Why Should Cannabis Be Legalized?

There has undoubtedly been a longstanding debate since the prohibition of marijuana in the early 20th century as to whether or not cannabis should be legalized. In the present day, the support for the legalization of the substance has been extremely overwhelming in places like the U.S. and Canada, but many still ask the question as to why it should be legalized.

The biggest example of this and why it hits so hard in the current day is the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada that went into effect on October 17th. Although this was a highly anticipated event, it once again brought up the question as to why it needs to be legalized on such a large scale. The legalization by Canada has done more than just allow the use of cannabis for individuals who want to get high, but rather it has created a large scale test case for how legal measures can explore new economies and methods of cannabis use and production.

One of the primary reasons that the country decided to put the legislation in place aside from the massive economic benefit, is the conviction rate of individuals for possessing cannabis. The new laws make it easier for Canadians who have been convicted in the past for small marijuana-related infractions, to have a chance at moving it off of their record. The Government stated recently that they would begin to end the five-year waiting process to apply for a pardon, as well as taking off the massive fee that comes with the application process. Of course, this seems more than fair now, but for most of cannabis’ history, the substance has been demonized by propaganda and official bodies of government. Although pop culture has helped to lighten the mood surrounding cannabis, much of the world has remained ignorant at the massive amount of uses and objective innocence at which the plant can have.

Cannabis as a medicinal aid has been shown to have a massive amount of potential for treating everything from insomnia to the potential of cancer reduction. For this reason, many researchers have been eager to get into the field of researching marijuana and its lesser-known potentials for aiding treatment. The issue, however, has been quite difficult as legislation makes It almost impossible in a lot of places to do so. This presents another reason at why the Canadian legalization of cannabis is so important.

Legal weed in Canada could help to discover some of the most important traits of cannabis that scientists have not had access to study until now. All of this will hopefully help to create a domino effect throughout the market that can, in turn, illustrate the important and vast need for the legalization of an arguably harmless substance. Only time will tell how these new efforts effect one another overall. The future remains full of untapped potential of how cannabis can be used as a treatment for disease, or a tool for adjusting the social pressures that prohibition has places upon its inhabitants. For now, it seems as though we just have to wait.