Research+Paper+Rough+Draft

The ‘M’ Word
 Marijuana, weed, cannabis, herb, green, pot, the list of slang terms goes on and on. The amount of taboo associated with any of these words is enormous. But why? Why is a plant, that has the capability to grow naturally from the ground, so frowned upon in our society? Why is it a criminal act for someone to purchase this substance? Should things be different? Should we allow the general public to have easy access to this? What would be the consequences of legalizing something that “gets you high”? Aren’t there already alternative legal ways to obtain the same high? Could it be that there are no adverse effects to smoking something? Can you get addicted? Too many questions yet so little time. Throughout this paper I’m going to address some of these questions with as much logic and fact as I can manage, and explain why I feel strongly that marijuana should be legalized in the United States.  There’s a certain irony in the timing of this paper. On November 2nd California voters will have the option to vote for the legalization of marijuana. According to the Harvard Crimson, “The proposed law includes restrictions on sale and use, such as a minimum purchase age of 21, but the bill gives marijuana roughly the same legal status as alcohol.” (Miron, “Marijuana Legalization in California”) This seems to make a lot of sense, seeing as a good deal of the arguments for marijuana’s legalization draw comparisons to the alcohol prohibition of the 1920’s. The adverse effects of alcohol tend to greatly outweigh those of marijuana use, so why is a more dangerous substance legal?  The United States prohibited the sale of alcohol with the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1919. “The key thing to note is that, even though alcohol and illegal drugs differ in their intrinsic characteristics, most of the effects of prohibitions described above relate intimately to the nature of prohibitions and far less to the precise characteristics of the commodity prohibited.” (Miron “An Economic Analysis of Alcohol Prohibition”) With this amendment the amount of organized crime exploded. Since alcohol was illegal to purchase all of its sales had to be conducted secretly. This is a lot like the process consumers of marijuana face today. The amounts of arrests for the simple possession or sale of marijuana are immense. If marijuana were legal however it would reduce the criminal population and would help reduce the already cumbersome amount of inmates in the prison system. If legalization can cut down on crime, it is obvious it should be passed. Legalization also makes great economic sense. Everyone likes making money, especially the government. If Marijuana was legalized nationwide it would be liable to state and federal taxes. The revenues that could be produced from the marijuana industry would for sure be in the hundreds of millions. Also, with the implementation of taxes the amount produced and distributed could be more easily regulated.  The year is 1971, Richard Nixon is president, and the United States is in full-fledged opposition of the Vietnam War. Nixon decides to declare a “War on Drugs”; drug-related arrests sharply increase in the following years. Yet the public’s attitude and opposition to this “war” has greatly changed in the past 30 years (Nielsen “American’s Attitudes Toward Drug-Related Issues From 1975-2006: The Roles of Period and Cohort Effects”) People are less opposed of marijuana, and more for its legalization than ever before. Yet, this war rages on. Could the public be ahead of the curve on this one? After all, they are the ones who get to vote for marijuana’s legalization.  While there are some very sensible arguments for the legalization of marijuana, as with any controversial topic there is another side to the argument. For the past hundred years while marijuana has grown increasingly more taboo, there are those that keep driving to keep it illegal. They present many reasons as to why they oppose the substance. In the early years of its criminal days marijuana was said to cause you to become crazy and even in some extremes kill people. The arguments have grown a little less extreme in recent years citing the drug as a gateway drug and warning people that it will “make you dumb.”  I have always been told that marijuana is a gateway drug and if you use it you will slowly progress to harder and more damaging drugs. I have always only been told this but have never actually seen any hard evidence or statistics that back this claim. I looked for some of these while researching for this paper but could not find them. Some could make the claim that maybe marijuana was just easier to obtain so they started using that first and then progressed into harder drugs while they became easier to obtain.  Those who oppose marijuana also make the point that, were it legal, everyone would be stoned all of the time. This is debated by the fact that most people that refuse to use marijuana because of its illegality would start using the drug responsibly. The amount of stoned people would most likely not increase too greatly were it legalized because those who consume it now obviously aren’t afraid to consume whenever they please.  In researching for this paper I have found that while there is a very strong push to keep marijuana illegal in this country because of its taboo, the evidence for its legalization is overwhelming. The benefits of legalization are both economic and social. The fact that it will cut down on the criminal population and will be more properly regulated makes me feel even safer about my decision to support its legalization. In this case there is not enough supportive evidence against marijuana’s legalization for me to back that side. Based on the article’s I have read and the evidence I have seen I strongly believe that marijuana should be legalized in the United States.