How Marijuana Culture Leads to its Legalization

Marijuana, also named weed, pot, herb, grass, and Mary Jane is a commonly used mixture of the dried flowers of Cannabis Sativa, the plant, it is a globally used psychoactive drug used for recreational and medical purposes worldwide. A psychoactive drug in pharmaceutical terms is a chemical substance that alters brain functionality and results in mental alterations in behavior, mood, consciousness, perception, and awareness. Marijuana users acquire to be one of the largest subcultures in the Unites States since early 21st century America. Marijuana is used by millions of people around the world, either for recreational, spiritual, or therapeutic reasons. Some call themselves the “cannabis connoisseurs”; people who respect cannabis and use it responsibly. Few drugs have been so politicized recently as marijuana has. It is frequently praised by one side and condemned by the other, on the basis of emotional issues rather than an objective view of research. Cannabis remains both one of the safest intoxicants and one of the most versatile medicines in the world. Marijuana users and the industry have been commonly portrayed negatively through media throughout history

Guzman, Raymond “Beans”. Personal Interview 16 October 2019: Marijuana users are often portrayed as good-for-nothing criminals with psychological addiction, mental health issues, and with the inevitable abuse of other illegal drugs. Although with their recent efforts of the legalization of marijuana due to the plants capabilities to heal the ill in the medical field, marijuana users can be seen proactive as well. Marijuana has long been celebrated in the world of music and song. In the world of movies and TV, meanwhile, the majority of cannabis-loving people tend to be in somewhere between bumbling idiots and dangerous outcasts as portrayed throughout the media.

This divide in media representation stretches all the way back to 1936. That was the year a hit jazz song called 'If You're a Viper' provided a positive view of marijuana use that stated, 'you know you're high when your throat is dry / everything is dandy'. Marijuana users can be seen as proactive with the disregard of social media portration, marijuana users are often pushing towards the legalization of the drug due to its positive impacts on mental and physical health in the medical field, and its impact on the U.S. economy. In 2015, “Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medical and recreational marijuana. Sales in the state totaled over $996 million. Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021” (ArcView Market Research). The Marijuana industry has been commonly portrayed throughout media in the U.S. as a lazy, criminalistic group of individuals when In reality the inevitability of the economic impact the industry has on the U.S. economy is not to be ignored.

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Gomez, Ricardo. Personal Interview 17 October 2019: Marijuana users have been commonly portrayed throughout social media as lazy criminals with little to no good intent for themselves or for the world. There is a common misconception that marijuana does no good for the world but rather has been commonly associated with criminal activity and violence throughout America. The common false representation of marijuana users can be seen in the media consistently representing marijuana as a dangerous substance that leads to issues with psychological addiction, drug lords, mental problems and inevitable abuse of other drugs. For example, the movie Cheech and Chong, probably one of the most essential marijuana-related comedy movies, paints users as less intelligent or competent after using the drug. Movies like such are key factors in the misrepresentation of the Marijuana culture through media. There is also an unspoken side, the mental health affects marijuana can have on users positively. “Honestly, I’ve dealt with some mental issues myself, this **it just medicates me, it’s like I escape from whatever it is I’m feeling or is giving me pain, it’s why I do it” says Ricardo.

A common platform contributing to the misrepresentation of Marijuana users and marijuana culture is the use of television shows and movies; the media. The media consistently represents marijuana as a dangerous substance that leads to issues with psychological addiction, drug lords, mental problems and inevitable abuse of other drugs. One of the most iconic examples of the referral to marijuana as a “gateway drug” was Dick Harrison on “90210.” His marijuana use led to his abuse of and eventual overdose on heroin. The show “Weeds,” which aired on Showtime from 2005 to 2012, features a widowed mother of two children who starts selling marijuana in her suburban neighborhood in order to provide for her family. She is a prime example of the depiction of marijuana users or sellers who end up in life-threatening trouble with drug lords or other unrealistically angry users as a result of their association with the drug. However, instead of taking the opportunity to examine flaws in the United States economic system that drive single mothers, or other Americans, to turn to illegal activities to stay afloat, the show focuses on the legality and danger of the use and sale of marijuana. The media paints marijuana as a drug that will inevitably lead to the destruction of lives, instead of as a viable recreational substance with potentially positive health benefits.

Although the Marijuana industry and its users/participants have been commonly portrayed throughout media as a good-for-nothing industry that promotes violence and criminalistic behavior in users, there are in reality a vast variety of unspoken benefits towards the U.S. economy and the medical benefits of marijuana that are absent in the media. The Marijuana industry is actually a thriving lucrative business that contributes to over $20 Billion U.S. dollars fluctuated across the U.S economy on a legal scale. Current media representation simply perpetuates the stigma, adding nothing but fallacy to the national debate. There is ample pushback against the idea of legalizing marijuana across the country. Critics cite the potential for confusion among law enforcement officers aiming to keep up with shifting regulations, a concern about increased homelessness or youth use of the drug, the potential for decreased property values, and much more. Some are opposed to changing the regulatory status of marijuana simply because it means a change to the status quo. All of these reasons combine to decrease the likelihood that marijuana will become legal at a national level any time soon. The media continues to negatively portray users and the industry despite the legalization of the drug in many states and its positive effect on mental health and the U.S. economy.