Ask Pardes 5: Cannabis/Marijuana Legalization
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): PardesSeleh.com
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2017/10/25
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You had some thoughts on marijuana/cannabis legalization. What are your thoughts marijuana/cannabis legalization?
Pardes Seleh: I think it’s only a matter of time before it becomes legal in America the way alcohol is. It is only a social stigma that makes it so marijuana isn’t legal where alcohol is legal and, in fact, more damaging and a worse potential addiction than cannabis is.
The only reason cannabis is stigmatized more is that there has been less research done on cannabis. People know less about it. If it were fully legalized, more research could be done. More could be known about it. Just as the symptoms are not as crazy as the symptoms of alcoholism, I am confident that it will be as the research coming out will confirm that it is not as harmful as alcohol.
With legalization, it will not be a fringe substance used by people on the street like crack addicts. It can be used as a natural alternative to harmful chemicals. There are benefits.
The substance itself will not be the thing to improve society, but legalizing it can help. Bringing it out of the black market will be great for capitalism. It is, right now, something often only drug lords have access too. It is associated with crime and manipulating trade with other human beings.
In places where it is legal, only a handful of growers are licensed to sell. It makes it so that they have a monopoly over other people. It is damaging to the industry. There is a cap for which it can help boost the economy.
I think when you legalize it, a few things will happen:
It will be taken out of the black market.
It can be used as an alternative to harmful substances. One with fewer catastrophic effects. It can help boost the economy.
As an aside, not as a reason for legalization, but as an aside, it can shift the culture and the way things are seen. Instead of going to bars and drinking alcohol, people will smoke weed. It sounds outlandish. It sounds crazy. Think about it, we only think about street thugs smoking weed. But it is not a violence-inducing substance like alcohol is. What better way to reduce bar fights and nightlife, especially in DC? Every other night someone is getting hurt, going to the hospital. What, instead of a bar fight and drinking people, is better than just smoking weed?
Obviously, everything in excess is bad. But when you allow all of the options to be there, the better ones can shift to the front.
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