legalize marijuana essay

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The Evidence—and Lack Thereof—About Cannabis

Research is still needed on cannabis’s risks and benefits. 

Lindsay Smith Rogers

Although the use and possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law, medicinal and recreational cannabis use has become increasingly widespread.

Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical cannabis, while 23 states and D.C. have legalized recreational use. Cannabis legalization has benefits, such as removing the product from the illegal market so it can be taxed and regulated, but science is still trying to catch up as social norms evolve and different products become available. 

In this Q&A, adapted from the August 25 episode of Public Health On Call , Lindsay Smith Rogers talks with Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS , associate professor of Mental Health , about cannabis as medicine, potential risks involved with its use, and what research is showing about its safety and efficacy. 

Do you think medicinal cannabis paved the way for legalization of recreational use?

The momentum has been clear for a few years now. California was the first to legalize it for medical reasons [in 1996]. Washington and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational use back in 2012. You see one state after another changing their laws, and over time, you see a change in social norms. It's clear from the national surveys that people are becoming more and more in favor of cannabis legalization. That started with medical use, and has now continued into recreational use.

But there is a murky differentiation between medical and recreational cannabis. I think a lot of people are using cannabis to self-medicate. It's not like a medication you get prescribed for a very narrow symptom or a specific disease. Anyone with a medical cannabis prescription, or who meets the age limit for recreational cannabis, can purchase it. Then what they use it for is really all over the place—maybe because it makes them feel good, or because it helps them deal with certain symptoms, diseases, and disorders.

Does cannabis have viable medicinal uses?

The evidence is mixed at this point. There hasn’t been a lot of funding going into testing cannabis in a rigorous way. There is more evidence for certain indications than for others, like CBD for seizures—one of the first indications that cannabis was approved for. And THC has been used effectively for things like nausea and appetite for people with cancer.

There are other indications where the evidence is a lot more mixed. For example, pain—one of the main reasons that people report for using cannabis. When we talk to patients, they say cannabis improved their quality of life. In the big studies that have been done so far, there are some indications from animal models that cannabis might help [with pain]. When we look at human studies, it's very much a mixed bag. 

And, when we say cannabis, in a way it's a misnomer because cannabis is so many things. We have different cannabinoids and different concentrations of different cannabinoids. The main cannabinoids that are being studied are THC and CBD, but there are dozens of other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in cannabis products, all of varying concentrations. And then you also have a lot of different routes of administration available. You can smoke, vape, take edibles, use tinctures and topicals. When you think about the explosion of all of the different combinations of different products and different routes of administration, it tells you how complicated it gets to study this in a rigorous way. You almost need a randomized trial for every single one of those and then for every single indication.

What do we know about the risks of marijuana use?  

Cannabis use disorder is a legitimate disorder in the DSM. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people who develop a problematic use of cannabis. We know there are risks for mental health consequences. The evidence is probably the strongest that if you have a family history of psychosis or schizophrenia, using cannabis early in adolescence is not the best idea. We know cannabis can trigger psychotic symptoms and potentially longer lasting problems with psychosis and schizophrenia. 

It is hard to study, because you also don't know if people are medicating early negative symptoms of schizophrenia. They wouldn't necessarily have a diagnosis yet, but maybe cannabis helps them to deal with negative symptoms, and then they develop psychosis. There is also some evidence that there could be something going on with the impact of cannabis on the developing brain that could prime you to be at greater risk of using other substances later down the road, or finding the use of other substances more reinforcing. 

What benefits do you see to legalization?

When we look at the public health landscape and the effect of legislation, in this case legalization, one of the big benefits is taking cannabis out of the underground illegal market. Taking cannabis out of that particular space is a great idea. You're taking it out of the illegal market and giving it to legitimate businesses where there is going to be oversight and testing of products, so you know what you're getting. And these products undergo quality control and are labeled. Those labels so far are a bit variable, but at least we're getting there. If you're picking up cannabis at the street corner, you have no idea what's in it. 

And we know that drug laws in general have been used to criminalize communities of color and minorities. Legalizing cannabis [can help] reduce the overpolicing of these populations.

What big questions about cannabis would you most like to see answered?

We know there are certain, most-often-mentioned conditions that people are already using medical cannabis for: pain, insomnia, anxiety, and PTSD. We really need to improve the evidence base for those. I think clinical trials for different cannabis products for those conditions are warranted.

Another question is, now that the states are getting more tax revenue from cannabis sales, what are they doing with that money? If you look at tobacco legislation, for example, certain states have required that those funds get used for research on those particular issues. To me, that would be a very good use of the tax revenue that is now coming in. We know, for example, that there’s a lot more tax revenue now that Maryland has legalized recreational use. Maryland could really step up here and help provide some of that evidence.

