Marijuana is a drug that can be consumed by either smoking or eating; this drug is typically used for medicinal or recreational use, however, in the United States it is the most popular illegal drug used on a daily basis by many users. Under federal law marijuana is classified as a schedule one controlled substance, also in this category includes heroin, LSD, and PCP. Marijuana has many street names such as Pot, herb, weed, Mary Jane, grass, and reefer just to name a few. Marijuana is considered a gateway drug and may lead to potential use of other hardcore illicit drugs. American’s spend roughly 100 billion dollars worth of marijuana a year, which is about thirty-two million pounds of weed, annually. Regardless if marijuana is legal or illegal people are going to continue using it. Legalizing marijuana brings much controversy; there isn’t much research available on marijuana to prove whether it would be beneficial to legalize. However, the government makes it very difficult for researchers to investigate the affects marijuana would have on our society, because it is prohibited. If American’s were educated on the use of weed, they would understand it isn’t any more dangerous than consuming alcohol. Marijuana prohibition creates an illegal economy, allows easy access to youth, and is costly to tax payers. An illegal economy, underground economy, or the black markets are very difficult for the government to regulate. According to Eric Scholosser, author of Reefer Madness he explains the black market as “where economic activities remain off book, where they are unrecorded, unreported, and in violation of the law” (Reefer Madness). Originally, the war on drugs was to help alleviate this black market. However, Jon Gettman states “... ... middle of paper ... ...//www.prohibitioncosts.com/mironreport.html>.Web Morgan, Scott. "If the Drug War Works, Why Did Teen Access to Marijuana Increase this Year?"Drug Trade in School, Marijuana Policy 20 Mar. 2011. 14 Aug. 2008 .Web Morgan, Scott. "The Politics of Incarceration Will Have to Change When Money Runs Out."Stop the Drug War 26 Mar. 2011. 22 Feb. 2011. .Web Ravenel, Thomas. "Drug Prohibition violates Logic and Civil Rights." Post and Courier 26 Mar. 2011. 5 Feb. 2011 .Web Schlosser, Eric. Reefer Madness. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.Print "Teens Report Easy Access to Marijuana." Join together 20 Mar. 2011. 22 Aug. 2002 .Web
Is Prohibition (defined as a government decree against the exchange of a good or service) actually successful in reducing recreational drug consumption and drug-related violence? This is the question that will be analyzed in this paper. Drug enforcement officials frequently cite drug-related violence as a reason that drugs must be eliminated from our society. A contrary belief is that the system of drug prohibition actually causes most of the violence. Similar to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and the rise of organized crime, drug prohibition inspires a dangerous underground market that manifests itself with violent crime throughout the U.S. and, in fact, the world. The illegal nature of drugs has significantly increased the price and the
Just as alcohol prohibition during the 20’s and 30’s was not successful, marijuana prohibition has not been successful either, as evidenced by its current and increasing popularity in the United States. According the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Mr. Paul Armentano, marijuana was made illegal in the United States with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 (2014). Later, Congress classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (Armentano, 2014). Since then, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been arrested for the possession, distribution and use of marijuana. According to Professor Katherine Beckett, “there were 829,625 marijuana arrests” (Beckett, et.al., N.D.) in 2006 and that number is increasing. The debate on whether or not to legalize marijuana for recreational use has raged for decades but is beginning to see the light of day with the recent state-level victories. With Washington and Colorado guiding the way, the country as a whole is considering the issue of whether or not marijuana should be legalized. If legalized, tax revenues could potentially generate millions, if not billions, of dollars annually for state and federal coffers. Marijuana should be legalized. Legalization will not increase usage nor will the current prohibition decrease usage; however tax revenue from the distribution and sale of marijuana could benefit many state programs and even possibly eliminate governmental deficits in the future.
I have often wondered why the "War on Drugs" has not been very effective, in fact, it really has done nothing. Take for example marijuana. It is banned in any form of growth and use everywhere in the United States. Yet, this drug gets just as much use as alcohol. I probably know just about as many "potheads" as I do alcoholics, yet the persistence of the government to waste countless billions of dollars to try and wipe out the use of this drug is pathetic.
