Power Flower Most citizens of the United States look down upon the thought of cannabis but the legalization of marijuana for industrial use would create jobs, benefit the economy, and contribute to the environment through a number of uses from the plant. A good choice would be to crack down on the sales of marijuana, but the smarter choice would be to legalize! Many jobs would be created for the growth of cannabis. In order for the US to grow and sell marijuana, taxes would be added, therefore creating more money for the economy just by legalizing the growth of a plant. Legalizing cannabis would create an extreme amount of jobs for this growing industry. Since the early 1990’s, the number of hemp oriented businesses in the US has gone …show more content…
Hemp is very versatile, it can either be grown in seed or fiber. (Palmer, Brian. "High on Environmentalism." Can Hemp Clothing save the Planet? (n.d.): n. page. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.) For example, it takes fifteen years to grow trees that can produce paper, hemp can be grown in one year and be equivalent of what it would take fifteen years to grow trees to make paper out of. That would help the environment out, more growth of hemp would be less cutting down of trees and more production of oxygen. It is another plant that has many uses waiting to be used. Cotton needs many nutrients in the soil, land and water to be grown. Hemp only needs little amount of water and can be grown in any type of soil. Growing hemp would be the quick earth and money saver for our economy. Legalizing marijuana would also benefit the economy by taxation. Since Colorado has legalized marijuana, the state has gotten $10 million in taxes from retail sales in the first four months. Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper who opposed amendment 64 recently compared Colorado’s economy since legalization to that of other states noting “while the rest of the country’s economy is slowly picking back up, were thriving here in colorado.” (6 Months of Marijuana Sales: Positive Trends Emerge in Colorado. Laura Pegram, n.d. Web. 26 June 2014.) This is a statement directly from Colorado’s governor. Tax money can help get our country out of the deep debt that we are in. Many states can also legalize
The most versatile plant in the world, with over 25,000 known uses, is currently illegal to grow and produce in the United States. These uses range from hemp paper to hemp biodiesel and even include food products. The raging problem of deforestation can ultimately be solved with the help of hemp industrialization in the United States. Hemp as a biodiesel could relieve our dependence of fossil fuels. Opening up hemp farms and factories to produce the product could create thousands of jobs and a new business for our country. The only thing holding back this wide market of positivity is hemp 's family member, cannabis marijuana. Hemp should be legalized in the United States of America as an industrial product. Its uses date back
[TRANSITION: The prohibition of marijuana is not only stopping the medical benefits, but also resources that could be made from hemp.
Growing hemp is a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to cotton. “Cotton uses 1400 gallons of water to produce one pound of cotton, while hemp requires half that amound of water while producing 2.5 times more fiber than cotton. Cotton uses 25 percent of the world’s insecticides and 10 percent of the world’s pesticides. Hemp clothing is more durable, and when wet, the materials expand and become stronger. *Hemp also requires little to no pesticides. !!Replacing al or much of the world’s cotton crops with hemp would result in using 5 times less water to get the same yield. Replacing cotton with hemp would also remove almost 25 percent global insecticide use
With the amount of products that could be created through the legalization of marijuana this could only create more jobs to fuel the production of these goods. In addition, private companies or the government are going to need more people to help grow and cultivate marijuana for public sales. President Obama held an online town hall meeting and one of the questions asked was:
Central Idea: Due to the war on drugs, hemp production is severely limited; however, with the proper legalization and regulation of this plant the U.S. economy would prosper due to job creation and the environment would benefit by the amount of tress saved.
Do any of you know the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana? Would you like to? The purpose of this speech is to explain the differences in marijuana and industrial hemp, and to show the need to reform the present hemp laws in the United States in order to make hemp available for industrial purposes. The hemp plant shows its unique versatility by having many uses in industry and hemp has many distinct benefits over its counterpart in industry today. The usage of hemp would result in cleaner and more efficient industry. I will first discuss the differences between hemp and marijuana to avoid confusion, and then state the many ways that industrial hemp can help our economy such as; the use for fiber, the use in foods, and
One of the first things about marijuana history that the American public still doesn 't understand is that cannabis, was once very legal to grow in the United States. In fact, up until 1883 it was one of the largest agricultural crops in the world, including America.(The Union) But it wasn’t grown for the psychoactive plant cannabis sativa. Cannabis hemp, which carries a fraction of the amount of THC, (the compound in marijuana that attributes to the high feeling) was and is used all over the world, producing the overall majority of Earth’s fiber, fabric, paper, and medicines.(Herer,20) Hemp has a deep American History as well, from the gardens of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to the 8,327 American hemp plantations counted in the 1850 census.(Herer,15) Yet the Federal government now recognizes cannabis as a Schedule I drug with no medical value, and 23 States have legalized cannabis for medicinal use. (The Union) Even though some western states such as Oregon and Colorado are making legal changes to marijuana policy at the state level, the most beneficial marijuana law we could pass is and always has been the Nationwide legalization of industrial Cannabis Hemp.
