Research Paper on Marijuana Legalization: Responsible Stewardship for University and Community Development

Introduction

Our Creator blesses us with an abundance of resources. We foster a spirit of service to employ our resources for University and community development. We must be resourceful. We must optimize and apply all of the resources of our community to fulfill Saint Leo University's mission and goals. (Sherani et al., 2016)

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Overview

Marijuana is one of the most consumed drugs globally. It is also referred to as weed, pot, Mary Jane, and Herb. It contains psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a crystalline compound that is responsible for making an individual intoxicated. Cannabis has a long history of human consumption. The chemical compound is found in resin formed by its leaflet as well as the bud mainly from the female plants. Beside TCH, marijuana contains more than 500 other chemicals, including more than 100 chemicals connected to THC called cannabinoids (Shakera Halim, 2019). These compounds affect the way the body works. There are several ways in which marijuana is ingested and includes smoking it hand-rolled cigarettes, going by the street name; joints. When sold for medicinal purposes, the pot is brewed in tea, or mixed with food.

Most of the ancient cultures did not grow marijuana as an intoxicating drug but rather for medicinal use, which can be traced back to Asia around 500 BCE (Krishna, 2019). In the United States, Cannabis cultivation can be traced back to the early colonist who primarily grew it a raw material for both textiles and rope. The 20th century, however, led it its criminalization owing to the political and racial factors (Krishna, 2019). Recent times have seen activists advocating for its legalization, and its illegal status has changed in several States, like California, Colorado, Alaska, including others, and around the world. This paper will examine the primary reasons what both recreational and medicinal weed should be legalized.

Economic Benefits

One of the motivations is the financial benefit that the legalization of marijuana can bring. The areas it could impact if commercialized are, increased tax revenues, job creation, and new investment opportunities for the residents.

Impact on Tax Revenue

Over the past several years, the legalization and commercialization of marijuana has led to increases in tax revenues in Colorado and Washington. Its sales over the years surpassed projection, which led to buoyant sales revenue. In the year 2015, states like Colorado recorded in excess of $ 135 million from fees and taxes charged on the recreational and medicinal cannabis whose sales totaled to $996 million (Krishna, 2019). In North America, the transactions recorded a growth of more than 30 percent to around $6.7 billion in the year 2016, and that is likely to grow to $20.1 billion by the year 2021, according to ArcView Market Research (Krishna, 2019). Similar studies conducted by Colorado State University-Puebloo Institute of Cannabis Research affirmed that the marijuana sector singly injected in excess of $58 million to the local economy mainly from fees and taxes. Thus, if cannabis is to be legalized and commercialized on a federal level, the state could realize exceptional taxation benefits. A study from New Frontiers indicates that the commercialization of weed will produce an additional $131.8 in total state revenue by the year 2025 (Krishna, 2019).

Larger states with more population like California could realize more than $15 billion sales revenue that could translate to $3 billion in taxes, according to a 2016 research by ICF international (Krishna, 2019). The revenues could contribute significantly to the development goals of the United States.

Income and Jobs

Some of the areas that marijuana could create jobs include, setting up the nurseries and the marijuana dispensaries. Besides creating jobs, these establishments could set the installations for the fiscal activities in the areas that have these industries. States like Nevada and California that have these structures in place have already begun reaping substantial economic benefits (Krishna, 2019). A report by RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy group indicates that decriminalizing recreational hemp within the state can provide over 41,000 jobs through to 2024, resulting in an income of more than $1.7 billion (Krishna, 2019). Another research by the ICF predict that around 81,000 indirect and direct jobs will be created upon the commercialization of marijuana, increasing the total labor income of 3.5 billion (Krishna, 2019). In a nationwide view, New Frontier projected that the legalization of marijuana would result in 1.1 million jobs by the year 2025 (Krishna, 2019).

The jobs are projected to come from the fast-growing marijuana sector across the country. The direct jobs would be in farming, processing, distribution both in wholesale and retail of the marijuana-based products. Other areas that could see a tremendous increase in jobs are the financing industries and individuals, construction sectors, and even software developers in creating sales apps (Krishna, 2019).

Investment Opportunities

The legalization of marijuana grants the likeliness of unmatched advantages to the economies on national and local magnitude. Additionally, legal marijuana would help companies develop an investment portfolio nationwide and also beyond (Krishna, 2019). Based on the fact that, currently, cannabis is illegal in the federal state, it is difficult for stakeholders to maximize the development of the sector (Krishna, 2019). The number of cannabis-associated industries is meager on the stock exchange. Besides that, the investors have the option of operating with a direct transfer, most of them opt to invest in the weed producing companies that begun earlier, which are based outside the country.

