Pros And Cons Of Marijuana Legalization

The question of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use has been a three decade long conversation. There are many pros and cons to legalizing marijuana. There are many different ideas about the effects of marijuana, but as with any drug answers are going to vary depending on the person you survey. Age, health, and mental stability are all factors to consider how a drug can positively or negatively affect you, and marijuana is no different. To be legal or not to be legal is the million dollar question up for debate.

In November 2000, voters in Colorado passed Amendment 20, which enabled patients and their caregivers to obtain a restricted amount of marijuana from medical dispensaries (Sensible Colorado, n.d). The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment faced legal charges for creating an informal rule prohibiting caregivers from providing medical marijuana to more than 5 patients at a time (Sensible Colorado, n,d). In 2007, Sensible Colorado, Colorado’s medical marijuana distribution system, won the lengthy hearing, and its victory made way for store-front dispensaries throughout Colorado. Fast forward November 2012, 55% of Colorado’s voters were pro-Amendment 64 (Sensible Colorado, n.d). Amendment 64 made recreational marijuana use legal to anyone age 21 or older. This law was effective January 2014, and almost two years later the changes in the state are astounding.

Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana. The congressional decision to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug in 1970 has made the legalization campaign more difficult, since it officially established marijuana as a dangerous, addictive drug with no medicinal benefits.

Recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have, technically, broken federal law. As long as the federal government does not do anything about the state’s blatant disregard for higher law they can do what they want. I think that because state and federal law contradict at the moment there should be clarification. States should only be able to pass a law such as this if it is also legal on a federal level, but if there are no repercussions for violating federal law where does it end? Recreational marijuana is a state issue, in my opinion. If it is to be legalized in America at a federal level then each state should be allowed to choose their side. At this point, federal government is showing its cracks. 4 of our states are currently not obeying the Constitution; federal law trumps state law. Our government needs to pull itself together and start paying attention to what the states are doing.

Cannabis is becoming increasingly widespread and increasingly common in modern-day society for both recreational use and for medication. The article by Craig Reinarman, ‘Criminalisation, legalisation and the mixed blessing of medicalisation in the USA’ generates many controversial issues of cannabis.

“To use or not to use?”--that is the real question at hand. Medicinal marijuana can be used for healing processes but can also have some side effects. Marijuana recipients can abuse the product and make it, as the article says, a “wider distribution”. (“Pros and Cons: Should Marijuana Be Legalized for Medical Purposes?” 1) Medical Marijuana has many purposes such as physical, psychological, and industrial benefits, but the product does have downfalls as well.

This paper informs the reader on the effects of medical marijuana laws on the use of recreational marijuana and the impact it has on the general population. The paper evaluates how medical marijuana laws are not positively correlated with the abuse of marijuana. Medical marijuana dispensaries are leading to a greater use of recreational marijuana. The authors found that there is a greater use of marijuana for medical and recreational reasons in states where there are medical marijuana laws rather than states without medical marijuana. This paper includes trustworthy inquiries that can further research for the legalization of marijuana. This paper appears to be a credible source because the material was published in recent years also, all research

“Legalizing and regulating marijuana could bring the nation's largest cash crop under the rule of law; this could create jobs and economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illegal market” (Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, 2014). For example in Colorado after legalizing marijuana, first year sales rained in at $63 million in tax revenues with an additional $13 million for licenses and fees. Marijuana is such a debatable topic and brings so much confusion amongst society. While debating if it should be legalized there are different models and methods used in the framework of the legislation in regards to this topic.

Starting with California in 1996, twenty one states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis. Medical Marijuana users are recommended by a doctor to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. The two main cannabinoids that can be useful as medicine from the marijuana plant are THC and CBD. THC is used to increase one’s appetite and reduce nausea while CBD is useful in reducing pain and inflammation. CBD also helps control epileptic seizures that are appearing in someone's life. Americans should be against issues of legalized marijuana because clinical data suggests concerns of medically used cannabis, the environmental and electric grid drains could be huge, and studies have proven marijuana will lower users quality

Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Maine and even the nation’s capital has turned a new leaf and began this transition on marijuana being legal. For example, Marijuana has been legal in Colorado for more than a year. It’s a new industry, so it took some work to get it up and running. So far, Colorado has become the talk of the nation especially being the first state to officially legalize marijuana recreationally, not like other states where it was only legal medically. The rise of marijuana in Colorado has brought in more job opportunities and brought in 44 million dollars in taxes, which still comes 30 million dollar short from what the state expected. Either way, the amount of revenue coming in to the state shows the leverage of a brand new industry and the promise it has in the near future. One big issue still going on is that marijuana is cash business and under federal law, marijuana is still classified as a schedule 1 drug and banks are insured federally. Dispensaries across the U.S are still using personal safes inside their facility to store cash. President of Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Kelly Brough said, “I think we worry about the banking issue. I think it’s a real issue. It’s a cash business which I think can put employees at risk, people around at risk, because that is a lot of cash to be moving around.” Now this could lead to some violence across the state but there

Imagine a drug that could cure diseases but the drug is illegal and people that need the drug are unable to get it without being arrested. What if a child could be seizure free but the drug to cure the seizures was illegal. What about a drug that could increase revenue for the economy and decrease crime. This drug is marijuana and it has been illegal in the United States since 1930. Marijuana should be legalized in all fifty states for recreational and medicinal purposes. Legalizing marijuana will increase revenue, decrease drug related crimes, and assist chronically ill patients.

With the onslaught of states slowly legalizing the commercialization and use of marijuana after the passing of sanctioning initiatives led by Colorado and Washington in 2012, societal attitudes have begun to support this movement in the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use. Based on the 2014 midterms, momentum for this change has been shown in different parts of the U.S., with states such as Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C. joining this cause. It is safe to assume that several other states will soon follow suit, with ballot initiatives set for 2016 in states such as: Massachusetts, California, Missouri, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, and Arizona (Becker, 2014). However, the long standing debate still stands, is this change for the better? In a world with less restrictions on illegal drugs such as marijuana, would the pros outweigh the cons? Although the answer may not be clear cut, considering the arguments made by both the supporting side and the opposing side of marijuana legalization for public consumption will help us create an opinion on what values should be taken priority on when it comes to the consequences related to advocating this movement.

Drugs legalization is likely to be beneficial for the government by reducing the funds of drug law enforcement. Legalizing drugs can decrease the amount of criminal activity, which probably leads to the less expenditure on salary and other assets by the curtailment of police resources. According to Miron and Zweibel (1995), in the United State in 1993, there was sixty percent of the seventy-seven thousand federal detainees imprisoned for drug-related criminal acts (cited in Cussen & Block, 2000). As a result, this possibly caused not only the increase of the tax dollars consumed in the drug wars but also the rise of police resources. In addition, while US government expended more than $20 billion annually on the war on drugs (reported by U.S

Currently drug abuse is the issue that has plagued almost all the societies in the world. This problem poses serious threat to the life of people both in developed and underdeveloped countries. There are different kinds of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogens, ecstasy, and methamphetamine and so on (McGeorge & Aitken, 1997). Young and age-old people largely use many of these drugs. People usually consider these drugs as a relief from their worries, but these drugs lead them towards addition and psychotic disorders that eventually destroy their health. Legislative authorities in almost every part of the world have been trying to save their generations from the abuse, but the use of these drugs never ended. However, these legislations help to minimize the numbers of drug users where their implementation is done properly (Hall et al., 2004). The aim of this research paper is to provide knowledge about the Cannabis Legalization in Australia and the people’s approach who favor or oppose this legalization. Cannabis drug use, impacts, cannabis legalization in Australia and its advantages and disadvantages will also

Many policies have come to the governments attention within the past decade concerning drug use and prison reform. One policy that correlates to crime and drug use that has brought attention across the nation is the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana has been consumed in the United States for numerous years and has grown in popularity culminating in multiple states legalizing the drug. There is large debate concerning whether nationwide legalization is worth the cost. Of course, with any controversial decision, there are always going to be pros and cons. Those who oppose legalization make claims that marijuana is a gateway drug, impairs judgment, and is addictive. Although those points are true to an extent there are also many benefits. Of the many benefits, the most noteworthy ones are that marijuana can bring a lot of money to the government and economy, it helps treat sickness and diseases, and it can be a safer alternative than opioid-based medications. The legalization of marijuana would also highly impact the criminal justice system by making law enforcement more accessible to other areas where they are needed which can save the government a lot of money. In this instance, legalizing marijuana would bring many benefits to society such as stimulating the economy, treating sicknesses, providing government relief, and lowering opioid use.