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Oregon Begins Selling Marijuana Legally Thursday October 1, 2015, Prisoner Amnesty

By Denzel Hammett
Published on: 21:32 PST, Sep 30, 2015

Oregon has become the fourth US State to completely legalize Marijuana to those over twenty-one years old. The state joins a growing number of US states to either decriminalize, make available for medicinal purposes, or completely legalize the drug. Legalizing is seen as an effective way to raise revenue for the government as well as take the sales out of the hands of street dealers. On both accounts, states which have legalised pot are reaping the monetary and social benefits.

Oregon’s foray into the legal cannabis market is not new, and as such there are lessons to be learned. First of all, there are general business principles at work. There were problems with fluctuating prices in Colorado and Washington. Retailers have begun planning incentives to get customers in at the beginning. Marijuana will be tax free in Oregon from today.

Marijuana growers and marijuana-based prison sentences are being all out commuted in a move that is see as long overdue regarding the high prison population of the United States, which is largely due to the war on drugs. November 1, 2015 will be the beginning of marijuana prisoners being released.

Many people believe that it is the leaves that are smoked/consumed, but it is really the flowers of the plant. Pictured here, sinsemilla, the form that medical cannabis takes due to its high THC potency.
Many people believe that it is the leaves that are smoked/consumed, but it is really the flowers of the plant. Pictured here, sinsemilla, the form that medical cannabis takes due to its high THC potency.
World War One and World War Two used hemp, the non-drug version of the plant, to produce clothing and parachutes. The fibers are stronger than cotton and the plant itself is robust, even growing in poor soil.
World War One and World War Two used hemp, the non-drug version of the plant, to produce clothing and parachutes. The fibers are stronger than cotton and the plant itself is robust, even growing in poor soil.

Some statistics on the American population and its drug war follow. In 2013, 693,482 people were arrested for marijuana, 88 percent of which was possession. With 23 states and the District of Columbia allowing the medical use of cannabis for use to treat conditions from anxiety to reduce chemotherapy side effects, it is becoming harder to justify holding those involved in the trade of subsistence which is becoming ever more accepted in the mainstream as evidence emerges all over the world the scientifically proved benefits of the drug.

In 2013, Harvard University published in Schizophrenia Research a scientific study which demonstrated that no causal link exists between schizophrenia and cannabis use. Previous studies which have made a link between mental illness and cannabis have failed to distinguish between causation, when something causes something else, and correlation, when two things change together based on an independent cause. Put simply, those with mental illness were found to reach for cannabis as a reliever of their symptoms. Despite scientific studies debunking the cannabis-mental health link, governments and media around the world take it for granted in warning people of the danger of taking the drug.

Hundreds of case studies exist that attribute the remission of cancer to the consumption of cannabis, particularly in the injecting of THC. Three big Pharma companies are actively researching the drug’s potential for cancer treatment and general medical applications.

Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ: INSY)

This Arizona-based speciality pharmaceutical company recently announced the FDA had granted an Orphan Drug Designation to the company’s cannabidiol (CBD) treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most common and aggressive malignant brain tumors found in humans.

GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH)

This British company, also listed on the London Stock Exchange, has been licensed by the UK’s Home Office to “work with a range of controlled drugs for medical research purposes.”

Cannabis Science (OTC: CBIS)

Last year, Cannabis Science scored a major recruiting coup when it brought on board Dr. Dorothy Bray as its CEO and director.

With Oregon’s legalisation for recreational use, millions of people will now enjoy their use of the drug without — at the very least — legal judgement.

[Images by Fotobias and Norml / Pixabay / UK]

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