How Will Marijuana Legalization Affect Public Health?

Legalizing marijuana is a concept that can potentially benefit the public as well as the local economies. There has been a nationwide debate on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The major consensus is that marijuana is not only bad for one’s health, but it is also dangerous to the community. These allegations are not true. Marijuana actually has health benefits that most people overlook. The following essay will address these health benefits in an attempt to present this concept in a way that the audience can better understand how legalizing marijuana can beneficial to an individual health, how it can give an increase to the economy.

The Unites States should consider nationwide legalization of marijuana. It is not a harmful as popular alcohol; and tobacco products. “Ruban Barler”, a health specialist at the National Drug Abuse Agency said. “You can die drinking five minutes after you have exposed to alcohol. That isn’t going to happen with marijuana.”. Smoking tobacco can also cause significant lung damage. This can include chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, lung cancer, and other respiratory complications. A new study published in, “Scientific Report Journal”, reveals. “Marijuana is 144 times lass deadly than that of alcohol.”. Upon legalization, Marijuana would not jeopardize public health.

The United States has, in some states, legalized the use of marijuana. Studies done have shown that it helps the state economies grow, and has given the states millions of dollars in tax revenue. So imagine the money that would be saved if marijuana were legalized in the whole country. The United States would benefit from a stronger economy, increased jobs, reduced prison costs, lower medicinal marijuana prices, and the availability of medical marijuana to the people who need it.

Since 2012, four states in the US have allowed sale of cannabis for recreational use by adults over the age of 21. (Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington State). Washington State legalized growing of cannabis for personal use and legalized it for gifting to friends. In 2016, more states are considering legalization and within the next 4-5 years, half of the state will at least most likely to have proposed a bill talking about decriminalization or even legalization. In the paper it discusses the probable effects that will come with legalization and also the possible effects, along it also talks about the legalization of cannabis and how it affects the use of alcohol, tobacco and opioids, which can tend to be a lot more dangerous that cannabis. Study Method. This report aimed to briefly describe the regulatory regimes so far implemented; outline their plausible effects on cannabis use and cannabis-related harm; and suggest what research is needed to evaluate the public health impact of these policy changes. It reviewed the drug policy literature to identify: (1) plausible effects of legalizing adult recreational use on cannabis price and availability; (2) factors that may increase or limit these effects; (3) pointers from studies of the effects of legalizing medical cannabis use; and (4) indicators of cannabis use and cannabis-related harm that can be monitored to assess the effects of these policy changes. Study Findings. Legalization of recreational use will

The topic of marijuana, both medicinal and recreational use, has been one of controversy over the past few decades. As with any drug, the abuse or overuse of marijuana can lead to adverse health effects. These effects are especially prominent and the most influential among adolescents, which substances in general pose the most risk too. Although the developmental influence of marijuana is detrimental to this population, it is not intended for adolescent use as is the case with alcohol. According to The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) published in 2016, rates of use among adolescents has

Americans nationwide have been using marijuana for decades due to a variety of reasons. Talks of marijuana legalization and marijuana use across the country has rapidly grown and America is getting one step closer to becoming a “weed nation”. Many Americans disagree with the legalization of marijuana, but a majority of voters believe recreational marijuana should be legal nationwide. Last year alone, nearly twenty tons of marijuana was sold to recreational and medical users, which resulted in $63 million in tax revenue and an additional $13 million in licenses and fees. Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring the nation's largest cash crop under the rule of law, creating jobs and economic opportunities in the formal

The article, "Current approach to marijuana undermines public health” showcases the potential issues dealing with marijuana and the concern of the public health over the lack regulation of marijuana. I argue with the writer’s stance due the growing concern of the patient’s safety and the need of regulation in order to fully understand the medical benefits. Unfortunately, there exist a line of uncertainty when voters recently allowed for the approval of medicinal marijuana, leading with a schism with the physician and patient. The system currently in place creates an unstable environment regarding the overall health of the patient due to the lack of strict regulations and taxing upon the growing industry. The lack of regulations only stacks

Marijuana while illegal on a federal level has been legalized in 18 states and the District of Columbia for medical use and also for personal use for anyone over 21 in Washington and Colorado. 48% of Americans admit to using marijuana according to a 2013 survey conducted by Scientific America. With the change in public opinion concerning marijuana the need to understand the effect and consequences associated with its use are vitally important. What are the effects on the brain and the rest of the body? Does it matter when you start using marijuana? Also what is the effect marijuana use has on a person’s life, to include school, work, family and friends.

