Marijuana legalization continues
to grow as a front-burner issue, and legalization for medical purposes
is among the few stances that the two major presidential candidates
share.
Presumptive
Democratic and Republican nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
believe that using marijuana to combat the symptoms of a range of
ailments should be legal. Clinton has indicated that she might even be
open to wider usage. Trump has called cannabis legalization a difficult
one but has not been specific about how his administration might
approach the issue.
The
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, the former chief executive officer
of Cannabis Sativa, which markets and brands marijuana and
marijuana-based products, favors full legalization.
Johnson has registered around 10% of the vote in some presidential
polls. If he can build momentum, legalization could become a
higher-profile campaign topic.
Marijuana
polls have found that most of the public believes that medical
marijuana usage should be legal. A Quinnipiac University poll released
last month found that a whopping 90% of the public supports the legal
use of marijuana for medical purposes. Ninety-four percent of Democrats
and 84% of Republicans held this position.
A
national poll released by the Pew Research Center found that 52% of
Americans support pot legalization versus 45% who do not. Even the
33-year-old drug education and abuse prevention group D.A.R.E. has
relaxed its stance about pot. Earlier this year, D.A.R.E. quietly
removed pot from its list of gateway drugs, so-called because they lead
to use of harder-core drugs.
The
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) currently designates marijuana as
a Schedule 1 drug. That means that it is unsuitable for medical usage
and is likely to lead to addiction of more serious drugs.
The DEA is supposed to rule on a possible reclassification to a
Schedule 2 substance later this year, perhaps as early as the summer.
This would make it easier for scientists to research the effects of the
plant and make it easier for fledgling cannabis companies to grow.
The DEA has already rejected petitions for reclassification
three times, so many observers are pessimistic that the agency will
decide differently this time. Such a decision would continue to open the
industry to a more vigorous oversight, a potential impediment.
According to some estimates, the cannabis industry is supposed to generate more than $6.5 billion in revenue by the end of 2016.
According
to a study conducted by the non-partisan Tax Foundation, legalizing
marijuana would generate up to $28 billion in federal, state, and local
tax revenue annually. That doesn't seem far-fetched, considering the
business notched by some states that have already legalized usage in one
form or another. A total of 25 states have legalized the use of pot for
medical purposes and otherwise.
The Washington State Liquor Control
Board reported having generated more than $257 million worth of
marijuana revenue with another $70 million in taxes. In the first three
months of 2016, Colorado pot shops sold more than $270 million in
cannabis and related products, according to the state Department of
Revenue.
A
beneficiary of keeping the status quo could be Big Pharma, which would
have time to develop or expand synthetic, legal alternatives to
marijuana. For example, Marinol contains THC, the main psychoactive
component as pot. But its results have been mixed. Some patients say it
has helped lesson unpleasant symptoms such as nausea. But others have
not found it as effective as marijuana.
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