What Are the Most Significant Impacts Of Legalized Cannabis?

For a long time, cannabis was outlawed in the United States because of the effects it had on the human mind. After gaining a strong negative reputation, efforts had to be made in order to lead some countries to legalizing it. Many studies, for instance, had shown that using certain dosages of cannabis-based extracts and products could actually help improve people’s health instead of harming it. This has lead to many people changing their views entirely about the negative effects of cannabis.

Before Legalization

Like most drugs, cannabis has some pretty wild effects when consumed in excess. However, when regulated, it has many important benefits to offer – not just in terms of improved health, but also in helping people relax in a better way and get rid of problems such as stress and depression.

Before the legalization of marijuana, there had been numerous issues associated with drugs sold on the black market. As it usually happens – and as the Prohibition also taught us – outlawing drugs instead of regulating them will lead to a number if issues, including:

  • Black market transactions of questionable quality drugs;
  • The heightened exploitation of children and young people through the use of drugs;
  • Debilitating addictions, health issues and accidents triggered by the use of low quality cannabis products that aren’t tested in a lab or regulated in any way.

Essentially, people and organizations who wanted to make a quick buck never held back from the risks involved with going against the law. This is an ongoing problem, but it started to change once marijuana was legalized in certain states.

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What Happened Once Cannabis Was Legalized?

Legalization meant that there appeared a newer and safer source of marijuana sold by dispensary Pueblo experts, that people could buy without risking jail time. This meant that the demand on the black market waned, so the supply of low quality products also decreased.

Of course, since the legalization of cannabis only occurred in some states, and public opinion is slow to change, thriving black market transactions are still going on today. However, with a growing market associated with both medical and recreational marijuana products, addiction, health issues and crime have all been reduced in places like Colorado, Oregon and Washington DC.

Although these encouraging results have sparked interest for a growing, regulated cannabis industry throughout the country, not everyone is convinced that it’s a good idea to legalize the drug. In some areas, the number of babies born with THC in their blood has increased greatly, and in others, individuals and companies trying to make money as quickly as possible often end up disregarding the regulations regarding the manufacturing of CBD edibles. Low CBD content and the presence of filler or even dangerous ingredients aimed to mimic some of the effects of the drug has led to government officials taking actions to regulate the selling of cannabis products more strictly.

These days, people are encouraged to only purchase cannabis products that have been tested in a certified lab and have received a COA (Certificate of Analysis), which offers detailed information about the ingredients and whether or not their dosage is within FDA-approved limits.

As a result, the industry is on the right track, and those supporting the legalization of CBD and THC products are positive that the fewer cannabis-related arrests and the lower crime rate in the United States is only the start of the beneficial influence that legalizing the drug will have in the future.