The next article was another one from the drug policy website. It briefly went over the crime rate statistics after the legalization of marijuana. It advises the city of Denver saw a decrease in violent crime rates in the first 11 months of 2014, following a similar trend in 2013. Statewide traffic fatalities continue to decline, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Upwards of $8 million has been allocated to fund youth education and drug prevention efforts. And the state is enjoying economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in years. This article provided information in reference to how legalizing marijuana has affected the crime rate in Colorado. Again, this article only tells the positive statistics however …show more content…
After reading this article it sounds like legalizing marijuana would be a great asset to Florida. On the patients for medical marijuana website I found the next article very interesting. It states that scientists have shown that smoking any plant is bad for your lungs, because it increases the number of lesions in your small airways. This usually does not threaten your life, but there is a chance it will lead to infections. Marijuana users who are worried about this can find less harmful ways of taking marijuana like eating or vaporizing. It is there opinion that marijuana smokers generally don’t chain smoke, and so they smoke less. They also believe that marijuana is not physically addictive like tobacco. The more potent marijuana is, the less a smoker will use at a time. While other articles state otherwise, this one says that tobacco contains nicotine, and marijuana doesn’t. Nicotine hardens the arteries and may be responsible for much of the heart disease caused by tobacco. It also reminds us that research has found that tobacco use may also cause a lot of cancers. This is because it breaks down into a cancer causing chemical called `N Nitrosamine’ when it is burned (and maybe even while it is inside the body as well.) There are currently no cases of lung cancer resulting from marijuana use alone according to this article. They believe the more legal marijuana gets, the safer it is. This article added that researchers were
Smoking tobacco is more harmful to your lungs than smoking marijuana. It only takes a couple inhalations of marijuana smoke to become high. Let’s say you’re addicted to cigarettes and smoke a pack a day, keeping in mind that cigarettes are legal. To get high off of marijuana it would only take about a fourth of the tobacco you inhale in just one cigarette, just to become high. When you smoke cigarettes you are continuously inhaling tar, nicotine, and many other chemicals that harm your lungs and may result in lung cancer.
How has the legalization of marijuana affected Colorado? The state has seen some pretty significant changes since the legalization of recreational marijuana. There have been major changes in the economy, job market, and traffic related injuries, but not all of these changes have been negative. There is a split in the public opinion about recreational marijuana use and if the state has benefited since its legalization. Some people think that the state is suffering and have been fighting to repeal the law since it was voted into place. Others have devoted all their money and time into the flourishing business and would be devastated if the law was repealed.
Recent laws that regulate marijuana have been a hot topic of debate. On on eland, people argue that legalizing marijuana will result in more use of the drug and crime. On the other hand, people who favor marijuana reform laws suggest that marijuana actually improves health and decreases crime rates. This topic caught my attention because as a college student in an urban area, marijuana use is very prevalent. Although marijuana is illegal, it is still bought and sold on a regular basis underground or on the black market. In these circumstances, crime rate continues to rise. Therefore, my purpose is to compare crime rates in places where marijuana is legal, such as Colorado and Washington, to places that marijuana has yet to be legalized.
These negative effects of marijuana being illegal at the recreational level can be fixed. There are solutions and benefits to these problems. The first and most important thing the state will have to do in order to legalize recreational cannabis is decriminalize the drug. If marijuana was decriminalized in the state of Minnesota, crime rates and arrest would decrease. According to Christopher Ingraham, a writer for the Washington Post said, “In Colorado, marijuana arrests fell by nearly half from 2012 to 2014. Marijuana possession charges in Washington state fell by a more dramatic 98 percent between 2012 and 2013. Alaska, Oregon, and D.C. show similar declines.” Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, and D.C. saw major benefits when they decided to make marijuana legal for recreational use. If Minnesota decriminalized marijuana, not as many people would be in jail, which would help with the over crowdedness in prisons in the state. Colorado alone has compiled several research studies demonstrating that legalization has not promoted an increase in violent crimes. According to research conducted by the Drug Policy Alliance “During the first year of the implementation of Amendment 64, Denver experienced a 2.2 percent decrease in violent crime rates and an 8.9 percent reduction in property crime offenses” (Heuberger). Decriminalizing cannabis will help our police department focus on more violent and heavy drug-related crimes. This evidence provides proof that legalizing recreational
Police will be free to focus their efforts on more pressing public safety issues, rather than chasing pot dealers. Plus, recreational users will no longer face the risks associated with purchasing illicit drugs in dangerous settings, and can instead venture to one of several hundred retail outlets in the state. Legalized marijuana in Colorado has resulted in a decreased burden on the state’s already-clogged courts, as well as a much safer environment for recreational users to make
To be sure, medical marijuana laws were not found to have a crime exacerbating effect on any of the seven crime types. On the contrary, our findings indicated that MML precedes a reduction in homicide and assault. While it is important to remain cautious when interpreting these findings as evidence that MML reduces crime, these results do fall in line with recent evidence [29] and they conform to the longstanding notion that marijuana legalization may lead to a reduction in alcohol use due to individuals substituting marijuana for alcohol [see generally 29, 30]. Given the relationship between alcohol and violent crime [31], it may turn out that substituting marijuana for alcohol leads to minor reductions in violent crimes that can be detected at the state level. That said, it also remains possible that these associations are statistical artifacts (recall that only the homicide effect holds up when a Bonferroni correction is
Researchers from Conference of Quebec University Health Centers state's, “marijuana can actually improve lungs, Smoking weed isn’t actually that bad for your lungs, and smokers actually have improved lung function when compared to both cigarette smokers – and people who have never smoked either.” Researchers from around the world are testing marijuana on lungs and results are coming back that marijuana is actually strengthening them. According to Rob Waugh, “In what could be a key moment for advocates of legal cannabis, the U.S. government has admitted that the drug can shrink cancer cells.” (use different examples) There are multiple health advantages when it comes to smoking marijuana but, most of the population that smoke marijuana just use it to get high.
