With regards to the legalization of marijuana or at least medicinal marijuana, I would be willing to bet Republicans are so opposed to it for the following reasons:

1) The private prison lobby. Private prisons rely on filled bed space to turn a profit. I’d be willing to bet a large segment of the inmate population is incarcerated for marijuana-related crimes. If marijuana is taken off the schedule I list or outright legalized, they stand to lose huge amounts of money because they won’t be able to fill as many beds. I’d say privatized prisons are also a huge lobbying force when it comes to mandatory minimums, which negates a judge’s discretion when imposing sentences. Don’t underestimate the lobbying power of privatized corrections and probation.

2) If marijuana was legalized at the federal level, look how much your local law enforcement would lose in terms of revenue they receive from asset forfeiture. President Obama’s administration wanted to dial back the use of asset forfeiture, but when that little b*****d from Alabama Jeff Sessions became A.G. of the U.S., he gave directives to increase the use of asset forfeiture. So look at how many houses, luxury cars, boats, and planes would no longer be subject to asset forfeiture. All this translates into $$$ and lots of it for law enforcement.

3) Look at how many local, state and federal workers would lose their jobs if marijuana was legalized. I’d say they wouldn’t need as many agents, officers, etc. if marijuana was legalized. The war on drugs is undeniably a growth industry along with privatized corrections and probation.

4) Last, but certainly not least we have to look at big pharma. The gentleman who called in from KY who is a cancer patient on chemotherapy and suffers from nausea is a prime example. I just went to GoodRX and a 30-day Rx for Anzemet (Dolasteron) costs as much as $3,090 for 30 tablets. That’s $103 PER PILL!! Felbomate, the generic version of Felbatol, which is a common pediatric anti-seizure Rx costs as much as $380 WITH A COUPON for a 90-day Rx. If you have an all-natural remedy that is proven effective, then you start eating into the profits of these huge pharmaceutical companies who have massive amounts of money to pay lobbyists, who in turn bribe the politicians to turn blind eyes and deaf ears.

I did some more research on pediatric anti-seizure medications and there is one drug called Topiramate ER (Qudexy XR) that costs as much as $551 for 30 capsules and that is with a coupon. They don’t list the estimated cash price for any other pharmacy besides Walgreens and that estimate is $461 for 30 capsules. Medicinal marijuana would have to be much cheaper than that.