A Broken Class System?. The Misuse Of Drugs Act 1971 Implements

For many years, the prohibition of marijuana has led people to believe that marijuana was extremely dangerous, therefore, it could never be legal; but, most dangers spoken about marijuana are myths as it is found less harmful than alcohol, and even tobacco. In 2007, research done by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare came to the conclusion that alcohol was a large contributor to death and the cause of more than 3% of the overall disease and injury in Australia, while marijuana was accountable for no deaths and only 0.2% of disease and injury. Despite what many are told to believe, this research poses that marijuana holds way fewer risks than alcohol does, and alcohol is legal. Around 88,000 deaths occur each year due to alcohol consumption, and half of those are due to binge drinking. With this in

Drug classification is put into 1 of 3 groups’ A, B and C. Class A drugs are the most harmful. New psychoactive substances is a new drugs early warning system. There are many new drugs being discovered which cannot be classed as safe or legal, the new psychoactive substances service bans newly identified harmful drugs within days. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is the main law/legislation to control and classify drugs that are ‘dangerous or otherwise harmful’ when misused. The act makes it illegal for people to:

The three classifications are A, B & C. The classes measure the level of harm that any of the individual drugs out there may cause mentally and physically. Withdrawal reactions are taken into consideration, i.e. when an individual reduces usage or stops it all together. Another factor that is brought to attention is the harm which misuse of any singular drug may bring to communities, families, and society. This helps justify the purpose of the act itself. This act does not just state what is illegal and the consequences attached to the drugs held within the classing system, it looks at the bigger and broader picture for everyone. Cannabis is currently placed in class

Prior to the passage of this legislation, many people convicted with possession of drugs were given significantly long sentences under state laws; often this included individuals receiving life sentences for what is now known as simple possess (Courtwright, 2004). In this regard the Controlled substance act could be viewed as a liberalization of drugs policy by breaking up all drugs into schedules with differencing penalties. This does not mean that the legislation is not without

The U.S Centers For Disease Control and Prevention said that there's a big amount of people who have died from the use of alcohol but not from marijuana. (37,000 annual deaths in the U.S). Alcohol also damages the brain and causes serious problems. It is also proven that alcohol can give you a variety of cancers (stomach, lungs and liver) but on the other hand, marijuana helps to deal with it.

From 2001 to 2005 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports on average more than 79,000 deaths per year was caused by excessive alcohol use. (CDC, “Vital Signs”) Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, heavy drinking and any drinking by pregnant women or minors. On the other hand, the CDC does not have a category for deaths caused by the use of marijuana. Statistically, death directly from marijuana overdose is extremely rare. However, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data, there were a total of 1.5 million drug arrests nationwide in 2011 and out of those arrests around 750,000 were for marijuana alone. (FBI, “Person’s Arrested”) While both alcohol and marijuana should not be taken with any other drug and getting behind the wheel while drunk or high poses significant risk to everyone. Alcohol is still vastly greater in number when it comes to death than marijuana but then again one is legal while the other one is not.

Many people from all around the world believe that marijuana is an addictive drug that has ruined the lives of millions. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than 37,000 annual U.S deaths are the effects of alcohol alone. Alternatively, there is not even a category for the deaths caused by marijuana. Many of us think that marijuana kills brain cells but studies show teens that use marijuana as well as alcohol suffered significantly less damage to the white blood cells in their brains. Alcohol use contributes to aggressive and violent behavior while marijuana will only make a person feel more comfortable. “Alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication, violent relationships, whereas cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxications” (Shuette, 2013). The government does not even track violent acts specifically related to marijuana use. Marijuana and alcohol should be switched where marijuana is legal and alcohol is not because it will benefit people more than alcohol will.

According to a report put out by the British Police Foundation in March 2000, cannabis has been shown to produce less harmful effects than its other legal counterparts such as alcohol and tobacco. This kind of information calls into sharper focus the question on the minds of many as to why such a plant that is not only less harmful than legal drugs but has significant health benefits has remained illegal.

Every year, 400,000 Americans die of complications caused by tobacco products. Smoking kills more Americans each year than alcohol, crack, heroin, murder, suicide, car accidents, fires, and AIDS all put together. Every week, eight children under the age of eighteen die from alcohol related crashes. Alcohol abuse contributes to almost 50% of all traffic accidents, suicides, and homicides. However, despite the proven dangers of these "socially acceptable" drugs, they are still legal. Marijuana, a much less acceptable drug, is not legal however, despite the fact that research has yet to pin any specific dangers to this drug.

Findings by the Community Epidemiology Workgroup reveal that the types of drugs used in different cities vary. Which drugs seem to be more prevalent in western cities?

Many people claim that there is no known case of people dying due to marijuana. This is a half truth since it’s not the marijuana itself that kills; it’s its side effects. Marijuana causes lung and throat cancer much like cigarettes. As a matter of fact, marijuana is worse for the lungs, since it contains three times as much tar as cigarettes and it’s usually smoked without a filter. They also claim there is not nearly as much crime due to marijuana use compared alcohol. This is also true but for one simple reason. Alcohol is legal and more easily accessible than marijuana. It’s the fact that marijuana is illegal that is keeping these numbers so low. Legalizing marijuana would be like adding fuel to a fire. If marijuana were to be legalized these number are sure to increase.

;Marijuana has been falsely criticized since the beginning of the century. The fact is that the legalization of marijuana can only have positive effects. Marijuana has been proven to be less likely to create crime, it can be used as a medicine, and isn’t any more harmful than most other legal substances on the market. It’s hard to understand why it is illegal. Legalizing marijuana would reduce the numbers in our prisons, help the country medically, and make money for the government by taxing the plant.

Cannabis should become legalized because it can be used to help relieve pain, It is safer than alcohol and tobacco, and it has multiple purposes in plant form. Due to all of the controversy about whether it should or shouldn't be legal people don't know which side to turn to. Scientists are doing more studies on it and are discovering facts about the benefits of marijuana and are disproving the beliefs we were taught about marijuana.

To begin with, a cannabis law was passed by the Virginia gathering in the pivotal year of its establishing indeed, 1619. It constrained each agriculturist to develop pot since hemp was viewed as deliberately imperative. Nobody has ever kicked the bucket of a marijuana overdose. You may think having a lot of THC in your framework will kill you, yet you are incorrect. As far back as marijuana has been known to humankind, not one single record of death from overdose has been registered. Then again, in 2010, 38,329 individuals died from medication overdoses. 60% of those were identified with doctor-prescribed medications. In that same year, 25,692 people passed on from liquor-related causes. Around 40% of Americans as of now have confessed to utilizing weed (Sznitman). Most surveys on Americans and their marijuana use float around the 40% stamp for having attempted pot in any event once. This is contrasted with the 16% of Americans who have tried cocaine, which is clearly a substantially lower rate. Weed is turning out to be increasingly pervasive consistently in spite of being less addictive than espresso. There 's a reason people are feeling more secure and more reliable attempting the medication, which leads us to our next point. Marijuana is much more secure as of now than legitimized drugs (Jacques).

Drinking alcohol is also much more harmful for you than marijuana is, and it too is legal. Alcohol damages your internal organs like your liver, kidneys, and circulatory system. Alcohol also has a much higher dependency than does marijuana. Tens of thousands of people are dependent on alcohol everyday sometimes ruining one’s personal and family life. Alcohol also causes you to lose your inhibitions which could get