marijuana 🚬(duh duh duhhhh)

Marijuana, love it or hate, we gotta talk about it...

1. How much of the US population lives in a state or district with access to legal marijuana? 
11 states and Washington D.C. allow legal access to marijuana meaning more than a quarter of the population live in a state or district that allows it.

2. Where in the US were the first places to make marijuana fully legal?
In 2012, Colorado and Washington (state not D.C.) legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.

3. In the states where marijuana is legal, what differences might there be state to state?  And how are Vermont and DC different?
There are three different ways a state can "legalize" marijuana. 1.) Decriminalization-eliminates jail/prison time, but allows fines and tickets to still be given. 2.) Medical-allows marijuana to be prescribed by a doctor for the purposes of treating an ailment from arthritis to IBM. 3.) Legalization-typically the removal of all government enforced penalties for possession of marijuana. D.C. and Vermont took the approach of legalizing it, but have prohibited it to be bought or sold (you have to grow it). 4. What is the difference between marijuana legalization and marijuana decriminalization?
Decriminalization means that marijuana will be treated more like a traffic violation, you'll probably get a ticket or some kind of fine, but the amount of jail/prison time (if any) will be significantly lower than past years. Legalization means that there are no government enforced punishments for the use or possession of marijuana.

5. Why does the ACLU argue that marijuana prohibition is bad for the government?
The American Civil Liberties Union says that by prohibiting marijuana we further divide the nation because the arrests related to marijuana are 3.7 times higher for black people than white people in 2010.  

6. Why do some argue that "Big Marijuana" corporations would be dangerous if marijuana were legalized? 
Big corporations target mainly highly addicted users for their big profits. People fear that legalization would result in these big companies capitalizing on the addicted and using the profits to market pot irresponsibly like alcohol and tobacco did.

7. How has public support for marijuana legalization changed since the year 2000?
Surveys from Gallup show that public support for the legalization of marijuana has risen 66% since 2000.

8. How does the federal government classify marijuana?  What does that mean?
The Federal government classifies marijuana with heroin the schedule-1 category. This means that marijuana is viewed as having no medical value and a high potential for abuse. 

9. How have the Obama and Trump administrations treated the states that have decided to legalize marijuana?
Former President Obama took a more relaxed approach on marijuana and let the states do as they please so long as the drug wasn't abused and available to children. President Trump promised to take a tougher approach on the issue under Attny. Gen. Sessions, but ended up being more relaxed under Attny. Gen. Barr, like President Obama. 

10. Why are many marijuana businesses in "legal states" operating only in cash and not using banks?
According to federal law, marijuana is still illegal. Banks become nervous about doing business with companies that are literally breaking the law. So, many companies resort to being cash-only which leads to higher income tax rates (since they can't file for deductions)