Legalization of marijuana in US - Research Paper Example

Legalizing Marijuana Cover Letter After a series of revisions, this essay has been significantly strengthened and improved upon from previous edits. I have attempted to clarify my thoughts and improve the organizational flow of the paper and have added important subtitles to the essay. By focusing on specific arguments (liberty, poor policy making, medical benefits, etc), I have argued for the legalization of marijuana and have made a strong case. This analysis now includes specific drug-related data from the United States Federal government and this backs up my argument. This essay is much stronger now that it was previously and I have put a signification amount of effort into tightening up sections and improving the flow of the paper. Weaknesses which appeared before (poor coherence between sections, poor flow, a lack of citations) have been addressed and improved upon to make a strong case for the legalization of marijuana. The organization of this paper has been much improved upon and I make my argument in a clear and concise manner. This course has also made me a better writer and more patient at the writing craft. Lectures and workshops have helped me get a handle on the intricacies of writing essays and I have better self-awareness in my abilities than before. This essay has put forward the argument that marijuana should be legalized and has provided a handful of reasons explaining why thus product should be decriminalized and made readily available to the general public. The arguments for the legalization of marijuana include the argument that liberty is a virtue which should be promoted by governments, the criminalization of marijuana infringes upon liberty. Other argument for the decriminalization includes poor policy making, the medical benefits of marijuana usage and the arrogance of government to admit its mistakes and change a policy which is obviously doing no good. The strongest argument for the legalization of marijuana uses all of the points mentioned above because it is holistic and comprehensive. This essay has also used many scholarly sources which openly debate the merits of marijuana usage. Nearly a dozen sources have been employed in this analysis and have provided strong ammunition in the argument for the legalization of marijuana. I am pleased with the final product and believe that it is a significant improvement from my previous work. Legalizing Marijuana The debate as to whether cannabis sativa, commonly referred to as marijuana, should be legalized remains a very controversial issue in the United States. The use of marijuana as a medicinal product has existed for hundred of years, in various countries all over the world. Indeed, the medicinal use of marijuana dates back to 2700BC as reported in ancient Chinese documents. This essay will emphatically argue that marijuana ought to be legalized for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the government can earn tax revenue from both its marketing and its sale. Secondly, its value as a medicinal plant outweighs its possible abuse. More so, cannabis production is important to the paper as well as to the clothing industry. It is therefore important to seriously consider the legalization of marijuana despite people and groups who claim that marijuana is a dangerous drug which will increase criminal activity and will lead those using it to more harmful substances. Liberty The very first and most important reason as to why marijuana ought to be legalized is because there is no particular good reason as to why it should be illegal. While people ask “why legalize marijuana?”, it would be more appropriate to ask “why not legalize marijuana?” From a philosophical viewpoint, people should have the freedom to choose what they want. The government is only supposed o restrict these choices which cause harm or endanger other people. This aspect is not applicable to marijuana, because the person who decides to smoke marijuana does so freely on his/her own. The government as well could have the right to restrict a person’s actions, supposing such actions pose a substantial threat to that person’s wellbeing. However, this argument is not applicable to marijuana since marijuana has been established to be less harmful than other drugs which are legal, including alcohol and tobacco. From a purely philosophical perspective, people should have the choice to smoke marijuana or not. It is a question of liberty and undue interference from the government. Poor Policy Making Another important reason as to why marijuana ought to be legalized is that it will save a lot of taxpayer dollars spent on fighting marijuana. In America, the federal government, state authorities and even local authorities spend millions of dollars prosecuting the “War on Drugs”. Today, billions of dollars are being spent each year chasing those who smoke marijuana and putting them behind bars; more money is spent to keep them behind bars. This is very expensive for the government as well as the taxpayers. This money could be better spent on things such as health care and education. Because of the War on Drugs, the United States’ prison population is nearly 10 times that of many of western European countries. In 2000 alone, 734,000 people were arrested by the authorities for marijuana-connected offenses. The United States’ fight against drugs gives a big emphasis to marijuana and thousands of people are arrested for smoking it every year. Records indicate that from 1990 until 2005, almost 5.9 million Americans were arrested on marijuana related cases. This is a huge number of people, many jailed for merely smoking a joint. In 2000, the number of people arrested for marijuana related crimes by the state and local law enforcers were 734,498 (LegalizationOfMarijuana.com, 2008). This number indicates an increase of 800% since 1980, according to the FBI, and was the highest ever witnessed. Out of that number, 646,042 