Tech giant Microsoft recently announced that it’s venturing into the world of legal marijuana.
Article: As more and more states legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, Microsoft boldly steps forward and announced they’re diving into the cannabis trade. It looks like Microsoft just got a little more hip.
Microsoft and weed?
If you’re scratching your head wondering what exactly is Microsoft doing in the weed business —you’re probably not alone. Recently, Microsoft partnered with cannabis industry-focused software company Kind Financial, to help businesses and government agencies track sales of legalized marijuana "from seed to sale". Cannabis growers can now track inventory, navigate laws, and handle transactions all through
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Meanwhile, start-ups have been flocking to the lucrative pot trade, which is currently legal for both recreational and medical purposes in five states. The partnering between Microsoft and Kind facilitates the marijuana industry’s specific needs for data tracking to optimize plant growth and other logistics.
Why big business stays away
Typically, big business has stayed away from the industry because of the unstable legalities that surround the cannabis industry. Technically marijuana is still illegal nationwide, and if involved, big businesses risk a crackdown if federal and state laws contradict. The situation becomes even more complicated since banks are discouraged from working with marijuana businesses. In fact, federal law prohibits banks and credit unions from taking marijuana money. So, in states like Colorado, where marijuana sales are legal, business owners can’t deal with banks.
Although some community-based financial institutions have become more open to serving the cannabis industry. Recently, the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments agreed not to go after banks that keep a close eye on their clients and report any wrongdoing, such as funding gang
There is a major debate in today’s world about the legalization of cannabis, especially, in the United States. States such as California and Illinois have already moved forward in their open-minded thinking about the drug and are allowing people to use marijuana as an alternative to other prescribed drugs in treating the effects of certain ailments. The idea of legalizing marijuana is a touchy subject for many people; on the one hand its properties are beneficial to many people who suffer from many different illnesses, on the other hand, it is an illegal substance that has many addictive qualities. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s website, “Marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in the treatment, in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision” (DEA, 2011).... ...
Why isn 't marijuana legal in the United States? Marijuana could serve many purposes to the human body and the community. In 1937, the government issued the Marijuana Tax Act. This act immediately criminalized marijuana. This means you can not have possession of the drug for medical purposes or not. This act is still in effect today, but it should be repealed .
The current issues about legalizing Cannabis in California are, if California legalizes Cannabis it still does not mean that federally it is legal. Since Colorado and Washington have legalized Cannabis the owners of the dispensaries are not protected like other businesses. Such as when time comes to transport money to banks the owners of the dispensaries have to us...
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana is opposed by a vast majority of American’s and people around the world. Leaders in Marijuana prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement adamantly oppose the substance, as do many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of illegal drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing decision making thru legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate here in the United States and in other countries. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is the oldest drug user lobby in the U.S.
Cannabis, more commonly known as marijuana, is a plant that people have been using recreationally for years. In fact, people have consumed marijuana since ancient times. Until 1906, the year the United States Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. The debate on whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the United States has really blown up within the last decade. And finally, in 2012, Colorado became the first state to officially legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational uses. The prohibition of marijuana has gone on for far too long, and it is time for America to change its views.
Cannabis is a natural plant that has been made illegal by the United States, and has been a controversial topic ever since the 1920’s. Marijuana is a substance that has been used hundreds of years ago as an herbal medicine and also can be used for textile products from hemp, which is from the Cannabis Sativa plant. Because of marijuana being categorized as a schedule one substance, it has no medical value and cannot be researched in the United States. Marijuana is said to be a gateway drug and is very unhealthy for adolescents with premature brains. The marijuana prohibition should finally come to a close because there are many benefits from cannabis and it is less harmful than both alcohol and tobacco.
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
Marijuana is the third most common leisure drug in the United States after alcohol and tobacco. Millions of Americans smoke marijuana despite the strict laws against its use. Marijuana is less dangerous compared to tobacco or alcohol. Smoking marijuana can cause breathing problems and coughing just like cigarettes and some people get addicted after using for a while. Regulating and legalizing marijuana will bring Americas greatest cash crop under law, create economic opportunities and jobs in the formal economy as opposed to the underground market. Adopting a legally controlled market for marijuana will ensure that consumers buy the products from a safe and legal source. Marijuana has been approved in some states for medical uses to ease the effects of different health challenges. Colorado and Washington legalized m...
