Decriminalization of Marijuana
Darnell Taylor M. Channing English 1B March 5, 2013 Decriminalization of Marijuana As I researched the internet for information about the decriminalization of marijuana, I found so much information concerning this project that it was hard putting together some thoughts. Through my research of the different topics I came to the conclusion that the ones I am writing about seem to be the most important concerning the decriminalization of marijuana. Should a person go to jail for smoking marijuana? A lot of people would say no, a person should not go to jail for smoking it.
Marijuana is not a narcotic, such as heroin, or a stimulant like caffeine or tobacco, or a depressant, like alcohol. It would be easy to say marijuana is less of a threat to a person’s health than alcohol or tobacco. Marijuana became illegal on August 2, 1937 with the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act. Discrimination and racism played a big part in this because it was said that Blacks and other minorities were the majority of marijuana users. Politicians and lack of understanding of the drug is why marijuana is still illegal today.
The scientific name for marijuana is cannabis. There are two main strains of marijuana and they are called Indica and Sativa. Cannabis is known in the streets, by many other names such as dank, bud, buddha, maryjane, weed, or reefer, and has been used medically since the beginning of civilization. The oldest known evidence of cannabis use comes from a tomb in the African country of Egypt, where cannabis was found in big bundles beside the tomb. In Canada, a high-level public official said the current marijuana prohibition was not working for the benefit of that country .
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The number of known marijuana users has grown from 55,000 to 350 million, a fact showing that prohibition of marijuana is not working. The big push for the United States to decriminalize marijuana started in the 1970’s, when almost half the states either approved it for medical use, decriminalized it, or completely legalized it. The people for decriminalization argue that legalizing cannabis would free up billions of dollars that we now use to prosecute users, pay for a large portion of law enforcement resources, and pay for large amounts of prison resources.
It would reduce the income of street gangs and organized crime that grow, import, process, and sell illegal marijuana. With decriminalization and regulation it would provide large amounts of tax revenue and reduce enforcement costs, with little or no effect on how much is used. Decriminalization would lower the number of non-violent offenders in the prisons. The number of marijuana possession cases would also decline allowing less pressure on the Criminal Justice system. Decriminalization and legalization of marijuana are favored just because it is believed that a person’s rights should be respected.
How a person lives his life, as long as he’s not hurting others, should be allowed. Users wouldn’t have to be scared of getting caught’ a person’s life would not be ruined for having a small amount of marijuana. A person wouldn’t lose his job because he had a little marijuana. College careers wouldn’t be ruined because of marijuana possession. The opposition also argues that cannabis on the streets today has a higher percentage of THC (the primary intoxicant), than in cannabis of an earlier time and that decriminalization will lead to more usage, more crime, and more abuse of dangerous illicit drugs.
The Legal History of Marijuana in the United States: Decriminalization (1970-2000s) Check all the places that have decriminalized non-medical marijuana in the United States. Most of the states are in favor of decriminalization. They have started programs such as Drug Education or Drug Treatment in place of jail time or criminal charges for possession of small amounts of marijuana. This offense is now the lowest priority for law enforcement. In 1972, President Richard Nixon set up a committee to study marijuana use.
The Commission found out that the fairness of cannabis prohibition was unclear, and that the Executive and Legislative branches had a responsibility to obey the Constitution. Even in the absence of a court ruling to do so, they did not put the study’s recommendations in action. In 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize marijuana. In 1974, a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, chaired by Senator James O. Eastland on the Marijuana-Hashish Epidemic and its impact on United States security said that evidence collected on marijuana had turned against this drug.
By 1978 Alaska, California, Colorado, Mississippi, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Ohio had some form of marijuana decriminalization. Certain cities and countries, especially in California, had adopted laws to further push decriminalized cannabis. When speaking against decriminalization, a 1974 study by the United States government and endorsed by then-President Ronald Reagan is being used. The results claim that in a test using monkeys, loss of brain cells was discovered. Unknown to the public was that this story was totally unfair.
The monkeys were made to wear gas masks and marijuana was then pumped into their lungs non-stop for 5 minutes at a time with no fresh oxygen. It was a miracle the monkeys didn’t die and suffered only brain damage in this act of animal cruelty. Another study published in ‘The Journal of Clinical Investigation” shows that cannabis use actually stimulates cell development. It is not possible to overdose on marijuana, unlike most prescription and illegal drugs. Marijuana has yet to be proven addictive or deadly.
