Almost 50 years ago, in 1969, the then US President, Richard Nixon, announced and launched
the so-called "War on Drugs";
a hard-line strategy that aimed to pursue and punish the production, distribution and
consumption of substances considered as prohibited drugs.
Since then, dear viewers, even though Washington has used all its might, this hard-line strategy
has resulted in a resounding failure... both inside and out of home.
See, each year the US government spends tens of billions of dollars in this particular
war, achieving practically nothing more than imprisoning hundreds of thousands of people
and fueling a culture of violence.
The federal government's figures on arrests for violating anti-drug laws are chilling.
See, every year, US authorities arrest more than 1 million people, 1 million!
For breaking anti-drug laws.
That is to say, in 10 years the United States arrests as many people as the entire population
of Greece or Cuba for drug-related crimes... which is to say a lot.
Since 1989, and listen up because this is rather impressive, in the United States more
people have been imprisoned for this type of crime than for all other violent crimes
together.
In fact, that is precisely what has led this country to have the highest incarceration
rate in the world, 4 or 5 times higher than that of countries like France or Germany and
even higher, that totalitarian countries like China.
Crazy!
And of course, as you can imagine...
US jails aren’t exactly the best place in the world to rehabilitate.
In fact, the American experience seems to say quite the opposite.
But... you may be thinking...
okay, Simon, it might be a tough strategy... but maybe it's fulfilling its purpose, right?
Well... the truth is that no.
Beyond cramming prisons, spending hundreds of billions, and condemning many young people
who have several difficulties to rejoin normal life after having to pay a very expensive
price for their mistakes...
this war on drugs has achieved very little, practically nothing.
In fact, despite so many "efforts", the United States still has one of the highest drug-use
rates in the world.
This rate is even higher today than in the 80s.
And regarding their results outside the United States...
what can I say.
We only need to take a look at Latin America.
Because...
my friends... one thing this "war on drugs" has certainly achieved: making many drug traffickers
make a lot of money.
You heard that right.
This entire prohibition and strong anti-drug strategy have made this business become extremely
lucrative...
almost a gold mine, which has enriched drug traffickers, gangs and cartels, while spreading
violence throughout Latin America.
( “The cocaine cartel does not begin in Medellin, Colombia.
It begins in the streets of New York, Miami, Los Angeles and every American city where
crack is bought and sold.”
Nancy Reagan)
But... just a moment, my friends, because after so many failures...
a new strategy is being launched in the United States... and so far their results seem quite
promising.
Have you heard about the marijuana industry?
Well, listen up.
(THE BIG CHANGE)
On January 1st, 2018, California became the eighth territory in the United States to legalize
the production, distribution and consumption of marijuana for recreational use.
Its medical use was approved back in 1996.
Well, the fact is that, in addition to California; Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine,
Washington and Nevada are the other states, where along with the capital, Washington D.C.,
marijuana’s recreational use is perfectly legal.
For its part, the state of Vermont has just announced that as from July 1st, possession
and consumption will also be legal.
And we’re actually talking about a very, very important change.
Especially if we take into account that federal legislation, as we’ll see later, still considers
it a prohibited activity.
Well, last year this new industry moved, legally, almost 7 billion dollars, a figure that is
expected to rise strongly in the upcoming years, especially since the California market
alone is estimated to make more than 5 billion dollars.
We’re talking about an entire industry, that is already generating many jobs and which
is also paying lots of taxes.
And we’re not only talking about selling marijuana for direct consumption, a lot of
new businesses are also emerging which take advantage of this ingredient to produce all
kinds of things.
("We sell candy, cookies, sweets; we have hundreds of products.
This business is worth a lot and the state keeps 25% of every dollar we make”.
Eric Kinney, owner of Zen West Hollywood, a Marijuana dispensary in Los Angeles)
Understandably, the states that have legalized this industry, have considered it as rather
special, so they have set important regulations and taxes.
And cities, and counties have basically done the same thing.
Regulations state who can sell, how and where and how much has to be paid for it.
(“It’s like any other heavily regulated industry.
Look at the pharmaceutical industry or the liquor industry.
They’re heavily, heavily regulated industries, and the cannabis industry is no different,”
- Cara Martinson, federal affairs manager for the California State Association of Counties.)
And it's not precisely cheap.
In some Californian cities, the sum of all taxes can amount to about 40% of the these
new companies’ turnover... which is a lot.
In Colorado, the first state that legalized the sale and consumption of marijuana for
recreational use, the industry already invoices about 1 billion dollars every year, and the
state’s income in taxes exceed 200 million.
(Among the eight states where recreational marijuana is legal, only Washington has a
higher tax rate at about 50%.
Colorado and Nevada both follow with rates of 36%.
Oregon has a tax rate of 20% and Alaska has a rate of up to 20%.
