The Legal Status Of Marijuana

On November 8th 2016, Arizonans will exercise their right to vote for or against Proposition 205, the Regulation and Taxation Act, that could legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Arizona. Currently, in Arizona, marijuana has only been legalized for medicinal purposes and participants must be registered and carry a medical marijuana identification card. Similarly to when Colorado, Washington and Oregon all proposed the same measures to legalize the recreational use of marijuana over the last four years, there is strong opposition as well as solid support of the amendment in Arizona. In spite of the rhetoric from the opposition, the passing of proposition 205 will prove to be far more beneficial than risky as it will generate revenue

With the passage of Amendment 64 to the state constitution, Colorado became the first state ever to legalize the sale, possession, and use of marijuana. On November 6, 2012, voters passed the amendment with a 9% margin. Interestingly, “Amendment 64 received 53,281 more votes in the state than Barack Obama did during the last presidential election” (Charlton). However, actual sales of marijuana for recreational purposes were delayed until the start of 2014. Amid of flurry of media scandals and protests from anti-marijuana activist groups across the country, Colorado opened its doors to the pot industry with the entire nation watching.

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.

The topic of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States has been a very controversial one. States such as Colorado and Washington have gone on the offensive and have legalized recreational marijuana and have enjoyed the high revenues brought in from cannabis sale. On the other hand other states have kept low profiles because they are wary of the possible negative outcomes of legalizing recreational marijuana and are using the states of Colorado and Washington as guinea pigs to see what their next course of action on this controversial topic should be. This is not only a highly debated topic among politicians, but also by the people. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center 52% of Americans

In the 2012 Oregon general election Oregonians narrowly defeated Ballot Measure 80, The Oregon Cannabis Act when 55 percent of registered voters voted no. Measure 80 would have allowed unlicensed adults the right to personal cultivation, and use of marijuana as well as allow commercial marijuana cultivation and sale to adults through state-licensed stores. Currently, marijuana cultivation, possession, and delivery are prohibited except for approved medical conditions. After the election The Oregonian newspaper published an editorial written by The Oregonian Editorial Board stating Oregon lawmakers should legalize the

This has caused a rift in the continuity of thirty-nine different states, in addition to the capital of the United States of America and the protectorate of Guam. In these forty-one jurisdictions, legislators have eliminated the penalties for medical marijuana possession. As a result, individuals with epilepsy, cancer patients, and others who were similarly suffering are now able to turn to medical marijuana for relief. This legal transformation has occurred despite the federal government maintaining marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I controlled substance. This classification puts marijuana in the same category as cocaine and heroin, drugs with no currently accepted medical value.

Cannabis began being outlawed all across the U.S. during the 1900’s and has remained illegal ever since, until recent years when states began legalizing it (huffpost.com). Although many people believe that the reason behind the prohibition of cannabis was based on genuine concern for the possible consequences it may have on the well-being of people if it remained accessible to all, the truth is that the drive behind the U.S.’s prohibition of cannabis was founded on racism. During the early 1900’s cannabis was considered an “ethnic drug” due to the fact that many Mexican immigrants smoked the plant (huffpost.com). With the tension in Western states regarding the migration of Mexicans into the states, laws concerning the use regulation of

Dope, Mary Jane, Pot, Grass, Weed, Blunt, Joint, and Nuggets are only a few of the countless names for marijuana, a narcotic drug used for recreational and sometimes medicinal uses across the world. Recently growing enough popularity among younger generations due to the glamorization of media, and the overwhelming financial gains through taxes and fees seen in Colorado, have caused Ohio legislators and citizens to consider the idea of legalizing marijuana for both recreational and medicinal marijuana use. Marijuana is a toxic gateway drug that impairs the judgement of its users and should not be legalized for recreational and medicinal purposes aside from the numerous ‘benefits’ it will bring to Ohio because of the consequences will be far greater.

Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While

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.

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.

In that same year, Congress heard testimony asserting the same notion from the Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Examining Board of Pennsylvania, Dr. Christopher Koch. Dr. Koch warned about “Chinks” who keep white women as their “concubines” in their opium dens. In addition, he said, “The colored people seem to have a weakness for it (cocaine)…It produces a kind of temporary insanity. They would just as leave rape a woman as anything else, and a great many of the Southern rape cases have been traced to cocaine.” Whereas, just minutes later in his testimony he rationalized that white professionals “take morphine to quiet them, and they take cocaine to brace them up.”

November,8, 2016 the ballots were dispersed and votes were submitted. Question four on the ballot was known as the “The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.” The numbers came in and beginning December 15, 2016 in Massachusetts, individuals above the age of twenty-one will now be able to legally purchase, possess, cultivate, and use marijuana, with limitations on quantity, for recreational and medicinal use under the statutes of the state laws. While the prohibition of marijuana in Massachusetts has ended, many new movements must now begin to maintain, regulate, and pursue a positive outcome. With other states that have already passed such laws, such as Colorado, Massachusetts will begin to piggyback off their models. Developing a system that will hopefully come to fruition of all the possibilities and benefits this new law has promised.

Marijuana has become one of the most controversial drugs in America. Ever since its cultivation began around 1611, marijuana has puzzled people with its effects. Many question marijuana?s classification as a schedule one drug. A schedule one drug is one that has a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. Some argue that the war on drugs, in particular marijuana, has cost taxpayers billions and is wasting funds that could be used on more important tasks such as improving transportation or education. As drug arrests rise, so do the populations in state prisons. This has become an immediate problem with no real solution. The legalization of possessing small amounts of marijuana can contribute positively to the medical and

The Government should legalize the use of marijuana because of the economic benefits it would offer, The debate over whether the federal government should legalize marijuana has been escalating and states such as Colorado, and Oregon have legalized the use of medical and recreational use of marijuana due to the realization that marijuana could greatly benefit their economies, such as the creation of jobs, tax revenue, and young business leaders. The legalization of marijuana is highly beneficial to the United States government because it will save the government billions of dollars. According to Jeffrey Minron a Harvard economist “If marijuana were legalized, the government would save $7.7 billion dollars annually in law enforcement costs, and it could bring an additional $6.2 billion a year” (3).If the government were to legalize marijuana nationwide, there would be billions of dollars, which could be used to solve actual problems in the United States like education, poverty, Instead, the billions of dollars are being wasted to loosely enforce the ban.