The article "Common Sense Is Needed in Marijuana Policy." By Cathy Young talks about how Marijuana should be legalized to reduce crime rates because experts believe that if marijuana were to become legalized it will reduce the amount of drug dealers, which would then get rid of many crimes revolving around narcotics. The legalization of marijuana would lead to less possession charges if it were legal to carry and it would reduce the smuggling process if marijuana were legal to grow in the United
Marijuana use or production is usually correlated with crime, but only in states that outlaw. As a result of this ban, marijuana farmers, sellers, or consumers are all considered criminals, giving the idea that marijuana causes crime. Nonetheless, it is not proven that marijuana that is sold or bought through the black market will stop. Not all individuals who wish to purchase marijuana will choose to purchase it through dispensaries or get a medical card, however, with that being acknowledged, it is not marijuana business that makes a criminal, moreover, it is usually another criminal action that connects these two together. An individual that commits crime is more willing to work in an underground market. marijuana. One may believe that if the black market is completely eliminated, the costs associated with enforcing felony activities would always result in a decrease. With that being stated, law enforcement has a higher concern on untruthful tests for impaired drivers for regular users, as written in Northjersey.com. Nonetheless, there is no denying that cannabis use affects driving ability, but so does alcohol and the lack of sleep. However, in order to estimate the cost for vehicle collisions after the use of marijuana, we must consider the current annual per capita cost of vehicle collisions, the percentage of users likely to drive under the influence of
In the article, “The Rise of Legal Marijuana in America”, by the Week.com, studies have shown that marijuana and other legal drugs are having a great impact on society. In most cases, marijuana is causing people to be jailed and to be driving under the influence. Children are accidentally ingesting marijuana, and they have to be hospitalized because of this terrible drug. Many people may argue the legalization of marijuana has given people jobs, and the government has received more money which could go towards school and public places. Yes, this is true, but people can find many more safe and healthy ways to benefit their community.
To think that legalizing pot would bring down crime rates has always been an argument when discussing about making it legal and when Colorado decided to legalize it that came up and studies have showed that with them legalizing it crime rates have went down in the state. This is a good indication
A research written by Dr.Robert Morris from the University of Michigan named “Study: Medical Marijuana Legalization Doesn't Lead to More Crime “conducts findings on how legalizing marijuana will not lead to higher crime rate. The research takes up many parts but one of the most important factors that it insist on is the crime rate. He explains “The study tracked crime rates across all 50 states between 1990 and 2006, when 11 states legalized marijuana for medical use…Using crime data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, the researchers studied rates for homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft, teasing out an effect for the passing of medical marijuana laws… None of the seven crime types increased with the legalization of medical marijuana (Morris). The crime rate hasn’t gone up in places where marijuana has been legalized and it doesn’t look like it’s going to start any time soon. Meaning that the legalization of marijuana will have little to no effect on the crime rate, which is another thought to take into
Table 1, shown above, displays excise and sales tax revenues in Colorado during 2014, 2015 and estimated values for 2020, with regards to the different sources of taxation. The projected values for 2020 where estimated by the Marijuana Policy Group, the policy and economic consulting firm responsible for key roles in many Marijuana related national policies across the United States. As can be seen, excise and sales tax revenues for Marijuana exceeded those of Alcohol in Colorado during 2015 by almost 3 fold. They have surpassed the gaming and casino industry and only fall second to the tobacco tax revenues. This is the results of two components simultaneously at play, the first being an increase in demand and the second being a shift in sales and demand from the untaxed black market towards the regulated and taxed official retail market (Light, Orens, Rowberry and Saloga 11). The projections from table 1 show that by 2020 Marijuana could even potentially dethrone Cigarettes as the most lucrative source of excise and sales tax revenue in Colorado, due to the
Marijuana usually does not contain more than 1 percent of THC. There are stronger drugs related to THC, such as "hash oil", which can contain up to a 28 percent THC level. There have been some cases where "street" marijuana has been found to contain up to 5 percent THC content. That is very potent for normal marijuana, and is probably very hard to come by in the United States. Other countries seem to use different forms of THC related drugs such as hashish, and hemp. Both of these contain more THC than marijuana. As far as long term effects of tobacco and marijuana go, they are about the same. Cancer should appear in the lungs of a tobacco-user earlier due to the amount the tobacco-user smokes in relation to a normal marijuana smoker. There have been many assumptions that marijuana will cause long term brain damage and so on, but, clinically, none of this has ever been proven. In fact, in a college survey, the students who use the drug regularly possessed a higher GPA than those who do not use. This is an entire different subject, but it was interesting to learn.
Many studies have shown that the “more marijuana one uses, the more likely one has the risk of developing head and neck cancer” (Giannasio). This is why marijuana is as harmful as tobacco because the more one consumes it for medical uses or even just as an escape from reality then, the bigger the chance that person will develop head or neck cancer. In addition, “it has been proven that a smoke of marijuana “contains 50%