New study reveals 5 surprising benefits of legalizing marijuana you never thought of before

Study reveals surprising public health benefits of legalizing marijuana

Legalizing marijuana is one of the best things we can do to support public health.

Several studies have been conducted in many counties and cities across the United States demonstrating its many public health benefits. Many are concerned that legalizing marijuana will lead to increases in youth use, violent crime, mental illness and more. But the data we have shows that legalization can actually prevent this.

A 2021 National Bureau of Economic Research paper authored by economists Daniel I. Rees and D. Mark Anderson highlighted surprisingly more reasons why legalization may benefit public health.

Reducing violent crime

The war on drugs has done nothing to curb violent crime. In fact, it has fueled illegal black market activities and the criminals behind them, increasing crime. The paper said the authors saw a 19% drop in overall crime where legal pharmacies were established.

Researchers from the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service and Appalachian State University also note in a previous article, “Our findings show that medical marijuana laws result in significant reductions in both violent and property crime.” A 2019 Regional Science and Urban Economics paper: “The results imply that one additional pharmacy in a neighborhood results in a reduction of 17 crimes per month per 10,000 residents, a decrease of about 19 percent compared to the average crime rate corresponds to rate in the same period …”

There are a lot of reasons for that. One is that legal recreational marijuana gives more access to adults who don’t have to go to black market dealers, so the underground market in the area doesn’t thrive as much. Another reason would be that the police would have fewer reasons to arrest people, thereby saving police resources. Additionally, many may be turning to marijuana as a substitute for more harmful substances that actually lead to increases in violent crime: These include alcohol, amphetamines, and cocaine.

Finally, marijuana is a drug known to induce euphoric and relaxing states and to decrease the likelihood of individuals engaging in dangerous or violent behavior.

Significant reduction in alcohol and tobacco consumption

Tobacco use is a common killer, responsible for the deaths of over 8 million people annually. Around 225 people die from alcohol every day in the United States alone. They know the system is broken when tobacco and alcohol are still legal but continue to kill people for its availability while marijuana is still illegal nationwide.

Despite this, thousands in the United States still struggle with tobacco addiction. But marijuana can help with that. The paper states that legalizing recreational marijuana is associated with a 5% and 13% reduction in alcohol-related and tobacco-related deaths, respectively.

Young people also benefit from this.

According to a study by the University of Washington along with the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority and the Multnomah County Health Department, state decriminalization of recreational marijuana use equates to a decrease in drinking among youth. Marijuana is NOT a gateway drug: that’s exactly what the prohibitionists would have you believe. It’s a way out of legal killers like these substances. In fact, cannabis has been used successfully as a relief tool to help people manage their addictions to alcohol and tobacco.

Reducing deaths from drunk driving

If marijuana is legalized, more people will replace it with alcohol. The paper cites studies that found legal recreational marijuana to be associated with a 5% decrease in alcohol demand and a 20% decrease in binge drinking among college students.

Additionally, medical marijuana laws have been linked to a 13% to 15% reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities. The authors of the article, along with Benjamin Hansen, also pointed out in an article published by The University of Chicago Press Journals that the number of traffic fatalities decreased by 8-11% in the states in the first year of marijuana legalization. The authors note that legalizing marijuana is also leading to a decrease in both alcohol consumption and the price of cannabis, further cementing the theory that both substances act as substitutes. However, they emphasize that driving under the influence of marijuana is not much safer than driving while intoxicated.

Legalizing marijuana will be good for public health

Even when there’s data showing how beneficial marijuana is to public health, it’s still illegal at the federal level.

A 2020 Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans support legalizing marijuana. The number of Americans supporting the legalization of marijuana continues to grow each year as legalization spreads across the states and more people become aware of the plant and its many benefits.

We can only hope that federal legalization isn’t just a pipe dream. This would work tremendous miracles for people and society as a whole, although the banking industry still has many challenges to overcome. One of the biggest hurdles for the industry is the lack of access to traditional banking, without which federal legalization would be nearly impossible.

State and local governments stand to benefit, too: Cannabis taxes could generate billions, not even counting additional revenue from marijuana industry taxes. Several states like Washington and Colorado have already generated millions in taxes that are used for public investments like education, health care and infrastructure.

Prohibition did no good: it froze billions of dollars in revenue, harmed people, and encouraged racist politics. It’s high time we legalized marijuana at the federal level today.

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