Written by Wes Annac

Even though it’s becoming clear that the ongoing legalization of cannabis benefits the same interests who’ve profited from its illegality, it’s a step in the right direction.

I think it’s legalization is important to the creation of a new paradigm, and its demonization has benefitted the people in power for nearly a century – the same people who, again, now profit from its legalization but fought tooth and nail to convince us it was bad (successfully in most cases).

It’s unfortunate yet unsurprising that the usual suspects are rushing in and making money from freshly legalized cannabis when they once fought it, but it’s great to see our society opening up to it and considering its potential.

It’s been unfairly demonized for too long, and its demonization has unfortunately worked its way into the minds of most people, who mean well when they speak out against it but don’t realize they’re against something that could heal the world.

The stereotypical person who’s adamantly against drugs of any kind, including cannabis, has been conditioned to associate the herb with destructive hard drugs – crack, cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, etc.

The US government has used propaganda to turn people against cannabis, and the best ways to do this are to lump it in with hard drugs and convince people that using it is the first step to being hooked on those drugs, which really do steal people’s lives.

In my opinion, the difference between cannabis and actual hard drugs, beyond the fact that it’s impossible to overdose or become physically addicted to cannabis, is that the herb can open minds and inspire its users to go against the status quo while questioning the motives of the people in power. Most hard drugs, however, only lead to self-destruction.

Yes, there’s such a thing as a socially or spiritually aware hard drug user, but chances are good that heroin or another drug won’t introduce one to the spiritual nature of their existence or encourage them to question society like cannabis will.

Cannabis is perhaps the most misunderstood mind-altering substance out there, and if it’s used properly and for the right reasons, it can help its users expand their consciousness and open up to ideas most people would impulsively reject.

A false image has been created around cannabis, and we’re told to see it as little more than a party drug that turns its users lazy and keeps them from contributing to society. What we aren’t told is that its users don’t align themselves against society because they’re too lazy to contribute.

The conscious cannabis user has become aware that life is nothing like the people in power would have us believe. They see the follies of working every day at a nine-to-five that sucks away our independence and individuality and makes us slaves to a system we never created, and they realize how important it is to go against this system.

Any unwillingness to contribute to society isn’t usually caused by cannabis itself, but by the social awareness its users tend to gain. More and more people are fed up with the misaligned way our society operates, and they’re ready to make a change.

For some people, the best way to try to change society is to rebel against it by refusing to contribute to the system, which they feel is broken. Cannabis can help stimulate the awareness that leads us to question the aspects of society we once passively accepted, and in my opinion, this is one of the reasons we’re programmed to think it’s bad.

We’ll need to change our perception of cannabis if we want to repair our society, and we’ll have to do away with the close-mindedness that’s caused us to accept its illegality and lump it in with drugs that are actually bad.

If we could only open our minds to the herb’s potential value, we might find that it’s one of the most beneficial things the earth offers. I could get into all of its medicinal benefits, as well as the industrial benefits of hemp, but nothing I put here will matter if it isn’t considered with an open mind.

If more people only knew what this plant can do for us – as individuals and as a collective – I think it would not only be accepted, but celebrated. It deserves to be celebrated, in my opinion, especially after the rough century it’s had.

It’s time to change our perspective, and until we do, we’ll continue to misunderstand this plant and its potential to help us out of the mess we’ve made. It’s up to us to embrace or denounce it, but one thing’s for sure: it shouldn’t be illegal.

Its illegality has clearly benefited the elite more than the people, and the laws surrounding it are the first things that need to change if we want to open up to its benefits. Luckily, those laws and the ignorance that came with them are starting to change, and hopefully, we’ll see more changes as the years roll on.

Those of us who support the herb might have to put up with the hatefulness and close-mindedness of the people who vehemently denounce it for the time being, but we can only hope people wake up and stop taking what their governments tell them at face value.

I think the next decade will be a good one for cannabis, and its worldwide legalization will be one of the first steps in the inevitable enlightenment of the world.

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I’m a twenty-one year old writer, musician and blogger, and I created The Culture of Awareness daily news site.

The Culture of Awareness features daily spiritual and alternative news, articles I’ve written, and more. Its purpose is to awaken and uplift by providing material about the fall of the planetary elite and a new paradigm of unity and spirituality.

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