Marijuana Should be Legal in the United States - Essay Example

Marijuana should be legal in the United s To kick off the discussion, marijuana in its truest sense is a drug and is quite addictive – just likecocaine and heroin. However, the worst part about it is that it has a huge role in causing accidents and eventually injuries to not only the people who take it in but also to those who become the victims in the form of their untimely and unfortunate deaths. Thus, it would not be wrong to state that it is a menace, but apart from that, its use is a source of benefits and remedies when used as medicines. Thus it cancels out the other negativity about it, if looked down from a totally different angle. The stance taken in this paper is that marijuana must not be regarded as illegal since cigarettes and alcohol are considered legal at the same time. This is a very wrong phenomenon that has taken center stage and must either be diverted in one direction or the other to make it look balanced. Marijuana’s intake is a very legal right of every American and the laws which are made against the intake of marijuana are not only unethical but also in direct contrast of the rights of the common Americans. These laws and regulations must have a solid base before they could be obeyed in the most basic sense. There needs to be an understanding on the part of the lawmakers to realize the pitfalls and rights of the people before promulgating any laws that embody the banishment of marijuana within the boundaries of United States of America. Crude marijuana, as researchers have been able to extract possesses more than 400 chemicals as a combination. This however occurs during smoking when all of these 400 chemicals split up into thousands of other chemicals themselves. Notwithstanding the nearly 12,000 studies done on the medical utility of marijuana, a staggering common consent does exist in the scientific community of late which suggests that the smoked form of marijuana cannot be termed as a medicine. One should thus make laws that go against putting the users or sellers of marijuana in jails as they have a right to exercise their lives in the best manner that they deem fit. (Hough, 2003) Then again, cigarettes and alcohol comprise of tobacco and a host of other items within them but no one raises voice against their use. Marijuana is singled out as the only item that receives all the criticism and this is a very depressing situation. There must be criticism for other products as well and singling out marijuana is not only wrong but also unethical from the people’s perspective when it comes to their rights. Similar bans should be imposed on people who smoke and drink alcohol yet all the flak falls on the people who use marijuana for their drug needs. The rules need to be made strong so that there are no impediments in the wake of the implementation of the very same. The policies should be strong, coherent and very direct from all the sides so that people remain on board and pragmatic with the approach taken by the government of the time. Man has for long cried on the view that he is not properly treated by the people who rule his life. This has been an on-going saga for ages now. To add some pointers on the discussion, we find that indeed this is something that has a lot of solid basis to it and not just a mere faux pas is attached with it. Punishment is something that is directly or indirectly meted out on an individual and within the context of that very punishment; there are issues which look at the moral and ethical side of things. Punishment is something that needs to be understood in the light of the crime that has been done and not merely for the sake of ill treatment and harsh actions which are put on the offender. The basic purpose of punishing someone is to make him understand that he has committed a wrong and he should be made to pay for it, though not in terms of cash or something but in a manner that will do some good for this human being in the long run. Punishments have to be understood in the proper context, so as to state the least. We will delve further through the course of this paper as to how punishment is linked with morality, equality, rights of human beings and just about everything that comes under the banner. Punishing the Americans for the intake of marijuana is not only illegal but also very wrong since this would mean that they are being singled out as the guilty party alone. There are a number of criminals within United States who have not been caught to this day yet they remain free for all the wrong reasons and the people who use marijuana for their own selves are given a hard time by the authorities. This indeed is a situation that can only be remarked as double standard, right from the onset of things. A commoner in today’s society is enticed every now and then to newer and more fancy products and indeed a similar way of life. For this, he wishes to have more money and if he works, he expects his employers to pay him more than his actual wage. This does not happen in the real world and eventually the youth, with their hot blood fuming inside, take up committing crimes and start earning instant and lavish money. They believe this is their right and don’t want to be left out on any account when compared with any other superior individual of the society. The wages for the low-skilled workers had its sudden decline in the early 70s, which spanned over a period of 20 years, ending up round about in the early 90s of the last century. This decline resulted in a drift, which changed the demographic impact that was the basis of crime all these years as well as of the crack cocaine effects of the 80s, to name just a few. Similarly, the marijuana users must be treated in a fair capacity by one and all and singling out these people is a very wrong precedent that the society is setting for its own self. There must be fairness for all the people and the low-skilled workers as well as the elite class must be weighed in the same pan before making a decision about their respective punishments. According to a number of public opinion polls that were conducted in America recently, Americans do not support the idea of liberalizing marijuana, just for the sake of it. They are simply not in the harmony with it and thus they do not allow their government to do anything of such nature. Thus this gives the drug pressure groups some food for thought whereby they abstain themselves from using the word "legalization" in their trading with the government and hence the people in particular, in this matter. This term has been substituted with preferred ones like harm reduction, decriminalization and even ‘medicalization’. However the drug lobby groups are strictly bent upon achieving their goals, which are to approve the bill of medicinal marijuana as legal and free for everyone to research openly and extract benefits from. But what remains to be seen how cigarettes and alcohol take the importance within these studies and come out as being banned by the different authorities within the varied states. However what is significant is that marijuana sellers and users must be given the right to spend their lives as they like to have it since it is their lives that one is talking about