For and Against the Legalization of Marijuana - Essay Example

? The Evidence for and against the legalization of Marijuana ID Number: of School July 11, 2011 Word count = 1,375 Introduction Recent controversy over marijuana use stems from proposed legalization for medical purposes. On this issue, I stand for its legalization precisely because of the medical uses it can be applied to as against some of the arguments against it. This paper discusses reasons for and against the legalization of marijuana to help guide readers to make their own stand. It is very surely a controversial issue that grips public debate similar to issues before which hounded medical ethics on such topics as abortion, euthanasia, organ donations, living wills, surrogate motherhood and in-vitro fertilization. This requires a dispassionate discussion of the merits of legalizing marijuana as against the issues raised by groups against its eventual legalization as based on some unfounded fears. This paper is hopefully a very meaningful contribution to an intelligent debate on the legalization of marijuana use today. Discussion Marijuana is the third most-consumed drug in the world today, after alcohol and the cigarettes. Ironically, marijuana is still banned in most areas of the world due to wrong ideas about its effects but this is slowly changing due to the advocacy of people who swear by its beneficial effects on a number of physical ailments. What is needed is a paradigm shift by its opponents who are misguided and based their judgment on a number of misconceptions. The number of US states which had legalized marijuana use for medicinal purposes included New Jersey, Arizona and Washington, D.C., for a total of sixteen states in all. Most other states also have pending legislation for approving the legalization of marijuana but still subject to strict regulations such as requiring registry ID cards, a valid doctor's prescription, the amount of usable ounces allowed and the number of mature plants a person is allowed to cultivate at home for his own use. Other countries have allowed (tolerated or de-criminalized its possession and use) such as Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and Israel. The evidence against marijuana – it is proper to put the big controversial issue of the use of marijuana in a wider historical context. The illegality of the use of marijuana has been a fairly recent phenomenon. To be more precise about this , it came to be criminalized only in the mid-20th century as a reaction during the 1920s of vast illegal Mexican immigrants who were fond of cultivating the plant and using it for smoking and various other medicinal uses. Prior to this period, marijuana was not illegal and formed part of the culture of various ethnic groups other than the Mexicans such as West Indians, Jamaicans and those in African continent. In fact, marijuana is embedded into their local cultural heritage as part of religious ceremonies and also as alternative herbal medicine. The campaign against marijuana use and to make it illegal stemmed from a racial and ethnic bigotry rather than being based on solid scientific or medical research studies. The ultimate intent of declaring marijuana illegal was to drive out the Mexican immigrants, especially those who settled in the Southwest, denying them the enjoyment of marijuana use. To make this move against marijuana appear perfectly and morally legal, the government classified it as a Schedule I (no acceptable medicinal uses) in the United States of America. It is still banned as a non-narcotic controlled drug, except in the sixteen states, by the US Drug Enforcement Administration or the DEA. With this background, marijuana has languished in the political and legal wilderness because it has not been implicitly or explicitly re-legalized ever since this wholesale lumping of marijuana with other truly dangerous substances such that it therefore merits even today an illegal classification which is outmoded and incongruous with established facts. In effect, mass criminalization of marijuana possession and use has only been reversed in the grudging and piece-meal manner by individual states after going through a referendum. The next pages give reasons for declaring marijuana illegal in the first place during the earlier part of the 20th century and discussed more thoroughly; and then the reasons why it should be legal now. The prohibitionists cite the physical and psychedelic side effects of marijuana use as their main reasons for declaring it illegal and they want that status to continue. Marijuana can cause the nervous system to be depressed that produces irrational feelings of euphoria and the much-sought after mental relaxation; the effects are fast-acting enough to occur just within a few minutes of smoking its leaves or ingesting its seeds. Perception, thoughts and feelings are altered to a significant degree that results in a loss of the sense of time and space. Moreover, it can lead to a loss of inhibitions and personal control; this had been the main argument used by those opposed against marijuana and they cite instances wherein crimes were supposedly committed under its influence. A distorted sense of perception, an altered state of awareness and hallucinations had been blamed for crimes like robberies, rapes and murders. The other physical manifestations of marijuana use include heart palpitations or faster heartbeats, sense of floating in the air, ataxia (unbalanced walking or gait), a loss of concentration and feelings of weakness, tremors and postural hypotension or low blood pressure (Bell, 2004, p. 62). Those crimes being cited were often sensationalized and exaggerated for purposes of scaring people from using marijuana and found to have no scientific basis at all. In most of the cases, there were other causes of the crimes such as mental instability, a propensity to do the crime, hatred of the victim or a pathological criminal mind rather than marijuana use. The other most frequently used argument against marijuana and which seems to be most credible is the gateway theory in which marijuana users will eventually graduate into use of the other powerful illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine or morphine (Kamienski & Keogh, 2005, p. 61). It is claimed (wrongly) marijuana use leads to harder drugs but evidence suggests alcohol is a more powerful inducement to doing so. Other reasons being cited by those against it are such myths like it is highly addictive (nicotine in cigarettes is a far more powerful addicting drug), impairs learning abilities and the cause of many emergency room admissions. The evidence in favor of marijuana – there are far more beneficial medical reasons in favor of marijuana use based on scientific research. There are also more compelling reason why it should be legalized as based on the discussions below: Medical – marijuana is proven to cure or alleviate symptoms of nausea, epilepsy, the cause of muscle spasms, fight off fatigue, control glaucoma by reducing intra-ocular pressure (pressure of the fluid inside the eyes), as a pain reliever and boost mental alertness too. It had been attested to by a lot of users which doctors are inclined to believe based on testimony of their patients. Marijuana does not cause liver damage, cancer, heart disease, birth defects or emphysema even from long-term use, unlike alcohol or tobacco which are allowed as legal. Financial – legalization of marijuana will allow the government to collect taxes and provides a new source of desperately-needed revenues. The government has a new source of “sin taxes” and avoids raising new taxes or increasing current tax rates. The reverse side of an argument for legalization is it will allow for scarce resources like police personnel or assets to be deployed in curbing more serious crimes like homicides, murders, burglaries and assaults. Political – the prohibitions on marijuana possession, sale, transport and use were due to racial discrimination dating back some six or seven decades ago. Legalization will do away with the social stigmatization that marijuana use has imposed on some minority groups such as those of Mexican descent (Latinos) or even on African Americans. The declaration that it is an illegal substance had been arbitrary and smacks of prohibitionist politics that incurs for government unnecessary expenses like surveillance, arrests, prosecution and incarceration. Conclusion Marijuana use is not addictive, it is medically useful to treat several ailments, it can be a new source of tax revenues and it is a good political move as most people are now for its legalization and support reforms in laws dating back to the Prohibition (Gerber, 2004, p. xvi). References Bell, S. (2004). The Facts on File: Dictionary of Forensic Science. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing. Gerber, R. J. (2004). Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Kamienski, M. & Keogh, J. E. (2005). Pharmacology Demystified. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Professional. Read More