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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