Executive Summary;Marijuana as Business (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

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The Union: the business behind getting high
Introduction
The trade in marijuana is one of the most profitable ventures in British Columbia. In the film The Union: the business behind getting high, there is focus on a broader societal issues related to marijuana business and use, with less focus on stereotypical glamorization of the substance and identification with the hippy culture. Marijuana trade has become so lucrative that it is akin to ‘The Union” which represents a big business organization. The U.S. is the largest trade partner of Canada, and marijuana trade with the U.S. also an important source of revenue for cannabis traders in British Columbia (BC). This paper focuses on marijuana prohibition, history of marijuana, its health risks, taxation and legalization of marijuana as well as the profit motive behind marijuana prohibition
History
At the beginning of the film, the filmmaker points out that marijuana has not always been illegal. The film briefly mentions that before the 20th century, marijuana had various uses with products used to make fabrics as well as writing materials. For instance, there were copies of the declaration of independence written paper mills made from hemp. Marijuana was also used for medicinal value, but people did not get high from industrial hemp (Scorgie). Nonetheless, reports that Mexicans and Blacks would get high on marijuana led to increased scrutiny on the plant. Consequently, there was a Marijuana Tax Act in 1937, in the U.S, and with time use of marijuana was associated with pacifism, communism and anti-American sentiments (Scorgie).
Prohibition
In the 20th century marijuana prohibition has received more attention, but less focus has been placed on whether the prohibitions do protect users and non users. The prohibition has mostly focused on reducing marijuana available, but this has not stopped its demand. Contrary, prohibition has increased criminality as dealers have gone underground, and the reasons for prohibition have also tried to relying scientific evidence to the harmful effects of marijuana. One claim is that marijuana affects brain cells, but early research to support this claim used monkeys which had been suffocated (Scorgie). There is still controversy on impact of marijuana on brain cells, as other studies suggest that marijuana could stimulate brain cells.
Gateway/ opportunity
Classification of marijuana as a drug among law enforcers has sought to link marijuana use with other hard drugs. There is an assumption that using marijuana is a gateway to getting hooked on drugs. Nonetheless, this argument ignores the fact that prohibition has resulted in marijuana being traded in the black market together with other drugs. This in turn makes it more likely that organized gangs will infiltrate the trade in marijuana (Scorgie). Prohibition has simply made marijuana more lucrative as the value of marijuana is worth more under prohibition.
Cause of death
Another controversial aspect of marijuana use is the case of lung cancer, as many nicotine elements have been showed to cause cancer than elements contained in marijuana. In any case, there are more people who die from tobacco use that, marijuana related deaths. Additionally, without taking into account deaths related to poor health and dieting, alcohol is also a major cause of death (Scorgie). Law enforcers and health practitioners do not also give estimates of deaths directly attributed to marijuana.
Taxation and legalization
Since the trade of marijuana takes place in an unregulated market, there is no guarantee that children will not increasingly try out the substance. Hence, regulation and taxation have been proposed as possible strategies to reduce marijuana use. Legalization would make marijuana legally available to adults, with decriminalization and legalization likely to limit the profit motive (Ruschmann 94). Through regulating the marijuana market, it is possible to levy taxes that can be used to support services including healthcare. This proposal is similar to the alcohol industry where packaging and marketing are part of the business.
Situation in British Columbia
Even though, marijuana trade involves criminal elements, in the case of British Columbia the role of organized criminality does not feature much. One of the reasons is that there are diverse people dealing in marijuana, and there is no hierarchy like in organized criminal gangs. Small grow ops can be found in apartments to people’ basement, but there are also larger scale operations to expand marijuana trade in BC. Growth in profits has been one of the motivation factors for increased growth of marijuana in BC (Scorgie). In any case, the inputs are cheap in when compared to the returns, and mostly require space, electricity lights and water. Even though, marijuana is prohibited in British Columbia, there is a cannabis Day in Vancouver, showing that there is a culture of marijuana use in the city.
The trade in marijuana in British Columbia to America shows that there is a system that makes it possible for the trade to thrive. One of the chain links is the landowner is not directly involved in marijuana trading but gets a share of profits from marijuana trade. A contractor effectively links the growers with land owners and other traders to increase sales. In many cases, growers get busted and share the blame for marijuana growth and not the land owners (Scorgie). There are clippers to sort out the products focusing on the buds/ flowers and not the leaves. Brokers also establish contacts with clients in the U.S. and this fetches more money when compared to relying on the Canadian market the economy of British Columbia is affected directly and indirectly, where carpentry, hardware electricity...