Due to legalization efforts, cannabis use has become widespread and more socially accepted. Every third American lives in a state where the use of cannabis is completely legal.
Majority of states have made cannabis legal for medical purposes, with more to come. As history has shown, this was not always the case.
On 27 October 1970, then-President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act, which is still the basis of U.S. drug policy today.
Marijuana was classified under schedule 1, i.e., in a group of drugs which were considered to have the highest risk for abuse with the least medical benefit. This had very little scientific basis and was purely driven by a political agenda.
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or blacks, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing them both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.”John Ehrlichman,
Nixon’s Chief Adviser, quoted in 1994
“Did we know we were lying about theJohn Ehrlichman,
drugs? Of course we did.”
Nixon’s Chief Adviser, quoted in 1994
As more U.S. citizens were being imprisoned for non-violent drug law offenses, private prisons started selling their services to federal and state governments.
This service was obviously most profitable when the prisons were full. The number of prisoners in private institutions has only increased in the last decade.
A change in citizens’ attitude towards cannabis came about as cannabis became profitable. Not only for the private sector but also for those states that have already legalized cannabis and taxed its trade.
With further legal relaxations, the industry will continue to flourish.
One of the many benefits of cannabis is its potential in the health industry.
Amidst the opioid crisis in the U.S., health experts see easier access to cannabis as an alternative to painkillers and heroin. This shows great potential for improving quality of life.