Rosenfield, Jim. "The War on Drugs is a Great Success." The Ostrich File. Volume 6, March 20, 1996. (Online).
Farrell, Michael B. "A marijuana tax as the next new revenue stream?" Christian Science Monitor 8 May 2009: 2. Student Edition. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
Wallace-Wells, Benjamin. "The Truce On Drugs. (Cover Story)." New York 45.40 (2012): 30-106. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Beschner, George and Alfred S. Friedman. Teen Drug Use. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Health and Company, 1986.
About one out of five 10th graders and about 1 out of four high school seniors used marijuana in the past month (Facts for Teens, 1). It is the second most popular drug among teens in the US (Encarta, 1). Teens, ages 12-17, that use marijuana weekly are nine times more likely than non-users to experience with illegal drugs and alcohol (Fed. Study, 1). More 13 & 14 year olds are using drugs, fifteen pe...
Much debate has been brought to Capitol Hill concerning the legalization of the Marijuana. Analyzing the history, data, and health effects of marijuana it becomes clear that the debate for the legalization of marijuana should be seriously considered and should be brought to congress as an issue that can stimulate the economy and bring together a divided nation. This issue along with many others will not be a reality until congress takes action and addresses the issue directly. Conflicting views arise when so much time effort and money have been spent to eliminate drugs. America’s “War on Drugs” has been an intense operation to eliminate narcotics on the streets and often catch the criminal distribution before it even reaches the public. Citizens of the United States have petitioned for the legalization of marijuana since its origin, yet minimal progress has been made and the illegal existence of the plant remains. Congress has faced the vote to legalize marijuana countless times while the majority of politicians favor the ban on the substance, however there are certain individuals of political office that have and continue to vote for its legalization. America’s emphasis and concern for the use, distribution, and growth of marijuana is outstanding with arrests reaching nearly 5.9 million since the year 1990. A large amount of time, money, and man-power has been applied to the operation of controlling the substance of marijuana in society and many people argue against this. As long as marijuana is not legalized, the debate and fight for its legalization will undoubtedly continue from the millions of people who use the herbal matter in this country alone.
Mastrigt, H. Van. “The Abolition of Drug Policy: Toward Strategic Alternatives“. Journal of Drug Issues, 1990, 20: 647-658.
We can not possibly audit such broad distribution of marijuana. Nowadays, we have a difficulty time monitoring the sale of alcohol to minors, therefore we can not expect marijuana to be properly checked either. Showing us evidence of this claim, researchers Forster, McGovern, Wagenaar, Wolfson, Perry, and Anstine (1994) tell us, “youthful buyers were able to purchase beer without age identification….These results support the need for the greater attention to availability as a factor in teenage drinking” (p. 699-705). Another instance of apparent strains involving watching the masses we see is the movie theatres difficult time they have to control the people needing to follow the movie rating system. Presenting this issue to us, Giles (1994) writes, “Fourteen-year-old boys have their ways of sneaking into R-rated movies”, showing us this issue regarding theatres lack of capability to watch out for minors entering what they are not permitted to watch. Accordingly, we should not permit such a serious drug to be so easi...
The drug problem in the U.S. and around the world is an important issue and seems to be a difficult problem to tackle across the board. The inflow of drugs has become one of the largest growths in transnational crime operations; illicit drug use in the United States makes it very difficult for nation states police and customs forces to get a handle on the issues. War on drugs, drug trafficking has long been an issue for the United States. There has been a proclamation of “war on drugs” for the past 44 years.
3. Friese, Bettina, and Joel W. Grube. "Legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use among youths." Drugs: education, prevention and policy 20.1 (2013): 33-39.
Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
"Myths and Facts About Marijuana." Marijuana: The Facts. Drug Policy Alliance Network. 27 Apr. 2009.