Marijuana, cannabis, Mary Jane, weed, kush, bud, flower, whatever your preference of word is for this so-called miracle plant, is sadly considered an illegal drug by our society. Marijuana is recreational in Colorado, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon and medicinally legal and decriminalized in even more states. This is awesome news to the marijuana smokers and legalization supporters out there, but legal or not, society looks at marijuana as not such a good thing and a drug. Some marijuana haters out there show the argument that marijuana is classified as a schedule one substance. This is in the same category as more intense, addictive substances like Heroin, LSD (Lysergic acid diethyl amide) and Mescaline (Peyote). Obviously marijuana is not as horrible as these drugs, but this is one of the many reasons why marijuana has been considered a bad thing. But, does it really have that many more negatives than positives? Here are six major reasons marijuana has more positive effects to society than negative ones and will prove any marijuana hater out there wrong.
1. It helps the economy.
When marijuana became recreationally legal in Washington and Colorado, The Huffington Post had something more to say than just the legalization being great news for all stoners out there. They stated, "The states could see a major economic boon because of the legalization. The new measure is expected to bring the two states more than $550 million combined, with more than 300 economists previously estimating that legalizing pot could save the U.S. up to $14 billion a year. That’s not even taking into account the extra Funyun consumption." That is a crazy economy booster, considering our country is in such a great amount of debt. Recreational legalization of marijuana throughout the United States could very much help our countries debt.
2. It is a cure/upper to sick people.
Some specialist and doctors believe that marijuana is the cure to the disgusting, disgraceful disease of cancer. Even though, it may not actually be a cure, it helps cancer patients cope with the pain of cancer and their chemotherapy and other painful treatments. A cancer/cannabis patient said,
“Marijuana worked like a charm…the sheer bliss of not experiencing nausea — and then not having to fear it for all the days intervening between treatments — was the greatest boost I received in all my year of treatment, and surely had a most important effect upon my eventual cure.”
Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science
3. CBD.
Marijuana is also much more than just the factor of getting "high." This part of marijuana is composed of a substance called, THC. Marijuana is also composed of another substance called CBD. CBD is about 40 percent of most marijuana plants and it is the part of the plant that actually helps anxiety, nausea, depression and other sickly factors a person is experiencing. This documentary about a girl using the CBD part of the marijuana plant to stop her from having seizures and almost dying from the intense seizures is an extremely touching and such an inspiring, beautiful video.
4. ZERO deaths from marijuana have ever been recorded.
Yes, that's right, ZERO deaths from marijuana have ever been recorded to this date. You are more likely to die from alcohol which is legal in all 50 states, if you're over 21.
5. There are different strains.
Different people experience different problems and different effects of marijuana. Some people that don't support marijuana legalization believe that it causes anxiety and messes with your perception of things, but that's why there are different types of marijuana for different people that experience all types of problems. If you're experiencing depression or stress there is the sativa strain. If you're having insomnia or eating problems there is the indica. There is even another one called hybrid which is a mixture of the different types of cannabis.
6. Healthier to smoke than cigarettes.
Some Americans think that you just roll marijuana up in a paper like a cigarette and smoke it. Yes, you can do that, but there are other ways of smoking it. You can smoke marijuana out of glass piece and some of these glass pieces even come with water filtration which are called bongs and bubblers. Even some of the rolling papers are made out of hemp and are printed with soy inks, so you don't get the harmful effects inhaling paper like you do with cigarettes. You can also vape weed too out of a vaporizer which is known as the healthiest way of smoking.
As you can see, marijuana is a healthy and safe organic plant. This plant shouldn't be considered a schedule one drug or even a drug at all because it has much more positive effects then anything negative. Our society and the federal government should look at marijuana not as a drug, but as a miracle plant.