On October 1, 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was enacted and it prohibited all forms of cannabis sativa. Although the bill was targeted towards the banning of marijuana and both forms of cannabis on separate ends of the sativa spectrum, there was no specification on which form was directed for the ban. Thus both were prohibited from being grown in the United States of America. In November of 2016, marijuana officially became legal to grow in all fifty states, yet industrial hemp is still currently legal to be grown in 13 states within the USA. Hemp is largely exported to the US from other countries. It is imperative that hemp becomes legal to be grown around the entire country, for hemp will help retain the USA’s revenue by using hemp grown in America, has can be used for many different purposes such as clothing or food for example, has the potential to reduce American citizen’s carbon footprint as a substitute for paper and gasoline, and has no major threat to the industrialization of hemp in factories.
Opening dispensaries to legally sell the marijuana to customers would create thousands of jobs to help with the current economic crisis. The dispensaries have to hire people to help with the growing process and to sell the marijuana in the dispensaries. Legalizing marijuana would also create jobs for the people who grow, process and sell industrial hemp. It would create jobs at farms, manufacturing plants and distribution shops. It creates a whole new industry, therefore creating jobs in every part of the industry.
My step dad had a pair of hemp jeans in high school. They lasted him over 10 years, until he got too big to fit them anymore. He gave them to a friend who still wears those pants made of hemp. Cotton is much more difficult to grow than hemp because cotton is addicted to chemical elixirs. It requires a lot of artificial fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides for it to be able to grow well. When cotton is ripe, the leaves have to be knocked off with defoliants before the bolls can be harvested. Hemp is by far a much better alternative to grow. It does not require any herbicides and it actually cleanses the land instead of depleting it of nutrients. Making paper from hemp is far more economical and environmentally friendly than making paper from trees. Wood-based paper pulp is brown from the cooking process thus requiring it to be bleached which releases toxins into the environment. Hemp paper is naturally bright with no bleaching necessary. The nation could reduce unsustainable logging if American farmers were allowed to grow hemp which produces twice as much fiber per acre as an average forest. Hemp is a clean, renewable option that can replace virtually all products made with non-renewable hydrocarbons like oil and coal (Williams).
Hemp has so many uses and positive attributes that it could be considered a “super plant” the same way pomegranates are a “superfood”. But, rather than figure out a way (not hard) to implement production in America and generate organic growth, literally and figuratively, the push to legalize hemp production remains
Imagine a miracle plant with the ability to cure cancer, feed communities, power cars, and build homes. Now imagine that plant being illegal. This is the case with the hemp plant. A subtype of Cannabis Sativa, hemp was at one point the major cash crop of America where “it was used in sails, rope, clothing, paper and other items.”(Schneider). Despite the fact that hemp contains very minute traces of THC, the chemical found in marijuana that induces psychoactive effects, it is oftentimes confused with marijuana, another subtype of Cannabis Sativa. Some hemp supporters chalk up the ban on hemp to the fact that “many policymakers believe that by legalizing hemp they are legalizing marijuana, which is not true.” (Yonovka). The federal ban on hemp should be removed because it is an incredible food source, can be used to replace non-renewable resources, and has unparalleled medical uses.
As shops for recreational and medical Marijuana open, more purchases of the product will be made which impacts the tax revenue. An example would be Colorado (a state that legalizes Marijuana) where “In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana” (Krishna, 2017). Arcview Market Research also predicts that “Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021”. The legalization of Marijuana will also provide many job opportunities since a variety of different jobs will be needed that relate to Marijuana. Investopedia.Com states “A RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect, and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion”. Another way legalizing Marijuana would impact the economy positively is that the government can save money spent on enforcing the law of Marijuana being illegal. Huffington post states “Inmates incarcerated on marijuana-related charges cost U.S. prisons $1 billion annually, according to a 2007 study, AlterNet reports.” and “The government would save an estimated $13.7 billion on prohibition enforcement costs and tax revenue by legalizing marijuana”.This low risk substance saves the economy a lot of money and support it
There are many ways that marijuana would benefit the economy if legalized. An economy benefits when there is a healthy flow of monies within. This means internal spending by citizens on items of their choice. Citizen spending is what keeps the economy going. The use of citizen?s tax money would also be greatly affected. Tax money would be allocated more properly and used in more strategic ways. The taxation of items such as legalized marijuana brings a flow of money into the economy that would otherwise not be there. This increase of government funds would allocate more money to federal programs that are in financial need. Federal programs include public education, health education, treatment programs, etc. When the public?s way of
Throughout American history our country has come to rely on many different natural resources. With technology and the population increasing, the number of fossil fuel reserves and natural forests are going down. What America needs is a renewable source of fuels and fibers that will meet the growing needs of the future, but will not damage our environment. One of the most promising sources of fiber, fuel, and natural oil is hemp. Hemp, also known as Cannabis Sativa L, has been used in our country since the early 17th century (Schreiber 160). Although hemp is considered an illegal drug, many people forget that it is a part of our country’s history. Despite its negative connotations, hemp has the potential to revolutionize the paper,