According to the Huffington Post, the Drug Enforcement Administration is considering to reclassify the federal status marijuana in "the first half of 2016" - potentially dropping its status as a Schedule 1 drug.  The DEA determines Schedule 1 drugs as having the highest potential for abuse and no “current accepted medical use.”  Other drugs listed as Schedule 1 are LSD and heroin.  Additionally, it's been reported that the legal medical marijuana business is booming, reaching $5.7 billion in 2015, up nearly 24% from the prior year.

The legal marijuana business appears to be booming, but we still need to be vigilant.  According to my sources in California, for example, the amount of distribution places in the state have been literally cut in half.

There’s still a war going on.  That’s why the people who support the legalization of marijuana -- me being one of them -- need to stay vigilant and keep pressing forward.  This is not the time to sit back and rest on your laurels.

They will continue to try to take it away.  Whatever gains have already been made will be taken away quickly because it counteracts the war on drugs.  There’s still a lot of people out there who want the war on drugs to continue because they’re profiting so much from it.

Each state should put the legalization of marijuana on the ballot and vote for it.  That’s what it will take.

As the states grow in numbers, this will make the platform for legalization all the more powerful.  Who will argue when they see the positive results that stem from legalization?

The number of deaths from prescription pharmaceutical drugs has dropped considerably for example.  The results are always the opposite of what the government or media anticipates it will be.

In states like Minnesota, users of medical marijuana have to pay the most ungodly prices because of the restrictions.  In Colorado, what you can get for $30 will cost the residents of Minnesota much much more, simply because it’s openly regulated in Colorado.  The insurance companies won’t cover marijuana.  That’s just another reason why it has to be legalized.

Once more states allow medical marijuana, it will drive prices down, not up.  Producers will be able to increase their quantity, which will then increase their profits, which then means they can lower their prices.

This is still going to be an uphill battle.  You’re taking on Big Pharma.  You’re taking a powerful, money-driven industry that views marijuana as a competitor.  I know from working with Vince McMahon what can and will be done against competitors.  That’s what you’re dealing with here: a multi-billion dollar industry that does not want marijuana on the board at all. That’s why it’s been illegal and classified as a Schedule 1 drug for as long as it has been.  People should not kick back and think somehow that the legalization of marijuana is going to have an easy road ahead.  It’s not.  What little gains have been made right now have been very important.  But people need to continue to fight for marijuana rights.  Otherwise, it’s going to die.

Don’t be mistaken: legalization can be taken away as quickly as it was granted.

-Jesse Ventura

Watch High Times’ Editor-in-Chief Dan Skye discuss the high profits of marijuana with Jesse Ventura in this Off The Grid exclusive:

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.

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