“Hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country.” – Thomas Jefferson
A total of $1 million worth of recreational marijuana was sold to people of age 21 and older the first day it was legalized in Colorado, not to mention $5 million worth sold over the course of the first week. According to the Huffington Post, $600 million worth is expected to be sold in the year of 2014, along with $70 million of that collected in taxes.
Marijuana has numerous health benefits, such as killing cancerous tumor cells, helping with symptoms of Crohn’s disease, treating migraines, helping those with ADD or ADHD and many more.
However, there are many negative effects as well, like distorting the user’s perception of time, short term memory loss, increased blood pressure and an increased heart rate.
Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Nebraska, Mississippi and many other states have all either legalized the use of medical cannabis, or decriminalized (removal of criminal penalties) the laws of possession.
In Alabama, possession of cannabis is still illegal, but the question has been raised, what would happen if the laws regarding marijuana in Alabama were to change?
According to MPP.org, there have been two public hearings in the Alabama House of Representatives concerning Alabama’s policies on cannabis. Neither of them have been passed, but it is a step toward changing Alabama’s laws on the subject.
Captain John Stringer of Special Operations at the Madison Police Department said, “I would look and see what other states were experiencing and then I would break it down even further and look at other cities in those states with similar demographics as Alabama, and see if we could extrapolate some kind of predictive data to determine what we might be in store for.”
The laws of the states surrounding Alabama are changing. Perhaps sometime in the future, Alabama’s laws will change too.
