forum rules
-
Sign up/log in at the top right corner of the website to contribute to the forum
-
"Create new post" to start a new discussion on the monthly forum topic
-
"Comment" on others' posts to respond or ask follow-up questions
-
"Like" others' posts or comments to indicate agreement or support
-
Give credit to any sources you’ve used
-
Don’t use profanity or words that may harm others
It's interesting to see how culture may also play a role in where marijuana is legal or illegal. I don't know about Asian countries, but at least in my own country, Kenya, a largely conservative country, there is barely ever any talk concerning the illegality of marijuana. Of course, a good number of youth use the drug, but there is hardly much controversy over the issue. Accordingly, most of the eastern world is red, meaning that this part of the world is largely opposed to marijuana usage, perhaps stemming from the more conservative culture. Contrastingly, the western world, which is often associated with more liberal views on life, has considerably much less red, suggesting that the illegality of the drug is not so enforced, and even legal in some areas such as Canada.
I think it is really interesting to see that India is in the coral color (illegal, but unenforced.) One of my relatives who is very much Indian is pretty liberal, so I don't know if this is just a reflection of them, but in the past they have talked somewhat openly about using weed. They also talked about knowing many people who gathered in public spaces to take part in marijuana use. It sounds like it could have been socially acceptable.
I am from Utah, and I was definitely shocked to hear that my state would be legalizing medical marijuana because Utah is a pretty conservative state. However, I do not want to say that Utah legalized medical marijuana "completely" because Utah state legislatures have capped the production by allowing only 10 four acre marijuana farms. They believe that this will be enough to follow the idealistic situation after legalizing marijuana. According to Bethany Rodgers of the Salt Lake Tribune on April 21st, 2019, "If the cannabis industry perfectly complied with Utah’s expectations, it would grow 84,292.98 plants annually. These perfectly obedient plants would offer 10.4 million grams of THC (marijuana’s psychoactive compound), enough to supply exactly 100,000 patients with 2 grams of cannabinoids per week for the entire year. The supply would meet the demand, and no cannabis buds would be left over to sit in storehouses, at risk of falling into the black market’s clutches." Bethany Rodgers predicts that this cap will leave the cannabis pharmacies almost blank for the early days of opening.