Desert Pot Springs For many decades, the American society was brainwashed into perceiving marijuana, also referred to as cannabis or pot, as a villainous herb that breaks homes and deceives the American people into not participating in the image of an outstanding civilian. Little do people know that most ancient cultures utilized marijuana and hemp for medicinal purposes rather than recreational ones. Even the general of the American Revolution and our very first president, George Washington, cultivated cannabis for personal purposes. In 1619, the Jamestown colony legally forced its people to grow marijuana as they saw the plant very useful and valuable. How far we have come… Looking closer to home, Desert Hot Springs was one of the cities in California to legalize marijuana cultivation and dispensaries in 2014. The cultivation, distribution, and sale of marijuana will positively affect Desert Hot Springs and its residents by increasing tax revenue, impacting property values, and increasing employment rate. The cultivation, distribution, and sale of cannabis in Desert Hot Springs will increase tax revenue and exponentially improve the community as a whole. Scott Matas, the mayor of the city, approves marijuana legalization due to the overall benefits that follow, “‘We could double our budget,”...through cultivation taxes, Matas states. “It’s huge for our small city’”(Murphy, Rosalie. "Palm Springs Area Cities, Tribe Vie for Marijuana Wealth." Desert Sun. The Desert Sun,
A controversial topic often being advocated for by sitting governors is whether the legalization of marijuana is more beneficial or harmful to the economy. Marijuana, also known as weed, is a mixture of the dried and shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant. It’s the most widely used illegal drug in the United States, even though studies have shown results that the benefits of using marijuana for medicinal or recreational reasons far outweigh the negative matters that may be associated with its use. While marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law, thirteen U.S. states currently have compassionate use laws in place, which allow for regulated medical marijuana use. By legalizing marijuana, the government is helping the economy by reaping medical and financial benefits, not only at the state level, but also at the federal level. Taking into account the numerous studies done with marijuana on whether it is for recreational use or medical purposes, the government cannot go wrong in legalizing marijuana because of such an impact it will have. Marijuana should be legalized for recreational purposes because it will help society economically and socially.
This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.
The topic of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States has been a very controversial one. States such as Colorado and Washington have gone on the offensive and have legalized recreational marijuana and have enjoyed the high revenues brought in from cannabis sale. On the other hand other states have kept low profiles because they are wary of the possible negative outcomes of legalizing recreational marijuana and are using the states of Colorado and Washington as guinea pigs to see what their next course of action on this controversial topic should be. This is not only a highly debated topic among politicians, but also by the people. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center 52% of Americans
After many years of trying to make the plant grow, perfectly, indoor, growing marijuana have become lucrative and more desired. Though marijuana growers know that planting the plant is dangerous and can even lose their house or all their property, they are taking the risk because it is a good business. The prohibition made the plant more profitable because growing them indoors takes a great amount of time and money. Growers needs to use high technology to perfectly monitor the new environment that human have created for the plant. As a result, the plant, from being naturally grown outdoors and cheaply and accessibly, became expensive. There is so much money with this business because, one of the reasons, growers don’t even have to pay taxes from selling them. However, in today’s society, California is having a big experiment trying to find a way to legalize marijuana. The growers that made their business out of it could pay taxes that can help them have more money to supports its people. Also, I believe if this happened, human can again reconnect
Cannabis, also known as Marijuana, has been used by humans throughout history for medical, recreational, as well as spiritual purposes. Its fiber, oil, and seed are also refined into products such as hemp oil, wax, rope, cloth, and paper (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013, para. 1). With 56% voters overwhelming supported for medical cannabis, California became the first state in the United States to pass Prop 215 in 1996 ensuring the patients and their primary caregivers to “have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purpose” (California Department of Public Health, 2013, Text of Law section, para. 1).
