"The greatest service that can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture." ~Thomas Jefferson

        Medical marijuana is widely used and accepted in 20 different states, and now 3 out of those 20 states have fully legalized marijuana.  The other 30 states that reject marijuana still give all the exact same excuses.  One is that it is seen as addictive, which is completely false, marijuana has never been proved to be physically addictive what so ever.  Alcohol is more than 2Xs as addictive as marijuana and in the states where it is legal it has reduced the amount of alcohol consumption.  People who are anti-legalization also claim that there is not accepted medical use. This is also false, like I said in the beginning over 20 states medically use marijuana, and it works.  Medical cannabis is used treat small medical issues to extreme ones.  The most common illnesses it is used to treat are; nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle tension and spasms, pain, and insomnia.  Those are just the most common ways, an example of an extreme way is given by this video of a 4 year old boy with a rare form of epilepsy, that gives him 3 to 4 seizures a day, and it is considered untreatable.  This boy is then given cannabis oil that contains no THC, or the chemical that gives you a so called high.  After starting the medicine he did not have a seizure for 4 days.  There have been other cases of children with this exact type of disorder, one girl in particular where growers made a special strand of cannabis and named after her. 

            One other reason it is rejected by other states is that it is seen as a gateway drug, or a drug that moves you toward other drugs.  What people don’t understand is that if cannabis becomes legal it takes weed out of a drug dealer’s hands and put into a regulated store, then when people go purchase cannabis they are not persuaded to try other drugs such as crack or heroine.  The last reason people give for not legalizing it is that is associated with lowlifes or the lower class.  This is becoming untrue quickly, a recent poll shows that 77% of Americans want cannabis to legalize completely, and 244 million people can’t be wrong.  In 2012, 49% of Arkansans voted yes to issue 5 which would legalize medicinal cannabis in the state of Arkansas.  We want to make cannabis an accepted and normal thing, not something to be laughed at or seen as bad.  Cannabis is safer than alcohol and cigarettes, and there has never been one reported death because of it.  

"I think that marijuana should not only be legal, I think it should be a cottage industry. It would be wonderful for the state of Maine. There's some pretty good homegrown dope. I'm sure it would be even better if you could grow it with fertilizers and have greenhouses." ~Stephen King

            The demand for marijuana is rising fast, and with more demand comes more supply.  It is no longer smuggled over from Mexico; the highest grade of marijuana is grown locally right here in America.  With this happening it not only cripples the cartel movements of drugs in and out of America, it puts less cost on the war on drugs because we would no longer have to arrest people for it.  Marijuana arrests in the United States are made every 42 seconds, and over President Obama’s first 4 1/2 years he spent $285 Million on actions just against medical marijuana alone.  In Arkansas 86% of total arrests were for possession of marijuana and 90% of those marijuana arrests were for a possession of one ounce or less, which is a misdemeanor.  While all the marijuana arrests were being made 91% of homicide cases went unsolved.  If legalized, the supplies will go up which will then drop the price of high quality marijuana down from an existing price of $375 an ounce, to $38 an ounce. With the high demand existing and the price dropping so dramatically, more people will purchase it, which in turn makes a lot of tax dollars. 

            People who smoke marijuana are known to be pretty lazy, but one thing I’ve noticed about those lazy people is that they will move to a different seat for weed. These people will go get jobs if they will be able to work with marijuana at their job.  These jobs include growers, distributers, industrial hemp, and even Marijuana advertising.  More jobs and businesses will equal more tax payers, plus the taxes that’s already put on the weed that’s millions of dollars that could go towards things more important than arresting someone for having weed. In Colorado, where marijuana is completely legal, taxes collect by marijuana sales is expected to reach $70 million per year. 

           Putting more regulation on it means it can be dispensed further away from schools, and by legalizing it and putting an age on it, like in Colorado, it takes it out of the hands of drug dealers and then make it easier to keep it out of school.  We can also make marijuana give back to charity.  In 2012 at least 10 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado where reported to have donated $10,000 - $12,000 to charity.  People who are anti-legalization claim that it would cost too much money to regulate the plant,  and it wouldn’t even put a dent in the deficit, but in reality it would pay for the laws to regulate it and it has the potential to improve the economy and communities around America.   

“We have what it takes to take what you have.” ~ Suggested IRS Motto

      In the beginning of October marijuana activists protested a 25% sales tax on recreational marijuana. This sounds a bit absurd considering the highest sales tax for any state and local taxes is in Tennessee with 9.44%. But when you consider that 15% of that tax is going to the construction and upkeep of public schools and 10% funding the enforcement of the marijuana retail industry, it doesn't seem THAT bad. While 25% is still an excessive amount to be taxed, if it is going to help our future's leaders to become smarter, I think it is well worth it. Besides, we shouldn't be arguing about the price so much in one state but on the bigger picture of getting marijuana legalized for all states to enjoy and benefit from.

     A big problem senators seem to be running into is how they are going to spend all this money they will get from such a high tax. According to a non-partisan Colorado Legislative Council, these taxes will produce $33.5 million the first year and $67 million the second year. That's $5 million to public schools and $3.3 million to go into the regulation. While the money towards the schools is justifiable, how are they going to spend $3.3 million on keeping the marijuana retail business safe? Lots and lots of cameras? For more information on the topic visit this website, more tax quotes can be found here, or post a comment below and tell us if you think this is a fair amount to be taxed.

“And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Hello and welcome to The Blunt Truth's blog! We are an activist group trying to spread the word about the unlimited benefits that can result from the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is not a 'gateway' drug that the media and political powers have made it out to be since the early 1900's. The commercial uses of marijuana includes growing marijuana strictly for paper, lotion, clothing, and many other products. We believe that if these ideas can be publicized with more emphasis to show that marijuana is not a dangerous substance we will be able to improve our economy and end the failed "War on Drugs" .