CANNAINVESTOR Magazine October / November 2016 | Page 27

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DIFFERENCES FROM THE DOT.COM ERA

No one can say with certainty whether or not there is a bubble to be burst or not. The future of the industry rests with politicians, legislation, and the judiciary all influenced by the public and the medical community. But this is not a ‘new economy’ as Marijuana has been used for millennia. As reported in June 2016 on www.mmjdoctoronline.com:

Medical Marijuana is a very old medicinal herb used for not hundreds but thousands of years to treat a great variety of ailments. Historically, Marijuana was used to treat insomnia, mental issues, pain, inflammation, intestinal conditions and cramping. Now, as modern medicines chimes in, the active ingredients of Marijuana, called Cannabinoids, have been shown to have anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anxiety reducing properties.

In fact, this very old economy has a black market estimated valuation by some to be in excess of $50 billion. The capacity being built now is in preparation of transforming the illegal black market into a robust growing legal regulated market with strict regulations. There are other societal benefits that Governments know all too well from this transformation as reported in June on www.mmjdoctoronline.com:

In the period from 1950 to 1995, if you bought Marijuana, it definitely was grown illegally. Chances are that your dollars went into the pocket of a dealer connected to organized crime, a gang, cartel or local mafia. This is why some people called Cannabis a gateway drug. On it's own, Marijuana, however, is anything but a gateway drug because in every case, where's MMJ has been legalized, death from DUI, hard drugs including heroin went down dramatically by 20 to 30% in the first year. MMJ Doctors round the world use Marijuana to get addicts off hard drugs. Previous to legalization, Marijuana was often sold by the same folk dealing in heroin, crack, amphetamines, LSD.