Running head: THE HYPOCRITICAL CONCLUSION 1

THE HYPOCRITICAL CONCLUSION

FRED ANTHONY ORTEGA
UNIVERSITY OF EL PASO TEXAS











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ABSTRACT
The authors topic is about marijuana legalization and how it is being regulated, how it
affects businesses, the economy, and if it has a negative or positive effect on the medical
marijuana industry. The author got his info from numerous secondary sources, and a
primary source. The primary source was a survey that the author made up, he surveyed
college students. He went through both sides of the argument and topic.









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Cannabis has always been viewed as the antagonist in society, and most people
just get these wild ideas from what the media says about it without really doing their own
research. The author conducted this research paper to find out about a variety of
questions that he wanted answered by credible articles. These are the set of questions that
the author will use to contribute in developing this research paper; - What types of
policies are politicians enforcing on legalized marijuana? How will businesses be
affected by legalized marijuana? What are the economic effects of legalized marijuana?
What effects will legalized marijuana have on the medical industry? In this paper the
author will write about the research he finds using his primary source which is a survey
he gave to members of society such as college students and taxpaying adults, and the
secondary sources which he got from articles of credible authors, the author will compare
both sides of the arguments and in the end hope to promote conversation on his given
issue.
WHAT TYPES OF POLICIES ARE POLITICIANS ENFORCING ON
LEGALIZED MARIJUANA?
Many politicians have made a set of rules and regulations for the sates to abide by
in order to keep marijuana legalized. Legal marijuana in states such as Seattle and
Colorado is intended to be decriminalized and placed under the same category as alcohol
and tobacco. Businesses are required to have a license in order to cultivate and distribute
marijuana to consumers. If you are caught growing marijuana and you dont own a
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business in the marijuana industry you are allowed to grow six plants anything over can
result in a fine. The distributors must include warning labels when selling the product
informing the consumer about the level of potency, the amount of THC, a set of
directions on how to properly use the product, a list of the pesticides used during the
growing process, and much more information depending on the product such as an
edible. When selling the product businesses are only allowed to dispense to adults that
are 21 and older if they are caught they can be looking at a hefty fine for both the
distributor and buyer. The state also requires that the businesses include warning
statements for the consumers sake. These are the following statements; - There may be
health risks associated with the consumptions of this product This product is intended
for use by adults of 21 years and older. Keep out of reach of children This product is
unlawful outside the State of Colorado This product is infused with Retail Marijuana
This product was produced without regulatory oversight for health, safety, or efficacy
The intoxicating effects of this product may be delayed by two or more hours. If you are
a resident of Colorado and over 21 you many purchase up to an ounce of marijuana but if
you are a tourist youre only allowed a quarter of an ounce. Also if caught in the streets
an adult can only have on his/her person up to an ounce before its considered breaking
the law. Although marijuana is as legal as alcohol consumption many employers still
outlaw and have a strict no drug policy in their department. If their employee comes up
positive in a drug test that could pretty much mean their job. Politicians figured that when
the use of marijuana was criminalized there were young and colored people being harmed

