Legalized marijuana movement has demonstrated an incredible growth in the recent years. Gone are the days when policy makers freely avoided the issue of voting to legalize marijuana and the effort by the legalization movement was largely unsuccessful. As of June 2018, 29 states have broadly legalized medical marijuana, and more are rigorously debating the same issue.

While the federal government still considers cannabis as an illegal drug, and really only 8 states and Washington DC have legislation that fully legalized recreational marijuana, the movement is growing and gaining momentum.

It is driven by a large community of activists, entrepreneurs, and organizations advocating for the legalization of cannabis for the benefit all stakeholders involved. The list of the largest organizations includes:

• National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

• National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)

• Marijuana Majority

• Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)

Each of these organizations has thousands of members and supporters throughout the U.S. that essentially are policy change agents. Are you considering joining them? Well, here’s why you should.  

Reason #1: The Majority of Americans Support It

According to a recent survey by Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans believe that marijuana should be made legal for medical purposes. And for good reasons!

Medical Benefits

While the research into this field is still ongoing, there are a number the medical conditions medical marijuana is known to help with so far.

They present excellent reasons for you to join the cannabis movement as well:

Reason #2: Cannabis helps to alleviate chronic pain

Reason #3: Cannabis is effective for nausea prevention in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

Reason #4: Cannabis can effectively treat muscle problems

Reason #5: Cannabis improves quality of sleep in insomnia patients

Reason #6: Cannabis cures glaucoma

Reason #7: Cannabis treatment reduces severe epileptic seizures

Reason #8: Cannabis treats anxiety and depression

There’s also some evidence that marijuana can ease the pain of multiple sclerosis, slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, stop cancer from spreading (in cell structures), and lessen side effects from treating a number of other serious diseases.

Undoubtedly, joining the marijuana movement would help to facilitate the effort to legalize the medical use of the drug and endorse more research.

Economic Benefits

Reason #9: Tax Revenues

The economic effect of marijuana is astonishing in states where it’s legalized, so it could potentially bring sizable profits to local budgets throughout the U.S. For example, Market Watch wrote that Colorado received $200 million in tax revenue from cannabis in 2016, which even surpassed the usual tax revenue leaders such as alcohol!

This money is just the tip of the iceberg,” Market Watch quoted Mason Tvert, MPP’s communication director, as saying. “Hopefully this will be a wake-up call for the 42 states that still choose to force marijuana sales into the criminal market.”

Surely, on the national scale, the profits from the legal marijuana industry could be hundreds of billions of dollars. The products offered at legal dispensaries range widely from conventional flowers to products like hash oil and detox kits that allow to pass urine drug test are becoming more popular among medicinal users, which means more taxes.

Reason #10: More Jobs

In addition to providing sizable contributions to local budgets, the legal cannabis industry is also posting eye-popping job growth numbers. In 2017, there were 230,000 Americans working in the industry, but the number is surely much higher now.

According to a well-known online recruiting service ZipRecruiter, the total number of marijuana industry jobs increased by 445 percent in 2017. That’s huge! So the statement that marijuana can help with reducing unemployment doesn’t sound so weird at all.

More Benefits

Reason #11: Protection of the Interest of Marijuana Users

There are thousands of people with various health conditions out there needing to use marijuana on a regular basis to reduce symptoms, alleviate pain, and improve the quality of their lives. This is certainly worth standing up for.

Reason #12: Promote Replacement of Alcohol with Marijuana

There are many reasons for this. For example, excessive drinking leads to more than 80,000 deaths and 2.5 million years of potential life lost in the U.S. between 2006 and 2010, according to CDC.

On the other hand, there are no official reports of deaths from marijuana overdoses.

Reason #13: Marijuana Improves Social Life

Marijuana helps many people battle various mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and even personality disorders. By reducing the impact of these issues, it positively impacts one’s social skills and overall life satisfaction.

Reason #14: Marijuana Can Spur Creativity

In addition to the aforementioned positive mental effects, cannabis can greatly enhance creativity if smoked moderately. The reason for this amazing benefit is the release of dopamine in the brain, which allows to be much more relaxed and focused.

Reason #15: Marijuana Can Help Veterans Experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD)

PTSD is common among veterans, and marijuana can be one of the tools to help them cope, according to Psychology Today. For example, one study found that subjects using cannabis reported a decrease in re-experiencing the trauma and a decline in hyper-arousal.

How Can You Help The Movement?

If these reasons sound good to you and you think it’s time to check out the ways how you can help the cannabis movement, read on. There are various ways in which you can do this, including:

Following organizations and communities advocating for cannabis

Most organizations have Facebook pages and websites where you can get information about them and become a supporter or a member.

Facebook page of Marijuana Policy Project

Facebook page of NORML

Facebook page of NCIA

Oregon Cannabis Association – website

Oregon NORML –website

Also:

Become a member of Americans for Safe Access (an organization advocating for cannabis patients and cannabis medical research).

Check out upcoming conferences at Cannabis Business Times

2018 cannabis conferences and expos at Marijuana Doctors

Kathrin Garner

Kathrin Garner is an enthusiastic journalist and writes article on social issues. As an activist, she takes part in NCSM program, which is a discussion platform on the relevant cannabis topics. She searches for current issues, and writes about it to a wide range of readers.