people or 88% of those arrested where charged for possessing marijuana, while 12% were charged with selling/manufacturing. These new statistics from the FBI thus indicates that every 45 seconds, one marijuana smoker is apprehended by the police (LegalizationOfMarijuana.com, 2008). Like many other Americans, those who smoke marijuana pay taxes and work hard to care for their families. However they are arrested, imprisoned and treated like common criminals, merely because they chose to use a drug of their choice. At times, state agencies comes in and proclaim that children of parent smoking marijuana are in “danger”, and many children are taken into foster homes because their parents have been labeled criminals. This results in a lot of pain, anguish and financial hardship to millions of families. It also creates mistrust and disrespect for the criminal justice system. In 2003, whеn thе Nаtionаl Officе of Drug Control Policy rеportеd thе govеrnmеnt wаѕ spending $29 billion аnnuаlly to proѕеcutе аnd incаrcеrаtе mаrijuаnа uѕеrѕ, thе nеgаtivе public rеѕponѕе to this rеport ѕpаrkеd thе lаrgеѕt intеrеѕt in thе pro-marijuana cause еvеr recorded. In 2006, а Timе/CNN poll ѕtаtеd 72 pеrcеnt of Аmеricаnѕ supported mаrijuаnа dеcriminаlizаtion, which rеducеѕ mаrijuаnа-uѕе pеnаltiеѕ to finеѕ аlonе. Dеcriminаlizаtion hаѕ bееn implеmеntеd in 13 ѕtаtеѕ, including Nеbrаѕkа, аnd could rеаch 20 by 2010. Could thiѕ incrеаѕеd intеrеѕt in dеcriminаlizаtion ultimаtеly lead to legal marijuana? It is hard to say but as the decriminalization movement gains more and more adherents, so does the movement to legalize marijuana. With a modern legalization policy in place in the United States, the government could monitor who was buying the drug and at what age, just as they have done with alcohol or tobacco. Not only would it keep drug dealers from selling marijuana to the general public (as well as to kids), it would put an end once and for all to the black market drug industry which leads to gangs and other criminal behavior. It is to this issue that we now turn (see Benjamin, 2003; LegalizationOfMarijuana.com, 2008). In 2005, Harvard University professor and economist Jeffrey Alan Miron issued a report which stated that marijuana should be legalized and that the marijuana crop should be taxed just like those seen with tobacco or alcohol. He predicted that the United States would earn an estimated $6.2 billion annually through the legalization of marijuana, thus adding extra tax revenue to the United States and resulting in an economic boom. According to Miron, the ultimate gains the United States could see from the legalization of marijuana would be far reaching but his report faced much opposition from those who are opposed to the legalization of marijuana. Many people believe the stigma marijuana ruins lives when it can be argued that alcohol in fact ruins more lives yet it remains legal. It can also be said that more than 3 million violent crimes are committed in the United States each and every year and that there is a correlation between alcohol use and a rise in domestic and sexual abuse in American families. The same cannot be said for marijuana use (Earleywine 24-88). The legalization of drugs in the United States could cause an immense reduction in crime for a couple of main reasons. The lowered price of narcotics will decrease, if not eliminate many of the thefts and murders associated with the high prices of drugs. With the increase in supply, the price of the drugs will eventually fall low enough so that addicts who were formerly forced to commit crime to host their illegal habits will be able to afford the drugs legally. It is true that addicts will still need money to buy the drugs but making it cheaper will decrease the amount of crimes an addict will need to commit. Over seventy percent of current drug users are employed so the decline in price will reduce the need to commit crimes along with work to maintain their expensive habits. (London 2) Sadly, crime will always be a part of our society and our goal now is to reduce it as much as possible. The second reason is substance related disputes such as gang wars and street violence will be reduced through the legalization of drugs. There will no longer be violence caused by the distribution of drugs and territory disputes because there will no longer be drug dealers roaming our streets. They will be forced to surrender the billion dollar drug industry to legal pharmaceutical companies that will produce drugs that are less potent and safer for the consumer. This will not only decrease street deaths but will prevent children from becoming involved in gang related activities. The third and most important reason why legalizing drugs will decrease the crime rate is that the once illegal acts of sale and possession of drugs will now become legal transactions. From the 1920 prohibition of alcohol, there was an increase in all areas of crime due to the existence of a black market, all sparked by the illegalization of alcohol. This led to the formations of crime rings and mobs that used the illegalization of alcohol as a base for their operations. It was from these crime rings and gangs that most of the murders and violence occurred from. After the prohibition ended, there was an immediate decrease in murders, burglaries, and robberies It failed to live up its expectation but instead corrupted officials, made alcoholic beverages more dangerous, removed revenue from taxes, and increased government spending. The profit that was driven by the limited amount of the illegal drug was now depressed. The black market disappeared along with all of the illegal crime activity that went along with it. It is through the legalization of alcohol that there are no crime rings in existence today for the selling of alcohol. Similar to the 1920’s prohibition, the current dealers and crime rings will be forced to disband and find other means of income (Gazzaniga 44-49). The sale of illegal drugs