What if weed was legal

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. RCG Economics. American Civil Liberties Union. Marijuana Investing.

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Income and Jobs. Investment Opportunities. Saved Money. Bottom Line. Key Takeaways There has been a growing popular movement in the United States to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational uses, with several states adopting such measures already.

One motivation for legalization is the economic benefits that can come from the regulated commercial availability of marijuana. Increased tax revenues, job growth, and investment opportunities all are powerful incentives to push for legalization.

Article Sources. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy. The National Academies report emphasized that more research is needed, with a lot of unknowns remaining about marijuana use and its effects.

For one, the research has yet to prove if all the problems correlated with cannabis use are actually caused by pot. After all, correlation is not causation. According to surveys from Gallup , support for legalization rose from 12 percent in to 31 percent in to 66 percent in The Pew Research Center found that support varies from generation to generation, although it has been rising among all age groups over the past few years.

As it stands, more than two-thirds of millennials back legalizing marijuana, while support is lower among older groups. The change in public opinion is part of a broader pushback against punitive criminal justice policies and the war on drugs in general. A Pew survey found 63 percent of Americans agree states should move away from harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, and 67 percent said drug policy should focus more on providing treatment over prosecuting drug users.

Instead, Americans are broadly fed up with drug and criminal justice policies that have contributed to higher incarceration rates while doing little to solve ongoing drug crises. Even as several states and Washington, DC, allow marijuana, the federal government still strictly prohibits pot. That classification puts marijuana in the same category as heroin and a more restrictive category than schedule 2 drugs like cocaine and meth.

The big distinction between schedule 1 and 2 substances, instead, is whether the federal government thinks a drug has medical value. The DEA says schedule 2 substances have some medical value and schedule 1 substances do not, so schedule 1 drugs receive more regulatory scrutiny even though they may not be more dangerous.

Those kinds of studies are traditionally required to prove a drug has medical value to the federal government. But these studies are also much more difficult to conduct when a substance is strictly regulated by the federal government as a schedule 1 drug. Congress can also pass legislation to reschedule marijuana, which legalization advocates have been lobbying legislators to do for decades. The Trump administration suggested it would take a tougher line under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but current Attorney General William Barr backed off the tougher approach and said he would more or less go back to the Obama-era policies.

Many state-legal marijuana businesses, for instance, must function as cash-only enterprises , since many banks are nervous about dealing with businesses that are essentially breaking federal law. One concern here is whether the federal government would be in violation of international law if it legalized marijuana. A host of international treaties explicitly ban the legalization of marijuana sales for recreational purposes. As states have legalized, the US has argued that it remains in good standing of these treaties by keeping pot illegal at the federal level.

But that would change if Congress and the president legalized marijuana. So far, Canada and Uruguay have generally dodged scrutiny over their violation of these treaties. But the US is a much bigger country than either. So even as states and voters back marijuana legalization, the federal government remains in the way. So far, it seems to be going fine. Then-Colorado Gov. Colorado, which has the oldest system for recreational marijuana sales, has seen a rise in adult use, but not in use among youth.

Although there were concerns about drug-impaired car crashes, the evidence is mixed. One concern that has consistently come up is the risk of marijuana edibles, which a recent study linked to a rapid increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations at a Colorado hospital after legalization. The proliferation of edibles under legalization, then, may be leading to more bad, unpleasant trips. Critics of legalization also argue that edibles are marketed irresponsibly, since they can take the form of child-friendly snacks like gummy bears and cereals.

So since legalization, regulators have taken a tougher approach toward edibles — restricting them, requiring stronger packaging and labels, and even banning some of them. The story is broadly similar in other states, with some variation depending on state-specific circumstances. No big negative stories have come out of legalization, at least yet. The marijuana industry is still taking form. So now there are two plausible paths to legalization.

On the state legislature side, the most serious conversations seem to be taking place in New York and New Jersey , where governors have gotten strongly behind legalization but have so far struggled to get bills through the legislatures. Plus, there are some upcoming legalization ballot initiatives, potentially in Arizona , Florida , and North Dakota.

Agencies consider frequency of use and recency. If marijuana is legalized, the drug could be dropped from the application. It is more likely that there will still be a marijuana question, just as there are questions related to alcohol. The adjudicator will likely still consider frequency and recency, but the standard will be much friendlier that it currently is. The use of the word piecemeal. It should be significant to any military or security clearance attorney to hear a Supreme Court Justice use the word piecemeal when describing the policy of the federal government.

Often, a security clearance attorney will argue on appeal that the lower decision in a security clearance matter was reached using a piecemeal approach. A Supreme Court Justice does not use such a word without meaning behind it. Why is marijuana still illegal? There are a number of reasons why marijuana is still illegal. When considering gun rights and marijuana, the government is likely concerned that the drug is mind-altering. They are of the well-supported position that nobody should be in possession of a firearm while under the influence of a mind-altering drug of any type.

If this is their position, then it is logical to believe that the federal government will never allow marijuana use within the military ranks. Legalizing marijuana does not necessarily mean they have to allow service members to use it. There would likely still be a strictly enforced ban given the difficulty in tracking use and the effects that use might have on a service member.

Of course, there is a possibility that medicinal use becomes permissible if studies continue to show positive effects. It will be interesting to see if marijuana use remains an issue for individuals applying for or holding approved access to classified information.

While it is unclear if and when the federal government will allow security clearance holders to use recreational marijuana in the future, it is entirely possible that security clearance holders might soon be permitted to be involved in the sale and distribution of marijuana.