The Financial Conflict behind Marijuana - Essay Example

Orlando Peña CJ 302; Kaplan May 11, Going ‘Green The Financial Conflict behind Marijuana Introduction Marijuana has played a major part in thewar on drugs. Growing, selling, distributing, and purchasing marijuana for uses other than legitimate medical use is essentially a crime. Under the umbrella of current marijuana control, the harsh reality of mass incarceration,( especially of nonviolent drug offenders, intertwines with criminal justice resources. Moreover, marijuana prohibition criminal justice efforts cost an estimated eight million dollars a year in the United States (Shepard & Blackley, 2007). To put it bluntly, marijuana prohibition is expensive and brings more harm to taxpayers’ wallets. However, credit is not given to the positive outcomes it holds for marginalized individuals, such as the growing demand of marijuana giving a means of income to those in desperate need. My interest is the economic approach to end marijuana-related activities as burdens in the realm of criminal justice; it should be, viewed as a cash crop. This paper intelligently offers a comparative analysis from scholarly articles such as “To Legalize or Not To Leagalize? Economic Approaches to the Decriminalization of Drugs” and “The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement in an Economic Model of Crime.” These articles explain the proposal of decriminalizing marijuana, which in turn will bring a positive trend to the U.S. economy single-handedly. On the part of mass media, CNBC special coverage “The Dealer Next Door: Selling Marijuana Becomes a Second Job for Many” and “Marijuana Dispensary Owner Finds a Calling” highlight the viable alternative of pot dealing as an honest financial means as opposed to it being a heinous alternative for income. Media Depiction Movies such as Pineapple Express, or the cult classic Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, portray lighter and comedic stereotypes of dealers and potheads. As depicted in these films, the shenanigans and troubles that the characters face in these movies are fictional. In the article, “The Dealer Next Door: Selling Marijuana Becomes a Second Job for Many,” the authors argue that, these days, a typical dealer is an average mother, teacher, construction worker, or student (Perman & Kemp, 2010). On the whole, these people are functional members of society. The majority of people who are prosecuted also have a second job. The article centers its attention to “Frank,” who has a steady construction job during the day. However, he also deals and plays a role in the underground drug market through selling cocaine and marijuana. In the case of Frank, “Income from dealing marijuana varies widely depending on the quality of the product and the amount sold” (Perman & Kemp, 2010). The incomeey that he makes can be up to a couple of hundred dollars per week. However, this is not in the same league as those who make anywhere from three to five thousand dollars a week; however, these individuals most likely have established credibility in the drug world. Ironically, Frank does not use drugs himself. But because of the risk involved with selling marijuana under the table, he is forced to live a low key, law abiding lifestyle. Frank pays his taxes on this particular income and even saves for his retirement. Unfortunately, although Frank has a job, he does not receive insurance benefits due to the high expensive involved. Frank’s story is best explained by Bruce Margolin, who is a criminal defense attorney. In his experience of marijuana cases over the past forty years, he says that “ninety percent of the dealers he’s seen operate outside of the mainstream but still lead a very normal life; they have families and homes to look after them. Their lifestyles are totally ‘legitimate,’ it’s just the marijuana that’s illegal.” In contrast to Frank’s illegal yet reputable non-violent drug dealing style, we can look at the example of David Nuget, who is the owner of Herban Wellness Medical Marijuana Dispensary. In “Marijuana Dispensary Owner Finds a Calling,” the author tried to show a clear example of a dispensary. Nuget traveled to Denver for a roofing job. Once there, he discovered his green passion, which was to start his own dispensary. However, he had a history of using marijuana, without owning a medical card, due to “chronic back pain from years of construction work” (Reuteman, 2010). So, what trigged him into legal means? Nuget visited dispensaries and disliked it. “It felt scary…very backdoor-ish…you’d go down three alleys, up two flights of stairs….it was uncomfortable and did not feel professional at all…you felt like you were going to get robbed when you left” (Reuteman, 2010). However, Nuget wanted to change all of that. So, he found a nice office space and turned it into a welcoming place filled with couches, coffee, and edibles. His inventory was to die for. “Seventy strains of marijuana and an array of edibles… including, nine flavors of Mile High Ice Cream laced with the drug…” (Reuteman, 2010). He invested and saw his dispensary as an honest livelihood. Just as in the case of Frank, Nuget was aware that selling marijuana would not make him rich overnight. These two upstanding citizens share the view that their business with marijuana is meritorious. Although Frank and Nuget deal with the drug trade in contrasting ways, their practices should call for a middle ground. Despite drug war efforts, dealers like the two mentioned above prevail more often than not. Their story exemplifies their treatment about marijuana and the necessary reform to make sure their entrepreneurial efforts are protected and government approved. Academic Articles As the prominent writer Mark Twain puts it, “It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.” What