Should Marijuana be Legalized in America?
Introduction
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines marijuana as a greenish-gray mixture of the dried flowers of Cannabis Sativa, also referred to as pot, weed, grass, herb, ganja, Mary Jane, and bud in slang language. It can be smoked, brewed in tea, mixed with food, and consumed in vaporized form. Its more potent form consists of specially tended female plants called sinsemilla and concentrated resins popular for both recreation and medical use (NIDA, 2020). The chemical responsible for the majority of the intoxicating effects people seek from marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in the resin produced by the leaves and buds of the female cannabis plant containing more than a hundred compounds called cannabinoids and five hundred chemicals (NIDA, 2020). Marijuana should be legalized for several reasons, and this paper provides arguments in favor of this statement, including an in-depth analysis of the history and effects of marijuana use and submissions of arguments that oppose it.
By federal laws in the United States of America, the distribution and use of marijuana have been prohibited since 1937. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) indicates that different states have been experimenting with policies that would allow marijuana to be legalized with the first state decriminalization policies passed in the 1970s and the 1990s saw the emergence of laws of marijuana use for patient medical access. However, it is not until recently that states started to experiment with legalizing marijuana for recreational activities. NCBI further demonstrates that out of all the states in America, 21 states have decriminalized certain marijuana possession offenses, 26 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana, and a further 16 states allow the use of specific types of marijuana for medicinal purpose. Research by states has shown that the progress towards marijuana legalization starts by moving away from strict prohibition, to allowing its use for certain purposes before allowing its legalization.
Effects of Marijuana Use
According to NIDA(2020), the person using marijuana experiences immediate effects in the lungs, bloodstream, brain, and, generally, the whole body. The effects are delayed by thirty minutes to one hour when marijuana is consumed in foods and beverages because it has to pass through the digestive system and may inadvertently cause the users to consume more than intended (NIDA, 2020).
Additionally, NIDA(2020) explains that these effects can be both negative and positive. Positive effects include euphoria, relaxation, increased appetite, heightened senses, and altered perception of time. While the negative effects are panic, anxiety, distrust, and fear, all of which are magnified by overdosing, inexperienced use, and potency of the marijuana. Additional negative effects of overdosing on marijuana include delusions, loss of the sense of personal identity, and hallucinations, which are temporary that may lead to serious psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia (NIDA, 2020).
Volkow et al., (2014) designates the effects of marijuana into two. Short-term use causes paranoia and psychosis in high doses, impaired motor coordination that interferes with driving skills creating the risk of injury, and altered judgment that increases risky behavior. It also impairs short-term memory affecting retaining of information and ability to learn. The effects of long-term use include addiction, brain development alteration, cognitive impairment, diminished learning capacity, increased psychosis disorder risks like schizophrenia, and lowered life satisfaction.
Arguments for or Against Legalization of Marijuana
Although some states have legalized marijuana for medical use, there is an ongoing debate on its validity in being legalized. However, a Gallup poll carried out in the U.S in 2018 discovered that public support for legalization of marijuana had increased to sixty-six percent with the majority of those in support aged fifty-five years and older and coming from the Republican party.
Reasons given for the support of the legalization of marijuana by those polled include medicinal benefits supported by eighty-six percent, freeing up law enforcement to focus on other crimes supported by seventy percent, sixty percent believed that it was an individual choice made by the users. Fifty-six percent pointed out that tax revenue generated from the sale of marijuana was sufficient reason for legalization.
The reasons that were given by those who were polled and opposed the legalization of marijuana included; increased road accidents by users representing 79%, 69% of them believed that it led to an addiction to harder drugs, while 62% believed that legalizing marijuana would encourage more people to use it. Joffee and Yancey (2004) opposed the legalization of marijuana, claiming that adolescents are more likely to abuse it because of failing to see its harmful impact, and those in favor argue that legalizing marijuana is economical, practical, and medically beneficial.
Arguments for the Legalization of Marijuana
Main reasons provided for the legalization of marijuana include:
Marijuana prohibition is a way of government wrongly intruding in the freedom of choice of an individual, which is a fundamental right enshrined in the constitution. Citizens should be free to decide by themselves if they want to use not to use marijuana without government interference on their choice.
