"Recreational" marijuana sold at a cannabis dispensary in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. (Visual China/Photo)
After six or seven years in the United States, Cheng Yu, 26, smoked marijuana only once.
Three years ago, Cheng Yu was still studying for a master's degree at Duke University in North Carolina, and late at night after a hot pot dinner, a friend of Cheng Yu mysteriously pulled out a piece of marijuana in the car, smiled and said to him, "Come and be happy!" ”
Because of the good face and a little hunting curiosity, Cheng Yu took the marijuana and sucked it hard, "I didn't think too much at the time, and I didn't know if there was any other hi medicine in the marijuana." ”
The car is full of smoke, Cheng Yu will not smoke, and naturally will not pass the lungs when smoking marijuana. After a third of the marijuana burned out, Cheng Yu still "didn't feel anything, just a little dizzy."
Friends thought he was "violent" and snatched the marijuana back.
"Brother, come on a no?"
In the United States, the exchange of gifts between friends is sometimes indispensable to each other.
"Brother, come on a no?" After studying in the United States for more than ten years, Li Jingyang often received marijuana from American classmates. He confessed to Southern Weekend reporters, "Whether in the dormitory or at the party, I always refuse. ”
Unlike the anti-drug campaign that prevailed in the United States in the 1970s, today, marijuana has come under the guise of legality in the United States. Currently, a total of 37 states in the United States and Washington, D.C., have allowed the legalization of medical marijuana, and 18 of them and Washington, D.C., will also legalize recreational marijuana.
April 21, 2022, was the first day of legal sales of recreational marijuana in New Jersey, USA. In reports from the New York Times, the Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) and other U.S. media outlets, New Jersey set off a "marijuana buying boom," with people standing in line at marijuana pharmacies at 3:30 a.m.
On that day, a total of 13 officially designated pharmacies in New Jersey publicly sold recreational marijuana.
"Today is the beginning of a new industry in our state and a historic moment to advance social and economic justice efforts." That morning, New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy excitedly tweeted.
Previously, Governor Murphy led New Jersey residents to pass the Marijuana Legal Amendment with a 68%to 32% vote, making the state the 18th state in the United States to legalize marijuana.
In the eyes of Li Jingyang, who has long lived in New Jersey, he does not think that the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey will have much impact on Americans, because it is too normal for Americans to smoke marijuana, "for young people, marijuana is a pastime at their fingertips." ”
Whenever he returned to the dormitory building of the school, Li Jingyang could always smell a fishy rotten smell, which he knew was a unique smell of marijuana.
In the U.S. federal Controlled Substances Act, cannabis is classified as a Class I controlled substance in the United States, and any cultivation, transportation, trafficking, and smoking is an offence.
State legislation also has strict rules on the legal use of marijuana. In New Jersey, where marijuana has just been legalized, citizens over the age of 21 can legally purchase only 1 ounce (28 grams) of recreational marijuana, or 5 grams of concentrate or 1,000 milliliters of edibles at a time.
It is illegal for anyone to possess 6 ounces or more of marijuana, and driving while smoking marijuana is prohibited. Because U.S. federal law still prohibits citizens from possessing marijuana, New Jersey residents cannot transfer marijuana to other states.
However, in American universities and even middle schools, smoking marijuana is a common phenomenon.
"Drinking, bungee jumping and partying, the lower college students suck the most, but the police don't come every week to arrest people." Li Jingyang told Southern Weekend reporters that most American universities follow US federal laws to "list smoking marijuana as illegal", but the school still belongs to the state of turning a blind eye, "as long as there is no accident, it will be passable."
A 2018 statistic by the nonprofit Monitor the Future showed that more than 43 percent of college students in the U.S. had smoked more than once.
Cheng Yu was also very familiar with the smell of "skunk"-like cannabis. When he first arrived in the United States, he often smelled in his dormitory, "You can't tell who is smoking hemp, but there is smell everywhere." ”
In states where marijuana has not yet been legalized, the black market is the primary way people buy marijuana.
"The most common purchase channel for friends around me is to join the 'hemp group' on social media, most of them are still looking for regular customers, and the delivery place is often in the car." Cheng Yu told the Southern Weekend reporter that his "old smoking gun" friends are usually reluctant to buy, after all, the marijuana purchased for 100 US dollars can only be rolled with a few hemp smokes.
