A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association has indicated that legalized marijuana in certain areas coincided with a drastic reduction in painkiller deaths. According to the study, between 1999 and 2010, within the 13 states that legalized marijuana, there was a 25% reduction in opiate painkiller overdose deaths.Study co-author Colleen Barry said that this same trend occurred in every state to legalize the plant since.
A new survey conducted by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC helps explain why Big Pharma is so afraid of cannabis. The pharmaceutical and alcohol industries, both powerful influences in Washington, have long lobbied against cannabis legalization in order to protect their profits.
However, the tide has turned as decriminalization of medical and recreational cannabis sweeps the nation and the continent. With legalization, more and more people are discovering how this plant can provide a safe alternative to the dangerous effects of prescription pills.+
The survey of 473 adult therapeutic cannabis users found that 87% of respondents gave up prescription medications, alcohol, or other drugs in favor of cannabis. Adults under 40 were likely to give up all three of these for medical cannabis.
Legalization has proved many other myths of the drug war wrong.
According to statistics released by the government in Denver, the number of robberies and violent crimes significantly decreased since marijuana legalization went into effect.
It is important to mention that this strong correlation is not definitive proof that legalization is the cause of this drop in crime, but it does strongly suggest that this is the case.
These statistics are especially convincing considering the short amount of time that this drastic reduction in crime has taken place. In just one short year, the number of homicides dropped by 52.9%.
Sexual assaults were reduced by 13.6%.
Robberies were down by 4.8%, and assaults were down by 3.7%.
The statistics measured the first few months of the year for both 2013 and 2014 and then compared those numbers with one another to determine whether they were higher or lower after legalization went into effect.
Also, according to a recent study on marijuana legalization, use among teens has actually dropped in states where the herb is no longer prohibited. The study took data from over 1 million teens from various states, over the course of 24 years.
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