Cannabis Won't Be Federally Legalized If Big Pharma Has Anything To Say About It
According to recent data from New Frontier Data, if cannabis is legalized fully in the US, it could mean a loss in billions of dollars for big pharmaceutical companies. Specifically, they estimate that at least $5 billion or more might be lost per year.
Current Status Of Legalization,
cannabis is legalized in a majority of the states in the US but it still remains illegal federally and so that creates a number of problems. For those states that have taken to legalize cannabis for either recreational or medicinal purposes, they have seen a drop in the amount of prescription drugs, roughly an 11 percent drop.
Cannabis is being used to treat a number of different illnesses and symptoms, among the most popular to be treated with cannabis are chronic pain issues, sleep disorders, anxiety, PTSD, glaucoma, and epilepsy.
When it comes to the potential for at least $5 billion to be lost, that is according to prescription drug sales for only the nine most popular conditions that cannabis gets prescribed for.
Troubles In Court,
a number of pharma companies are being sued at the moment. Consumers and lawmakers are pointing the finger of blame at them when it comes to their involvement in fueling the ongoing opioid crisis in the US.
At least 5 different companies are being sued at the moment: Teva Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Pharma, Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, and Endo Health Solutions.
Big pharma companies have allegedly been funneling millions toward cannabis opposition ads around the US. Companies like Insys Therapeutics Inc (the company which makes a fentanyl-based painkiller known as Subsys) which allegedly donated at least half a million to fund “responsible drug policy” campaigns.
Alcohol companies have also been allegedly funding cannabis opposition, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering that a number of consumers are opting for cannabis instead of alcohol. It's estimated that 1 in 4 American beer drinkers say that they are thinking about making the move to cannabis.
There are millions of people who could be helped with cannabis not only in the US but all around the world, and there are hundreds of thousands of jobs that could be created, and thousands of products that could be produced if cannabis and hemp were accepted rather than prohibited.
When you consider the jobs that depend on the drug war continuation, and the amount of money funding cannabis opposition that's coming from those who would lose revenue in the market if cannabis were further legalized, we can better understand why it's taking so long for changes to be made in this area.
Pics:
HighTimes via hightimes.com/business/marijuana-businesses-not-supporting-2016-legalization-campaigns/
Wikipedia
Giphy
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296016
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/18/could-legalized-marijuana-be-making-big-pharma-ner.aspx
http://www.businessinsider.com/opioid-crisis-and-insys-therapeutics-fentanyl-spray-2017-4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_U.S._jurisdiction
Related Posts:
Study: More Patients Dropping Big Pharma For Cannabis
https://steemit.com/cannabis/@doitvoluntarily/study-more-patients-dropping-big-pharma-for-cannabis
Big Pharma Funding Cannabis Opposition
https://steemit.com/cannabis/@doitvoluntarily/big-pharma-funding-cannabis-opposition
Another great post @doitvoluntarily! Big Pharma wouldn't spend half a billion on lobbying if it wasn't money well spent! But keep voting like they ask kids, because it's not perpetuating a scam at all
We already know it cures cancer. The receptors are already in our body. When will the general public realize this? FULL STEEM AHEAD!!!
Big pharma has the money and lobby power and will push for legalization if it benefits them
I'm not sure about this source but it looks like they might be.http://www.naturalnews.com/055699_Monsanto_Bayer_marijuana_industry.html
Thanks a lot..
Wow, 11 percent drop is a lot. Especially considering it isn't legal across the whole US
We have to become anarchists all of us... obsoleting the old systems of government, statism and secret societies based on satanism in the end... when we obsolete all that for instance with blockchain technology, then everyone can also buy and sell cannabis freely everywhere...
Hardfork 19 really great... check out my posts :)
This is a very good post. Ive honeatly always felt like this (for years) and it feels good to know their are like minded people out there!!
At least they are taking time to consider what the possibilities are. If enough people vote it, it could be legalized everywhere. I'm just not sure if that is really what we want. Good article though.
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if big pharma fought this tooth and nail. I've had a few people in my family say that cannabis has really helped out their health. While some others have said it has done nothing to help them.
But if big pharma are losing customers they will fight this for a long time!
yeah you are dam right about this
The biggest problem with people trying to figure out if cannabis is medicinal happens to be the huge variety of quality/contamination with cannabis. Folks in prohibition states are usually only exposed to contaminated and poor quality cannabis.
The other issue happens to be the huge amount of recreational strains of cannabis, drastically low in CBD content. Prohibition (and the inability to easily/cheaply test for thc/cbd) has caused most breeders to focus on potency of the high/stone. When this is focused on, without testing for actual thc/cbd amounts, you end up with high THC, very low CBD strains.
Nice posts @doitvoluntarily
Legalize people this is necessary!