In the debate over the high costs of health care in our nation, there is one glaring, vital chunk of information we don't have. Most us of know, or have met, people that have been able to lower or stop their consumption of big pharma drugs once they begin to consume cannabis. The missing information is: How much do drug companies lose when cannabis is available to patients within a given state? I'm sure that it's not a number that the big drug companies wish to be known.
Everyone already knows the answer: A lot. Cannabis is the superior substitute in 3 HUGE industries (Tobacco/Alcohol, Pharmaceutical and Big Aggro) and feeds a $500+ billion dollar a year War on Drugs (Prison industrial complex, law enforcement). The political support shown to these industries is clearly an evil practice, to sanction pain and suffering at the behest of profiteers. I don't know how people can continue to trust our government when they clearly do not represent the interests of the consumers.