Twain is attempting to convey is the idea that whatever is deemed to be prohibited and untouchable becomes an object of desire. This is parallel with the reality of strict marijuana policies and This introduces unnecessary crime and grievances on the public, state, and even federal level (Shepard & Blackley, p. 405). In “The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement in an Economic Model of Crime,” the authors take on the notion that “drug prohibitions create opportunities for ‘drug crime’ directly, as the use or sale of illegal drugs is, by definition, a crime” (Shepard & Blackley, p. 407). Thus, these findings reported an increase in violence, specifically homicides as well as assault and larceny. It is the system’s obligation to deal with criminals no matter the costeven if it is unreasonably expensive. Federal police agencies that dealt with imprisonment increased from about one and a half billion cases in 1981 to over 12 billion cases by 2002 (Shepard & Blackley, p. 404). Look at a scenario that hits closer to home. Imagine the state of California spending much more than that today. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, arrests for drug law violations have shown a familiar trend, starting at six hundred thousand per year in 1980 and expanding to over one and a half million today (p. 404). As strict as these laws are, there is no doubt that the prison population will grow to more than two million inmates (Shepard & Blackley, p. 405). The justification behind such needless actions is to fundamentally build a drug free society. This clearly brings an adverse effect of locking up citizens away and disenfranchising street entrepreneurs. The statistics show a gross and bias driven product of the drug war issue. In “The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement in an Economic Model of Crime,” the study offers alternative prespectives on what other countries have done to decriminalize drugs. “Despite a higher prevalence of cannabis users, the United States has fewer advocates of legalization” (Bretteville-Jensen, 2006). This attitude calls for more harm reduction strategies in the hope of decreasing the total prison population. Model countries, such as England, “reclassified cannabis from a category B drug to a category C drug, which in practice means decriminalization.” This surely changed the public’s attitudes towards the issue (Bretteville-Jensen, p. 555). From an extreme point of view, the Netherlands “ had coffee shops for some time where cannabis in amounts of up to five grams could be sold to people no younger than 18 and consumed in public” (Bretteville-Jensen, p. 555). This is a different culture to the United States, and one that classifies drugs differently. “They have argued for a strict separation of, on one hand, ‘soft’ drugs like cannabis and, on the other, ‘hard’ drugs like cocaine and heroin” (Bretteville-Jensen, p. 555). To sum up, if the U.S. was to be more liberal, without referring to political parties, with drug policies, this would be beneficial and all-encompassing towards individuals and society as a whole (Bretteville-Jensen, p. 556). Discussion Whether one disagrees with or fully supports the exclusive legalization of marijuana, it would be hard to refute the idea that this multimillion dollar street driven industry doles any participant financially. From an academic point of view, the conflict theory illuminates the drama behind marijuana. This is defined as “a struggle over values or claims to status, power scarce resources, in which the aims of the conflicting parties are not only to gain the desired values, but also to neutralize, injure, or eliminate their rivals” (Lanier & Henry, p. 298). It is easy to point out the two parties through using the conflict theory. The conflicting parties for one side would be lawmakers and enforcers—basically the judiciary body. In contrast, the marginal advocates are for marijuana. Both parties fight for financial power and status on the legitimization of the drug. As reported in “The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement in an Economic Model of Crime,” the “associations between drugs and crime could be due to drug use, drug sales, or other characteristics of illegal drug markets, including methods of drug enforcement” (Shepard & Blackley, p. 406). In thinking about the life stories of Frank and Nuget, their lives are generalized by ‘drug sales’ or ‘other characteristics of illegal drug markets.’ By extension, a marginal advocate for marijuana is injured and eliminated through the abundance of arrests and the means of the powerful criminal justice system. Conclusion The financial, or perhaps moral, standard about marijuana is shown through the different sources presented here. Through the aid of statistics, control methods in other countries, and the real life stories of Frank and Nuget, there may be a solution to the embroiled conflict of our nation. References Bretteville-Jensen, A. L. (2006). To Legalize or Not To Leagalize? Economic Approaches to the Decriminalization of Drugs. Substance Use & Misuse, 12. Lanier, M. M., & Henry, S. (2010). Essential Criminology. Philidelphia: Westview Press. Nelson, A. (2010, April 20). Marijuana & Money. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36179677/How_Big_Is_The_Marijuana_Market Perman, C., & Kemp, T. (2010, April 20). The Dealer Next Door: Selling Marijuana Becomes a Second Job for Many. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36179794 Reuteman, R. (2010, April 20). Marijuana Dispensary Owner Finds A Calling. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36179416 Shepard, E. M., & Blackley, P. R. (2007). The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement in an Economic Model of Crime. Journal of Drug Issues, 22. Read More