Marijuana or cannabis is going mainstream! According to data with the United Nations, 158.8 million people worldwide are taking weed, which accounts for more than 3.8 percent of the population. In the United States too, 94 million people have admitted taking it at least once. Many of them take medical marijuana, while others go for recreational marijuana.
Cannabis is more and more in the news now with many states passing marijuana legalization laws and its impact on the pharmaceutical industry. According to reports, the pharma sector is losing almost $10 billion each time a state is passing legislation legalizing it.
How Many States Is Marijuana Legal In
Under federal laws, marijuana is still a Schedule I drug, which means it is a controlled substance. However, 19 states in the country have already approved marijuana for recreational purposes. 38 have approved it for medicinal use. This means, you can get cannabis legally in these places. Five other states – Maryland, Arkansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Missouri are scheduled to vote in November.
President Joe Biden has also issued an order to pardon all federal convictions for simply possessing marijuana. He has encouraged governors to issue similar orders. Even during his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden had promised to decriminalize marijuana use and expunge convictions.
States that have legalized the medical use of marijuana as of July 2022 –
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Colorado
- California
- Delaware
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Florida
- Louisiana
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Maine
- Michigan
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Missouri
- New Hampshire
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- New York
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Utah
- Washington
- Virginia
- West Virginia
These US states that have legalized recreational marijuana use –
- Arizona
- Alaska
- Colorado
- California
- Illinois
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Maine
- Montana
- Michigan
- New Mexico
- New Jersey
- Nevada
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Oregon
- Virginia
- Vermont
- Washington
These states have legalized its medical use too. The District of Columbia has also legalized recreational use of cannabis.
The Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment Expungement Act or the MORE Act was passed in April, 2022. This act abolishes federal criminal penalties for growing, possessing, and distributing marijuana. It also wipes out nonviolent cannabis convictions.
It has also introduced a tax on cannabis products to help the communities impacted by nonviolent marijuana crimes. The money goes towards paying for youth mentoring, providing legal aid, and job training.
Legalization of Marijuana & Its Effect on the Drug Industry
Cannabis legalization is already having a negative effect on the drug industry. The stock market returns of these firms are going down. On an average, the market value of a firm for each legalization event is $63 million and the total impact on the market value for all the pharmaceutical businesses for each event is $9.8 billion.
What is the reason for this? Why are the pharma businesses losing money?
Several observational analysis, data-based studies, and anecdotal reports have shown that many are now using marijuana instead of traditional pharmaceutical medicines like sleep drugs and opioid-based painkillers. A research paper recently analyzed Medicaid data for prescription drugs. It found that there are significant reductions for prescription drugs to treat several conditions whenever a state allows legalization of cannabis.
The cannabis industry will surely be happy but the drug industry is losing billions in return. Many of them are trying to fight back. Pfizer, for example, has spent billions in acquiring a biotech business that provides cannabinoid-type therapies. Other pharma firms are lobbying hard and spending dollars to fight against cannabis legalization.
Cannabis As An Alternative To Traditional Pharmaceutical Drugs
Many people and some experts too feel that marijuana is a “magic medicine”, which is why medical marijuana has become so popular. Weed can provide relief from stress, it can regulate diabetes, improve lung capacity, and is also very effective for pain management. The famous American actress Jane Fonda takes it to find relief from the pain and discomfort of osteoarthritis. The singer and songwriter Lady Gaga takes weed to cope with stress and fight pain.
Not just Jane Fonda and Gaga, many other celebs and common people too are taking legal weed for a variety of reasons. This is good news for the cannabis business certainly. But it is certainly having a negative impact on the pharmaceutical industry. They are losing a lot of money and are likely to do so because not just the US, many other countries are also moving towards legalizing marijuana.