creates an environment that promotes criminality. It is a well known fact that drug dealers make money and to the youth, money is all they care about. In the inner city, the government programs such as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) are subdued by the temptation of quick money by the drug dealers. It would not make sense for a sixteen year old to work at Burger King or McDonalds for minimum wage when they could be making a thousand dollars a day. There just isn’t any competition between the two and the choice is obvious. If the legalization of drugs were to happen, then the dealers would have no choice but to look for legitimate work. US prisons’ today are overcrowded and filled with inmates that have committed drug crimes. Most of the crimes committed were “victimless” crimes in the sense that they did not harm anyone but themselves. Sixty five percent of all inmates in federal prisons are there on drug charges. The legalization of drugs would result in two thirds of the prisons being empty and more room for serious offenders. Overcrowded courts mean reduced sentences and plea bargaining for violent criminals whose presences are the real threats to society. Instead of serving their rightful time, serious criminals are prematurely released of to the public to make room for non violent drug offenders. So if we legalize marijuana, our murdеr аnd domеѕtic аbuѕе rаtеѕ would drop or our еconomy would not bе in troublе. Also, our jаilѕ wouldnt bе full of pеoplе whoѕе livеѕ аrе ruinеd bеcаuѕе thеy got cаught with smoking. Lеgаlizаtion iѕ аn option thаt hаѕ not really hаd а chаncе, but rеаlly ѕhould bе considered (Barkan, 273). Responsible and accountable marijuana smokers are not a threat or a danger to other people or to their children. Thus, there is no any particular reason to treat such people like common criminals or deny them the custody of their children. As a society there is need to find better ways to discourage individual behavior of all types that is abusive or dangerous to others. Certainly, those smoking marijuana in a responsible way cannot be the problem and it is a high time that they are left alone. ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS TOBACCO 400,000 ALCOHOL 100,000 ALL LEGAL DRUGS 20,000 ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS 15,000 CAFFEINE 2,000 ASPIRIN 500 MARIJUANA 0 Source: United States government: National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics Data on Marijuana Usage Long term use of marijuana can result in addiction among some people. According to a survey carried by National Household in 2001 on drug abuse, it was established that nearly 5.6 million American from 12 years and over had problems with illegal drug use in the previous year. Out of this number, 3.6 million were classified as being dependant on illegal drugs. Over, 2 million were diagnostic as dependant on marijuana. Back in 1999, over 220,000 people seeking treatment programs for drug abuse reported that marijuana was their main drug of abuse (Witmer, 2009). How many people use marijuana? Recent data from the US government indicates that Marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug in the US and more than 83 million Americans aged over 12 years have at one time used marijuana. Using the yearly Monitoring Future Survey, which involves students from 8th, 10th and 12th grades, the following data was given: In 2001, 20% of 8th graders had attempted to use marijuana at least once, out of this percentage, those who later continued using marijuana when in 10th grade (used marijuana within the last month of the survey), rose to 20%. Among those in the 12th grade, almost 50% had attempted to used marijuana at least once when they were in 8th grade; of that percentage 22% continued to use marijuana (Witmer, 2009). Other studies have indicated that the use of marijuana as well as other drugs normally peaks when the teenagers in their late teenage years or early twenties, however the use decline in adulthood. Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug? As Witmer (2009) explains, long-term research of high school students in relation to their behavior of drug use indicates that a very small of number of teenagers take other drugs without initially attempting marijuana, alcohol or tobacco. Even though few teenagers use cocaine, for instance, the danger of using cocaine is much higher for those people who have experimented with marijuana as compared to those who never attempted it. Accordingly there is no conclusive study to about the numbers of marijuana users who later use other drugs; the only observation made is that using marijuana increases the risk of using other drugs. Certainly, this cannot be a reason to prohibit marijuana since it is not automatic that a marijuana user will automatically use other illicit drugs. Medical Benefits Dunne (1999) explains that marijuana is in fact less dangerous than cigarettes, alcohol and even some medicines sold over the counter. He adds that marijuana, while in its natural state, is among the safest therapeutic substances. Accordingly, he explains that using any measure of rational assessment, marijuana can safely be used within a monitored schedule of medical care. As Dunne argues, in America alcohol poisoning is one of the main causes of deaths in America, and cigarettes are estimated to cause roughly 400,000 premature deaths every year. The effects of marijuana on the health of Americans pale in comparison. An individual who consumes lots of alcohol will be unable to walk without being assisted and he/she could loss consciousness and may even die. Though such effects happens only when a person extremely consumes lots of alcohol, the truth is smoking an extreme amount of marijuana will not result in such dramatic effects. Dunne (1999), quoting Dr. Leister Grinspoon, who wrote a book titled, Marijuana: The forbidden Medicine says that, the only well established negative impact of marijuana is its