Additionally, there are more harmful substances to individual health, which are legal, like alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana being a less toxic substance, should also be legalized and regulated by appropriate state bodies.
Furthermore, marijuana is used for medicinal purposes to ease the suffering of ailing patients suffering from ailments like cancer, glaucoma, and AIDS proven by scientific research. It should be noted that most states have enacted laws legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal use based on background research.
Besides that, not legalizing the use of marijuana has resulted in a pronounced increase in crime and violence in the United States caused by its illegal distribution and sale. Legalizing marijuana will greatly decrease crime and violence because it will no longer be warranted and hence reduce the significant burden placed on the judicial system to try those cases.
Moreover, banning marijuana results in harsh penalties for youth who engage in its illegal sale and distribution, causing serious harm that incurs lifelong consequences. Marijuana should be legalized for the social good of the youth to protect them from ruining their lives.
On top of that, a lot of revenue is derived from the legal sale of marijuana. Legalizing marijuana will result in the creation of new avenues for tax generation for the state to meet its ever-widening income obligations.
Finally, research has shown that the government spends billions in the fight to enforce the prohibition of marijuana. All this money could be saved and redirected to handling more urgent matters of developing the economy if only marijuana is legalized.
Arguments Opposing the Legalization of Marijuana
Main reasons against legalizing marijuana include:
Some people believe that legalizing marijuana is immoral and encourages users to engage in immoral behavior; therefore, it should be prohibited.
Others who oppose the legalization of marijuana believe that long-term or heavy use is harmful to the individual’s health and well-being, causing addiction and many other related effects like dependency and psychosis and paranoia. It should, therefore, be prohibited from maintaining individual health and well-being.
Also, second-hand smoke from marijuana users is considered to be harmful to others who do not use marijuana. Hence, marijuana should not be legalized to protect individuals who do not use it from its adverse effects.
Also, opposers of the legalization of marijuana claim that regular use of marijuana can create tolerance and lead to the addiction of harder and harmful drugs like cocaine. The legalization of marijuana should be prohibited to prevent creating tolerance for heavy drugs like cocaine.
What’s more, the prohibition of marijuana keeps offenses and crime levels down through the incarceration of marijuana offenders who engage in its illegal sale and distribution.
Ultimately, another reason is given by proponents for the prohibition of marijuana is that marijuana is considered as a drug, and law enforcement agencies do not want to be linked with supporting its usage.
Conclusion
This paper provides a sufficient basis for why marijuana should be legalized in the United States despite its challenges. Bourgois (2008) argues that despite the warnings about using marijuana, there have been no major health threats to rule out the legalization of marijuana. Studies have been undertaken that support both the supporters and opposers of the legalization of marijuana, and state laws are constantly changing regarding the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana.
Several states have either approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, decriminalized possession offenses, and allowed the use of specific brands if marijuana to address certain issues.
Proponents for the legalization of marijuana argue that the main points for their reasoning are the medicinal benefits for the users, freeing up law enforcement to focus on other crimes and the tax revenue generated from the sale of marijuana. The opposing group argues that their main points for the prohibition of marijuana is due to increased road accidents by users of marijuana, the creation of tolerance and addiction to much stronger drugs, and it would attract more people to use it.
However, regardless of some states abolishing or reducing the harshness of marijuana laws, the federal government prohibits the legalization of marijuana, whether medicinal or recreational.
Works Cited
Bourgois, P. (2008). The mystery of marijuana: Science and the U. S. war on drugs. Substance Use and Misuse, 43(3/4), 581-583. doi: 10.1080/10826080701884853
Joffe, A., & Yancy, W. S. (2004) Legalization of marijuana: Potential impact on youth. Pediatrics, 113 (6), e632-e638. Retrieved from http://proxy.tamucommerce.edu:10312/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=af285479-9f98-4877-a005- 2420d4351cbf%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=121
NIDA. 2020, April 8. What are marijuana’s effects?. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/what-are-marijuana-effects on 2020, July 24
Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. The New England journal of medicine, 370(23), 2219–2227. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1402309