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Legalization of Marijuana

The debate over the legalization of marijuana has heated sides with some of the parties opposing the legalization. Marijuana is one of the herbs that have been used by a large number of people for an extended period with some of the people taking marijuana for recreation purposes. In some of the countries, marijuana has been made legal meaning that the citizens cultivate, sell and consume marijuana without any harassment from the government. However, in other counties marijuana is illegal and being in possession of the herb calls for penalties such as serving a jail term. The supporters of marijuana have their reasons and those opposing as well have their reason and each side term themselves as being right.

The supporters of marijuana legalization claim that marijuana is used for various medical problems such as to relieve chronic pain, nausea, and loss of appetite, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis (Parmar et al.). Besides marijuana for medical use can be used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and also in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. According to studies, the legalization of medical marijuana in health institutions will help reduce the opioid painkiller deaths and therefore medical marijuana can be used to aid in fighting the opioid epidemic and this is achieved by replacing marijuana to treat chronic pain to which the opioids are used. Medical marijuana does not cause deadly overdose unlike opioids, and therefore it is one of the reasons as to why it should be realized.

Marijuana is relatively a safe drug compared to other substances. The reason is that there are no known deaths that result due to the use of marijuana or even the overdose of marijuana. Many people die of other overdoses of drugs that are legal such as the opioids, but no legal action is taken to ban the use of drugs. Besides, substances such as alcohol contribute to a significant proportion of deaths in a county but also there are no restrictions on their use. However, questions do arise as to why marijuana that is considered safe and that has no reported death incidence due to overdose cannot be legalized.

Most of the people who against the legalization of marijuana claim that marijuana is associated with crimes, but this is not enough evidence as to why the herb should not be legalized in the US. The reason why the evidence is not enough is that a lot of people who commit crimes, on the other hand, do not use marijuana and do not commit the crimes due to the influence of marijuana. Committing a crime is a personal behavior that should not be generalized to all the users and people might be committing crimes to make the use of marijuana seem harmful and not safe for consumption. Marijuana has been legalized in other countries such as Canada has legalized the use of marijuana, and there has been no evidence of vices such as crime that is a result of using the marijuana (Caulkins et al.), and therefore the criminalization of marijuana does not prevent the criminals from committing offenses.

Parties against the legalization of marijuana claim that marijuana distorts the memory of a person and therefore affects their decision making (Stolzenberg et al.). The alterations in the decision making the person indulge in unwanted behaviors such as rape and theft. These altered decagons and behaviors make those against the legalization of the pot have the belief that marijuana is the drug behind the unwanted behaviors.

The critics of the legalization of marijuana claim that the legalization of the herb will be a gateway to the use of other drugs that are illegal (Goode). People who use other drugs will also initiate the claims that their drugs are also safe and that they do not lead to committing of any vices or crimes and that they also need to legalize the drug. The critics also claim that the legalization of marijuana will lead to misuses of the drug from the intended reasons and therefore the legalization will not have achieved the desired objective.

In my opinion, marijuana should be legalized as more benefits accrue from the use of the herb while there are few harmful effects to which are just mere speculations that have the intentions of criminalizing marijuana. Marijuana is a safe drug that is used in hospitals for medical purposes to relieve pain and aid in the treatment of PTSD. Besides, the legalization of marijuana will be a source of revenue to the government. Pot has no known incidence of deaths that result from the overdose of the drug, and therefore there is no need to decriminalize the drug.

Work Cited

Caulkins, Jonathan P., et al. Considering marijuana legalization: Insights for Vermont and other jurisdictions. Rand Corporation, 2015.

Goode, Erich. Marijuana. Routledge, 2017.

Parmar, Jayesh R., Benjamin D. Forrest, and Robert A. Freeman. “Medical marijuana patient counseling points for health care professionals based on trends in the medical uses, efficacy, and adverse effects of cannabis-based pharmaceutical drugs.” Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 12.4 (2016): 638-654.

Stolzenberg, Lisa, Stewart J. D’Alessio, and Dustin Dariano. “The effect of medical cannabis laws on juvenile cannabis use.” International Journal of Drug Policy 27 (2016): 82-88.

Col 250 Research

Introduction

            The illegality of marijuana, scientifically known as cannabis sativa, is one of the contentious issues in various nations, including the United States (Debondt, 2006). The controversy of the issue has resulted in the emergence of supporters and opponents of the legalization of marijuana. The opponents and proponents of the legalization of marijuana hold two opposite views concerning legalization of the drug. The supporters of the legalization of marijuana base their arguments on the benefits linked to the use of marijuana. On the other hand, the opponents base their arguments on the detrimental impacts linked to the use marijuana. In this regard, this paper develops a hypothesis that states that the legalization of marijuana will negatively affect the society. As such, the use of marijuana should not be legalized at all costs. The paper discusses the reasons for and against the legalization of marijuana in order to ensure that hypothesis is true or false.

