It was said today that President Trump is considering reclassifying marijuana. No one really knows precisely what that means, but the cannabis stocks have been going crazy the last few days. So the question is, will it become like alcohol? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? These opinions will be widely debated, and this will spark a new debate that will dominate the mainstream.
One might argue that making marijuana legal like alcohol will be good for the economy because of the added tax revenue. In contrast, others may say that it will still be sold on the black market, allowing people to evade the tax. Then there will be the camp that aligns with many people; this will likely increase DUI incidents. Either way we look at it, the rules are about to change.
Yes, tax revenue will increase. How much we don’t know. Will there be an extra tax on top of sales tax? What is this tax revenue going to be used for? On the federal side, I would say it all depends on the majority. Instead of using the increased revenue to care for people in this country, it will end up in the hands of special interest groups and go to causes that benefit a few, leaving the many in need of help. But, even with the increased tax revenue, there is still the issue of enabling. If we take a step back and look at all the people in this country who have an alcohol addiction (I used to be, but I am sober now), changing the rules on weed is only going to feed addiction because it will be legal. The usage will go up.
In this situation, as taxpayers, we need to look at the money. Did anyone in our government, or those close to it, know this might come true? If they did, how much did they invest in the cannabis stocks? Based on the government’s track record so far this year, if the executive order is not taken to court, I would say that much of Congress is profiting from this news.
Despite being taught history in school, we, as a people, still repeat the same mistakes from the past. We tried prohibition, and that increased organized crime activity. We made drugs illegal, and that increased smuggling and the rise of cartels. But we repealed prohibition, and families have been destroyed because of alcohol, lives have been lost, and insurance rates have gone up based, in part, on the number of drunk driver accidents in a specific area. I think that making weed legal will have much of the same effect. However, on the other hand, I feel that if it remains illegal, smuggling and the black market will continue, putting people at risk with deals gone bad.
Questions will still remain during and after this process. The truth is that we won’t know what will happen, and we won’t know how it will affect lives or the economy. However, a question remains: Is this executive order a means of scoring political points? With the midterms approaching and Republicans not performing well in the polls, is the president trying to score points for his party to maintain control? Sadly, I feel that is the true motivation behind the idea in the first place.
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