The Decriminalization Of Cannabis

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in the United States. Despite this, Marijuana remains illegally in many states across the country. Legal drugs like tobacco, and alcohol are proven to be more deadly then marijuana. However, they remain legal nationwide. Tobacco itself is the second major cause of death in the world. The United States should legalize marijuana because it’s not as deadly as some other legal drugs, it’s already widely used, and it’s nearly impossible to enforce its’ use.

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.

Leblanc, D. (2016, January 12). Legalizing marijuana will come with strict controls, MP Bill Blair says. Retrieved October 21, 2016, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/legalizing-marijuana-will-come-with-strict-controls-mp-bill-blair-says/article28137320/

This discussion is not new. Cannabis. Pot. Grass. Mary Jane. 420. Ganga. Herb. Joint. Blunt. Skunk. Marijuana. Weed. With over two dozen different names, call it whatever you fancy. The battle for legalization throughout the United States continues to be a controversial topic. As more states choose to legalize weed, more medical research in the United States is beginning to unfold. Although the views of marijuana as a deviant drug are changings rapidly, our medical research on marijuana is still lagging due to the lasting legacies of anti-weed drug policies and misinformation about what Cannabis does to the body. In 2013, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, made a documentary entitled

Marijuana is illegal in 48 of the 50 states, but the drug will most likely be legal in the near future. The heated debate on whether the “illicit drug” should be legalized in all 50 states keeps resurfacing. The most popular recreational drug in the United States today is marijuana. The formal name for marijuana is Cannabis but it also goes by a number of other street names including bud, grass, weed, reefer, ganja, hemp, and herb. “In 2011, more than 18 million Americans aged 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month” That is a very large amount of people that have used the drug even before it was legalized in two states. The government has thrown unproven facts about the harmful effects of marijuana to the people to scare them. The United States government has stated that Cannabis does cause lung cancer and includes many carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer. Scientists and researchers have proven the exact opposite considering the drug is now used in many cancer treatments. With this being said, marijuana is not a perfect medicine either. Some of the harmful effects include posing a major irritant to the lungs and increased chance of a heart attack. There are always alternatives to work around these harmful effects. For example, marijuana can be eaten which would cause no irritation to the lungs in any way. As far as the increase chance of heart attack goes, any exercise raises the heart rate just as marijuana does. This means that you

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

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.

The criminalization of marijuana started in the early 1900’s when after the Mexican revolution many Mexicans moved into America and they needed a reason to start arresting Mexicans. They claimed that marijuana made “men of color aggressive”. Harry Anslinger said “Its more dangerous than heroin or cocaine”. Anslinger claimed that marijuana “Leads to pacifism and communist brain washing”.

Marijuana has had a long and sordid history in the United States. There is an ongoing debate in the country about the legalization and regulation of marijuana. The purpose of this report is to show the positive impact of the Federal legalization of marijuana. This report will show the benefits and drawbacks that will occur with Federal legalization.

It’s no secret California has a very big debt and Marijuana can help decrease the debt in many ways. To start with, decriminalization of marijuana can greatly affect the distribution of funds throughout the legal system. According to Helgi Gunnlaugsson, who published about sixty scholarly articles and whose research interests involve local crime trends, crime perceptions, comparative criminology, and problems of drugs and alcohol, “With its three-strikes mania California’s drug control system has not only tyrannized its citizens but has created massive fiscal costs. If drug use is decriminalized and sentencing policies for drug importation and sales are scaled down, more prison space will be opened up which in turn can be used on other types of serious offences, such as violence and property crimes. Legalization of marijuana is expected to provide massive sales tax revenues as well as saving many millions from expenditures for police, probation, parole, and prisons"(129-130). The prisoners who are currently in locked up due to marijuana issues are thrown into the mixed general public which included rapist, killers and gangsters. The selling or distribution of a substance that helps so many different people and different sicknesses is illegal. When marijuana is decriminalized patients and consumers will be able to buy marijuana in a safe and secure location. No longer will patients have to

In the United States crime is abundant and our prisons are some of the most crowded in the world. With the legalization of marijuana we could cut the number of crimes committed a year and inmates incarcerated for marijuana related crimes. Last year there were about 505,681 arrests for violent crimes, compared to about 574,641

Marijuana has it’s medical uses, but people are still getting arrested and doing time in prison for being caught with it even though they were using it for its medical purposes. I know who would smoke Marijuana for medical purposes so they wouldn’t have to take pills that the doctors prescribed him because he knew he’d become addicted to them. I feel like it should be decriminalized because what it can do for people. People with anxiety can smoke it instead of taking pills. There are some people with Cancer who will smoke to help them eat and do stuff after Chemotherapy. It can even prevent alzheimer's from happening. They don’t even have to smoke it there are different ways for them to get it into their system. Marijuana is all natural and

The decriminalization of marijuana refers to removing drug offences concerning marijuana from criminal law rather than completely legalizing and allowing public use of the drug whether regulated or not. The legalization of Marijuana has been a hot political issue for decades due to its potential medical uses and industrial properties. It is a very important and controversial issue in society today. Although many false claims have been made about cannabis in recent history, the truths are slowly starting to resurface. Unfortunately, these truths are under heavy debate due to the stereotypical view of what people view as the typical “pot smoker.”

The legalization of marijuana exists as a perennial “hot topic,” as it would have serious social implications if any legislation of this type were to occur. It should be obvious that the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana would mean that weed would no longer be illegal. That is to say, with the legalization of marijuana, individuals would no longer be penalized for possession or use, and law enforcement agencies would no longer be burdened with the task of carrying out these laws (Pot Politics 10). The number of people incarcerated for marijuana possession would obviously go down if it was no longer against the law, and police wouldn’t have to spend time or resources to bring these individuals to justice. In the two cases, legalization