By Liam Worcheck As the positive outlook on cannabis spreads across the nation, new policy follows. In November, nine states voted on cannabis reform laws, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada and North Dakota. Having the vast majority of states actually pass these new policies, the country and its mindset seem to be moving in the right direction. However, the population also seems to not want to look at the negative effects that states like Colorado have experienced. The reform varied from simple medicinal legalization to recreational legalization. The medicinal aspects of marijuana (the smokable strain of cannabis) are undeniable, so much so that it is pointless to dwell on this beyond providing a summary of the countless studies that show its medicinal benefits. According to studies listed by ProCon.org, conditions that experienced positive effects with the use of cannabis and its extracts include ALS, bipolar disorder, cancer, HIV/AIDS, sclerosis, and PTSD. Those, along with others unmentioned, added up to a 68.3% rate of Marijuana helping patients, 23.3% being neutral, and 8.3% harming the patients. Some positive effects of the legalization of cannabis have gone unseen, for the most part. These can include an increased production of hemp (a low THC strain of cannabis) products, ranging from flame retardant bricks to biodegradable hemp plastic, increased positive activity in local economies, and decreases in crime rates. Colorado experienced a 10.1% decrease in overall crime and a 5.2% decrease in violent crime only 8 months after legalizing marijuana. Other states, including Washington, experienced an overall decrease in only violent crime. However, many unforeseen side effects need to be dealt with before such a large scale Drug Law reform takes place. Colorado voters believed that promoting a system that “regulates marijuana like alcohol” would be an effective enough method since we have fine tuned said system for nearly a century. This oversimplification had many repercussions for the people of Colorado. The Colorado Department of Revenue was overwhelmed, and many policies went overlooked, leading to agricultural problems. These included issues with pesticides and cannabis farms impacting other crops. The confusion amongst the heavily agricultural-dependent economy of Colorado led to a panic and unhealthy growing practices. Many are eager for a full blown legalization of marijuana across the entire U.S. However, it may be logical to observe not only the positive effects the legalization has on places like Colorado, but the negative effects as well and adjust our course as a nation properly. If you would like more information regarding the legalization of marijuana around the United States, check out these following websites: http://www.newsweek.com/unexpected-side-effects-legalizing-weed-339931 http://www.nber.org/digest/oct14/w20085.html http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000884 http://www.newsweek.com/state-marijuana-legalization-initiatives-518747 http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/07/marijuana-legalization-washington-state-one-year-status-report
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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