Mitzy Ocampo

Life, Society and Drugs

Okony K. Cham
10 November, 2019
Looking at Cannabis
At this very moment the United States of America stands divided on the use of cannabis,

both medicinal and recreational. Out of the 50 states, 35 states (if you include the U.S. territory

of Puerto Rico) has legalized medical marijuana. Each state setting its own guidelines and laws

around it. Out of the 50 states, only ten have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. More

than half of the U.S. has accepted some sort of marijuana use, following in the steps of other

countries such as Uruguay and Canada. Legalization of marijuana has not only made a difference

in the economy of these counties, but also changed the way it is produced, what it is used for and

how it is consumed.

In 2013, Uruguay was the first country to legalize recreational use of marijuana and

personal cultivation. First the consumer must be at least 18 years of age and be registered to

“Institute for Regulation and Control of Cannabis”(Cruz, 2018). The country did a survey in

2014, what they found was those from the age of 15 to 65 year old 9 percent. That makes around

161,000 people in that age range had reported the use of marijuana in the last twelve months. In

2014, a group survey of 1500 people, 77 percent reported that they had never used marijuana. By

2017, 53 percent reported they had used marijuana in the past. “In 2014 and 2017, more than

62% who had used cannabis before supported the marijuana policy; in contrast, fewer than 33%

of people who never consumed marijuana supported the policy in both surveys”(Cruz, 2018).

Thus the data may be skewed due to personal opinion and experience with marijuana in the

population that was used in the survey.

In 2018, Canada legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults 18 years and older,

though the Canadian Medical Association recommend to have the age set at 21 years of age, due
to the brain still developing at 18 years of age (Paul, 2018). The “Canadian federal and

provincial governments raked in $186 million in tax revenue from the sale of cannabis in the first

five and a half months following legalization, according to new Statistics Canada

data…”(Subramaniam, 2019). As of 2019, the tax revenue was totalling $79.1 million canadian

dollars and is still on the rise increasing every year.

In 2014, the state of Colorado legalized marijuana. ‘In 2015, marijuana sales in Colorado

almost reached the billion dollar mark, while in Washington State the sales reached 257 million

dollars” (Goltz, 2016). The taxation on the sale of marijuana in Colorado, is broken up into 4

separate taxes. The first one is up to 15 percent and is collected by the state. An example of what

is done with that money is, as of “ ...January 2014. The first forty million dollars of annual

revenues collected from the excise tax is allocated to the Public School Capital Construction

Assistance Fund” (Goltz, 2016). As for the state of Washington, “... with revenues allocated

between a number of specific programs, including youth drug use prevention, healthcare,

marijuana public health education, and program administration, evaluation, and research”(Goltz,

2016).

Canada and the United States share a border and for some states the legalization of

recreational marijuana. Due to the open legalization market for marijuana in Canada many

american cannabis companies are moving their production to Canada. When it was legalized the

Cannabis Act was put into place to protect public health and safety. At the end of the day each

province in Canada has the general laws and then it varies from province to province. The same

as the United States, each state has its own laws on production and distribution. While

cultivation in Canada may be easier, returning the overall product to more than one state comes

with its own challenges.

 The legalization of marijuana has lead to a considerable profit. While businesses are

making large profits as well as the states/countries, the users are also benefiting. Users are

consuming cannabis by smoking it through various methods, vaporization, eating foods with

cannabis oil, baked goods, drinking it in teas, taking it as CBD oil, taking pills and sprays. Most

popular method of use is smoking, though it does do more harm to the body than other methods

due to the inhalation of smoke.

Recreational use of marijuana is mainly used for the relaxation, euphoric feeling it gives

users, used in social situations, and is not needed to help the user function normally throughout

the day. The medicinal use of marijuana varies by condition, it is used for chronic pain, cancer

patients going through chemotherapy, mental illness, eating disorders, seizures and the list

continues as more research is done on medical marijuana. It has been shown that it increases

appetite, reduces pain and reduces nausea. “On March 17, the US Institute of Medicine (IOM)

said that smoking marijuana has benefits for the terminally ill, and recommended immediate

development of an inhalation device to provide a safe alternative for those who needed the

drug”(Ault, 1999). Since the late 90’s there has been little research has been done on the

potential of medical marijuana and that is due to it being a schedule one drug. Once it is

recognized by the DEA as medicinal more research can be done. There are currently studies from

use of marijuana for post traumatic stress, parkinson's disease, epilepsy, using as a substitute for

opioids, and cancer.

Cannabis is slowly on the rise in the United States and has been in other countries. It has

boosted the economy in areas where it has been legalized. New consumption methods have been

explored to lessen the harm to the users such as eating foods with CBD or THC oils instead of

smoking. Marijuana is more than a social experience, it has been shown to better the quality of
life for those who use it medically from either helping with chronic pain, decreasing seizures,

helping recover from eating disorders and the list goes on.
 Work Cited
Ault, Alicia. “Institute of Medicine Says Marijuana Has Benefits.” Lancet, vol. 353, no. 9158,
Mar. 1999, p. 1077. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)76443-6.

Cruz, José Miguel, et al. “The Status of Support for Cannabis Regulation in Uruguay 4 Years
after Reform: Evidence from Public Opinion Surveys.” Drug & Alcohol Review, vol. 37, Apr.
2018, pp. S429–S434. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/dar.12642.

Goltz, Nachshon, and Ekaterina Bogdanov. “Lessons from Washington and Colorado: The
Potential Financial Gains of Recreational Marijuana to Canada.” Canada-United States Law
Journal, vol. 40, no. 1, Jan. 2016, pp. 126–139. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=118906335&site=ehost-live.

Hunt, Danielle, and Vanessa Williams-Hall. “A Tale of Two Countries: Does Canada’s
Legalization of Cannabis Give It the First Mover Advantage in Franchising?” Franchise Law
Journal, vol. 39, no. 1, Summer 2019, pp. 55–80. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=139320794&site=ehost-live.

Paul, Braedon R. “Cannabis in Canada: What the Upcoming Legalization of One of Canada’s
Most Popular Drugs Means for Young People.” UBC Medical Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, Spring
2018, pp. 40–41. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=128404257&site=ehost-live.

Subramaniam, Vanmala. “Canadian Governments Raked in $186 Million in Taxes on Cannabis

Trade in First Five Months of Legalization.” Financial Post, 19 June 2019,
business.financialpost.com/cannabis/cannabis-business/governments-raked-in-186-million-in-
taxes-on-cannabis-trade-in-first-five-months-of-legalization.