As more and more states continue to legalize marijuana, the drug remains illegal on a federal level. However, as laws continue to become more confused around the nation and black-market sellers keep capitalizing on criminal laws, it seems to be clearer every day that federal legalization of marijuana is absolutely necessary.
As of December of 2018, hemp was made legal in the United States.Unfortunately, law enforcement currently has no way to determine the difference between marijuana and hemp. The two look and smell exactly alike, with the only difference being that hemp contains almost no THC, the ingredient in marijuana that gets a person high. This is a huge problem. Without any real way to test for THC, innocent people are being charged with marijuana possession when really, they were only in possession of a legal substance.
The other major problem with marijuana prohibition in the United States is that it is actually causing people to become sick. At the same time the government continues to insist that marijuana will remain illegal on a federal level, vaping has become increasingly popular. Sellers on the black market have taken advantage of this, selling cannabis oil for vaporizers that is impure and contains extremely harmful ingredients. Without any kind of regulation, more people will continue to become sick.
“These are just two of the reasons it is important to legalize marijuana on a federal level,” says attorney Douglas Leifert of Leifert & Leifert. “There are also all the reasons that have been argued in the past. Prohibition targets communities of color and low-income individuals. It places a huge burden on law enforcement, and prevents police from focusing on much more serious crimes, such as violent offenses.”
These reasons are all good, but there are so many more, as well. Prohibition strips people of individual choice, and the plant is no more harmful to a person than alcohol or tobacco. Of course, individuals that use marijuana in a medicinal capacity could also receive their medicine without fear of prosecution if the federal ban was lifted.
With so many reasons for marijuana legalization, one can only wonder why Congress and the federal government have not yet made any steps towards it.
Hemant Kumar is a project manager at Tridindia with more than nine years of commendable experience in writing about LMS, translation, and IT. His unmatched talent and passion for digital marketing gave him the opportunity to work as a multi-tasking project manager at TridIndia’s sister company, Link Building Corp. Today, he contributes to the world by imparting knowledge on SEO, link building and internet marketing etc., that helps business owners grow their online business.