It's estimated that roughly 93 percent of Americans are in support of the legalization of cannabis.
Marijuana has already been legalized in 28 states and DC for medicinal purposes. It's also been legalized for medicinal purposes in Puerto Rico and Guam which are unincorporated US territories.
That means that the majority of the US has already passed laws affirming that they want to move forward in this direction and stop the drug war as far as the battle against cannabis. But there are still several states left which haven't legalized; it might only be a matter of time before we see acceptance of marijuana as a whole from every state.
But will it ever be endorsed at the federal level?...
Hundreds of thousands of US citizens have signed various petitions urging for federal authorities to change their mind on the matter but there hasn't been any budge on that front yet. And things are going to get very complicated for border guards in the near future when Canada finally unveils their full legalized cannabis operation that is expected to be finalized sometime in 2018 .
For example, with cannabis being legal in Canada and legalized in Washington state for recreational use, many travelers might want to go back and forth and partake in consuming cannabis on either side. But with federal restrictions still remaining relating to the use of this plant, it's going to be tricky for border guards who are acting on federal rules and not according to Washington state law. In the past, many travelers have been banned for life from entering the US, simply because they were truthful in admitting to the border guards that they had smoked cannabis in their lifetime.
And if you lie and they find out the truth afterward, that isn't going to be good either. Legal experts have suggested that for those who do get asked who don't want to answer truthfully in risk of being turned away forever, they should politely refuse to answer the question and the worst (it's suggested) that will happen to them is they will just be refused entry and can try again at a later time.
It's a little nutty to think that someone can be banned for life, and has been, from the US simply for having admitted to smoking cannabis. When both the current leader of Canada and the most recently retired of the US, have both admitted to smoking cannabis in their own lives.
For those who have been banned, many who could afford the legal fees have sought to reverse the restriction and some have been successful, but what a costly ordeal for many people to go through that could be avoided if federal authorities would finally embrace some common sense on the matter of cannabis.
For now, cannabis still remains classified as a Schedule 1 drug to federal authorities, along with heroin, GHB, DMT, peyote, and others.
Despite the slow acceptance from the federal level, the amount of civil disobedience being exercised in this matter has exploded in the last few years and the cannabis market despite federal restrictions, is expected to reach over $22 billion by 2021. The CBD market is a big part of that and that market alone is expected to make up about $3 billion of the overall cannabis market by 2021.
Pics:
Reset.me via reset.me/photo_gallery/medical-marijuana/
Macleans via macleans.ca/politics/washington/what-to-expect-when-you-cross-the-canada-u-s-border/
Sources:
@doitvoluntarily/2016-cannabis-sales-surpass-usd6-7-billion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis_in_the_United_States
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/if-youve-ever-smoked-marijuana-beware-of-the-u-s-border/
https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/debraborchardt/2016/12/12/the-cannabis-market-that-could-grow-700-by-2020/&refURL=https://www.google.ca&referrer=https://www.google.ca
http://www.newsweek.com/marijuana-legalization-legal-states-poll-pot-588105
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