Last week, the world moved just a bit more 420-friendly direction. Nestled deep in the heart of the 2018 Farm Bill was an item that finally shows that real movement at the Federal level is possible because Hemp was just made legal nationwide. While this is a fantastic victory, and we’re happy that hemp is a crop that’s now fully legal to grow and sell across the country, we’d just like to point out that while hemp is great, cannabis is even better.
What you may not know is that cannabis is doing good beyond the plant. In fact, the legal cannabis industry is proving to be a force for good in the states that have embraced legalization. Here are just a few of the ways legal cannabis helps make the world a better place.
Cannabis Creates Jobs
Once cannabis is legalized, everyone is off to the races. Stores pop up, producer/processors start up their machines, and passionate cannabis lovers line up to hand over their resumes to become budtenders. According to the latest numbers from Marijuana Business Daily, “[Legal cannabis] supports 125,000-160,000 full-time jobs in the United States… To put that in perspective, the marijuana industry now supports approximately the same numbers of full-time workers as there are librarians and kindergarten teachers in the country – and roughly three times the number of employees in the U.S. coal industry.” Those are jaw-dropping numbers. Imagine how many more jobs the industry will be able to support as legalization expands. What’s more, right now, the cannabis horizon seems limitless with Grand View Research, a market research firm, projecting that it’s poised to be a 146 billion dollar industry by 2025.
Cannabis Taxes Help Fund Important Public Programs
Sure, taxes can be a pain, but states that have legalized cannabis have seen a huge influx of cash from taxes and licensing fees. In Washington, a great deal of that money is going those who need it most. According to a recent report from the Drug Policy Alliance, “Washington dedicates 25% to substance use disorder treatment, education and prevention. The state also distributes 55% of its marijuana tax revenues to fund basic health plans.” What’s more, the appetite for cannabis just keeps growing, and taxes are increasing with it. In fact, collected taxes haveincreased 2.4x more than predicted every year. That’s a lot of help for a lot of people!
Using Cannabis to Strengthen the Community
We believe that cannabis, whether its used for medical or adult use purposes should be a universal right. We also believe that since we’ve been given the great honor of offering cannabis for sale that we should help spread the love. That’s why we partnered with the Asotin County Food Bank last month to help provide food for those who may be in need in our communities. We asked our customers to help contribute, and they blew us away with over 500lbs of donated food. We’re truly lucky to be part of such a wonderful community. We can’t wait to see where next year takes us!
What are some more ways cannabis has impacted your life or community? Tell us about it on Instagram. Or visit us in-store, our friendly team of budtenders is ready and waiting to help you live your best life with cannabis. We’re located at 721 6TH ST, Clarkston, Washington and our hours are 8am to 10pm Monday-Saturday and 9am to 8pm on Sunday. Or you can give us a call at (509) 295-8218.
