

From all of the medications that must be consumed by patients that have cancer can

be drastically reduced because of the use of marijuana and although it must be purchased

also, it will help eliminate a huge financial burden for many families that cannot afford the

medications.

Now that the importance of marijuana being used to treat and cure many people, it should

now be discussed the importance of the legalization of marijuana for the benefit of the

economy. There are many people that take trips to the beautiful state of Colorado for the sake

of visiting family, visiting the Rocky Mountains, watching the Colorado Rockies on their
home field and even having the opportunity to see what all the hype of marijuana is. Before

the legalization of marijuana is Colorado the state was having a hard time finding room in the

budget for many important things like watering parks, updating old roads, and funding pubic

events. After looking at some statistics, it was read that Colorado made over 1 billion dollars

in tax payer money simply from the dispensary of marijuana for medical and recreational use

Huddleston, T. (December 13, 2016). Once the bill was passed for Colorado to legalize

marijuana and many dispensaries were opened all around the state, Colorado has collected

more than $150 million in taxes from legal marijuana sales, including nearly $50 million

from a specific excise tax that directs funds to school construction projects. The first $40

million collected annually from the excise tax is earmarked for the school projects

Huddleston, T. (December 13, 2016). After the legalization of marijuana Colorado had

plenty of money in the budget for many thing and lots left over. The parks were greener than

ever before, many roads were redone, and many new shopping centers were opened up for

many tourists. Just as marijuana has benefitted Colorado and Washington it can do the same

for the other 48 states. According to

Cannabis industry research firm ArcView Group,

estimates that the legal marijuana industry in the U.S. industry could reach nearly

$22 billion in total annual sales by 2020. However, it remains to be seen

how President-elect Donald Trump's administration will handle the issue of marijuana

legalization, considering that the drug remains illegal on the federal level despite the

fact that a growing number of states have voted in favor of legal pot Huddleston, T.

(December 13, 2016).

 The legalization of marijuana has many pros and can have some cons, but many of the

pros that were discussed in the essay are prime examples of a test in character to benefit

many American citizens. Just by thinking about the importance of the health of many people

and how they and many people with the curiosity to have some fun can make a huge impact

on our community. Whether voting for the legalization is against morals or religious views it

is always important to remember who in fact is really benefitting.

 Citations

N.a. (March 16, 2017). Marijuana and Cancer. American Cancer Society.

Retrieved from: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-

effects/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/marijuana-and-cancer.html

Saharan, J. ( May 2, 2017) 5 Celebrities Who Need Marijuana for Their Health.

Retrieved from https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/5-celebrities-who-need-

marijuana-for-their-health.html/?a=viewall

Huddleston, T. (December 13, 2016) Colorado Topped $1 Billion in Legal

Marijuana Sales in 2016. Retrieved from

http://fortune.com/2016/12/13/colorado-billion-legal-marijuana-sales/

COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE. (July 29,2017) COLORADO

DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE. Retrieved from

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/DR1002.pdf

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (July 26, 2017) Health Risk of

Radon. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/radon/health-risk-radon