We find that the introduction of a dispensary increases home transaction prices by 7.7% for houses within 0.25 miles of a new dispensary relative to control houses on average, but this impact diminishes to around 4.7% for houses within 0.25–0.5 miles of a new dispensary. The effect disappears entirely for houses further out between 0.5 and 0.75 miles. Importantly, we also find that the first dispensary to an area has a slightly larger effect on housing prices than the subsequent dispensaries, meaning the primary treatment effect should be viewed as conditional on the presence of preexisting dispensaries.

A 2013 report by the American Civil Liberties Union found that the costs at that time were approximately $3.6 billion per year. The more states that legalize cannabis, the lower the cost of enforcement would likely be; if marijuana were to be legalized on a national level, these costs would likely drop considerably. If marijuana were removed from the list of controlled substances, far fewer court cases involving the substance would go to trial, resulting in fewer incarcerations, and, in turn, more money saved.

Legal marijuana presents the possibility of tremendous benefits to economies on a local and a national scale. It also could help to secure the investment portfolios of investors across the country and further afield as well. While marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, it is difficult for investors to capitalize on the growth of the industry.

New Frontier's report predicting the impact of federally legal marijuana suggests that nationwide legalization could generate 1.1 million jobs by 2025.

A RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group study on Nevada says that legalizing recreational marijuana in the state could support over 41,000 jobs till 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. The ICF study estimates at least 81,000 additional direct, indirect and induced jobs in California as a result of legalized marijuana sales. It also projects an increase in total labor income by at least $3.5 billion.

n 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medical and recreational marijuana. Sales in the state totaled over $996 million. Sales in North America grew 30%, to $6.7 billion, in 2016, and is projected to increase to $20.1 billion by 2021, according to Arcview Market Research.

Just as with the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920s, the federal prohibition of marijuana has been unnecessarily cruel—wasting billions of dollars, unjustly harming millions of lives, and furthering racist policies.

Today, black and brown Americans are still much more likely to be arrested for marijuana than white Americans, despite using marijuana at similar rates.

The federal prohibition on marijuana dates back to anti-Mexican sentiment in the 1930s. In large part, it was nothing more than another way to criminalize communities of color.

But this is more than an economic issue. It's also a matter of racial justice and equality.

Prohibition also hurts the economy in terms of lost wages. And Americans with criminal records have a harder time finding a job and getting the education they need.On the other hand, legalizing, taxing, and regulating is good for the economy and creates jobs.

The costs associated with enforcing this ban—including arrests, court costs, and incarceration—reach nearly $14 billion a year.

The facts are staggering. In 2017, more Americans were arrested for marijuana possession than for murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery combined. That’s one marijuana arrest every minute.

As Scientific American points out, the studies that show people who use marijuana first before trying other drugs is correlation and not causation.

According to a Discovery Health article, marijuana has been extremely successful in relieving nausea, which is extremely good news for cancer patients suffering from nausea as a side effect of chemotherapy. The drug also helps with people who have loss of appetite due to diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, it helps relax muscle tension and spasms and chronic pain.

“The effect on sleep of THC administration closely resembles those induced by lithium.” Also, the National Cancer Institute announced in a study that patients who ingested a cannabis plant extract spray reported more restful sleep.

from a 2010 study published in the Lancet and reported on by the Economist, a team of drug experts in the U.K. assessed the combined harms to others and to the user of marijuana as less than the harms posed by alcohol or tobacco use.

Ever since marijuana has been known to mankind, not one single account of death from overdose has been recorded. On the other hand, in 2010, 38,329 people died from drug overdoses. Sixty percent of those were related to prescription drugs. In that same year, 25,692 people died from alcohol-related causes.

I am not a prohibitionist. I don’t believe we should jail people for possessing marijuana. But the advocacy community has sharply overstated the level of marijuana-related incarceration. Many people are arrested for marijuana possession, but very few end up imprisoned. California reported in 2013, the most recent year for which this data is available, that only 441 of its 134,000 prisoners were incarcerated for all marijuana-related crimes. If arrests for marijuana possession are a major racial justice concern, the solution is decriminalizing possession, turning it into a violation equivalent to littering.

As Americans consider making marijuana a legal drug, it would be wise to remember the choices that fueled the devastating opioid epidemic. Decades ago, many of the same people pressing for marijuana legalization argued that the risks of opioid addiction could be easily managed.A half-million deaths later, we have learned how wrong they were.Marijuana’s risks are different from opioids’, but they are no less real. Let’s remember that hard truth as we listen to promises that allowing the use of this drug will do no harm.

In a report in 1999, the academy (then called the Institute of Medicine) reported that “the association between marijuana and schizophrenia is not well understood.” It even suggested the drug might help some people with schizophrenia. But in its next major report on marijuana, released in 2017, the academy reached a very different conclusion: “Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.”

Worse — because marijuana can cause paranoia and psychosis, and those conditions are closely linked to violence — it appears to lead to an increase in violent crime. Before recreational legalization began in 2014, advocates promised that it would reduce violent crime. But the first four states to legalize — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — have seen sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults since 2014, according to reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police reports and news articles show a clear link to cannabis in many cases.