here and no restriction must be placed on the very same. They do not deserve to be put within confinements as they are very much a part of this world as the normal human beings are. All this while, the public has taken a sensible and mature stance in remaining opposed to recreational use of marijuana. The drug ‘legalizers’, by hook or by crook are still endeavoring their best to get marijuana legalized. For this, they use dishonorable and disgracing tactics like mingling with the deceptive ballot referendums, which is not a good sign for the ill and sick people whose lives are at stake. (Sager, 1999) Ethics also plays a big role here and medical people should try their best not to cross this human boundary, at any cost whatsoever. Thus marijuana ‘legalizers’ are usually of the claim that Americas prisons have overflowed with young adolescents whose only crime was the simple possession of marijuana with them. This gives the authorities the right to arrest them without taking into consideration that is a minor or otherwise. Other issues like those of racism have recently sparked up a debate in America whereby crack-cocaine incongruities have emerged. People have different viewpoints on this issue and hence disclose their standpoints to one and all, thus flashing up criticisms from one and all. Criminal justice system also got involved in this matter because of its racist nature, which undoubtedly is a serious crux in the American society for years now. Meanwhile, the drug lobby is constantly ignoring the apparent facts that a war on drugs usually targets the inner-city merchandisers first and then assists doctrinal inhabitants of locales who possess the minutest of resources at their disposal. This is the only source with which they can fight back in the long run for their very survival. Punishment’s sole objective should be one to educate the offenders so that they do not repeat what they have already done in the past. More than that, these individuals should also be exclaimed about their acts in the light of morality and how ethics would never allow for the very same. The most significant thing in this equation is to apprise them of their sheer mistake rather than feeling agitated about the barbaric attitudes of the people who are at the helm whilst making the important decisions of their lives, which would either leave them in jail for a long time or get them hanged. The education factor must therefore be made apparent in the ruling of the verdict when an offender is punished since he must be told about the positives of life rather than making them hard and real criminals after they leave the jail area completing their respective tenures. The attempt should thus always be to make the punished individuals into good and respectable human beings. The vengeance and retribution is definitely not the point behind punishing the rightful offenders since this is a grave reaction to the already committed action by the individual. The law thus has to understand its due and moral law in the relevant scheme of things and then go about committing certain acts which are not only acceptable but also socially and morally right. Moral education is the exact word that stems from this discussion since a lot of emphasis must be laid on the fact that the concerned person becomes a better human being after he has been punished for a certain period of time. The reason of punishing an individual is by no means to incapacitate him rather ask of this person to give in his best towards the society in an individual role as well as a collective manner. It is up to the said human being as to how he takes the punishment in his stride and then go about gaining further insights. If he takes the same in a positive fashion, he is sure to become a better individual but if the opposite happens, then this person could turn out to be a real nuisance for the whole of society. The bottom line thus is to think for the betterment of all and sundry and not just focus on an offender who deserves punishment because it has been destined upon his personality by all accounts. Notwithstanding the drug lobbies, totally cast off the legal use of THC in Marinol and continue to, in one way or the other, urge the use of crude marijuana cigarettes as a source of medicines. Doctors explain that marijuana is not a medicine and some go to the extent of giving solid analogies of eating moldy bread in an attempt to get penicillin. But this raises an interesting point – are all these factors even studied when one speaks of cigarettes and alcohol consumption? One should believe ‘no’ would be the correct answer here. Marijuana offenders, in modern times usually comprise of those people charged with simple possession of the same as well as the ones who actually trade in it. These people, once caught can be denied the right from entering any form of college as well as small business or farm loans, the subsidiaries on farmlands and different types of occupational licenses can also be canceled. (Hempelman, 2000) Marijuana offenders have their government grants, contracts and fellowships terminated as a result. Those people who are on probation or some form of parole for an offense of a criminal nature can be returned to prison, only on the base of their urine test showing them as positive marijuana users. It is also distressing to note that during the last two decades or so, state and local police have arrested and taken into custody around 10 million people for offenses related in one way or the other with the possession of marijuana. This makes the supporters of this approach claim that criminal restrictions need to be changed as people usually keep the same. This information about the arrests and all does not link the number of these arrests for marijuana possession or the harshness of the sanctions which have been imposed from time to time and eventually the number of marijuana using people. However there are less arrests made for the people who smoke and use alcohol for their ‘needs’ which is surprising and very distressing to know at the same time. Thus, in the end it would be wise to suggest that if marijuana could be considered illegal then there should either be proper bans on the usage of cigarettes and alcohol or on the other hand, a complete ban on just about everything – marijuana, cigarettes and alcohol. This will make the whole debate meaningful and more balance would be apparent enough within the American society as a result of the same. The use of marijuana is not improper and thus should be allowed by the American law-makers and governmental top-heads. The role of the society is immense here since having a little empathy for the people who consume marijuana is a much needed proposition in the time and age of today. This will solve the problems of a number of people and that too in a very quick manner. All said and done, the marijuana users must be given the respect that they so richly deserve. Works Cited Hempelman, Kathleen A. Teen Legal Rights. Greenwood Press, 2000 Hough, Mike. Penal Populism and Public Opinion: Lessons from Five Countries. Oxford University Press, 2003 Sager, Ryan H. Grass Roots: The Progress of Medical Marijuana. (Making Medical Marijuana Legal). National Review, 1999 Word Count: 2,510 Read More