Addressing the Major Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

 

                There are many pros and cons of legalizing marijuana but the arguments against legalizing it are becoming less and less effective.  Some of the arguments against it are:  legalization will lead to increased use, especially in teens; there will be an increased incidence of lung cancer and other pulmonary complications; marijuana is a gateway drug and will lead to a higher incidence of illegal drug use.  All of these arguments can be refuted by studies and statistics.

                In addressing the argument that legalization of marijuana will lead to increased use of it, especially among the teenage population, this is simply not true.  Marijuana is legal in the Netherlands and their percentage of usage among the population is comparable to the United States’ percentage, except for the percentage of teen users.  That number is actually lower in the Netherlands.  If marijuana is made legal in the United States, there will be a legal age stipulated.  It will be illegal to use marijuana under a certain age (18 or 21 years old).  This will keep it out of their hands.

                Arguing that the legalization of marijuana will lead to increased health consequences is not true, either.  According to a preview of a study performed by Donald Tashkin, M.D., “In summary, the accumulated weight of evidence implies far lower risks for pulmonary complications of even regular heavy use of marijuana compared to the grave pulmonary consequences of tobacco.” (Armentano, 5)  As stated, tobacco is a much more harmful, legal drug. 

                A huge argument for not legalizing marijuana is that it is a gateway drug, meaning its legalization will lead to an increased use of addictive, harmful and illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and crystal methamphetamine.  According to Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana, “In 2006, a 12 year study by the American Psychiatric Association was published according to which there was unlikely to be any correlation between adolescents using cannibas and the possibility of them getting addicted to other harder drugs.” (Gupta, 13) Once again, a major con of legalizing marijuana is denied.

                There are many arguments against the legalization of marijuana but none of them are very convincing and they are proven false in study after study.  How much more proof does there have to be that marijuana is harmless substance and should be legalized?

Marijuana, Racism and Big Business

 

                The history of marijuana criminalization in the United States is an interesting one.  It was not made illegal because of any scientific or medical evidence that proved it was harmful.  The reasons marijuana was made illegal in the United States were based on blatant racism, self-interests of big corporations and misinformation.

                The marijuana plant (hemp) was used at Jamestown Colony in the 1600s where a law was enacted making it illegal not to grow hemp.  Hemp had many uses including food, incense, cloth and rope. There were thousands of hemp farms counted on the 1850 census.

                Starting in the early 1900s, tensions increased between Western states and the influx of Mexican Americans.  The depression came and increased those tensions-there were less resources for everyone and the small farmers did not like the fact that the larger farms used cheap Mexican labor.  Many of the Mexicans brought marijuana with them and California passed the first law outlawing hemp.  Other states followed suit.

                Later on, in the Eastern part of the country, marijuana was being used by Latin Americans and jazz musicians in the cities of New Orleans, Chicago and New York City.  According to the article “Why is Marijuana Illegal?”, “Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana as newspapers in 1932 editorialized: “Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.””  (Guither,15)  As evidenced in that quote, no real reasons were given to support an argument against marijuana.

                The Bureau of Narcotics was established in 1930 and a man named Harry Angslinger was named director.  He wanted to make marijuana illegal and make a name for himself so he set out to do just that.  He used racism and violence to garner attention from the general public to demonize marijuana and make it illegal.  Anslinger referenced the “Gore Files” which was a compilation of exploitative accounts of marijuana use.  “You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.” (Guither, 40)

                William Randolph Hearst, a corporate giant, helped Anslinger make marijuana illegal for his own reasons.  He had large investments in timber companies and he wanted hemp to be illegal so he would not have competition from the hemp paper that could be produced from the plant.  He also hated Mexicans because he lost thousands of acres at the turn of the century to Pancho Villa.  Making marijuana illegal would benefit Hearst greatly.

                This evidence just proves that you cannot believe everything you hear or read and that there are sometimes different reasons for things than what you are lead to believe.  Information is powerful.  Marijuana became illegal through misinformation, propaganda and racism.  This country should take another look at legalizing this innocuous substance.

The Ethics of Legalizing Marijuana

 

The ethics of marijuana is arguable.  Some people (slowly becoming the minority) think it is a dangerous drug and it is morally wrong to partake in drug abuse.  Most of the people who believe this way do not have any experience with the marijuana.  They see it as being as bad as crack or heroin.  The way the mainstream portrays it is that it is a “gateway” drug-that it is a stepping stone to harder drugs such as heroin, cocaine or crack.  Marijuana is less harmful than the legal drugs that our country pushes on us.  Is that ethical?

Cigarettes and alcohol are so heavily marketed but they are extremely harmful and highly addictive.  It is not okay or ethical to have ads for cigarettes in magazines and on billboards trying to sell to minors.  Commercials for alcohol are on television all the time-times when children are watching, like during football, basketball, baseball and soccer games.  Is this ethical?  According to the CDC, “The number of alcoholic liver disease deaths in 2010 was 15,990.  The number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides was 25,692 in 2010.”  (CDC,2 )    These are pretty staggering and shocking statistics and yet many people believe alcohol to be a safer drug than marijuana. 