The surveys and hospital data cannot prove that marijuana has caused a population-wide increase in psychosis, but they do offer intriguing evidence.

According to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in 2006, emergency rooms saw 30,000 cases of people who had diagnoses of psychosis and marijuana-use disorder — the medical term for abuse or dependence on the drug. By 2014, that number had tripled to 90,000.

Making matters worse, the ways Americans use cannabis are changing in ways that further increase its risks.Editors’ PicksLeaving Prison at 72A Filmmaker Bared His Soul. It Ruined His Life.‘OK Boomer’ Marks the End of Friendly Generational RelationsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyMany older Americans remember marijuana as a relatively weak drug that they used casually in social settings like concerts. They’re not wrong. In the 1970s and 1980s, marijuana generally contained less than 5 percent THC. Today, the marijuana sold at legal dispensaries often contains 25 percent THC. Many people use extracts that are nearly pure THC.

But in its next major report on marijuana, released in 2017, the academy reached a very different conclusion: “Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.”

though studies show that people who use cannabis are more likely to start using opioids later.

What Advocates of Legalizing Pot Don’t Want You to Know

Why We Must Legalize Marijuana

This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere

[Verse 1]

Take voting, for example, a responsibility and a privilege. According to Pew Research Center, 22 percent of eligible adults are not registered to vote, 23 percent claim they don’t know enough about the candidates to vote, and 20 percent are registered but are inconsistent in voting. As adults and members of a society where voting is a privilege, one would think voting would be taken more seriously. Yes, 16-year-olds cannot vote, but as responsible, young members of society, many preregister and begin researching potential candidates, while many eligible voters will not find time in their day to go to their local poll station on election day.

Upon turning 18, American males are required to register for the military draft. While the last military draft was 45 years ago following the end of the Vietnam War, today’s 18-year-olds continue to register to possibly risk their lives for our country. Yet, it is illegal for them to consume alcohol for another three years.

Adulthood ultimately means responsibility and responsibility means maturity, no matter the age. Most importantly, the way in which responsibilities and privileges are balanced show maturity, or the lack thereof.

To be an adult means that you have the power to go in and out of being mature or not. There is always an opportunity of being childish. That's the important thing to remember as we grow old and we become mature adults; that we will always be children inside.

If the people that you surround yourself with are hard-working and get their work done in a timely fashion, then they will show you how to be an adult and how to be more mature.

To be mature, you realize that you are not always the most important person in the room and that some people are worth holding onto and others not. It means that sometimes you can't be there for everyone and that you have to think about yourself sometimes. It means more than just being able to go and do certain things, but understanding the responsibility of their actions.

Maturity can come at all ages

Just because you turn eighteen and can legally buy cigarettes doesn't mean that you are mature enough to know that you shouldn't smoke.

Being an adult and being mature are two different things that can exist without the other.

1. A mature person is able to keep long-term commitments. One key signal of maturity is the ability to delay gratification. Part of this means a student is able to keep commitments even when they are no longer new or novel. They can commit to continue doing what is right even when they don’t feel like it. article continues after advertisement 2. A mature person is unshaken by flattery or criticism. As people mature, they sooner or later understand that nothing is as good as it seems, and nothing is as bad as it seems. Mature people can receive compliments or criticism without letting it ruin them or sway them into a distorted view of themselves. They are secure in their identity.  3. A mature person possesses a spirit of humility. Humility parallels maturity. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Mature people aren’t consumed with drawing attention to themselves. They see how others have contributed to their success and can honor them. This is the opposite of arrogance.  4. A mature person’s decisions are based on character, not feelings. Mature people—students and adults—live by values. They have principles that guide their decisions. They are able to progress beyond merely reacting to life’s options, and be proactive as they live their life. Their character is master over their emotions.  5. A mature person expresses gratitude consistently. I have found that the more I mature, the more grateful I am, for both big and little things. Immature children presume they deserve everything good that happens to them. Mature people see the big picture and realize how good they have it, compared to most of the world’s population.  6. A mature person knows how to prioritize others before themselves. A wise man once said: A mature person is one whose agenda revolves around others, not self. Certainly this can go to an extreme and be unhealthy, but I believe a pathway out of childishness is getting past your own desires and beginning to live to meet the needs of others less fortunate. 

They want so much to be able to experience the world they’ve seen on websites or heard on podcasts, but don’t realize that they are unprepared for that experience emotionally. They are truly in between a child and an adult.

Students today are consuming information they aren’t completely ready to handle. The adult part of their brain is still forming and isn’t ready to apply all that society throws at it. Their mind takes it in and files it, but their will and emotions are not prepared to act on it in a healthy way. They can become paralyzed by all the content they consume.

They seem to require more time to actually “grow up” and prepare for the responsibility that comes with adulthood. This is a result of many factors, including well-intentioned parents who hover over kids, not allowing them to experience the pain of maturation. It’s like the child who tries to help a new butterfly break out of the cocoon, and realizes later that they have done it a disservice: That butterfly is not strong enough to fly once it is free. There is another reason why teens struggle with maturation. Scientists are gaining new insights into remarkable changes in the brain that may explain why the teen years are so hard on young people and their parents. From ages 11-14, kids lose some of the connections between cells in the part of their brain that enables them to think clearly and make good decisions.