According to Forbes, marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. The financial benefit for the government is massive with taxation alone. After legalizing marijuana in Oakland, California, researchers from the The ArcView group found that the U.S market for legal cannabis grew 74 percent of legal marijuana grew in 2014 to 2.7 billion dollars, up from 1.5 billion dollars in 2013. This according to the Health and Wellness Resource Center also projects a strong year for legal marijuana in 2015 and projects 32 percent growth in the market. Four states Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have legalized retail marijuana. Washington, D.C. voters also legalized recreational marijuana use, but sales c remain banned. Twenty-three states have legalized medical cannabis. Still,

The issue of Legalizing marijuana is a very controversial topic of modern times. The use of marijuana is all over the media with celebrities doing it and young people in on the craze. Marijuana is the world’s oldest illegal drug, not only that, it is also the drug that is most widely used among society today (Aanstoos, 2015). Different types of people use this drug for a variety of reasons, such as, as a way to disconnect from todays hectic world, something they are peer pressured into, or even medical reasons. My argument is against the concern of legalizing marijuana in general including medical marijuana. Before completely going all in against this drug, note that there is some relevant research, which shows Marijuana has some benefits to it. This paper will explore both points in against and in favor of legalizing marijuana to be revealed, aiming for an understanding of the issue and present a public health policy to improve and educate the public of this hot health topic.

Cannabis, a drug that has been prohibited for many decades now is finally making it’s way to legalization in Canada. This report looks at the effects legalization of cannabis has on the nation from a public health, social and economic perspective. We did this through reviewing evidence from scholarly academic papers and government reports, taking similar ideas putting them together to create themes and based on that create recommendations of legalization. Public health research definitely seems to immediately go against legalization - from a clinical perspective- as there are a vast variety of adverse effects smoking marijuana can do to individuals, especially youth, who do it often. There is also issue of the negative exposure it gives to

For the past fifty years, the public has been fed incorrect information about marijuana’s risks by law enforcement and anti-drug groups. Time has changed, because Colorado and Washington State became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, this has arose the possibility of a rippling effect across the nation. Now, many states such as Oregon and Alaska are voting on this issue. Although medical researchers have claimed that marijuana may help patients and the drug is not as dangerous as informers noted before, legalizing the drug will create a downfall to society by expanding its accessibility to our future generation. Not only will expose our youth to more harmful drugs, but it will also endanger the safety of our community.

Over the last few decades, the controversy over marijuana has been heightened, specifically in the last decade or so, with the legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana for parts of the United States. Now with increasing acceptance and with its counterpart scrutiny, research is being implemented to analyze whether the benefits truly outweigh the possible health effects to individuals and communities. In this article, researchers study public files from the state of Colorado and Denver metropolitan area from 2001 to 2013 to support a possible theory of connection between diminishing public health and legalization of medical marijuana. Some of the public files in use are arrest files that have limits to yearly data, and hospital and poison control records that are documented monthly. Specifically in this article, the years before legalization of medicinal marijuana in 2009 are compared to the years after in which an increase or decrease in hospital visits or reports of marijuana-related incidents are compared. The researchers in this study attempt to show an increase in harmful effects on the overall public health in communities in correlation to the significant increase of accessibility of marijuana throughout the state.

The economic advantage created by the legalization of marijuana is a major benefactor to the country. “According to Arcview Market Research, in 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana. Sales in the state totaled over $996 million. Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021 (Krishna).” The taxes collected from marijuana can be very beneficial to the economy by helping with the debt that America has. In addition, making marijuana legal can create many jobs. An analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group (MPG) stated, “Legal weed created 18,005 full-time jobs and added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy (Marijuana Policy Group 1).” The creation of jobs from marijuana helps the economy by giving more opportunities to the homeless and bringing in more money for the United States as well as being beneficial to the people.

Drugs are heavily used throughout the entire world. However, it is important to understand and not undermine the variability in which drugs are used. It is clear some are for distinct medical treatment and others are for recreational use. In the United States, marijuana has been and continues to be a very controversial drug. Some states have allowed marijuana consumption for medicinal purposes, while others have completely outlawed the drug. Those who are against the legalization and regulation of marijuana suggest the economical and health risk associated with consumption of the drug are too high. Although there is risk involved with the legalization of the marijuana, our country has already been risking too much banning the drug.