Legalize Cannabis/Marijuana in the united states NOW

"Marijuana prohibition now costs state and federal government as much as $20 billion a year, an economist told The Huffington Post — and legalization efforts are only just beginning to chip away at that." Quoted by the Huffington post

As someone who used marijuana aka cannabis for MY PTSD, anxiety, and depression, it is VITAL that marijuana be legalized. Most arrests of homeless people in the United States are drug related, and of those drug related charges, 1 in 4 are marijuana related. Marijuana can be used to treat PTSD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, chronic pain, seizures, and cancer. There is no reason for it to be illegal, and there is no reason there should be "Freed from Weed" programs.

Now, a wide-range survey in California finds that medical marijuana patients agree: 92 percent said that medical marijuana alleviated symptoms of their serious medical conditions, including chronic pain, arthritis, migraine, and cancer. -quoted from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/01/92-of-patients-say-medical-marijuana-works/

"How many people have died overdosing on weed? The short answer? Zero. Unsurprisingly to marijuana lovers around the world, there has yet to be a single reported death linked to cannabis overdose. In fact, you would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times your average dose in order for marijuana to kill you. That would be about 1,500 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes." Quoted from herb.co

"According to the ACLU's original analysis, marijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana. Nationwide, the arrest data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana." Quoted by ACLU.org

Homelessness is on the rise in the united states, and whether government officials and most republicans want to believe it, most homeless people do NOT choose to be homeless. Many lose their homes due to illness and unpaid medical bills, or are veterans and cannot function in society, or are survivors of something traumatic, or, just suffered a job loss and can't get a job in this economy. Legalizing marijuana can create substantial job growth, as statistics shown in the quote below.

"The consensus among several top state officials-who emphasize that their job is to carry out the will of the voters rather than mull whether their constituents made the right choice — is that there have been no widely felt negative effects on the state since marijuana became legal, and a crop of retail stores, cultivation facilities, and manufacturers sprung up from Aurora to Telluride.
Legalization has ushered in thousands of new jobs in the burgeoning industry, brought $135 million into state coffers last year, and ended the prohibition of a widely used substance." In regards to legalization in Colorado-quoted from the Boston globe

So, it is time to legalize, regulate and TAX marijuana! Arrests will plummet, so will arrests for narcotics and opiates, as many only use heroin and opiates for pain because they cannot smoke marijuana. For some reason, there are way more stereotypes and stigmas for pot than heroin and opiates. But statistics have proven marijuana is not only safe, but beneficial. We are more knowledgeable now than we were when prohibition started. And now that we are equipped with knowledge, we will fight for our right to use marijuana! We will fight for more jobs, we will fight for more tax revenue for our veterans, our homeless, our schools, our roads, and our families!