Sociologist Tony Campolo said, “I am convinced we don’t live in a generation of bad kids. We live in a generation of kids who know too much too soon.”

You may have noticed a paradox among students today. Although there are exceptions, this generation is advanced intellectually, but behind emotionally. They are missing many of the marks of maturity they should possess. 

Everything is coming at them sooner.

He thinks that Apatow’s bromedies are dumb and juvenile, and that the people who love them are attempting, embarrassingly, to prolong their own childhood.

I will admit to feeling a twinge of disapproval when I see one of my peers clutching a volume of “Harry Potter” or “The Hunger Games.” I’m not necessarily proud of this reaction. As cultural critique, it belongs in the same category as the sneer I can’t quite suppress when I see guys my age (pushing 50) riding skateboards or wearing shorts and flip-flops, or the reflexive arching of my eyebrows when I notice that a woman at the office has plastic butterfly barrettes in her hair.

Draper, Soprano, White: Each of these tragic exemplars of “adulthood” is destroyed exactly because of his failure to behave like an adult. All three are doomed, overgrown boys, a little reminiscent of the lost donkey-boys of Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island. They are at bottom faithless, immoral, bereft of empathy or foresight; despite their moments of awareness and regret, they are reckless and essentially very stupid men. They are lousy not only at being adults, they are lousy as men, too, even if there is much in all three to admire: Don Draper’s restraint and intelligence at the conference table, Tony Soprano’s intermittent tenderness, and his protectiveness toward his family, and Walter White’s ingenuity and pluck. But in the main they are frauds who merely assume the trappings of “adulthood” in order to participate in a society that would reject them if it knew the truth.

But in the main they are frauds who merely assume the trappings of “adulthood” in order to participate in a society that would reject them if it knew the truth.

Of course one can offer the stick (grades) or the carrot ("writing will be important in your career") but really becoming a better writer requires intrinsic motivation.

One can learn to be more aware of one's own writing practice, of the objects that make up one's compositional network, and that this awareness, long term, is valuable as one seeks to change and develop one's writing practice. Developing this awareness is something that can be taught. One cannot become a better writer unless one wants to (fairly tautological I suppose). Becoming a better writer requires spending time writing (again, tautological, right?). Most composition students aren't interested in 2 and thus probably aren't willing to do 3 (sigh).

Disney had created something very new, based upon something relatively new. Synchronized sound brought life to a form of creativity that had rarely—except in Disney’s hands—been anything more than filler for other films. Throughout animation’s early history, it was Disney’s invention that set the standard that others struggled to match. And quite often, Disney’s great genius, his spark of creativity, was built upon the work of others.

Free cultures are cultures that leave a great deal open for others to build upon; unfree, or permission, cultures leave much less. Ours was a free culture. It is becoming much less so.

“The early days of comics in America are very much like what’s going on in Japan now. … American comics were born out of copying each other. ... That’s how [the artists] learn to draw—by going into comic books and not tracing them, but looking at them and copying them” and building from them.

“Walt Disney creativity”—a form of expression and genius that builds upon the culture around us and makes it something different.

In all of these cases, Disney (or Disney, Inc.) ripped creativity from the culture around him, mixed that creativity with his own extraordinary talent, and then burned that mix into the soul of his culture.

Early cartoons are filled with knockoffs—slight variations on winning themes; retellings of ancient stories. The key to success was the brilliance of the differences.

Consider the economics term Baumol’s cost disease: It suggests that it is somehow pathological that the time and energy taken by a string quartet to prepare for a performance—and therefore the cost—has not fallen in the same way as goods, as if somehow people and what they do should get less valuable with time.

In Silicon Valley, this divide is often explicit: As Kate Losse has noted, coders get high salary, prestige, and stock options. The people who do community management—on which the success of many tech companies is based—get none of those.

I understand where the motivation for this comes from. Creators, rightly, take pride in creation. In her book The Real World of Technology, the metallurgist Ursula Franklin contrasts prescriptive technologies, where many individuals produce components of the whole (think about Adam Smith’s pin factory), with holistic technologies, where the creator controls and understands the process from start to finish. As well as teaching my own engineering courses, I’m a studio instructor for a first-year engineering course, in which our students do design and fabrication, many of them for the first time. Making things is incredibly important, especially for groups that previously haven’t had access. When I was asked by the Boston-based Science Club for Girls to write a letter to my teenaged self (as a proxy for young girls everywhere), that’s exactly what I wrote about.

When new products are made, we hear about exciting technological innovation, which are widely seen as worth paying (more) for. In contrast, policy and public discourse around caregiving—besides education, healthcare comes immediately to mind—are rarely about paying more to do better, and are instead mostly about figuring out ways to lower the cost.

I’m uncomfortable with any culture that encourages you take on an entire identity, rather than to express a facet of your own identity ("maker," rather than "someone who makes things").