Aaron Smith, a CNN reporter.)
However, my friends, wait a moment, because everything doesn’t end here.
Let's say that...
there’s... a problem, a very serious problem.
As I said before, the federal US law continues to consider this as a forbidden activity...
which makes this type of business very difficult, if not impossible, when it comes to, for example,
obtaining credits from financial entities.
Of course, if a bank finances these companies’ activities, they could even be accused of
collaborating with drug trafficking.
And not only that.
See, until now, a policy installed by the Obama Administration was in force, which led
the Justice Department to ask federal prosecutors not to file charges if the drug’s production,
sale and consumption was legal based on the states’ laws.
Well, the fact is that this policy, known as “The Cole Memo" was suspended by Jeff
Sessions, Donald Trump’s appointed Attorney General.
This
prosecutor has announced that he wants to prosecute marijuana businesses... which by
the way, Trump promised he wouldn’t do during his campaign.
This is why this entirely new industry… is now submerged in a sea of uncertainty...
Will the Attorney General fulfill his wishes?
Will the Trump Administration attack the marijuana industry?
These are the questions on the table, which only future will answer.
For now, my friends, we can discuss why this change in approach could be a huge mistake.
(TIME OF CHANGES)
It’s been a few years since Colorado became the first state in 2014 to legalize the recreational
use of marijuana.
Just as we’ve seen in this video, a few more states have joined since then, so we
can now analyze what happened...
this new policy’s consequences.
See, at that time, legalization critics stated that the risks of allowing for the recreational
use of cannabis were very high.
For example, they said consumption among minors would probably increase, as well as crime
and traffic accidents.
Well now we can see what actually happened... and notice that the truth is nothing like
these catastrophic predictions.
Neither violence, nor consumption among minors, nor traffic accidents have increased.
In fact, legalization has had very positive consequences…
On the one hand, the quality of the product sold on the black market has increased and
consumption of some more dangerous substances has decreased in these states.
(“Legalization of marijuana for recreational use has given U.S. consumers access to high-quality
marijuana, with genetically improved strains, grown in greenhouses,” Raul Benitez-Manaut,
a drug-war expert at Mexico’s National Autonomous University.)
And, keep listening, because this is very important.
A few years ago the Cato Institute published a study that determined that 8 out of 10 deaths
were caused by drugs due to the product's poor quality.
This is a social problem...
a tragedy.
See, consumption, except for medicinal use, is never good, that’s clear, but there’s
still a demand, which is why improving the product’s quality and safety reduces all
potential damage.
But...
there’s more.
Legalization is also reducing, as is logical, cartel’s businesses and therefore the money
that these mafia groups receive.
And, in addition, and this is perhaps its most important effect, it has allowed marijuana-trafficking
related arrests to drop, which has had two very clear consequences:
See, on the one hand, security forces and courts have been able to allocate more resources
to fight serious crimes; on the other hand, it has decreased reduced the number of people
who are in prison… for crimes such as consumption, which didn’t affect anyone.
Just as you hear it, we could say that in the states that opted for legalization, the
culture of violence, which is a serious problem in this country, has decreased.
And if that weren’t enough, on top of that, legalization forces this activity to now pay
taxes.
So, my friends, if the United States wants to decrease its high consumption rates, it
looks like legalizing marijuana may be a very, very good idea.
Legalization sheds light on a business that has been in the shadows until now, while allowing
for a safer and better-controlled product.
On top of that, the authorities can allocate the money obtained through this industry’s
taxes, to carry out awareness campaigns and health campaigns, something that, by the way,
was very successful in Portugal… but we’ll talk about that in another video.
The fact is that, maybe due to all of this… polls show that more than 60% of Americans
favor legalization.
While more states announce their intention to legalize marijuana, not only for medical
use, but also for recreational use.
Something that by the way... is beginning to be a trend.
In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the production, distribution
and consumption of marijuana.
Although it is highly regulated.
This year, in 2018, everything indicates that Canada will follow in its footsteps.
At least, that’s what its Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, promised.
By the way, just as an extra, about 80 cannabis-related companies are listed on the Canadian Stock
Exchange.
And in 2017 they revalued by no more or less than 250%.
Not bad, is it?
A new industry is developing.
A new industry in which, among others, the well-known investor Peter Thiel, of which
we already talked about here in VISUALPOLITIK, is betting strongly through the Canadian company
Privateer Holdings, which, for example, is setting up the largest marijuana plantation
in Europe in Portugal.
Anyway, my friends, that's the way things are.
But now it's your turn.
Do you support the legalization of marijuana?
Leave your answer in the comments as well as in the survey.
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Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at the Reconsider Media Podcast - they provided
the vocals in this episode that were not mine!
And as always, thanks for watching!