Cigarettes are much more dangerous than marijuana.  According to the CDC, “Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for more than 440,000 deaths, or one of every five deaths, in the United States each year.”  (CDC,5 )  Those statistics are shocking, also.  Marijuana does not contain nicotine which causes people to become addicted to cigarettes. 

There are many ethical issues surrounding marijuana legalization and although it is much less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, it is still illegal.  If marijuana is not going to be made legal in the United States then cigarettes and alcohol should be made illegal.  We saw how that worked out in the 1920s during prohibition.  According to the article “Prohibition in the United States”, “The lack of a solid popular consensus for the ban resulted in the growth of vast criminal organizations, including the modern American Mafia, and various other criminal cliques. Widespread disregard of the law also generated rampant corruption among politicians and within police forces.”  (Wikipedia, 23 ).   This is an example of what illegal marijuana is doing for the Mexican drug cartels and gangs.  Marijuana should be legalized in the United States so criminals do not profit from it.

Is Marijuana Addictive or Physically Harmful?

 

                There have been many research studies done on the subject of marijuana addiction.  Have you ever seen the show on TLC called “My Strange Addiction”?  According to the people on the show, you can get addicted to anything.  People on that show are addicted to eating couches, eating toilet paper and wearing diapers as an adult.  The question becomes whether or not the addiction is physically harmful to the person.  There are many studies that support the fact that marijuana is less addictive than alcohol.

                According to Adi Jaffe, Ph.D (an addiction researcher at UCLA) “My point is that marijuana cannot be considered as having no potential for addiction.  As I’ve pointed out many times before, the proportion of drug users that become addicted is very small (10-15%).  This is true for almost all drugs.” (Jaffe, 5) This demonstrates that marijuana can become addictive in very few cases. It is much less addictive than alcohol.

                Alcohol is far more addictive and harmful to the body.  Alcohol abuse has such negative side effects as liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and increased risk of breast cancer, not to mention the social effects it has.  It has been linked to increases in criminal offenses such as child abuse, domestic violence, rape and assault.  Marijuana use does not make an individual more violent and it does not have the adverse physical effects that alcohol has.  “Indeed, statistics bear out the claim that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. According to the Centers for Disease Control, thousands of people die each year in Oregon and Washington from alcohol-related diseases. It's hard to find any evidence of anyone ever dying from using too much marijuana.” (Lehman, 6).  This quote supports the argument that alcohol, which is a legal substance, is far more damaging than marijuana use.

                So, if alcohol is physically more harmful than marijuana, why is marijuana illegal and alcohol legal?  Why is a substance that can cause so much harm, both physically, emotionally and socially, legal?  This is a very interesting and intriguing question which needs to be answered in a truthful manner. 

 

Legalize It

                To legalize or not?  That is the controversial question.  Marijuana has been used for thousands of years by many different cultures and societies, first for it’s medicinal qualities and then for recreational use, also.  It is the third most popular drug in America, alcohol and cigarettes being the first two.  It has far fewer physiological effects on the human body than alcohol and cigarettes.  So, why is it illegal? 

Is marijuana a dangerous drug that causes people to go out and commit violent crimes?  Hardly.  It’s illegal status causes violent crimes.  Drug cartels profit from it’s criminal status and those profits support kidnapping, human trafficking and extortion.  If marijuana use was legalized, there would be much less violent crime committed by these drug cartels. 

Does it cost our law enforcement officials funds to fight it in our unsuccessful drug war?  Yes, definitely.  According to Rob Reuteman of CBNC, “In the 2010 edition of “The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition,” Jeffrey Miron, director of undergraduate studies at Harvard University, estimates that legalizing marijuana would save $13.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition.” (Reuteman, 1)  If marijuana was made legal for recreational use, the incidence of violent drug crimes would go down and law enforcement officials could concentrate on other more serious crimes instead of arresting someone for possession of a very small amount of the harmless substance.

Would legalization of marijuana result in much-needed revenue for many government programs?  Yes.  "According to Politico, one Rocky Mountain congressman is estimating the taxes could bring in as much as $100 million in potential revenues for Colorado alone."  It’s hard to argue with that point.

                Would legalizing marijuana increase the amount of users?  Not likely.  Marijuana is legal in the Netherlands. You can go into any government-regulated coffee shop and buy and smoke it right there – if you are over the age of 18.  The Netherlands’ rate of marijuana use is not dramatically different from the United States - except for young adolescents where the rates of marijuana use are lower than in the United States.

                With all the positive arguments for the legalization of marijuana, why is it such a controversial subject?  It is time to legalize it so we will have a less violent society and we can reap the financial rewards.

This is my daughter, Jessica with Dixie.  Jess just finished at HCC.  I am very proud of her!

Here's my son, Sam on  his birthday.  He's 19 and goes to HCC also.