This Election Day on November 8, when you select the next President of the United States, you might need one of these after. Legalizing recreational marijuana will be voted on in five state: Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada. If approved, they will join Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. as the only U.S. territories where weed is legal for public use.
Every state has a different bill detailing usage regulations, but some of the common trends are age restrictions and taxes. The five states voting will allow adults 21 and over to posses and use recreational marijuana with states imposing as much as a 15 percent excise tax on all sales. These states might be trying to mimic Colorado's remarkable success in their weed industry. The legal marijuana industry in Colorado hit $1 billion in value this past February and the state collected over $135 million in taxes.
By 2020, it's projected that the national weed industry will become a $44 billion dollar market which beats the combined GDP of Serbia. Overall, the majority of Americans support retail marijuana. Colorado voters say that the industry has been a tremendous help for their economy. It's not just buying weed that is boosting the economy, the weed market raises billions of dollars in other areas as well. The new market offers a ton of employment of opportunities besides opening a business. People are hiring processors, consultants, merchants, security guards, and becoming farmers.
The initial reason for the push to legalize marijuana in the first place was under the claim that the drug is not as harmful as smoking a cigarette. In fact, studies have shown that smoking marijuana has health benefits. It's ability to regulate insulin production can prevent diabetes, cannabis can be used to fight certain cancers, it's being experimented in treating autism, it can control muscle spasms, and helpful for PTSD victims, among others.
This is a controversial issue for a reason, there are harmful effects to legalizing marijuana as well. Since it's still a form of smoking, there are going to be long-term respiratory problems. Users may experience bronchitis, chronic levels of coughing, and wheezing. Users with a family of heart disease may experience unhealthy heart rates faster than normal. Studies show that marijuana use impairs memory. Researchers found that over time, marijuana users lose IQ points. If you're looking to get over a bad breakup, then maybe this won't be a problem, but for most people this is not something you want. Like cigarettes and alcohol, it is addictive which is a disease of itself.
While it is not the healthiest substance in the world, being high arguably is not any worse than being drunk. Just like similar addictive products, there are plenty of reason not to use them. For weed though, experts are finding benefits for occasional usage. Not to mention, the demand is high, no pun intended, and the economy booms off it. Next week will unveil a new president, but also maybe some new retailers in your market.
