Would Legalizing Pot Be Good for the Environment?

It is well known that legalizing pot could have great economic benefits in California and elsewhere by allowing the government to tax it (like it now does on liquor and cigarettes), by ending expensive and ongoing operations to eradicate it, and by keeping millions of otherwise innocent and non-violent marijuana offenders out of already overburdened federal and state prisons. But what you might not know is that legalizing pot could also pay environmental dividends as well.

Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Tobacco

In the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, marijuana and hemp were combined and both criminalized. Although they are both from the family of cannabis sativa, the are different plants, like a cocker spaniel and a wolf are from the family of canis lupus.

Marijuana is grown for the high THC content. Hemp is grown for its use as seeds, oil and fibers and other useful products.