Environmental benefits of Legalizing Marijuana


Environmental benefits of Legalizing Marijuana
            Marijuana has been given many names around the world; from being called hemp, to pot, and “cannabis sativa” which is the known scientific name. Unlike the negative aspects marijuana is associated with; it is used in manufacture of various products ranging from canvas, ropes, textiles, and paper. For many years, marijuana or hemp whatever name is popular to you has been irrationally banned. Recent discoveries have pointed out that marijuana plant is predominantly beneficial to the environment. Legalizing growing marijuana/hemp plants for the commercial and economic values can be of significant benefit to the environment.
            Marijuana plant is potentially capable of being a raw material for the paper industry. All assorted paper can be produced from marijuana which means that billions of trees can be preserved thus saving the environment. Logging especially where it is involves deforestation is known to be a detrimental to the environment where the soil is left bare and erosion take place sweeping away top and fertile soil. This result to soil that cannot support vegetation the result has been change in climatic condition bearing on mind the importance of forests. Soil erosion is causing pollution of rivers and lakes because logging of trees for paper industry. Furthermore, paper manufacture using marijuana plants uses fewer toxic and caustic chemicals than is used in raw materials from trees thus resulting to less pollution. Substituting marijuana for trees would inevitably reduce soil erosion, saving of water catchments areas, and consequently lakes and river pollution.
According to Cholia (2001), an acre of marijuana can produce four times what an acre of trees can. Additionally, Marijuana/hemp plants take only four month to reach the harvesting stage compared to ordinary paper trees take up to 20-50 years to reach maturity. Hemp compared to trees grown for commercial use, require less land tracts thus can be grown in farmland in most countries.  Legalizing the growing of marijuana would in fact help preserve the forests and soil erosion due to human activity of logging thus preserving the wildlife habitat.
            Further, Marijuana can as raw material in textile industry. Merchant (2009) points out recent findings reveal that fiber from is ten times stronger than fiber got from cotton. This means that fiber from marijuana can ultimately be used in all kinds of clothes manufacture. In addition, hemp can grow in many nations because it requires less water than cotton. Hemp also repels weeds and insects unlike cotton thus minimizing its production costs. In United States the demand also for products from hemp are in high demand in many stores. Legalizing marijuana would translate to economic benefits because of these many uses of marijuana as well as having fewer effects on the environment where chemicals are concerned.
            California has witnessed the benefits of growing marijuana which explains why there are pressures of legalizing it. Unregulated growing of hemp had been detrimental because cartels have destroyed huge chunks of land growing it. Legalizing growing of hemp would ensure growing centers are carefully monitored leading to environmentally conscious growing. The by-products of marijuana have been proven to be biodegradable, renewable, and non-toxic thus environment friendly.
          In conclusion, marijuana is an illegal drug whose effects have also been proven to be harmful to ones health. There are also the drug wars which governments around the world continue to battle daily. It is the high time to weigh how the pros and cons can be harmonized and marijuana be legalized because of its enormous benefits it brings to our environment now that we are battling with global climatic changes.

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