The legalization of marijuana for medical and leisurely use has become quite an emotive legal and legislative matter, rousing strong emotions from both sides of the debate. Equally posing their opinions, both proponents and opponents of the legal use of marijuana, medical or not, bear strong arguments that support their cause. Patients and anesthetists who have used it before for pain relief and pain management cannot understand why it is not legal. Yet on the other side of this legal and legislative debate, parents and guardians of teenagers who are addicted and whose lives could very well be ruined from the use of marijuana, cannot possibly comprehend who in their right minds would even consider making marijuana legal.
In the United States of America, marijuana has been classified as a Class 1 controlled substance. This means that it bears high potential for abuse, and is therefore deemed illegal under the federal law. The highest risk about the use of marijuana, in the eyes of the opponents of this debate, lies within the much commented about fact that marijuana is a gateway drug that introduces the majority of its users to other hard drugs. More than 20 states, however, have now officially approved of the legalization of marijuana for medicinal use.
Despite the legalization of marijuana receiving huge boosts recently from various quarters, it is generally agreed by progressive liberals that this recent wave of legalization is long overdue. Arguments have been propped up, drawing similarities between the famous historical legal and legislative fight against the legislation of alcohol, and this present fight against the legalization of marijuana. As one may observe, the legalization of alcohol won that particular battle. Enthusiasts and commentators do not hesitate to speculate that the fight against marijuana will go the same way.
The reasons preventing the legalization of marijuana are rather flimsy at best. For instance, marijuana is safer to use than alcohol, which is legal to use. Factions that argue about the hazards of marijuana use will appear to be blatantly biased against the use of marijuana, holding this argument up for debate (Crockett, 2014). The number of deaths and fatalities that have been reported in relation to the consumption of alcohol far outnumbers, if at all, the ones that have been reported owing to the use of marijuana.
Another common reason why I would advocate for the legalization of marijuana is Medical Marijuana. Marijuana that is used for medicinal and clinical reasons has been historically effectively used as a natural analgesic, an agent for pain relief and therefore as treatment for conditions that are accompanied by chronic pain. In addition, medical marijuana has been effectively used in minimizing the symptoms that are associated with a number of common syndromes like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's Syndrome, Glaucoma, Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis.
The argument pointing out how addictive marijuana is, is greatly weakened when one considers that there are far more addictive drugs on the pharmacological market. Examples of these are like Valium, OxyContin and Vicodin. One must note that this is without pointing out that the use of marijuana also helps to relieve stress, anxiety and depression. Elements within marijuana have also been found to actively slowdown the growth and development of malignant tumors in the human body.
For these listed reasons, legislators in the remaining states would do a large portion of the population a great service by legalizing marijuana. The benefits and use cases highlighted here would prove quite useful for various factions of the large American demographic.
Potential Effects of the Legalization of Marijuana
No matter one’s personal position on the legalization of marijuana for medicinal or leisurely use, there is a trend towards taking it to the voters. By 2016, for instance, Washington and Colorado had legalized recreational use. In 2017, Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and the District of Columbia followed suit. Although the use of Marijuana is not dependent on the marijuana being legal or not, there is a certain culture associated with its use. The following are the possible long term effects of the legalization of marijuana.
The retail cost of marijuana will drop by more than 80%. Economists project that the biggest percentage of marijuana’s premium value comes from the fact that it is illegal. The moment it is legalized, they argue, a massive percentage of its value will be lost. Owing to this projection, they argue that the retail price of both medicinal and leisurely marijuana will drop by a huge margin. The marijuana will also be heavily taxed, which is a win-win for the regulating bodies and federal jurisdictions, since this taxation will provide income to the states and countries that have legalized it.
Following the legalization of marijuana, leisurely and clinical consumption of marijuana has been projected to increase (Pacula, 2010). The states that have already legalized the leisurely and clinical use of marijuana have reported large percentage increases in the number of people across all demographics, which now partake of marijuana. This could be a double edged sword, since income from marijuana will be either dramatically higher or dramatically lower than the current estimates indicate. Jurisdictions that facilitate the legal consumption of marijuana might be able to collect significantly higher or significantly lower amounts of taxes from the newly unlocked public consumption and trading of marijuana.
Looking at the states that have legalized marijuana like Colorado and Washington, there has been an increased rate of homelessness among the elderly (Monte, Zane " Heard, 2015). Homeless substance abusers from adjacent states are able to move to these legal states in order to obtain easy access to the marijuana. In another worrying trend observed in states that have legalized the recreational and medicinal use of marijuana, the use case among teens is projected to be at a high rate following the legalization of marijuana. Addiction rates are also set to climb following the gazetting and legalization of marijuana.
Another potentially positive long term effect of the legalization of marijuana is the gradual elimination of the underground society that is predominantly made up of drug dealers and their customers. There will no longer exist the need to carry out these exchanges in a covert manner, since marijuana would be entirely legal. Additionally, the money and resources that is used for rehabilitation of drug addicts and law enforcements against drug abusers would be redirected into more productive sectors of the economy. The move to legalize marijuana may cause the decrease of crime rates in states and jurisdictions that allow for its legalization. By effect, the amount of tax dollars that is being poured into prisons, penitentiaries and correctional facilities would be redirected into more productive areas of the economy.
A less visible yet equally important effect of the legalization of marijuana is the gradually decreasing stigma that surrounds the use, purchase and growing of marijuana. This progressive shift represents the ever-changing societal views concerning touchy subjects, cannabis being one of them. Overall, it is possible that the legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use ushers in a net positive era where the society is more open, safer and healthier.
References
Crockett, T. (2014). Legalization of Marijuana.
Monte, A. A., Zane, R. D., " Heard, K. J. (2015). The implications of marijuana legalization in Colorado. Jama, 313(3), 241-242.
Pacula, R. L. (2010). Examining the impact of marijuana legalization on marijuana consumption.