Reasons for the Legalization of Marijuana

            Dresser (2009) pointed out that marijuana often traps the young adults in a defective system, which changes them into lifetime offenders. This argument has some traces of reality in it. Many youths engaged in selling marijuana have an objective of earning money to make ends meet. Some of these youths or teenagers might want to save money for college. It is evident that the youths involved in selling marijuana do not like their life, which is characterized by poverty (Dresser, 2009). This simply implies that they do not indulge in these activities willingly. As such, the illegalization of marijuana will not clearly get rid of these problems. Essentially, the youths attempting to meet their needs through selling marijuana will be unemployed because of illegalization. In aIDition, the subjection of youths to prison systems due to their involvement in selling marijuana results in lifetime offenders. These youthful criminals become crueler since they constantly have to defend themselves from the crowd. When these criminals finish their sentence, their expectations on college and job would have been shattered due to bad felony record and disruption of school. Consequently, they resume their normal crimes resulting in lifelong criminals (Dresser, 2009). Legalizing marijuana creates employment, and enables youths and teenagers to earn a living genuinely.

Duncan (2009) pointed out that the illegalization of drugs, particularly marijuana, is an expensive failure for the government and the public as a whole. According to Olivero (2012), making marijuana illegal will likely consume court and police resources. As a result, illegalization will interfere with the conviction of serious offenders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) will have to be engaged in combating the use of marijuana. In aIDition, costs linked to public defenders, police officers, prosecutors, prison guards, court reporters and judges will increase because of the increased number of criminals. This refutes the claim that making marijuana illegal will decrease government expenses. Legalizing the drug would allow the criminal justice system to focus on very influential state matters like rape, terrorism, and murder. According to Duncan (2009), legalization of marijuana will decrease the backlog of cases resulting in a reduction in the wait time for other genuine court cases.

The proponent’s claim that marijuana causes road accidents is flawed. This is because the claim cannot be justified. Traffic police have confirmed that it is extremely difficult to notice that an individual is driving under the influence of marijuana. Traffic police require some traces of smell, as in the case of alcohol, in order to justify that an individual is driving under the influence of alcohol. This means that making marijuana illegal might not substantially decrease the number of road accidents (Olivero, 2012). AIDicts would smoke marijuana outside the car before proceeding to drive under the influence of the drug. As such, the implementation of harsh penalties upon breaking traffic laws might significantly decrease the number of road accidents.

The proponents for the legalization of marijuana have maintained that the drug is not as dangerous as tobacco or alcohol, especially when used properly and under control (Olivero, 2013). Scientific researches and medical experiments reveal that the impacts of marijuana are inconclusive and contradictory. Some health professionals have also agreed that marijuana is very detrimental as exaggerated by the opponents of its legalization. Most of health professionals have maintained that the drug is only harmful when abused. Nevertheless, it is evident that the abuse of any drug comes along with consequences.

Reasons against the Legalization of Marijuana

            Marijuana should be illegalized because it causes premature deaths. About 1.3 million people smoke marijuana globally (Debondt, 2006). Every year about 5 million marijuana smokers die prematurely due to their smoking habit. Most of those who die from smoking marijuana are youths who might have lived many years to come. In Europe alone, at least 100 thousand people die because of the marijuana smoking habit.  There is no need to legalize a harmful substance such as marijuana.

According to Debondt (2006), marijuana is a one of the gateway drugs. A research conducted by Debondt (2006) revealed that youths, aged between 12 and 17 years, using the drug are about 85 times more likely to use other drugs such as cocaine than youths who do not use it. Another study also indicated that about 60 per cent of children who smoke marijuana before attaining the age of 15 years are likely to use cocaine. The illegalization of marijuana will assist in dealing with the menace caused by other drugs such as cocaine.

According to Debondt (2006), marijuana should remain illegal because it affects memory cells. An individual can lose brain cells because of the long-term impacts of using cannabis. Studies have also indicated that children born to women aIDicts of marijuana exhibit increased tremulous and distorted responses to visual stimuli. This might suggest problems with the neurological development (Debondt, 2006). Children exposed to marijuana have also been found to exhibit behavioral problems. In aIDition, such children have been found to perform poorly. This is because of the deficits in the skills required to make decisions, memory problems and the inability to remain attentive or focused.

The argument that legalization of marijuana will make it cheap is flawed (Dresser, 2009). Many supporters of the legalization of the drug have maintained that the drug will be easy to access, and therefore would be sold cheaply. According to the proponents of the legalization of marijuana, the sellers of the drug have to sell at it high prices because of the risks related to dealing with marijuana. Nevertheless, this is a flawed ideology. According to Dresser (2009), the US would impose taxes on the drug as a way of collecting revenue. This will increase its prices, and aIDicts will have to dig deeper into their pockets to buy the drug. From this perspective, the illegalization is helpful to both aIDicts and non-aIDicts of marijuana.

Conclusion

            The paper has discussed the disadvantages and advantages of legalizing marijuana in order to arrive at conclusions.  From the above findings, it is apparent that the advantages of illegalizing marijuana far outweigh the disadvantages. As such, the paper concludes that marijuana should not be legalized at all costs. It is harmful because it affects brain cells, which results in memory problems among aIDicts. Legalization of the drug will increase the use of other hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

References

Debondt, E. (2006). Historical and regulatory issues of medical marijuana. Oncology Nursing Forum , 33 (2), 440.

Dresser, R. (2009). Irrational basis: the legal status of medical marijuana. Hastings Center Report , 39 (6), 7-8.

Duncan, C. (2009). The need for change: An economic analysis of marijuana policy. Connecticut Law Review , 41, 1701.

Olivero, J. (2012). Smoke and political mirrors: Policing marijuana in Washington State. Police Forum , 3 (21), 5-15.

Olivero, J. (2013). The legalization of medical and recreational marijuana in the United States’ state of Washington and the impact on Mexican cartels. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science , 3 (4), 8-17.