Introduction
While the Presidential race in November 2020 got the most extensive coverage, numerous other crucial decisions were taken at the elections, including votes in various states to decide the status of the legalized marijuana sector in some form or another. Several states in America have approved the use of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes. More states are considering legalizing cannabis for medical, commercial, or both purposes, and the influence is already enormous. The new laws have generated a flourishing economy of authorized marijuana businesses, including those who seek to study and produce cannabis-based medicinal treatments and those who retail and cultivate cannabis. Marijuana should be legalized for adults in Ohio to offer them financial advancement and recreational benefits.
Boost Ohio’s Economy and Create Jobs
While the initial states have commenced to change their legal perspectives, the financial advantages of decriminalizing cannabis have already been evident. Therefore, decriminalizing cannabis might provide a considerable boost to Ohio’s economy and financial benefits to federal and state governments as well as individuals who participate in the marijuana industry. Cannabis legalization will bring extra revenue into the state and offer additional employment prospects for Ohioans. The overall sales of legal cannabis in the United States in 2019 were estimated to be around twelve billion dollars (Dills et al. 7). About eleven states have authorized cannabis for recreational usage, with marijuana businesses in Massachusetts claiming sales figures of more than three hundred million dollars.
When Ohio decides to support medicinal cannabis, the initial move would be to establish cannabis greenhouses and retailers. This will create jobs and prompt economic development in the local cannabis industry. The financial impact of such equipment in states like Nevada and California, where it currently exists, has become more quantifiable as the industry has progressed. As per a recent study, anticipating the influence of federally legalized cannabis, over a million jobs might be created countrywide by 2025 (Dills et al. 23). These job opportunities would most probably be established by a swiftly growing sector that would build up throughout the United States. Activities such as cultivating, handling, transporting, and transacting marijuana-based commodities will require employees. Furthermore, supplementary quarters are tied to lawful marijuana, but are not actively engaged in its processing and transportation, would have a slew of chances. Software engineers, economical services, and building enterprises are examples of them.
Health Benefits to Citizens in Ohio
Cannabis has been found to help those who are suffering from medical conditions. Chronic illness conditions, including osteoarthritis, neuropathy, and headaches, have been treated with medicinal cannabis. While cannabis is widely used, the Food and Drug Administration has only licensed it to diagnose some unregular and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndrome (Briscoe & Casarett 862). Cannabinoids, the essential ingredients in medicinal cannabis, are related to hormones that regulate hunger, cognition, mobility, and discomfort in the body. Instead of the discomfort caused by these illnesses, cannabinoids change sensitivity channels in the nervous system and provide pleasurable experiences.
Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have long declared that marijuana mitigates their symptoms. Hypervigilance, separation from colleagues, panic attacks, overpowering emotions, nightmares, and self-harm behavior are symptoms of this deadly disorder. Cannabis may be beneficial to veterans and those who have PTSD in Ohio. PTSD compels trauma sufferers to recall their experiences via panic and anxiety episodes or images of the terrible incident. Marijuana might benefit these folks by activating the CB1 receptor and the endocannabinoid network in their neurons (Briscoe & Casarett 863). It assists these folks in dealing with their trauma in a healthy way by activating these receptors and systems.
Improve Law Enforcement Resources and Reduce Crime
Law enforcement has tremendous hurdles as the number of murders and criminal activities rise across the country. It seems to explain that those police agencies devoid of cannabis prosecutions will be able to dedicate additional personnel to severe offenses. Legalizing marijuana has corresponded with increasing violence discharge percentages in multiple areas. Therefore, suggesting that legalizing cannabis may contribute to an accumulative positive relocation of security services human resource distribution (Dragone et al. 490). In addition, the criminal prosecution system is processing fewer people for misdemeanor cannabis possession crimes. Medicinal cannabis legislation eventually leads to considerable decreases in violent and destructive crime levels.
Ending Racial Disparities in Cannabis Enforcement
The aggressive campaign for marijuana regulations has recently overloaded the criminal prosecution process, and American citizens in Ohio are covering the charge. The excessive majority of drug prosecutions, more than half of these for cannabis usage, cost the state of Ohio millions of dollars to handle. The substantial ethnic disparities in incarceration figures are arguably more shocking. While both Caucasians and Black Americans use marijuana at similar rates, Black persons are roughly five times more likely to be imprisoned for possessing the drug. Federal and state governments have systematically executed cannabis laws targeting African Americans and communities of color, resulting in the unnecessary incarceration of hundreds of individuals at high social and fiscal costs (Dills et al. 28). Current marijuana regulations are ineffectual and disproportionately harmful to communities of color.
Cannabis Is the Safest Recreational Drug
Cannabis is a hundred times less lethal than cigarettes and alcohol combined. Liquor was the most lethal of the six substances studied on an interpersonal basis, followed by morphine, cocaine, cigarettes, ecstasy, and cannabis. Previous research has continuously placed cannabis as the cleanest recreational substance, but the disparity was unknown at the time. The scientists calculated the probability of death by contrasting a deadly dosage of every chemical with the usual dosage (Dills et al. 32). Not only was cannabis the least lethal of the substances studied, but the difference between fatal and standard dosages was so significant that it was categorized as the sole substance with a minimal death risk. All of the others were given a medium and high rating.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the benefits of legalizing marijuana override its shortcomings, and Ohio should consider allowing cannabis for adults in the region. A well-organized structure that will cultivate and sell cannabis-based products in Ohio would produce more incredible financial growth in the state’s economy. Legalizing marijuana creates direct and indirect job opportunities in the industry. The health benefits associated with cannabis have been scientifically proven and work effectively in reducing chronic pains. Decriminalizing marijuana directs the police resources used to prosecute offenders of cannabis possession to more severe cases like homicides. Marijuana is the safest recreational drug compared to alcohol, heroin and tobacco. The advantages cannabis offers to individuals and society are immense, and nations should consider voting in favor of the marijuana plant.
Works Cited
Briscoe, Joshua, & Casarett, David. “Medical Marijuana Uses in Older Adults.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol. 66, no. 5, 2018, pp. 859-863. Web.
Dills, Angela, Goffard, Sietse, Miron, Jeffrey, & Partin, Erin. “The Effect of State Marijuana Legalization.” Journal of Policy Analysis, vol. 90, no. 8, 2021, pp. 2-36. Web.
Dragone, Davide, Prarolom Giovanni, Vanin, Paolo, & Zanella, Giulio. “Crime And the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 159, no. 2, 2019, pp. 488-501. Web.