Connect with us

The Top 3 Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana Will Enrage You

The 3 Largest Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana

Culture

The Top 3 Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana Will Enrage You

The industries lobbying against marijuana legalization illustrates the legal status of marijuana may be in place to protect pockets, rather than people.

Industries Opposing Marijuana Legalization

With 58% of Americans backing legal marijuana usage, you might be wondering why is medical marijuana being kept federally illegal. Well, there are many industries fighting to keep marijuana illegal. As Americans, we are told by the DEA that marijuana is kept illegal for our safety. However, the industries lobbying against marijuana legalization illustrates the legal status of marijuana may be in place to protect pockets rather than people. You might not be surprised by the biggest industries lobbying against legalized marijuana:

Law Enforcement

The 3 Largest Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana

Police and prisons have been fighting pot legalization for some time. Many marijuana activists believe this is an attempt to keep the war on drugs going. This is because the war on drugs has been a great source of income for law enforcement.

Since marijuana legalization has spread, private prison companies in the US have gone down $2 billion in value. Programs like the DEA’s Cannabis Eradication Program provide local and state cops with large sums of cash for cracking down on drugs like marijuana.

Big Pharma

The 3 Largest Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana

The pharmaceutical industry has been dropping big bucks to keep cannabis as inaccessible as possible. One company even claimed their donation to help fight marijuana legalization was to protect the safety of children.

What they fail to mention is how marijuana legalization is being linked with a reduction in opioid abuse while children are dying from opioid overdoses across the US.

In states with legalized marijuana, many people suffering from severe pain are choosing cannabis as a pain reliever instead of prescribed medicines. Is Big Pharma scared for our children? Or are they afraid of the fact that in states with medical marijuana, there are 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers prescribed a year?

Alcohol Industry

The 3 Largest Industries Lobbying Against Medical Marijuana

Drinking alcohol is 114 times more dangerous than smoking weed. With statistics like this surfacing, it’s no wonder why the alcohol industry is one of the biggest contributors to keeping marijuana illegal.

According to a document published by Wikileaks, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America messaged lawmakers to get funding for combatting marijuana’s legalization.

WSWA cited a report on increased drunk driving incidents involving marijuana in Colorado. The study they cited didn’t conclude marijuana was the cause of any fatalities, just that more people involved in vehicular deaths had marijuana in their system.

The Beer Distributors PAC, representative of 16 beer distribution companies in Massachusetts, gave $25,000 to a campaign against marijuana legalization. Arizona Wine and Spirits Association also gave a group fighting legalization in Arizona $10,000.

Final Hit

It’s hard to take reasons these industries are combatting marijuana seriously when they all have something to gain from the further prohibition of cannabis. Now that you know the top 3 opponents of marijuana legalization do you feel surprised? We weren’t. One way to combat the dollars of these three industries is to get out and vote for one of the nine marijuana initiatives on the November ballot.

Continue Reading

More in Culture

To Top