Trump should go green

Photo+by%3A+Jessica+Johnson

Photo by: Jessica Johnson

Get your medical cards because Trump is aiming his focus at recreational marijuana, according to his press secretary Sean Spicer in his Feb. 24 speech.

Trump has been staunch on his disapproval of the use of recreational marijuana and wants law enforcement to agents to enforce federal marijuana laws when they come into conflict with states.

There is no reason to be against the use of recreational marijuana. At the very least, Trump has come out and said that he is in support of medical marijuana. Those who still argue against the use of medicinal marijuana still continue to baffle me. It’s refreshing to see that Trump isn’t one of those loonies.

He’s still against recreational use though and that, quite frankly, is just as ridiculous.

There is no reason to be against the use of recreational marijuana.

Although, according to a pew research poll done in 2016, 57 percent of adults believe marijuana should legal. It was only 10 years ago that only 32 percent of adults thought that marijuana should be legal. The new millennial generation has really pushed to change the bad image that marijuana used to give.

Those who continue against the use of marijuana are usually older, conservative people. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s attorney general, has openly said that he wants a message out there to push the idea that “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

You don’t need facts and statistics to point out how ridiculous that claim is, but there could be a change in the stigma of recreational marijuana if enough people out there like Jeff Sessions that are pushing this kind of agenda.

This would be a step backward towards the incredible progress we’ve had so far in the United States in changing the marijuana laws. Colorado is a great example.

Colorado topped $1 billion in sales revenue and has seen historic lows in car crashes since the legalization of marijuana in the state. The marijuana industry is booming at the moment.

Medicinal marijuana has also been shown to be a great treatment for many diseases like fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s and for those who suffer from seizures.

Arguments that outline the dangers of addiction and inebriated driving can just as easily be pointed towards alcohol and tobacco as well. There have been studies that show that marijuana is even less dangerous than alcohol.

I think the biggest argument to be made is the fact that marijuana use won’t go away if we legalize it. Black markets will grow immensely.

Trump loves to talk about how his wall will stop all the illegal activity that’s coming from Mexico, but as long as there is a demand for the product, there will always be suppliers. Those suppliers, are often, Mexican drug cartels.

It’s the entire prohibition argument again. You make alcohol illegal, guys like Al Capone capitalize on it. You make marijuana illegal, the cartels in Mexico capitalize on it. This isn’t rocket science, but conservatives like Trump and Sessions are so bound by their “family values” that they fail to open their mind to reason and science.

Trump is backward on this, but this shouldn’t stop you from going out and enjoying 4/20.

Roberto Fonseca can be reached @[email protected] or @rjfonseca13 on Twitter.