In the United States, shopping for marijuana online is effortless. On google, the American version of the dianping software Yelp and the American cannabis map network Weedmaps three platforms, as long as you set the U.S. address, you can search for a number of nearby cannabis pharmacy information and delivery services.
However, the platform cannot guarantee whether these pharmacies are eligible to legally sell cannabis.
More than 90% of Americans support legalization of marijuana?
Legal marijuana dispensaries in the U.S. primarily sell three types of cannabis: Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid. Judging from the effect, Sativa has a strong sense of excitement, Indica calms well, and Hybrid is a mixture of the first two. Pharmacies sell in 1/8 ounce units, and are divided into cigarettes (preroll), dried flowers, etc.
"People are light and fluttering, and the view is broadened." Cheng Yu's friend described the sensation of smoking marijuana in this way, and this pleasure can only stay for a short period of two or three hours.
In recent years, the use and support of marijuana in the United States has soared. In 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 48.2 million people used it at least once, or 18 percent of the U.S. population. About 30 percent of cannabis users in the United States are addicted.
A 2021 Pew Research Center survey also revealed that up to 91 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, at least for medical purposes.
The U.S. government has loosened regulations on the buying and selling of cannabis. In some states where medical marijuana has been legalized, it is easy for ordinary residents to buy marijuana. A Chinese-American who shared his experience at a Chinese forum said that he could get a "Medical Marijuana Identification Card" by going to a small local clinic to confide in doctors about "insomnia."
After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the US cannabis industry bucked the trend. In March 2020, companies across the U.S. were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and cannabis dispensaries in eight states where marijuana was legalized remained "basic," allowing them to continue selling cannabis during the home quarantine lockdown period.
Cannabis sales data platform BDSA shows that U.S. legal cannabis sales reached a record $17.5 billion in 2020, up 46 percent from 2019. By 2030, the U.S. cannabis industry will have $85 billion in sales.
"These economic data provide better data support for the legalization of marijuana." U.S. cannabis investor Matt Hawkins said.
Cannabis is one of the three major drugs recognized by the international community, the main ingredient is the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which allows users to enjoy addiction while smoking.
Globally, only a handful of countries, such as Canada, the Netherlands, and Uruguay, allow residents to legally smoke marijuana. In 2022, Thailand became the first country in Asia to legalize cannabis.
Although cannabis has medical benefits such as analgesic and stroke relief, the side effects of abuse of cannabis on the human body are far greater than short-term pleasure.
"Short-term cannabis use can cause symptoms such as hallucinations, cognitive impairment and panic, and long-term use can create dependence and even induce heart disease." Hao Wei, member of the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse and first vice-president of the International Commission for Narcotics Control, said.
Cannabis poses a greater risk to children and adolescents. A 2014 paper by the National Academy of Sciences wrote that minors under the age of 18 are more likely to develop marijuana addiction. Once a minor becomes addicted to cannabis, it will affect the brain development involving memory, learning, decision-making, and so on.
"I don't smoke marijuana, and I'm more worried that my son will get caught up in it." New York State resident Keith Field told Southern Weekend.
To expand market demand, American cannabis companies began producing a variety of biscuits, candies or snacks containing cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which contain cannabis extracts. Due to the bright packaging and cute appearance of the product, there have been cases of children eating cannabis candy by mistake in many states in the United States.
Danielle Ompad, an associate professor of epidemiology at NYU's School of Global Public Health, said that even eating just one sachet can "overwhelm the child."
From "public enemy number one" to legalization
The U.S. government has also experienced a long process of cracking down on illegal acts to gradually relaxing the issue of marijuana control.
In the 1960s, the American hippie movement was in the dust, and smoking marijuana became a fashion for the youth of the time. Then-US President Richard Nixon launched the "war on drugs" and designated drugs as the "number one public enemy".
In 1970, under the impetus of the Nixon administration, the U.S. federal government introduced the Controlled Substances Act, which classified drugs such as marijuana and heroin as first-level controlled substances. Growing and selling cannabis is punishable by five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Due to the separation of powers in the US Constitution and the full autonomy of the states, the federal government has many difficulties in the issue of "banning hemp" and has to give the "green light" to the state cannabis legislation.
In 1996, California became the first state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana. In 2012, Colorado and Washington were the first to pass the Colorado Amendment 64 and Washington Initiative 502. In both states, it is completely legal to grow, produce and sell cannabis to adults.