smoke which comprises three times as much tar and five times as much carbon monoxide as tobacco. However, it has also been well established that the heaviest marijuana smoker hardly ever smokes as much as a normal tobacco smoker. According to Grinspoon, marijuana alleviates nausea experienced by cancer patients under powerful chemotherapy. In addition, marijuana also can be used by patients who are suffering from multiple sclerosis as well as AIDS. More so, marijuana has been proven to be effective in treating glaucoma since its use reduces pressure suffered by the eye. Accordingly, many argue that marijuana should be legalized because of these positive medicinal properties. Government Arrogance? Another intangible investment used by the government on its War on Drugs is its arrogance. According to Kaplan (1990) the government spends an undue amount of energy to inform the general public that smoking marijuana is bad. For example according to past budgetary allocations (Budget 331), the government allocated $620 million for what is refers to as “Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities”. This money entails education for the communities and schools on the bad effects caused by marijuana. Also the money is used by The Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is a government body to sponsor commercials describing marijuana as a major problem to American society. In view of this information, legalizing marijuana would be a big defeat to the government that is why the government is not willing to give in and legalize marijuana. There needs to be a great pressure from American citizens for the government to legalize marijuana. But, here is where the problem is, since the battle to legalize marijuana is not seen as noble one, and few people bother to fight for the legalization of marijuana. Thus, until when this changes, the government will most likely never legalize marijuana. It has too much invested in criminalizing the weed. Prohibiting Marijuana Does Not Work Though marijuana is an illegal drug in America, statistics indicates that in 2000 alone, 734,498 people were arrested for crimes related to possessing, selling or smoking marijuana. This number seems to be increasing each and every year. Thus prohibiting marijuana seems not to be working. Indeed, a number of theories such as the “forbidden fruit” seem to suggest that making marijuana illegal has increased its use. One unintentional effect of prohibiting marijuana is its popularity in schools. Indeed, Kaplan (1990) observes that it is a lot easier for a kid to get marijuana than getting alcohol. Since alcohol is legal, and thus its availability is controlled by the government. The governments of the past tried prohibiting alcohol and it failed badly; it ought to learn form past experiences and stop repeating similar mistakes. Prohibiting marijuana is not an effective way of controlling drug use, what should be done is to educate people on a better way to use marijuana. Conclusion The issue as to whether to legalize marijuana or not evokes serious emotion and is quite controversial for the American people. However, from this discussion, it is clear that there is no clear reason rather than a political one as to why marijuana remains illegal. This analysis has demonstrated that marijuana is not a dangerous drug that can cause death; alternatively it can be used for medicinal purpose. Furthermore, legalizing marijuana will save the country millions wasted on prosecuting the “War on Drugs”, among other positive effects. The moment that all these facts are understood, it becomes certain that American’s laws on marijuana need to be reformed. The matter has to be openly debated and perhaps things will change. Groundless assertions, meaningless data, and exaggerated scare accounts that have been advocated by politicians and antagonists for past 60 years. These need to be revised and rejected. Annotated Bibliography Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1998. (1997). Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office. A document which explores the budgetary issues of the US Federal government and includes a report on drug related deaths that year in the United States. A particular helpful chart for this analysis has been borrowed from this site. Barkan, S. and Bryan, G. Fundamentals of Criminal Justice. Boston: Pearson, 2004. Explores important fundamentals of the US criminal justice system including retribution, rehabilitation and other issues surrounding criminal justice in teh United States. Also contains interesting statistitcs for the purpose of this assignment. Bеnjаmin, Dаniеl K. Undoing Drugѕ: Bеyond Lеgаlizаtion. New York: Bаѕic Bookѕ, 2003. Looks at the variety of social implications associated with drug use in the United States including decriminalization and legalization. Earleywine, Mitchell. Pot Politics: Marijuana and the Costs of Prohibition. London: Oxford University Press US, 2007. Analyzed the various social costs of prohibition with an eye to teh positive benefits associated with the legalization or at least decriminalization of marijuana. A fascinating article for this essay. Dunne, R. ed.”Consequences of Alcohol and Marijuana Use” . National Institute on Drug Abuse. Rockville: Maryland, 1998. Dunne and his authors look at the ramifications of marijuana use in a comparative perspective. Marijuana is proven to be less harmful than alcohol in many instances. Works Cited Gazzaniga, Michael. “Legalizing Drugs: Just Say Yes”. The National Journal. (10 July 1995), 44-51. Gerber, R.J. Legalizing Marijuana. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. Kaplan, J. Marijuana-The New Prohibition. New York: World Publishing, 1990. LegalizationOfMarijuana.com. US Policy on Drugs: Accessed April 31, 2009 from: www.legalize-marijuana.com Witmer, D (2009): Marijuana Drug Use. Accessed on 14/3/2009 from: http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/marijuana/a/marijuana10.htm Read More