Facebook positions itself as a forward-thinking company that makes the world a better place by helping people connect. But Facebook and its property Instagram are tarnishing this image by censoring and deleting pages for marijuana businesses.

Medical cannabis is legal for patients in 23 states, and four states have legalized marijuana for all adults over 21. There's no reason businesses that cater to these legal customers shouldn't be able to communicate with them online, especially since Facebook has no problem with alcohol pages.

Facebook says the marijuana pages violate the site's "community standards."

But in reality these businesses create thousands of jobs for people raising families and generate tax revenue that's being used to help states and cities pay for education, healthcare, public safety services and drug treatment programs.

A clear majority of voters support legalization, and the marijuana market is now worth $5.4 billion, with legal sales expected to grow to $21.8 billion in 2020.

Facebook needs to catch up to voters and stop letting itself be used to censor cannabis businesses on behalf of an outdated prohibitionist mindset, especially since competitors like Twitter allow truly open communication.