Big Pharma Hates Weed

Big Pharma hates marijuana.

It’s not a secret. They fund anti-marijuana legalization campaigns, they provide illegal monetary kickbacks to health professionals to prescribe unneeded medications to patients, and all in the same movement are sweeping in to try and flood the pharmaceutical market with expensive synthetic marijuana medicines.

Big Pharma Sparks Controversy Across the Nation

Many pro-weeder’s are left with the burning question of why? Why does Big Pharma fight so hard to prevent the legalization of a plant that could possibly be an alternative treatment for hundreds of thousands of people? And why is no one doing anything about it?

The answer is simple and a wee bit cliché: Greed. It all boils down to the one evil that has managed to make its way into a position so that it literally turns our economic world. And when you are a corporation as rich and powerful as Big Pharma, there is not a whole lot that people can do at once to win against you.

Every victory in the battle for legalization, is a victory against Big Pharma, the potential to dismantle their reign of illegal activities that have been going on for decades. But first, in order to help fight the battle for legalization, we need to know what our enemy stands to lose.

Big Pharma could lose billions of dollars a year.

Already in states where marijuana is legalized, they are losing millions of dollars. And if marijuana were to be legalized and decriminalized, they could stand to lose up to 4 billion dollars a year. And that is just in the United States.

The United States is Big Pharma’s largest customer base, contributing up to 80% of the world’s opioid prescription consumption. Studies have shown that in states where Marijuana is easily used as an alternative to chronic pain, there is a

substantial decrease in the number of prescriptions for opioids that are filled every year. But that isn’t enough.

It is said that 1 in 3 Americans know someone who is addicted to pharmaceutical pills, and 1 in 10 Americans suffer from some level of substance abuse. Research has proven that cannabis can be used as a counter-option to opioids, and pain pills for many mental and physical illnesses. With the rising costs of pharmaceuticals and insurance companies being unwilling to cover the costs for many Americans, the natural and safer alternative is cannabis.

Big Pharma Fuels the Opioid Crisis In America.

In 2016, a Chandler pharmaceutical company called Insys Therapeutics made a half-a-million-dollar donation to fight the legalization of cannabis in Arizona. In the same year, multiple executives of this company were arrested for defrauding insurance companies and providing monetary kickbacks to physicians to prescribe their Fentanyl spray to patients. Money kickbacks mean physicians gained from prescribing this medicine to patients who didn’t need that level of narcotics to manage their pain. One of the biggest side effects of this spray? Addiction. And the danger with this spray is that it is easy to overdose on, resulting in more often than not, fatality.

This very same company, while financially backing and lobbying for the continued prohibition of cannabis, is also funding research to create synthetic THC medicines, and has put record speed into getting those artificial THC medicines approved by the FDA. A move that even has politicians calling out the shady business.

Bringing the Fight Home

With Big Pharma delaying legalization with monetary contributions, the only thing the general public can do is fight back with knowledge, persistence, and patience.

Americans must do everything they can to avoid allowing Big Pharma to take over the medical marijuana industry with synthetic, expensive THC medications, and fight for the push for marijuana legalization. Not only for our economy, and our nation's overall health – but for the lives of everyone that Big Pharma has damaged in their quest to continue to dominate the market in pain management relief.

The opioid crisis that Big Pharma has created isn’t even scratching the surface of how Big Pharma hurts people every single day. There are dozens of life-saving drugs and other medicines that millions of people need on a daily basis that have been price-gauged to points beyond extremes. When life-saving insulin costs $300.00 per tiny vial, it’s time to fight back.

A Few Ways to Fight Back

So, how does one person, contribute to the battle against Big Pharma and their war on legalizing marijuana? It may not seem like much, but for every person that jumps on board with the battle, the more chance we have of winning the war.

1. Stay Informed and Spread the Knowledge.

Be aware that insurance companies should be covering addiction treatments thanks to the Parity Act. Be aware of what medications you, your family, and your children are taking. Learn the signs of addiction, and learn how to use Naloxone. Do whatever you can to learn as much as you can about medicines, big pharma, insurance, and addiction. And then talk with your kids. Talk to their friends about the dangers. Knowledge is POWER, and the more lines of communication that are open, the chances are you can protect your loved ones from falling into Big Pharma’s clutches. Knowledge is power.

2. End the Stigma

Remember that addiction is a disease. It’s time for us to speak out. Whether you are an addict or a loved one of an addict, it is time for us to use our voice and speak out against those who blame the victims of Big Pharma and the medical industry's greed. We are fighting for the betterment of everyone, including those who just can’t fight for themselves.

3. Vote if you can.

Too many Americans, especially the millennials and younger, do not realize the significance of our votes. If you do not utilize your RIGHT to CHOOSE how your country is run, then how can you claim to be patriotic? We, the people make our country – and to many have forgotten this fact. And it is time to start using our votes to start making some serious changes. You don’t even have to vote. Write to your local politicians. Make noise. Demand change. Be present in what is going on in the world today.

4. Change your Choices.

Before filling that pain prescription, ask yourself if you need that level of management. You could try CBD cream, or if marijuana is legal where you are, switch to that. If there are other alternative medicines that will help your treatment, try adding those natural supplements to your regime. Instead of throwing old prescriptions away, take them to your local pharmacy and ask them to dispose of them so that no needles or pills get themselves into the wrong hands. Make smarter, healthier choices, especially when it comes to your medicine.

5. USE YOUR VOICE.

No change has ever come from silence, and this evil certainly won’t go away if we remain quiet. It is time for more people to raise a fuss, to talk about the bad, expose their secrets, and start playing dirty with Big Pharma. If you have a story, share it with the world.

United we Stand.

No matter how we all choose to fight, the important thing is to remember that we all have something to lose in this battle. If we do not fight for some sort of limitations on Big Pharma, if we continue to let them lead the way in pain management medicines, we only stand to lose more lives to the pandemic of addiction, life-saving medicines that friends or family may need will continue to become inaccessible accept by those only who can afford it, and the more our basic rights as human beings will be snuffed out.

We are all looking at dark skies and big enemies in America. But it is how we choose to unite or divide that will tell the story of whether our country can yet still become… “Great.”

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

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