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and mass violence and corruption going on. DPA or the Drug Policy Alliance led the
campaign in Colorado and Washington that helped in getting marijuana legalized.
HOW WILL BUSINESSES BE AFFECTED BY LEGAL CANNABIS?
Since marijuana has been legalized that makes room for more opportunities in the
business aspect but its not all easy going for the business owners. Many businesses are
getting into situations with their banks because of the smell of all the money they send to
them, it smells really strong of marijuana and obviously a bank cant have that kind of
look or scent in their business. So a lot of owners of businesses in the marijuana industry
didnt have a bank account because banks kept dropping them. Many politicians have
looked to the federal Treasury and Justice Departments to help with this problem those
businesses are facing. But another issue is that marijuana is still classified as illegal under
federal law so anyone that would help any business would be considered in violation of
the Controlled Substances Act. So any bank that aids any marijuana business with any
financial help would be strongly risking the chances of being prosecuted as co-
conspirators, and if a bank were to take money they could be considered guilty of federal
money laundering statues. As you can see its far from easy for any business to catch a
break in this industry. Although circumstances werent always like this back in 2011
banks were willing to take the money of marijuana businesses even if it smelled, until the
DOJ threatened the banks on laundering charges, even if they were working with
business in the marijuana industry. This left most banks with no choice but not to help the
businesses but some did try to help the most they could. It predicted that the marijuana
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industry will hit $2.34 billion dollars in sales this year so many people find it hard to
believe that an industry of this stature has a difficult time getting financial assistance. Not
only did the banks provide financial assistance but they also provided security, and
security in this industry was a well needed asset. Marijuana operations are getting less
and less help with security for instance the DEA threatened the armored car companies,
and the Denver police Department stopped getting officers to work security for the
businesses as well. Loans were also a struggle to get for businesses, since the banks
couldnt find something for collateral. The banks couldnt take the business over and they
didnt want to risk the Feds changing their mind and start enforcing their laws, and they
couldnt accept the inventory. Businesses just dont seem to get a break yet another
situation they have to deal with is being able to use credit cards at their business, since
the credit card companies said Given the federal governments position and recognizing
this is an evolving legal matter with different standards applicable in different states, our
local merchant acquirers are best suited to make any determination about potential
illegality. This pretty much means the federal credit card companies dont want to get
involved with something that might get them into a mess.
WHAT ARE THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF LEGAL MARIJUANA?
The marijuana industry was predicted to have the economy of any state that
legalized it booming. As Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize and
tax recreational marijuana other states started to pay attention to them a lot more to see if
this crazy idea would be successful, and what people were really paying attention to was
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how it would affect the economy of those states. Pennsylvania was one of the states really
interested in the idea of legalized marijuana mainly because they knew Prohibition II
isnt so successful and it was hurting the public more that aiding them. (Carpenter, 2014)
states that America has the highest percentage of people in prison, at around $30,000 a
year for each, and around 80 percent of them are in for drug-related charges. Most of
those drug related charges have to do with marijuana, and more than 88% of those
charges are just for possession alone. Tax payers are paying for all these incarcerations
and also for the police doing their job to stop the drug which isnt even making a dent in
the drug war. In Colorado the tax on marijuana is 29 percent and most of the tax money
goes to things such as education. In a survey conducted by the author, 20 people were
asked a set of questions dealing with economy and marijuana. When asked if they believe
the economy would prosper if cannabis were to be legal in their state 85% answered yes.
70% answered yes when asked if they thought their tax money was going toward a drug
war were not winning. All agreed yes when asked if they thought education was a good
use for the tax money from marijuana sales in Colorado. So keeping marijuana illegal
would actually hurt us more than help us because of all the costs we pay to keep it out.
On the first day that marijuana was legal to distribute in Colorado only 24 dispensaries
were selling and they reported to have made one million the first day of sales all together,
and by the end of the week they made five million all together. (Miles, 2014) state
officials expect up to $578,000,000 in first-year sales revenue, as well as $67 million in
tax revenue. There are also predictions for how much marijuana sales could produce if it
were to go national the revenue would be in the billions approximately 10 to 120 billion.
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Marijuana would end up being the largest cash crop in America, the market for alcoholic
beverages is just over $100 billion, and marijuana would top both corn and wheat
combined with corn at $23.3 billion and wheat at $7.5 billion.
WHAT EFFECTS WILL LEGALIZED MARIJUANA HAVE ON THE MEDICAL
INDUSTRY?
It is well known that marijuana was first legalized for medical use in numerous
states in the 90s. But now that it is being legalized for recreational use in a couple states
and looks like its sparking attention in other states will this cause a negative or positive
effect to the medical industry? In a survey the author developed, 20 people in college
were asked a few questions dealing with the medical industry and cannabis. When asked
if they thought if there was a difference between medical and recreational marijuana 90%
said yes. 80% of the college students said yes when asked if medicinal marijuana was a
more secure industry than having a recreational marijuana industry. When asked if they
thought if the legalized marijuana industry would affect the medical industry with
marijuana negatively 65% answered yes. When medical marijuana was legalized many
people thought that crime rates would rise up, but since it has been legal crime rates have
decreased. Not everybody is excited about marijuana being legalized for recreational use,
many people that own medical marijuana dispensaries think its disastrous, the businesses
that they developed and the product they made for people probably wouldnt survive this
new era. Since marijuana would become mainstream, and getting it is as easy as buying
groceries people will soon realize they have no use for medical marijuana where you
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have to go through the trouble of getting a prescription from a doctor. The medical industry
got a good amount of their income from medicinal marijuana so this legalization may
hurt them financially.
In this essay the author went through a few questions that he thought were the
most important dealing with legalized marijuana. He wanted people to become aware of
what was happening in the industry. He asked what policies the politicians were taking to
regulate legal marijuana. The author asked how the businesses were affected with
legalized marijuana, and how the economy is affected from marijuana. Finally he asked
how marijuana marijuana would be affected now that recreational marijuana is being
legalized. The author hopes he sparked conversation from what you read and you are
more informed about the topic.








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References

Johnson, K. (2014). Providers of Medical Marijuana Face new Fears. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/us/medical-marijuana-providers-fear-effects-of-
wider-legalizat
Miles, C. (2014). How Much Money Could America Make Off of Legal Marijuana.
Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/72497/how-much-money-could-
america-make-off-of-legal-marijuana-check-this-map
Carpenter, P. (2014). Colorado will give Pennsylvania Economics lesson.
Kamin, S. (2014). Why banks wont do business with the marijuana industry. Retrieved
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Ferner, M. (2013) Rules for Legal Recreational Marijuana sales Announced In Colorado.
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Sanchez, N. (2014) Marijuana Legalization In Colorado Will Sates Future Decisions.
Retrieved from http://guardianlv.com/2014/03/marijuana-legalization-in-colorado-will-
inform-states-future-decisions/
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