No deaths have been linked to marijuana use. It has no known lethal dose. Health issues and family responsibilities, not legal issues, are reasons given for stopping or never starting the use of marijuana. Even the thought of it being a “gateway” drug is controversial. Research shows the real “gateway” is the illegal drug market. The “gateway” effect for marijuana could be because exposure to other illegal drugs when buying marijuana “on the streets” increases the opportunity to use other illegal drugs.
Several states have taken steps about the marijuana issue by decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of the drug, reducing sanctions for amounts suitable for personal use. For marijuana that means one ounce or less. In recent history, there have been a lot of unsuccessful attempts to decriminalize cannabis. In 1974, Dr. Robert DuPont, the White House Drug Czar, began to publicly support the decriminalization of marijuana. When DuPont left government he changed his mind, seeing marijuana as a health problem and declaring “decriminalization is a bad idea”.
Robert DuPont is still an active opponent of the decriminalization of marijuana. A law to legalize marijuana state-wide was put on the California Ballot in 1972. Proposition 19 was rejected by 66 percent of the votes. The Initiative reads as follows: 1. No person in the State of California, 18 years or older shall be punished, or be denied any right or privilege, by reason of such person’s planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, processing, otherwise transporting, or possessing marijuana. 2.
This provision shall in no way be construed to repeal existing legislation, or limit the enactment of future legislation, prohibiting persons under the influence of marijuana from engaging in conduct that endangers others. In Gonzales vs. Raich the courts ruled in a 6-3 decision that the Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution allowed the Federal government to ban the use of cannabis (including medical use) because Federal law is “supreme” and overrules State law.
Further legalization of cannabis came in 2012 as two of three things to vote on were put on the general ballot of November 6th and were successful by wide margins. Washington’s Initiative 502 (2011) and Colorado’s Amendment 64 (2012) passed in the general election, as Oregon’s Ballot Measure 80 (2012) failed. Both of the successful measures restricted cannabis possession to adults aged 21 or over, restricted the total amount allowed and included a “DUID” (Driving under the Influence of Drugs) provision against driving under the influence of marijuana.
Both specifically regulated cannabis much like hard liquor has been since the end of prohibition in the United States and avoided any changes to medical marijuana law. Initiative 502 defined marijuana based on its THC content and controlled all growth; processing and sales of marijuana based on its THC content and controlled all growth, processing and sale of marijuana under the Washington State Liquor Control Board, with restrictions against public consumption. The Colorado Measure allowed “private grows” in addition to commercial regulation.
The failed Oregon law established a new State agency to regulate and tax cannabis but was less specific and allowed possession for all adults, aged 18 or older. Illegal marijuana cost taxpayers $7. 5 billion a year (enforcement, prosecution, incarceration and monitoring). It also makes growing hemp, which can be used to make cloth, paper and rope, against the law. When imported from places like Canada, Russia, and China hemp products are legal. In 1645 hemp was a cash crop in America and Europeans were growing it before that. Almost one million people a year are in trouble with the law, about marijuana. 15 billion a year goes to the “War on Marijuana”, which doesn’t look too successful. Decriminalization will reduce these numbers. There is little proof that decriminalization of marijuana use leads to an increase in marijuana use. Almost one million people a year are in trouble with the law, about marijuana. $15 billion a year goes to the “War on Marijuana”, which doesn’t look too successful. Decriminalization would reduce these numbers. In January, 2011, first year Arizona Republican Legislator John Fillmore introduced House Bill 2228.
This bill would decriminalize marijuana possession of 2 ounces or less to a petty offense with a penalty no more than a $100 fine, similar to the laws in Colorado and California. On January 1, 1975, Senate Bill 95 made possession of under one ounce of marijuana for non-medical use punishable by a $100 fine; tougher punishments exists for amounts of more than an ounce, possession on school grounds, or violation of marijuana laws for sales or cultivation. If the offender is under the age of 21, his or her Driver’s License may be suspended for up to one year.