The cannabis industry has brought in lucrative tax revenues and broadened jobs. A 2018 study by New Frontier Data, a data analytics firm for the cannabis industry, said that over the next 10 years, marijuana legalization in many states across the U.S. could generate up to $130 billion in tax revenue and nearly 1 million new jobs in the United States.
"Whenever there is a deficit in the government budget and other situations, everyone wants to know where there are additional sources of revenue, and a cannabis tax is the most logical way to do it." Beau Whitney, then senior economist at New Frontier Data, told The Washington Post.
The "ban on hemp" has also increased the cost of law enforcement by the U.S. federal government. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 2003 and 2013, the federal government spent between $30 billion and $40 billion a year on "banning hemp," accounting for 15 percent of the annual crime enforcement spending.
As a result, the U.S. government's conflict with state legislation and federal law, the Controlled Substances Act, on marijuana control is also a "blind eye."
In a 2012 interview with the ABC, then-President Barack Obama said, "On the issue of drug enforcement, our administration has 'bigger fish to fry,' far more important than arresting cannabis smokers in states where marijuana has been legalized." ”
Issues such as marijuana legalization and abortion and gay marriage have also become the political agenda of the bipartisan struggle in the United States. A 2020 Census by Gaplow showed that more than 83 percent of Democrats supported legalizing marijuana, but only 48 percent of Republicans supported it.
To promote the legalization of marijuana, democrats often launch "social equity programs" in multiple California cities and counties in the name of racial equality to help black or Hispanic Americans affected by the war on drugs.
Major interest groups are also stepping up their push to legalize cannabis. According to Reveal, a nonprofit that tracks political contributions, 22 interest groups spent $4.3 million in 2021 to hire more than a hundred professional lobbyists to campaign in Congress to promote the legalization of marijuana.
"Over the years, we've had countless discussions about the use of cannabis. In fact, marijuana has always existed and is being used. On April 1, 2022, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the U.S. must address the issue of how to legally treat marijuana.
On this day, the U.S. House of Representatives, by a narrow margin of 220 votes to 204, voted to pass a bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Elimination Act, which requires the legalization of marijuana across the United States while eliminating penalties for marijuana-related criminal offenses.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate and become federal law, but it is still a milestone for the legalization of marijuana in the United States.
"I'd rather grow marijuana illegally"
The U.S. government has vigorously promoted the legalization of cannabis, and illegal cultivation in its country has become more rampant. In 2014, Gary Ronneck discovered the first illegal marijuana plantation near his home in a southern Oregon suburb.
Today, six cannabis plantations have emerged around this lush land. Since the advent of illegal plantations, Gary has often heard gunshots. He is usually woken up by gunshots in the middle of the night and occasionally hears them a few times in the early morning.
Even after the legalization of marijuana in Oregon in 2014, there was still an influx of illegal marijuana growers into southern Oregon, which is as notorious as the Emerald Delta in Northern California, "controlled" by Mexican drug lords, and has become another center for illegal cannabis cultivation.
"People from all states and as many as 20 countries have bought property in Jackson County or Josephine County." Oregon law enforcement officials say there could be as many as 1,000 illegal activities in an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometers.
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission estimates that illegal cannabis businesses will make more than twice as much profit as legal ones. Most of this illegally grown marijuana goes to surrounding states where cannabis prices are higher, or where they have not yet been legalized.
In addition to Oregon, there are still many people in other states where marijuana is legalized in the United States that choose to grow cannabis illegally. In Oklahoma, where medical cannabis licenses are most readily available, there have been 50 raids on illegal cannabis cultivation in the second half of 2021.
In 2021 alone, California seized more than 1.2 million illegal cannabis plants and more than 180,000 pounds of processed cannabis.
In California, due to high taxes, limited licenses, and high regulatory costs, most cannabis growers choose to grow illegally out of interest. Cannabis growers applying for a legal license face not only a long wait, but also up to 40 percent tax revenue.
"Nobody wants to run a business illegally, everyone wants to be upright, but I can't make a penny in the face of the cost of applying for a license, renting a house, etc." The British "Guardian" quoted an "underground pharmacy" operator as saying, "In the name of legalization, no one can find a shop, no one can find financial support, and the so-called legalization of marijuana is just a bunch of empty words." ”
(At the request of the interviewees, Li Jingyang and Cheng Yu were pseudonyms.) ）
Southern Weekend reporter Gu Yuebing Southern Weekend intern He Yuqing Jin Mingxuan