Recent Updates #6

In this blog post, I will be discussing a very widely talked about topic throughout the country. That topic is medical marijuana and the pros and cons it can have for an economy. Many states have legalized medical marijuana, some of them even legalizing recreational marijuana. The economic benefits of this are huge, and is bringing in a ton of money.

In an article titled, “The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Weed”, written by Mrinalini Krishna, it lists benefits such as: impact on tax revenue, income and jobs, investment opportunities, and saved money. The article states that marijuana brings in a ton of revenue. Chicago specifically has earned more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medical and recreational marijuana. That amount of money being brought in can be extremely beneficial and can add more money to the market which in turn causes people to spend more, etc. On top of this, medical marijuana obviously would create jobs for people and provide them income to be able to do more leisure spending and investing, which positively impacts the economy. Below is a chart from Marijuana Business Daily, showing the total economic impact between the years 2017 thru 2022:

This chart reveals and shows the billions of dollars the industry is bringing into the economy throughout the US. Therefore, for these reasons medical marijuana is very beneficial.

These are all positive things, alongside with much more, however, some claims about medical marijuana are false. There is a claim that medical marijuana could potentially take the place of opioids. In an article on The Economist, titled, “Medical marijuana is not the way out of America’s opioid crisis”, it discusses a study by Chelsea Shover, with findings that show that medical marijuana actually increases the use of opioid related deaths. This is different from an earlier study; therefore, the conclusion is that no policies should be based on the idea that medical marijuana is a replacement for opioid addiction.

All in all, medical marijuana is not a solution to every problem the country is facing, but it does do a lot of good for the economy. There are a ton of financial benefits and also a ton of benefits for those who are sick or in need of a job/income to support their family.

Sources:

Krishna, Mrinalini. The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Weed. 2019. Investopedia, Investopedia, www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/110916/economic-benefits-legalizing-weed.asp.

 Medical Marijuana Is Not the Way out of America's Opioid Crisis. 2019. The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2019/06/24/medical-marijuana-is-not-the-way-out-of-americas-opioid-crisis.