Marijuana has been kicked to the bottom of the pool with all its negative effects and negligent use highlighting it. Its bad reputation has mainly been because of irresponsible street use and failed policies. Because of all these, no one predicted that marijuana would become this billion-dollar industry.
It’s bad rep started with some videos showing marijuana users turning into zombies, hippie masses gathering while baked out of their minds, tripping and hallucinating in public, and the notion of marijuana as a gateway drug for hardcore narcotics such as cocaine and heroine.
Then California’s failed example of marijuana regulation added to the list. The not ideal implementation of policies on marijuana caused non-compliance from residents and with the sloppy enforcement of regulations, teenagers took this to their advantage and became negligent on their use and acquiring of the plant. One bad call caused a ripple effect that caused marijuana to be flushed down the drain.
Back to present time; after numerous efforts to show how beneficial the plant can be under strict implementation of policies and regulations, marijuana is now an acceptable concept in the mainstream community, being regulated across different states, and on top of that, a billion-dollar industry. The medical community has helped a lot in changing people’s perspective of the drug. It doesn’t just help alleviate suffering of people with debilitating and life-threatening conditions, it also now serves as a source of big revenue directed to enhance the nation’s educational system. Though marijuana has been stepped on, bludgeoned and irrationally discriminated, it is now a great empire that rose from its ashes, with no hard feelings, looking to just help the community.