This solution is not only medically sound, but it is also financially beneficial to the American population and federal government. Since 2015, marijuana has become the fastest growing industry in the U.S. (“Office of National” 7). If marijuana becomes legal in all fifty states, the industry will become larger than the organic food market (“Office of National” 6). Therefore, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes will not only create a thriving agricultural industry, but it will also bring in revenue for the fiscal budget rather than drain it. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to legally allow medical marijuana for patients with a valid doctor’s recommendation, and the
The practice of medicinal cannabis dates all the way back to proposition 215 in 1996 when it was passed and became legal in the state of California. Unfortunately, many counties have begun closing down medical dispensaries in their cities for various reasons. In Orange County, city officials and people from the community believe that dispensaries have brought a rise in crime to their streets. In the last coming years Anaheim, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and even Newport Beach have cracked down on countless dispensaries in their area. The citizens of these cities are not informed what this plant does to these sick impaired people. Veterans usually need to buy and smoke this herb herb for them to be
Officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration say that the number of indoor marijuana plants in California has quadrupled in the last three years. Many of these plants have occurred in middle-class and upper-class suburbs. Buyers have bought homes here because the financing of these homes are cheap. They have been remodeled to build farms which are built indoors. These indoor pot operation uses sophisticated irrigation, ventilation and lighting. This structure can contain 1,800 plants. This marijuana boom has brought in more than $100 million worth of pot last year. These homes were transformed into illicit greenhouses with blacked-out windows, sophisticated irrigation, high powered and timed lighting and ventilation devices to
Another man, a resident from Georgia, who suffers from anxiety and alcoholism decided to make his stay permanent after realizing the constant marijuana use was able to help him stop his bad drinking habit. Accompanied by his son from North Carolina, who has previously been an illegal recreational user, is happy that his habits can now continue guilt free. Another source reported that Colorado has welcomed 36,284 people who have migrated from within the US in 2013 (source). That is 8,000 more people than 2012 due to the “go West” mentality of marijuana enthusiasts (source). If Colorado’s predictions are correct, they will receive an extra $100 million in revenue due to marijuana sales (Dickinson & Haglage). This money can be used for beautification, safety improvements, schooling resources and many other positive things that will make living in Colorado even more appealing.
Since 1996, the state of California, and by default, the city of Desert Hot Springs, have allowed the use of medical marijuana. Under proposition 215, any individual with a prescription could legally possess and use cannabis. And this was the case until recently, when a chain of events led to the legalization of consumption for non-medical reasons in California. Proposition 64 legalizes the private use of marijuana as of January 1st, 2018. However, this decision appears to have been made prematurely as the effects of such an abrupt decision are beginning to manifest themselves. Aside from the palpable consequences of marijuana consumption, including sluggishness and impaired judgement, there are far more serious unintended consequences impacting
The legalization of Marijuana has made this drug medically beneficial to the city of Desert Hot Springs. As the first city to cultivate the area with Marijuana in California, the operation of this industrial sized facility sets up high standards for beneficial gain. The majority of law abiding citizens who smokes marijuana are hard working employees who pay taxes and contribute positively to their societies such as our city. The exploding market of marijuana will increase profit helping the city which dangerously fell toward municipal bankruptcy in 2014 can now have economic revitalization. By approval of tax marijuana dispensaries, the city reclaims a vast tract of mostly vacant industrial property to permit indoor cultivation. Although
The Government should legalize the use of marijuana because of the economic benefits it would offer, The debate over whether the federal government should legalize marijuana has been escalating and states such as Colorado, and Oregon have legalized the use of medical and recreational use of marijuana due to the realization that marijuana could greatly benefit their economies, such as the creation of jobs, tax revenue, and young business leaders. The legalization of marijuana is highly beneficial to the United States government because it will save the government billions of dollars. According to Jeffrey Minron a Harvard economist “If marijuana were legalized, the government would save $7.7 billion dollars annually in law enforcement costs, and it could bring an additional $6.2 billion a year” (3).If the government were to legalize marijuana nationwide, there would be billions of dollars, which could be used to solve actual problems in the United States like education, poverty, Instead, the billions of dollars are being wasted to loosely enforce the ban.
It has been called Maryjane, Pot, Reefer, Ganga, Green and many other names, but this little plant seems to be causing a big controversy in recent decades. Can Marijuana really help us or is it a problem in the making? This question may seem simple, but in reality, it is more complex of an issue than we think. The opposing sides of legalization for recreational marijuana are so varied with many points of view to consider. Only a few of those views will be addressed in this article with simplified information to speak plainly on the subject. Bringing notice to the areas of the criminal justice system, economic revenue and wider medicinal availability versus the many public health concerns for adults and adolescents. Legalization for recreational marijuana seems to be the battle of a new age.
Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.
"In any civilized society, it is every citizen 's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen 's responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Martin Luther King Jr. Many people ask “why should marijuana be legalized”? when the real question that we should be asking is “why shouldn’t marijuana be legalized”?. Marijuana also known as hemp is a naturally grown plant that has been around for decades dating back to around 2697 B.C., when the Egyptians would use it to cure many common ailments, and the Chinese would use it for therapeutics. Using marijuana not only to cure common illnesses but for your pleasure as well should be up to you the free citizens of California and not to the government. The first major reason