Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Quick list of industries that would fight against cannabis legalization
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- Alcohol and Tobacco companies (competing recreational interests)
- Pharmaceutical companies (competing medicinal interests -- they try to derive Marinol, which is only THC)
- Corn-Ethanol producers (competing with hemp, when hemp can create much more oil/acre)
- Oil companies (competing with hemp oil when it's easy to grow, compared to difficult to extract)
- Cotton and other textiles industries (hemp lasts longer, doesn't shrink, easier to produce)
- Timber (hemp can be made into paper and similar products, plus can be grown much more quickly than trees)
- Agribusiness support such as Monsanto (hemp grows SO easily and doesn't require special seeds. it's more nutritious and the seeds in cereals, etc, have more fiber)
- Law enforcement (as long as hemp and cannabis are illegal, there is definite job security)
- Prison industry, including the privately-run prisons (1% of US population in prison, over half that non-violent drug users..., and the prisons get paid per prisoner)
- The military supply industry, and also many corporations such as Target Stores, Microsoft, Motorola, etc, because "Hey, prison labor is dirt cheap!"
- Politicians whose bases believe the rhetoric. They fear that if they stand up against prohibition, they will be voted out.
- Drug cartels in Mexico and the US, which make tons of money because everything they do is under the table, and they get paid a ton compared to what their product would cost if it were legal.
- Cannabis growing farms for dispensaries, and all of the niches that have sprung up as a result of the "pseudo-legality" of Cannabis, such as pot-docs, ID card places, and dispensaries. With legalization, they would have to compete in a much tighter market, and the jobs of pot-docs and ID card manufacturers would dissolve. And good riddance.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
Labels: changing the prison paradigm, drug war, economics, indifferent corporations, oppression