Are there studies looking into the risks you mentioned?

Large national studies are done every year or every other year to collect data, so we already have a pretty good sense of the prevalence of cannabis use disorder. Obviously, we'll keep tracking that to see if those numbers increase, for example, in states that are legalizing. But, you wouldn't necessarily expect to see an uptick in cannabis use disorder a month after legalization. The evidence from states that have legalized it has not demonstrated that we might all of a sudden see an increase in psychosis or in cannabis use disorder. This happens slowly over time with a change in social norms and availability, and potentially also with a change in marketing. And, with increasing use of an addictive substance, you will see over time a potential increase in problematic use and then also an increase in use disorder.

If you're interested in seeing if cannabis is right for you, is this something you can talk to your doctor about?

I think your mileage may vary there with how much your doctor is comfortable and knows about it. It's still relatively fringe. That will very much depend on who you talk to. But I think as providers and professionals, everybody needs to learn more about this, because patients are going to ask no matter what.

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast , an editor for Expert Insights , and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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2018 Theses Doctoral

Essays on Cannabis Legalization

Thomas, Danna Kang

Though the drug remains illegal at the federal level, in recent years states and localities have increasingly liberalized their marijuana laws in order to generate tax revenue and save resources on marijuana law enforcement. Many states have adopted some form of medical marijuana and/or marijuana decriminalization laws, and as of 2017, Washington, Colorado, Maine, California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Nevada, Alaska, and the District of Columbia have all legalized marijuana for recreational use. In 2016 recreational marijuana generated over $1.8 billion in sales. Hence, studying marijuana reforms and the policies and outcomes of early recreational marijuana adopters is an important area of research. However, perhaps due to the fact that legalized recreational cannabis is a recent phenomenon, a scarcity of research exists on the impacts of recreational cannabis legalization and the efficacy and efficiency of cannabis regulation. This dissertation aims to fill this gap, using the Washington recreational marijuana market as the primary setting to study cannabis legalization in the United States. Of first order importance in the regulation of sin goods such as cannabis is quantifying the value of the marginal damages of negative externalities. Hence, Chapter 1 (co-authored with Lin Tian) explores the impact of marijuana dispensary location on neighborhood property values, exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in marijuana retailer location. Policymakers and advocates have long expressed concerns that the positive effects of the legalization--e.g., increases in tax revenue--are well spread spatially, but the negative effects are highly localized through channels such as crime. Hence, we use changes in property values to measure individuals' willingness to pay to avoid localized externalities caused by the arrival of marijuana dispensaries. Our key identification strategy is to compare changes in housing sales around winners and losers in a lottery for recreational marijuana retail licenses. (Due to location restrictions, license applicants were required to provide an address of where they would like to locate.) Hence, we have the locations of both actual entrants and potential entrants, which provides a natural difference-in-differences set-up. Using data from King County, Washington, we find an almost 2.4% decrease in the value of properties within a 0.5 mile radius of an entrant, a $9,400 decline in median property values. The aforementioned retail license lottery was used to distribute licenses due to a license quota. Retail license quotas are often used by states to regulate entry into sin goods markets as quotas can restrict consumption by decreasing access and by reducing competition (and, therefore, increasing markups). However, license quotas also create allocative inefficiency. For example, license quotas are often based on the population of a city or county. Hence, licenses are not necessarily allocated to the areas where they offer the highest marginal benefit. Moreover, as seen in the case of the Washington recreational marijuana market, licenses are often distributed via lottery, meaning that in the absence of an efficiency secondary market for licenses, the license recipients are not necessarily the most efficient potential entrants. This allocative inefficiency is generated by heterogeneity in firms and consumers. Therefore, in Chapter 2, I develop a model of demand and firm pricing in order to investigate firm-level heterogeneity and inefficiency. Demand is differentiated by geography and incorporates consumer demographics. I estimate this demand model using data on firm sales from Washington. Utilizing the estimates and firm pricing model, I back out a non-parametric distribution of firm variable costs. These variable costs differ by product and firm and provide a measure of firm inefficiency. I find that variable costs have lower inventory turnover; hence, randomly choosing entrants in a lottery could be a large contributor to allocative inefficiency. Chapter 3 explores the sources of allocative inefficiency in license distribution in the Washington recreational marijuana market. A difficulty in studying the welfare effects of license quotas is finding credible counterfactuals of unrestricted entry. Therefore, I take a structural approach: I first develop a three stage model that endogenizes firm entry and incorporates the spatial demand and pricing model discussed in Chapter 2. Using the estimates of the demand and pricing model, I estimate firms' fixed costs and use data on locations of those potential entrants that did not win Washington's retail license lottery to simulate counterfactual entry patterns. I find that allowing firms to enter freely at Washington's current marijuana tax rate increases total surplus by 21.5% relative to a baseline simulation of Washington's license quota regime. Geographic misallocation and random allocation of licenses account for 6.6\% and 65.9\% of this difference, respectively. Moreover, as the primary objective of these quotas is to mitigate the negative externalities of marijuana consumption, I study alternative state tax policies that directly control for the marginal damages of marijuana consumption. Free entry with tax rates that keep the quantity of marijuana or THC consumed equal to baseline consumption increases welfare by 6.9% and 11.7%, respectively. I also explore the possibility of heterogeneous marginal damages of consumption across geography, backing out the non-uniform sales tax across geography that is consistent with Washington's license quota policy. Free entry with a non-uniform sales tax increases efficiency by over 7% relative to the baseline simulation of license quotas due to improvements in license allocation.