If legalized, on the federal level, most of the marijuana producing companies will proceed and list the companies on the stock exchange (Krishna, 2019). As a result, the liquidity will be enhanced, and that will create access to many stakeholders. Following the development of the marijuana industry and the pointers shows, the investors will, in turn, have a keen interest in the industry and invest more (Krishna, 2019).

Saving Money

Currently, the government spends several billion every year on marijuana enforcement. A report from the year 2013 by the American Civil Liberties indicated that the enforcement expenses are around 3.6 billion per year (Krishna, 2019). The higher the states legalizing weed, the less the enforcement cost. Furthermore, if marijuana is removed from the list of controlled substances, lesser court cases regarding the drug would go to hearing, translating to lesser incarceration, which would save on the cost of maintaining inmates (Krishna, 2019).

Legal marijuana could also benefit medical users of hemp-related products. As it legitimatized, the prices will stabilize as a result of commoditization. That means the individuals consuming week will stand to benefit more (Krishna, 2019). Additionally, the reduced cost means that the government will earn more revenue, and also the company seeking to make more profit will pay a reduced tax per unit sold.

Health Benefits

More than 20 states have discriminized medical marijuana. While recreational marijuana has presented many controversies, the majority of the people agree with Gupta's assertion that cannabis should be legalized for medical uses . Currently, the advocates of marijuana may have overstated its benefit; new legalization legislation will help the researchers to conduct more studies on the medicinal application and understand its impact on the consumer's body well (Shakera Halim, 2019). As it stands, there is minimal to no research about the subject. To be specific, only six percent of studies analyze their medicinal content and properties. It is worth noting that smoking too much can lead to dependency issues that can mess the user's memory and emotions.

There are at least two active chemical compounds on hemp that the scholars' suspects might have medical uses. These compounds included tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which has intoxicating and pain-relieving characteristics and cannabidiol (CBD), which impacts the mind without intoxication (Shakera Halim, 2019). These are compounds that can be derived from other THC pills like Dronabinol, which is synthetic and, in most cases, more effective than smoking marijuana. Below are some of the medical benefits of cannabis.

Glaucoma Treatment

Cannabis is used to prevent and treat an eye condition called glaucoma that surges pressure on the eyeball resulting in a damaged nerve that can cause sight loss. According to the National Eye Institute, the use of cannabis minimizes the pressure within the eye (Shakera Halim, 2019). It is associated with slowing down the progression of glaucoma. However, due to the insufficient study on the relationship between CBD, THC, and its implications on vision, more study needs to be done (Shakera Halim, 2019). By legalizing weed, scientists will be able to conduct further research without the limitation of the law.

Reversing the Carcinogenic Effect of Tobacco, and Improving Lung Health

According to a study in the Journal of The American Medical Association in 2012, cannabis does not harm lung functions. It increases the volume of the lung. Scholars examined all the risk aspects associated with heart disease, tested the lung functionality, in 5,115 young adults, over a period 20 years (Shakera Halim, 2019). While the tobacco user lost the functionality of the lung over time, the marijuana users increased their capacity if the lung (Shakera Halim, 2019). However, there might be an association between a deep breath that the users are associated with calling for more research. Smoking cigarettes has adverse effects on usage, one of which includes lung cancer. Fortunately, the use of medicinal cannabis has been associated with destroying that cancer-causing cells, reducing their malignancy, thus controlling tumor growth (Shakera Halim, 2019).

Cigarette smoking increases the CYP1A1 protein in the human lung, which is a contributing factor to cancer growth. In a 2010 study, it was found that the CBD one of the chemical compounds on weed could inhibit the protein. Essentially, it was found that a combination of the CBD could substantially reduce tumor cell development and growth (Shakera Halim, 2019). Additionally, THC and other cannabinoids have been found to prevent unregulated cell growth by activating apoptosis as they mimic endocannabinoids, which automatically respond to immunological threats and causes these cells to die. As a medical prescription, marijuana should be legalized to people with early stages of cancer and cigarette smokers who are at the risk of developing cancer-related complications (Shakera Halim, 2019).

Minimizing Acute Seizure Disorder Known as Dravet's Syndrome

In a documentary by the name "Weed," Gupta interviewed with the Figi Family who treated their infant daughter using the medical marijuana strain, with a substantial amount of CBD and a negligible amount of THC (Shakera Halim, 2019). Their daughter had been diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, that leads to growth delays and seizures. According to their observation, their daughter had reduced her seizures to 1 per week from 300 per week (Shakera Halim, 2019). Forty other infants are actively receiving similar treatment, and the success rates have been noted to be high. According to the medical doctor behind this prescription says that the CBD in the cannabis interacts with the neurons within the brain to minimize the hyper-activities within the mind that causes related seizures. However, Gupta noted that a facility in Florida focuses in the disorder, America...