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The great Robert Nesta Marley (n.d.) stated that “Herb is the healing of a nation; alcohol is the destruction of mankind”. In February 2015, the Jamaican government and lawmakers passed an act to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The terms decriminalization and legalization are often confused. The Oxford dictionary defines decriminalization as the removal of criminal penalties, whereas legalization is the action to allow anything previously unlawful permitted by law. California formally became the first state to legalize medical marijuana for use by patients with chronic conditions through the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. The legalization of marijuana will cause more good than harm because it would trigger growth in the local economy and it can contribute to the health sector; though some may argue that if marijuana is legalized, it would increase crime and violence.
The legalization of marijuana will cause more good than harm because it would trigger growth in the local economy and make the demands for the international market. A study carried out by Krishan (2019) stated that the legalization of marijuana in Colorado allowed them to accumulate greater than $135 million in tax return and prices in both medical and recreational markets; legalization of marijuana would mean a great push for the state’s economy and ‘big bucks’ for the federal and state governments. Marijuana was also legalized in the state of Washington where sales increased by an impressive average of 69% for the first 3 months and created years of employment growth (Belville,2017). According to job seekers from ZipRecruiter, the number of job vacancies in the marijuana industry in Washington rose by 445% in 2017. The business has created job opportunities across the board and is evolving by creating several job positions that had never existed prior to the legalization of marijuana. In addition, compared to similar areas in states where cannabis is not legal, Pueblo County, Colorado, is doing well on several measures; a taxed and controlled cannabis industry has added more than $58 million to the local economy because of marijuana legalization. (Zhang, 2018). Researchers from the Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis found that legalizing marijuana had a positive impact on the economy, the county accumulated a positive net income of over $35 million. Subsequently, Epican a Jamaican-based marijuana industry has risen after the decriminalization act was announced. This industry not only created jobs but is also bringing in revenue. Forecasts are that the market will become a 50 million US Dollar sector by 2029 which is a great projection for the Epican and Jamaica on a hold.
Furthermore, the legalization of marijuana would also help the health sectors by providing medication for certain illnesses. Research by Kevin Hill (2015), a substance Abuse Consultant, stated that as of March 2015, the District of Columbia had medical marijuana laws in place. Medical marijuana was used to treat a host of illnesses in Columbia after legalization, such as chronic and neuropathic pain, and spasticity for multiple sclerosis. Also, study showed that 40% of children with an uncommon disorder which causes prolonged seizures was reduced by about 50% after being introduced to cannabinol (Aggie, 2017). Cannabidiol is a compound derived from marijuana which helps to decrease the seizures in children with epileptic disorder. According to the report of 10,000 scientific abstracts, there was evidence that chronic pain, nausea, and vomiting were improved because of cannabis treatment (Malcom, 2019).
However, some may argue that the legalization of marijuana will cause more harm than good because it would increase crime and violence. According to the Loop News (April 2018) a Jamaican based news industry, reported that one of the four men found dead from St. Elizabeth Jamaica, after reportedly being missing from April 15-16 was involved in the drug for gun trade with Haiti. Moreover, according to National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang (August 2019), Jamaica is literally under the guns with some 200 illegal firearms entering the country monthly. These monthly importations of guns were directly linked with the drug for gun trade. Subsequently, having marijuana legalized would increase these elicit acts in the Caribbean and partner countries.
Although individuals have argued that the legalization of marijuana will cause more harm than good, Becker (2014) stated that the legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington reduced crimes in 2013-2014. The legalization of marijuana has helped to reduced rapes between 15–30% and theft by 10-20% in Washington. In addition, the legalization of medical marijuana has led to crime reduction in states that border Mexico (Doward, 2018). The research showed that after marijuana was legalized crimes mostly affected were robbery, which fell by 19% and murder, which reduced by 10% and homicides related to the drug trade fell by a shocking 41%.
In conclusion, as stated herb is the healing of a nation; Jamaica is well known for its ‘weed’ across the seas and if legalized would be of great significance to the Jamaican economy and health sectors just as Colorado and Washington if proper strategies are put in place we should also see a reduction in crime. The government also needs to pay urgent attention as it relates to what they need to legalize and what should be illegal; alcohol as a prime example, is said to be bad for the liver right? But it’s still a legal product with restrictions. How much is alcohol really doing for Jamaica’s economy?
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