Decriminalization Of Legalizing Marijuana

The issue of legalizing marijuana, also known as Cannabis Sativa, has been controversial for a long time, and has become even more so in recent years. Cannabis Sativa is a plant that has been used for a variety of purposes by many cultures for thousands of years. Not only does the Cannabis Sativa plant produce Marijuana, it also produces Hemp. Hemp was used to make food, clothes, shoes, ropes and paper, making it a very useful cash crop. Legal up until 1937, Marijuana was used in America for recreational use, medicinal, and industrial products as well. In the 1960’s the government’s war on all drugs was created putting Marijuana in the same category as Cocaine, Heroin, and Morphine. Today Marijuana remains a

On January 1st the states of Colorado and Washington officially began the regulation of legal marijuana sales. Thousands of people from all over the country including tourists from Wisconsin, Ohio, Chicago, and even Georgia lined up out front of dispensaries to make a purchase. Recreational marijuana is being regulated and monitored like alcohol; you must be at least 21 years old to make a purchase. The drug, which is controversial in many states’ legislations, is currently legal for medical use in 20 states, but Colorado and Washington were the first to approve of recreational use (Healy). The geographical concepts involved in the legalization of marijuana include migration, movement and flow, and private/public space.

Americans are championing for the inclusion of marijuana among other social drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. The public has

In 2017, a total of 29 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico allow for comprehensive medical marijuana and cannabis programs (National Conference of State Legislature, 2017). Patient registries are in effect for states with medical marijuana laws which provide protection against arrest for possession of marijuana for a personal medicinal use (National Conference of State Legislature, 2017). California, for example, issues identifying medical marijuana users and allows them to purchase the drug openly at certain clinics (Hanrahan, Frey, & Davidson, 2015). Federally, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (National Conference of State Legislature, 2017). This designation provides strict regulations regarding its use and distribution. Schedule I substances are considered to have a high potential for dependency and have no accepted medical use (National Conference of State Legislature,

In 2016, the legal marijuana industry brought in $7.2 billion, and is expected to grow at a compounded rate of 17% a year. This rapidly

The source states polls and statistics of the controversial issue. Last year 10% of Americans supported the act, this year its 58%. This is the highest it has ever been. The last time it was the highest percentage was in 1977, yet it was still only 28%. A sizable percentage of Americans (38%) this year admitted to having tried the drug, which may be a contributing factor to greater acceptance. The source tells of how independents are fueling growth in acceptance of legalizing marijuana. The information is credible and important because it gives real polls and statistics. I will use this in my paper for the reason that it will provide readers the knowledge of how other Americans feel and not just my

Alberto Wilmore was a beloved art teacher in the Ella Baker School located in Manhattan, New York. To his students he was more than their fourth hour teacher, he was the man they trusted and the man that inspired them. Mr. Wilmore who had never been in trouble in his life was arrested on May 30th, 2011 after walking out of his apartment and flicking a cigarette on to the curb of the street. A New York city police officer stopped and arrested him claiming that it was a marijuana cigarette. Mr. Wilmore was immediately terminated from his job. Under New York state law marijuana possession is classified as a serious offense for a teacher; it is in the same category as physical assault

Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. have rejected the prohibition of marijuana and changed their laws to legalize small amount of marijuana (Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, 2014). Marijuana legalization won on the ballot in Colorado and Washington in the 2012 election, and in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., in the 2014 election and four states will license and regulate production and sale of marijuana (Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, 2014).

Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States (http://www.drug-rehabs.org).Although it is illegal. Researchers found that 42% of people surveyed in the U.S. had tried marijuana at least once (Gettman pg 4).Why should medical marijuana be legal in all fifty states? It has been proven be a reliever for many illnesses today such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia, seizures, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, glaucoma, depression and even autism (Wunder pg 46). According to the NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), ten states currently legalize or decriminalize the medical use of marijuana in some manner. Since 1996 nine states have passed legislation that

    In 2016, close to 600,000 people were jailed for possession     of marijuana, a harmless drug, regardless of the amount (Ingraham 1). In the eyes of the law, these innocuous offenses are seen as serious crimes, and are often treated harshly.  The executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Maria Moreno, agrees that the cruel punishment over marijuana “has devastated families across the US...for no good reason” (Ingraham 2). Marijuana has been proven to be safer than tobacco and alcohol, there is a road test for the prevention of impaired driving, and its taxation would provide money to the government that could then be used similarly to Colorado, who put most of their profit from marijuana sales towards school funding (Smith 1). The taxation of marijuana would provide the government with an abundance of revenue; If regulations on the amount of marijuana one can purchase and age minimums are set into place, combined with new methods to test for marijuana use while driving, legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana would be beneficial for the United States government.

Though there are many studies to show that drug use amongst young people have become more tolerated, there is also a high number of the population that believe do not accept the deviant behaviour of regular drug use and support the prohibition on recreational drug use. This counter argument is supported by evidence from James Crouch in Opinium Surveys (2015), stating that in 2014 when 2000 UK adults were given a survey on drug legalisation, despite 33% of the population believing that recreational drugs such as cannabis should be legalised, a high percentage of the population (53%) were in support of illegal drugs used for entertainment remaining criminalised. Subsequently, this contradicts the normalisation thesis. Furthermore, Les Gofton

Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.

Uruguay became the first country in the world to fully legalize marijuana in 2013. By legalizing cannabis, this country became the first nation in the world to break the International Convention on Drug Control, and to regulate the production, sale and consumption of marijuana (Graham, 2014).The law allowed the registered users to grow cannabis at home, belong to a cannabis social club, or acquire government-regulated cannabis through licensed pharmacies. The goal of this law was to reduce the harm caused by illegal marketing and to provide education and chances of prevention. All the users are registered with the state through the Institute for the Control and Regulation of Cannabis (IRCCA). Even though cannabis has been decriminalized,

With 23 states having already legalized the use of Cannabis for either recreational use or purely for medical use, California will soon jump on the wagon as well as a majority of Americans are in favor of decriminalizing cannabis. Not only is the prohibition of Cannabis very expensive but it takes police attention away from real crimes. The Times explains, “Each year, enforcing laws on possession costs more than $3.6 billion, according to the American Civil Liberties Union,” Not only would decriminalizing Cannabis alleviate unnecessary expenses but also clear up prison space for those who actually deserve to be in jail. Cannabis can not only help alleviate things such as anxiety, and muscle spasms but it also helps with more serious issues

Despite, decriminalization of marijuana is causing much of a debate and commotion as the question becomes more of an issue. Marijuana is a major significant force in countries all over the world today. For the past years in Belize, many people were going to jail for small quantity of marijuana. The Government of Belize wanted to change that issued by decriminalizing small quantities of marijuana no more than 10 grams. The former police minister Douglas Singh who is also a member of the decriminalization committee, explained that when the committee did a statistical review for the period from January to September 2012, they found that 210 persons had received convictions for the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and there were fines