Public+Policy+-+Law+Enforcement


 * Legalization of Marijuana**

The Legalization of Marijuana poses many concerns for people. And it’s no secret that this has been a debated topic for years and will be for more to come. But instead of immediately disregarding the subject all together one should take the time to ask and answer certain questions in regards to it. Some that might come to mind are: Who would be affected by it? Who would benefit from it? What consequences good and bad would come from it? And wouldn’t legalizing marijuana be counteractive to the war on drugs? The use of this marijuana or Cannabis as it is also known was originally disturbed in 1937 by the Marijuana Tax Act. And the [|Controlled Substances Act of 1970], harshly labeled it as a Schedule 1 Substance. And 1980 with the help of George Bush Senior, Ronald Reagan initiated and continued anti-drug policy Most people already know the cons of the issue but fail to acknowledge that the several of the pros are actually pretty practical and there are far more. In some ways marijuana is not much different than that of alcohol or tobacco, and if used in moderation doesn’t have nearly as ailing health effects. In fact thirteen states ([|Alaska], [|California], [|Colorado], [|Hawaii], [|Maine], [|Maryland], [|Michigan], [|Montana], [|Nevada], [|New Mexico], [|Oregon], [|Rhode Island], [|Vermont] and [|Washington]) it is already legal for medicinal uses, in cases such as cancer. And seven more states have medical marijuana bills in progress. And there are several other nations that have “relaxed marijuana laws” meaning under certain circumstance it is allowed or it looked past but is not fully legal. Legalization of marijuana could also allow for the taxation of it like alcohol and cigarettes are. If legalized marijuana could generate millions of dollars of revenue to put towards what they see fit. And in doing this they would be putting drug dealers out of or severely limiting their business because the drug would no longer be illegal bringing the price way down. It would also free up a little bit of tax payer money that would no longer be spent on law enforcement raids and busts on people in possession of that particular drug. It also free up some space in the court system and room in prisons for more serious crimes, like murder for instance. And as for the question that it would be counteractive to the war on drugs, it would be but in hindsight it would slightly lessen drug trafficking and the other things mentioned previously. Although like beer and tobacco, it should never be allowed for minors but for some people that only do it for the thrill of doing something illegal fewer minors would be tempted to experiment because a lot of the taboo would be taken out of it. Legalizing marijuana should also go without saying that those who abuse the substance like with alcohol should face legal consequences. There is always the thought with marijuana that it is a “stepping stone” or “gateway” drug that will lead people to much stronger drugs, but so far it hasn’t really been proven in any studies. And according to the NORML website: “Statistically, for every 104 Americans who have tried marijuana, there is only one regular user of cocaine, and less than one user of heroin.” It could also be feared that if legalized people might become too reliant upon the drug to fix or not have to deal with their problems personal or work related. But that already happens legal or not, like it already happens with alcohol consumption, so it wouldn’t be anything that is not already happening. There are several organizations and foundations that rally together to support the legalization of marijuana. NORML, which is short for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is one that works to reform marijuana laws. NORML has been doing public interest lobbying for over thirty years. And advocates the use of marijuana for responsible adults. It also actively works with congress in coming up with marijuana policies and at times provides expert witnesses for legislative hearings among many other things. On the other hand one of the few countries that does allow some or moderate use of the drug no longer wish it was allowed. An article was published by the New York Times that had interviewed people in Brixton an area of Britain that was doing a trial period of relaxed marijuana laws. The results were pretty much as to be expected the people who used the drug were all in favor of the relaxed laws, and those who did not use the drug were disgusted and outraged by it results but mostly because the drug users were allowed to do it openly on the city streets. Maybe if they were confined to doing it in private and not public places the results would have been different. And on a similar note, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration three states in the U.S. were given the chance to vote for relaxed drug laws in their states and each of them overwhelmingly voted no. On a personal note, given the option I don’t know whether or not I would vote for against the legalization of marijuana. I have never tried marijuana and I don’t believe that I ever would really try it if it becomes legal. Before doing all of my research I was definitely against it, but now I’m right in the middle. I know that before I was very ignorant on the subject and didn’t even like discussing it. But I do believe that knowledge is key and the more informed you are, the more informed everyone is the better off we will all be. No real progress has been made in congress to relax or fully legalize marijuana in the United States, but several bills have been created by senators in an effort to make it happen but have largely been unsuccessful. Barney Frank a Congressman from Massachusetts made a bill in an effort to: "present a bill to Congress  that [|seeks to restrict the federal government's ability to arrest marijuana users]”. A lot of the hesitation or straight dismissal of bills like these could be due what most view as a misclassification of the drug. Marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 substance, which is the same category as cocaine, ecstasy, morphine, and other harder drugs. And for anyone who is even slightly familiar with drugs wither by experience, textbook knowledge or word of mouth, knows that this clearly is a little extreme to be labeling marijuana with these particular other drugs. 

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