One of the interesting issues lately is about the legalization of marijuana plants in Thailand. There are even some companies that have started incorporating marijuana into their products, such as a green-colored chip with added marijuana seasoning.
Marijuana is a unique plant in that other plants do not have the same substance as it does, and only a few plants have the same effects.
This plant has an addictive effect where consumers tend to buy products that have addictive substances. Recent studies state that marijuana is physically and psychologically addictive, meaning that it makes its consumers addicted.
Nevertheless, countries around the world have different regulations regarding this controversial plant. Some allow its use for recreation, some allow it to be grown as a garden plant, some allow it if it is processed into medicine, and some prohibit the existence of this controversial plant altogether.
Illegal to Many Country
If used properly, marijuana can be beneficial for humans, such as for the treatment of certain diseases with reasonable doses. However, if used improperly, it can cause health problems and even disrupt the social order, resulting in addiction.
Drug addiction tends to benefit marijuana farmers and traffickers but greatly harms users. This addictive plant will make its users try to consume as much as possible to get the certain sensation they feel when using this drug.
Excessive consumption of a substance can damage all human organs, depending on what substance is being consumed. The danger of marijuana is that it is related to the human brain, so this plant is very dangerous if consumed excessively as it will damage the human brain.
It is not surprising that various countries around the world criminalize the sale and cultivation of marijuana. This plant only benefits farmers and traders but harms consumers.
On average, marijuana farmers make profits ranging from tens of thousands per year for small scale, but large companies usually pay their CEOs just hundred thousands of dollars year. Moreover, if the circulation of this plant is controlled by mafia, it will reduce security in society because if drug mafias tend to have a smooth cash flow, making it difficult to eradicate them. Nevertheless, the people or consumers are the ones who are most disadvantaged.
Hallucinogenic
It is true that every plant has its own unique effect when consumed. For example, rice gives us a feeling of fullness and energy, while drinking orange juice when we are thirsty can quench our thirst.
Weeds, on the other hand, has a hallucinogenic effect, which means that when consumed, it can cause hallucinations in the user. As a result, most users tend to have wild fantasies and are far from reality. Some use it to escape from problems they face, but when the hallucinogenic effect wears off, they still have to face the same problems, or even worse, because they have been avoiding them.
However, hallucinogens do not only bring negative effects but can also have positive effects if used correctly. Weeds that has been processed into certain medicines, where certain substances are extracted and separated from other substances, can be used to treat mental health-related diseases if guided by an experienced doctor who is an expert in the field.
Consuming Weeds as a whole is clearly a bad choice because, apart from its addictive effects, the substances you consume are still not separated from each other. If you try to self-treat with Weeds, you are making a big mistake because the drugs commonly used to treat certain illnesses have extracted certain substances from this plant, making it safe to use as a therapeutic treatment.
Weeds Accidentially Into Salad Chain in Australia
Weeds and spinach are both green in color, making it difficult to distinguish them just by their appearance. However, they have different leaf shapes, with cannabis leaves being jagged and spinach leaves being more typical in shape. Once they are chopped up into small pieces, it becomes difficult to tell the difference.
Last year, there was an interesting incident in Australia where several consumers experienced poisoning after consuming salads they bought at the Woolworth supermarket. The salad they consumed caused them to have hallucinogenic effects. After investigation, it was found that the salad they consumed was contaminated with cannabis.
Initially, the manufacturer intended to add spinach to their salad products, but due to negligence, this incident occurred. Fortunately, Woolworth acted quickly and had to recall all salad products with a similar production code from their supermarkets.
This incident could happen because cannabis and spinach were planted together, perhaps with the intention of maximizing efficiency in terms of land, water, time, and weather, by interspersing spinach plants with weeds or it could have been an unplanned incident, growth by its own. However, who would have thought that when they harvested spinach, cannabis was also carried along the supply chain. Although the type of hallucinogen that was contaminated has not been confirmed, it has the same effect as cannabis.
Loses Caused of This
The incident led Riviera Fresh Pty Ltd to withdraw all Riviera FarmBaby Spinach products from the market. This applies to all products related to the production dates from December 16, 2022, to December 29, 2022. It is not yet known how many packs of salad they produced during that period.
Meanwhile, retail company Woolworth suffered brand and public trust losses, and had to incur additional costs in the field of public relations to restore public trust in their brand.
Incidents like this are unexpected, who would have thought that there would be contamination of hallucinogenic plants when farmers intended to plant spinach? As a result, producers need to take steps to prevent the same mistake from happening in the future. This can be done by implementing quality control during the sourcing of materials or providing awareness to farmers to maintain the quality of their produce.
Globally, the Salad Industry was valued at $12 billion in 2021 and is expected to double or more by 2030. This is inevitable as people tend to live healthier lives in the future by diversifying the food they consume, including consuming salads.
Although the future value of the Salad Industry is significant, producers should invest more in quality control to prevent damaging the value of the industry in the future.
