Marijuana in America - Essay Example

Marijuana in America al Affiliation) Marijuana abuse and dependence on the drug has been increasingly rising among teenagers and adults. This makes the drug the widely illicit substance in the United States. Use of marijuana in America became a problem when there was regulation of the use of the drug for medicinal purposes but not for recreation. Marijuana was used as a major content to medicine and was openly sold. It was until after the civil war and Mexican revolution that the drug was introduced to the American culture. (Berlatsky, 2012). Legalization of the drug have been proposed, attempted and recommended through several methods which included ballot measure. The voting shows that many of the people recommend legalization of the drug. Between 1850 and 1942, marijuana was prescribed for nawea, labor pains, and rheumatism. The drug was also used in attaining euphoria. It was used as a medicine for gout, malaria and absent mindedness. It was introduced in England in 1611 as a fiber crop alongside tobacco. Medicine started containing small amounts of marijuana by 1890. A bill was introduced in California in 1880. The act regulated the sale of narcotic drugs and it prohibited the keeping and sale of marijuana in the states. The bill was later withdrawn and another introduced in 1885 and 1889.elimination of cannabis in New York was in 1860 which was due to continuous suicides that were involving the substance. The substance was categorized as poison. (Campos, 2012). The prohibition of the drug in the 1920s led to the emergence of the abuse problem. The recreation purpose of the drug at the time was by the jazz musicians and still was not considered a threat to the society In the 1930s the Bureau of narcotics and Dangerous Drugs portrayed the drug as a powerful addictive substance that led to narcotic addiction. Food and Drug Act of 1906 targeted drugs that were not healthy and which did not disclose the narcotic contents of the products. This led to labeling of marijuana as a poison. (London, 2009) The generation of the 1950s especially college students started to use marijuana as a symbol of rebellion and disturbance against the legal authorities. In 1970, controlled Substance act classified marijuana as the relatively highly abused drug and was not accepted for medicinal purposes. During the Vietnam War, there was daily use of marijuana by the soldiers and rose to fourteen percent according to the 1971 Defense Department survey. (London, 2009) Connecticut Law Revision Commission in 1997 came up with the idea of reducing marijuana less for adults of over twenty one years to a civil fine. In 1990 marijuana smoking increased among teenagers. In 2012 Colorado and Washington approved incentives that legalized use of cannabis for recreational use. The states became the first to legalize the use and sale of marijuana. The legalization included recreational and medicinal purposes. (Campos, 2012) In the United States, several organizations, individuals and commissions have highly pushed to legalization of marijuana. The fight has encouraged more of the use of the substance. Marijuana abuse in America is mainly in teenagers. Poor relationship with parents caused by poor home environment, makes the teenagers shift to marijuana abuse. The adolescent get away with the abuse without the parents knowledge. (Berlatsky, 2012). Poor parenting that results to teenagers having behavior problems leads to marijuana abuse. Teenagers will use marijuana to cause rebellion to the authorities. Legalizing the use of the drug in some states, schools and peer groups highly contribute to the abuse. Before marijuana became illegal it was highly abuse by both adults and teenagers. Marijuana is highly addictive and the availability of the drug in some states leads to more abuse. Attitude of permission on drugs use by the teenagers leads to more marijuana abuse. Teenagers feel that they have own permission to everything leads to the problem.Peer influence especially by friends is a major cause of marijuana abuse. The environment in which the teenagers grow influences much on marijuana abuse. Those that grow up in environment where cannabis is abused resolve to the same practice. Regulation of marijuana followed in 1911 in Massachusetts, 1914 in New York and Maine. Towns Boylan Act in New York aimed to restriction of sales and refills of marijuana. Wjoming followed in 1915, Texas in 1919, Lowe, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas in 1923 and Nebraska in 1927. Laws in Oregon changed in 1995 which reduced the penalties on the possession and use of marijuana. (Campos, 2012). In the 1930s Uniform State Narcotic drug Act was adopted in every state. The act prevented the use of the dangerous drugs including marijuana.in 1936, a government propaganda film was produced which exaggerated dangers and effects of the drug as a warning to parents and society. In 1937, a Marijuana Act was formed that placed high tax on the drug. This led to illegalizing of the drug and failure in paying the tax led to arrest. National Organization for the Reforms of Marijuana law was founded in 1970 to discriminate marijuana in adults. In 1973, Drug Enforcement Administration was formed by President Richard Nixon to fight against the drug use and supply in the United States. The act changed their attention to marijuana farms in the United States which were destroyed. Partnership for a Drug Free America Organization was founded in 1986 and it released anti-drug laws to curb the use of marijuana. Reagan and Bush administrators passed strict conditions for sentence for the possession, sale and smuggling of marijuana. In 2004 California passed a law that the recreational use, sale and cultivation of marijuana by adults being the lowest enforcement priority of the law. Drug courts were developed in 2008 and the courts enabled those that were charged with less serious crimes of being associated or involved in the possession and use of the drug. In 2009, the director of the office of National Drug controlled policy made the government position where he stated that cannabis was a poison and had no medicinal benefits. The office of President Barack Obama in 2012 opposed the legalization of cannabis since this would increase the availability and also more use of the drug which poses health risks on individuals. In February 2014, Obama and administration made sure that transactions from the sale of marijuana in banks could be detected and the people heavily taxed. The fight on the abuse of marijuana has been joined and taken into consideration by several stakeholders. The government in the United States has formed several organizations and partnership to deal with the problem. President Richard Nixon formed Drug Enforcement administration to deal with the drug marijuana. (Musto, 2002). Administrations contribute much to the fight against the problem. Reagan and Bush administrators came together and formulated strict laws on the possession, sale and smuggling of the drug. Advocate groups based in the United States including Marijuana Policy projects Americans for safe access have wanted to modify the drug policy that favors and legalizes the use of marijuana in America. (Musto, 2002) Individuals have also become stakeholders in the problem of cannabis. Ron Paul from Texas who became a presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012 elections came with the idea of the government not to use laws against the use of cannabis. Federalists have come up with suggestions on fight against the drug. Dana Rohrabacher came up with Respect State Marijuana laws which emphasized on following of the laws on marijuana in America. Commissions have been involved in the cannabis problem. The commissions have been involved in the revisions and implementation of the laws. Introduction of strict bills that treats marijuana as a poison on the federal level and not treated like other drugs or like alcohol. The bills should be strict on the fines for abuse. Respect to the laws on drugs in America can reduce and finally eliminate the problem. Respect to laws by the citizen can lead to reforms to the drug policy. Welfare credit cards have been much used to purchase marijuana. A bill of no use of the cards in America will reduce the purchase and use of marijuana. Putting of higher taxes on marijuana can reduce the use of the drug. Imposing of high taxes on the drug reduces the numbers that will purchases the drug reducing the use. Creation of awareness on the dangers of the use and effects of marijuana by relevant authorities to members of the state would reduce the use of the drug. Parents should be responsible and bring up their children in the right way with the right behaviors. Success on the possible solutions can be determined through different features. Reduction on the trade of the cannabis will indicate that there is reduction in the use of the substance. Reduction in the fight by some organization on the legalization of cannabis will show that the organizations have known the dangers of the substance and join the fight against it. References Berlatsky, N. (2012). Marijuana. Farmington Hills, MI Campos, I. (2012). Home grown marijuana and the origins of Mexicos war on drugs. Chapel Hill London, J. (2009). How the use of marijuana was criminalized and medicalized, 1906-2004: A Foucaultian history of legislation in America. Lewiston, N.Y. McMullin, J. (2005). Marijuana. Detroit: Musto, D. (2002). Drugs in America: A documentary history. New York: Read More