11/03/2016
A little long, but I hope you find it an interesting read...
Why is Cannabis a bad thing?
During this election, one of the issues with a defining line in the sand has been cannabis legalization. Legislators and people on the right say it’s a bad thing, while others on the left say it’s great. Both sides will indicate that the reports say positive or negative effects have occurred in States where it has been legalized. The problem with reports is that if you pay someone enough, they can and will write anything you want to hear.
A few weeks ago, I had a tour of LeafLine Labs, a facility here in Minnesota that produces cannabis used for medicinal purposes. Prior to this tour, I thought I knew a lot about cannabis. I learned a whole lot more that day. The effects of the CBD (cannabidiol – one of the many chemicals produced from cannabis for medicinal purposes) are incredible. There are so many medical concerns that have been proven to be resolved with the use of medical cannabis. But currently Minnesota is running at less than 25% capacity of what it could be. So many other ailments aren’t even on the list of issues it can be used to help or even cure. And that is just one use of this natural plant. We haven’t even talked about the other industrial uses for it. The hemp produced from the plant can be used for a multitude of items like rope, clothing, even paper! Seemingly this plant is able to be used in its entirety for something.
Yet “reports” indicate that it is a gateway drug. Somehow I feel that these reports are shams (see my above comment) to scare ultra-conservative people into seeing the Devil. And many of those same persons are sipping wine, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes (not all conservatives drink and smoke, so don’t misunderstand what I'm trying to say please). But there are too many people today dependent on a multitude of medications. Why? Because several of the medications they are using actually counteract each other. So we continue to poison our bodies with manufactured chemicals.
I had one candidate the other day talk about addiction with a family member. And he was adamant it was from marijuana. But in the same breath, mentioned synthetic cannabis. Therein lies the issue. It’s not the natural cannabis, it was the manufactured cannabis. Someone with bad intentions tweaked their product with other addictive chemicals. So we’re no longer talking about apples and apples.
Expansion of medical cannabis has way more benefits than negative issues. So why aren’t we working on expanding it? Can you imagine how much money big pharmaceutical companies would lose? Someone said on a National television show this year, “if you want to find the problem, follow the money.” It cannot be said any truer. While the common man is poisoning his body with chemicals, the makers of these chemicals continue to rake in more and more money.
Legalizing cannabis even for recreational consumption would turn out to be a bigger benefit for Minnesota and the U.S. Decriminalizing it virtually eliminates many of the social problems we se today. It also allows our law enforcement agencies to focus on other more pressing issues. Our DEA can focus on the cocaine and heroin issues coming into the Country. We can open our prisons up to the rapists and murderers instead of letting them off with probation. We discuss prison overpopulation. That can be eliminated with decriminalization. And once again, we come “to follow the money”. Private prison systems are run like businesses. How do businesses make money? With customers. So they need to get as many “customers” into their business as possible to make money for their shareholders. Not all prisons are privately owned. But because we cant have two versions of prison requirements, one for State run and another for private run prisons, they keep rules the same.
But we keep alcohol and cigarettes legal. Both of which have been proven to kill hundreds of thousands of people annually. You cannot find those same reports with cannabis. Someone said that smokers of cannabis smell bad. Last time I checked, so do alcohol drinkers and smokers. Heck when I was bartending, I stunk so bad every night, from the second-hand smoke. We can keep similar rules for cannabis when its legal (i.e. outside smoking areas, not around kids, 21 and older, smoke bars, etc)
So tell me again why cannabis is a bad thing?
