BENEFITS TO LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA. BRIEF HISTORY Consumed for at least 5000 yrs. ( Marijuana:...
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Transcript of BENEFITS TO LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA. BRIEF HISTORY Consumed for at least 5000 yrs. ( Marijuana:...
BRIEF HISTORY
• Consumed for at least 5000 yrs.
(Marijuana: The Facts)
• Spaniards Imported Cannabis to
Chile for its use as fiber.
• American production was
encouraged by the government in the
17th century for the production of
rope, clothing and paper.
WHY PROHIBITION?
• Early studies prematurely linked
Marijuana use with violence.
• 1931, 29 States Outlawed
• 1937, Marijuana Tax Act Passed
MEDICINAL USES
• Pain Relief– Neuropathic
• Nausea
• Spasticity– Muscle Tightness
• Appetite Stimulant
• Seizures
MEDICINAL USES
Charlottes Web• A strain of Marijuana specifically
grown to treat epileptic seizures • Effectively reduced seizures by
50%
COUNTER CLAIM• Smoking causes cancer (cancerresearchuk.org)
– True
• Marijuana smoke contains 50 of the
same carcinogens as tobacco (cancerresearchuk.org)– True
• Similar relief from prescriptions
that mimic Marijuana
REBUTTAL
• Methods (ProCon.org)– Butter/Cooking Oil– Tinctures & Tonics– Vaporizer– Oil
• Carcinogens (Marijuana: The Facts)– Concentrations were lower by as
much as 73%
REBUTTAL CONT.
• Marinol (Joy)– Side effects
• Muscle Pain• Stomach Pain• Diarrhea• Vomiting • Nausea
TAX REVENUE
• COLORADO– $43 Million / 2015– ≈ $243 Million / 2017– ≈ $415 Million / 2019
• WASHINGTON– ≈ $51 Million / 2016 (CORTE)
• TEXAS– ≈$166 Milllion /First yr.
LAND OF THE FREE?
• The U.S. has the largest prison population in the world (Flatow)
• In 2013 1.5 Million inmates (Flatow)
• More than half related to drug crimes (Flatow)
PRISON POPULATION
• Texas has the nation’s largest prison population (Evans)
• Houses 156,000 prisoners (Evans)
• Ranked #4 in prisoners per capita (Evans)
• Leader in marijuana possession arrests, 74,286 (Evans)
COST
• 1 arrest every 42 sec (Carter)
• Each marijuana arrest cost tax payer an estimated $10,000 (Carter)
• $1.38/h per tax payer
• $12,088.80/yr
PRISON POPULATION RELIEF
• Smarter Sentencing Act (H.R. 3382)– Reduce prison population– Reduced prison cost by $4 Billion
• ≈ $7.8 billion in savings (Flatow)
• Imagine what full blown legalization could do!
CALL TO ACTION!
– Think Progress
– Visit• http://txmjpolicy.org
– Email • [email protected]
– Call• 512-380-1409
CITATIONS• Corte, Rachel. “Legal Pot in Washington Bringing in Even
More Tax Revenue Than Predicted.” Huffingtonpost.com.
Huffington Post. 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• Joy, Janet. “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the
Science Base.” Institute of Medicine. Mar (1999):
1-170. Print.
• “Marijuana: The Facts.” drugpolicy.org. Drug Policy
Alliance. 25 July 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• “What Are the Non-smoked Ways to Use Marijuana
Medically?” ProCon.org. 2004. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• “Does smoking cannabis cause cancer?” CancerResearchUK.org.• 18 April 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• Flatow, Nicole. “The United States has the Largest Prison Population in
the World – and it’s Growing” thinkprogess.org. 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• Carter, Stephen. “More People Arrested for Marijuana Than Violent Crime” txcann.com.
17 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
• H.R. 3382, 113th Cong., 1-7 (2013) (enacted). Print.