Differences and Evolution of Social Acceptance or Legalization of the Use of Marijuana or Cannabis in Europe and the USA
Recently, several players of teams of the North American NBA, the most important basketball league in the world, have pronounced themselves in favor of the legalization and consumption of marijuana or cannabis, statements that jumped to the forefront of the world media, opening a social debate on the legalization and acceptance of its use, in all its aspects, but especially in the world of sport, not only because of their condition of sportsmen, but also because of the example they mean for millions of people, especially young people.
Among those players are Carmelo Anthony of the Houston Rockets, or Michael Beasley who is currently a player of the Los Angeles Lakers, or the retired, Al Harrington or Kenyon Martin, the latter coming to affirm that 85% of NBA players smoked marijuana or used it in some way.
Even the NBA itself has long been considering legalizing it for therapeutic use as stated in this article from around the world.
Can you imagine European sports stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, former Real Madrid player and currently Juventus Turin, or Lionel Messi, FC Barcelonaplayer, or Kyliam Mbappe, recently world champion with France,or Neymar, both players of Paris Saint GermaintFrench, idols of thousands of teenagers, making statements or promoting the use of cannabis or marijuana, or saying that their teammates or themselves smoke “maria”?
The truth is that it seems difficult to us, this leads us to conclude, that the social evolution, mentality and acceptance of the use of the marijuana, is quite a few years more advanced in the United States than in Europe. But what are the reasons why the US is much more advanced in legalising the different uses of cannabis than in many more territories in the world, given the general globalisation that exists? Let’s see the evolution of the legalization and use of marijuana in these two territories of first world order, USA and Europe.
In the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century, on the occasion of the immigration revolution from Mexico to the U.S., Mexican immigrants who moved to North America also moved the habit of smoking cannabis, so that its use was spreading or normalizing to the rest of the U.S. population, which soon produced, spread a current illegitimate use of marihuan to be associated with the general social misperception of immigrants. From 1913 they were promulgating laws prohibiting the use of cannabis, being the first state in legislating the prohibition of the marijuana California, following him some more, like Oregon, Arkansas, etc…
Subsequently, and almost parallel to the implementation of the Dry Law, an animadversion was created by everything that “distorted the behavior of people”, linking socially the use of marijuana to “blacks”, Mexicans and delinquency, among other negative things, so in 1937 was approved the MARIHUANA TAX ACT, the first law that prohibited the use of cannabis at the federal level.
The repression against marijuana continued for many years with harsh measures and persecutions against everything related to it, not being until the beginning of the 21st century, when as a result of several popular initiatives, supported by several prestigious scientific studies that endorse its use and effectiveness, is when it began to normalize its application, beginning to extend or apply its use, first for therapeutic purposes, and later for recreational use.
States such as Florida or Montana, have approved the medical use of marijuana or cannabis, adding up to more than 30 states in which cannabis is permitted for these therapeutic purposes, having approved today, the recreational use of marijuana, in the following states:
- Colorado and Washington: Year 2012.
- Oregon and Alaska: Year 2014.
- Oregon and Washington D.C: Year 2015.
- Massachusetts: Year 2016.
- Nevada: Year 2017.
- Year 2018: California. Maine, approved Bill that provides for entry into force in 2019-2020.
Video on recreational legalization of marijuana in California
The cannabis industry in the U.S. moves billions of dollars, and its legalization for controlled recreational use throughout the country, a priori is unstoppable. Sectors such as industry, services, and above all agriculture, benefit from this “green fever”.
The race for the change of status in the liberalization of cannabis, has been much faster in the U.S. than in Europe, being recently when most of the countries of the Old Continent have begun, some to regulate its medicinal use, such as Austria, Italy, Germany, Portugal, among others, and being some that already, begin to consider the legalization of the use of this opiate for recreational purposes, after many years where in Europe, the use of marijuana has been completely repressed and punished.
In spite of the advance of the liberatory tendency in the USA, it was a country of the Old Continent, Holland, one of the pioneering States in the decriminalization of the sale and consumption of cannabis or marijuana, taking place in the 70’s, being the reality, what after more than 30 years of legality, the levels of consumption are shown below the European average.
For this drop in consumption levels in the population, Holland, has not only become a benchmark, but an example to follow for other countries, serving as a sample on how to legalize the use of marijuana for controlled recreational uses, also taking into account the first thing exposed, the economic impact of the measure, by all sectors that are positively affected by this legalization, including, as has happened in this small state of the Netherlands, the tourism sector, being the coffee shop of Amsterdama world icon.
As we can see, the trend regarding the legalization of marijuana for its different uses, both in the U.S. and Europe, follows identical paths, although it is true that the American country has advanced a few years to the Old Continent in the “race for the legalization of cannabis or marijuana”, which leads us to conclude that social evolution and the American mentality in these aspects, is more open and less restrictive than the European, having seen the advantages that the liberalization of this plant can bring, both in its medicinal and recreational aspect, affecting the social perception, all this in conjunction with the brutal impact on the economy generated by the legalization of cannabis or marijuana of billions.
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