In Mendocino County, voters in 2000 approved Measure G, which called for the decriminalization of marijuana when used, or cultivated for personal use. Measure G passed with a 58 percent majority vote, making it the first county in the United States to declare prosecution of small-scale cannabis offenses The “lowest priority” for law enforcement. Measure G does not protect individuals who cultivate, transport, or possess marijuana for sale. Measure G was passed at the local government level making it law only in Mendocino County and does not affect existing state or federal laws.
On September 30, 2010 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law, S. B. 1449. A bill that decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. The bill reduces simple possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. This would eliminate the need to appear in court and would treat possession of less than 28. 5 grams like a traffic ticket, punishable by a $100 fine. Also in 2010, Proposition 19, titled the “Regulate, Control, and Tax Act 2010”, qualified for the November California Ballot. It was rejected by 54 percent of the voters.
The Initiative would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana and its activities in the state of California. It would have let local governments to regulate and tax the cannabis market. In Colorado marijuana has helped the state economically with millions of dollars in revenue generated with the legalization of marijuana for adult use, regulating and taxing it the same way alcohol is regulated. Before November 6, 2012 the cities of Breckenridge and Denver, Colorado had passed Measures to make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal, even though possession was still a crime under tate and federal laws. Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution, which passed November 6, 2012, legalized recreational marijuana use under State law. In 2006 Amendment 44 was rejected by 59 percent of the voting population. Amendment 44 would have legalized possession of 28. 45 grams (approximately one ounce) or less by adults 21 or older. California is estimated to have saved a billion dollars in a twelve year period between 1976 and1988 as a result of decriminalizing marijuana. In 2003 the United States spent $12. billion on law enforcement and court costs; and $16. 9 billion in penitentiary costs, with Alaska spending as much as $25 to $30million per year enforcing marijuana prohibition laws. There is little proof that decriminalization of marijuana use leads to an increase in marijuana use. The cost of arresting and prosecuting marijuana offenders were lower instates where possession of marijuana in small amounts had been decriminalized. In places where marijuana possession is still a criminal offense and not decriminalized, there has been an increase in marijuana use.
In countries where marijuana has been decriminalized there are lower rates of drug use when compared to countries where marijuana possession in small amounts is still a criminal offense punished by jail time. In 2006, marijuana was the top cash crop in 12 states, one of the top 3 cash crops in 30 states and one of the top 5 cash crops in 39 states. United States marijuana production is estimated at $35 billion annually. Some Health Benefits of Marijuana Use Should marijuana still be illegal in the United States based on its health effects, medicinal value and costs to the country?
Some people suffering from afflictions have to break the law to relieve chronic pain. 1. For asthma and the common cough – Marijuana is one of the best dilators of the bronchioles (The first passageways by which the air passes through the nose to the air sacs of the lungs). 2. For AIDS Wasting Syndrome and Eating Disorders – Where “munchies” from smoking marijuana increases the user’s appetite. 3. For Crohn’s Disease, Cancer, and Migraines – Marijuana’s pain relieving qualities help. 4. For ADD and ADHD – Besides being an alternative to Ritalin, marijuana helps without any of the Ritalin side effects. . Pre Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) – Reduces pain in severe cases of PMS. 6. Tourette’s and OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) – Marijuana slows down the tics in people that have Tourette’s and the symptoms of the people with OCD. 7. For Anxiety-Marijuana calms 8. Hepatitis C-Marijuana helps improve drug therapy treatment 9. Marijuana also helps with Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Depression, and Multiple Sclerosis. I tried to give as much information as I could to let you know what’s going on. I hope I did that. Works Cited “Decriminalization of Marijuana”, Lawrence, B. K. Studymode. com, 6 May 2005, http://www. Studymode. com/Essays/Decriminalization-marijuana-56452. html “Decriminalization of Marijuana”, 123HelpMe. com, 10 Mar 2013 “Decriminalization of Marijuana”, Termpaper. com, 12 Apr 2012 http://Termpaper. com/Essay-on/Decriminalization-Of-Marijuana/79942 “Decriminalization vs. Prohibition”, 123HelpMe. com, 10 Mar 2013 http://www. 123HelpMe. com/view. asp? id=61687 “Illegal Drugs: Legalization of Marijuana”, Marijuana. com, 19 Apr 2010 “Smoke In The Air”, 123HelpMe. com, 10 Mar 2013 http://www. 123HelpMe. com/view. asp? id=86223
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