“Governments, entrepreneurs, and people everywhere are beginning to acknowledge that the potential of the cannabis industry is too great to ignore. Its outdated, unsubstantiated stigma is quickly being replaced by legitimate research, supportive laws, and market demand that has surpassed expectations.” Marijuana has been a taboo topic for a hundred years, and we are finally witnessing a shift in the conversation. Marijuana has been legalized for medicinal use in several states, and a few have allowed recreational use too. The silence has finally broken about cannabis but the question still remains; how will the states be able to buy, sell, and use something that is still against federal law? Organizations and businesses within this industry are revamping their legal marketing tactics, including: advertising, sales promotion, events and experiences. But this must happen while dealing with a tricky bunch of rules and regulations.
This is good news for the medical side of the ‘business’ because it means more money, time, and concentration on the medical properties of the plant is now possible. The bias associated with ‘recreational’ marijuana harms the medicinal
Several states have allowed the sale of cannabis for medicinal purposes, but only two have done so for recreational purposes. In 2007 the U.S. Government made approximately six million dollars in tax revenue from the sale of alcohol. If marijuana was to be legalized in every state, it is estimated that the government could generate an additional 10 billion to 120 billion dollars a year. Alcohol can only be consumed in a limited amount of ways and only serves one purpose, but there are numerous possibilities for the manufacturing of cannabis. The plant is unique because it can be used to make products such as paper, rope, and clothing. One of the reasons people who oppose cannabis and alcohol do so, is because the use of the substances by minors . They are overlooking one obvious fact; minors have always found ways to consume marijuana and alcohol, regardless of restrictions. In Colorado, a pioneering state for cannabis legalization, it was found that the teen use marijuana decreased once recreational use became regulated. Alcohol and cannabis can be sold in the same manner, so they both have the potential to positively affect the economy. Both can also be illegally sold. Marijuana is generally sold in an underground black market and home made alcohol, called moonshine, is sold in a similar fashion. The ATF and DEA both serve as forces to regulate this illegal sale. If laws pertaining to
That is more than the corn, wheat, cotton, hay, and rice industry combined. Estimates are that marijuana is the nation’s largest cash crop. Currently the supply chain for marijuana is very inefficient and dangerous. Marijuana has to go from the field to the wholesaler, to the retailers, to the parking lots where it is sold to individuals. That assumes that the marijuana didn’t have to cross a border or two. Throughout this chain there are no quality inspections, and no knowledge of where the product is coming from. It is worse when it has to cross borders; smugglers put their product in some of the most unsanitary conditions to sneak by border patrol. This would all stop if businesses could ship and sell marijuana through legitimate
The first law that regarded marijuana in America required farmers to grow hemp in the year 1619 for clothing, rope, and other materials, but “as early as 1840, doctors recognized the medical applications of marijuana, and the drug was freely sold in pharmacies for over a century.” (Rich and Stingl). In 1937, the use and possession of marijuana was made illegal, but “before 1937 marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and used.”(Rich and Stingl). In 1970 the congress decided to classify marijuana as a schedule one drug, which has made the legalization more difficult, “schedule one drugs are considered dangerous, addictive, and have no medical benefits.”(Rich and Stingl). Marijuana fits the schedule one drug classification because marijuana is dangerous to people’s health, has been found to be addictive if used daily, and also has no medical benefits because marijuana can cause more health problems than it can cure.
Imagine a world where the sick can be treated with a natural medicine that can-do wonders to aid a vast number of illnesses with minimal side effects. Cancer patients can have reduced nausea and pain. Children with epilepsy can put an end to their episodes. And those with anxiety disorder can finally feel at ease. The economy is booming, and it feels like America is great again, all thanks to a crop called Cannabis. It can aid those afflicted by a vast number of conditions as well as generate billions for the US economy. Unfortunately, this is not the reality. Since its Federal ban in 1930s, access to legal cannabis is troublesome. Luckily, some states have legalized it for medicinal purposes. Making move those in need of cannabis, to more