• Cannabis--Law and legislation
• Marijuana industry
• Drug legalization
• Drugs--Economic aspects

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Argumentative Essay On Marijuana Legalization

Published by gudwriter on May 27, 2018 May 27, 2018

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Why Marijuana Should be Legalized Argumentative Essay Outline

Introduction.

Thesis: Marijuana should be legalized as it is more beneficial that it may be detrimental to society.

Paragraph 1:

Marijuana has not caused turmoil in some of the countries where it has been legalized.

• Marijuana does not increase violent, and property crimes as many suggest.
• Studies reveal that in Colorado, violent crimes have declined following the legalization of marijuana.

Paragraph 2:

Prohibiting use of marijuana does not limit its consumption.

• In spite of the many laws prohibiting the use of marijuana, it is one of the most highly abused drugs.
• 58% of young people from all over the world use marijuana.
• It has not been attributed to any health complications.

Paragraph 3:

Legalization of marijuana would help state governments save taxpayers money.

• Governments spend lots of funds on law enforcement agencies that uphold laws restricting the use of marijuana.
• They also spend vast sums of money on sustaining arrested dealers and consumers in prison.
• Legalizing marijuana would result in saving vast sums of money.

Paragraph 4:

Marijuana is less noxious than other legal substances.

• Marijuana has less health side effects than other legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco.
• Alcohol is 114 times more destructive than marijuana.

Paragraph 5:

Marijuana has been proven to have medical benefits.

• Marijuana helps stop seizures in epileptic patients.
• It helps stop nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy .

Paragraph 6:

Marijuana has been proven to be a stress reliever.

• Marijuana relieves stress and depression in their users by causing excitement.
• Its use reduces violence and deaths related to stress and depression.

Conclusion.

There are many misconceptions about marijuana existent in the modern world. People have continued to ignore health benefits linked to this substance citing their unproven beliefs. Owing to its ability to stop seizures, nausea, and stress in individuals governments should highly consider marijuana legalization. Its legalization will also help state governments reduce expenses that result from maintaining suspects convicted of marijuana possession and consumption.

Why Marijuana Should be Legalized Argumentative Essay

The argument that marijuana use should be made legal has gained momentum both in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world in recent years. This has seen the drug being legalized in some states in the U.S. such that by 2013, twenty states had legalized medical marijuana. As of the same year, Colorado and Washington had legalized recreational marijuana. The arguments behind the push for legalization majorly revolve around the idea that the drug has medicinal effects. However, there are also arguments that there are serious health effects associated with the drug and this has only further fueled the already raging debate. This paper argues that marijuana should be legalized as it is more beneficial that it may be detrimental to society.

Marijuana has not caused any notable negative effects in countries where it has been legalized. There is a general belief that marijuana consumers are violent. However, no authentic research can prove these assertions. As already seen, some states in the United States have legalized both medicinal and recreational marijuana. In spite of this, no cases of marijuana-related violence have been recorded so far in such states (Markol, 2018). Reports reveal that the rate of violence and property crimes have decreased in Colorado following the legalization of the drug. If marijuana does not increase violent crimes, there is no reason as to why it should not be legalized.

It is also noteworthy that prohibiting marijuana use does not limit its consumption. Less than 10% of countries in the world prevent the use of marijuana, but according to research, 58% of young people in most of these countries are marijuana users (Head, 2016). General reports reveal that marijuana is one of most commonly abused drug in the world. It is also readily available in most states as it is a naturally growing plant (Head, 2016). In spite of its continued use, there are few cases, if any, of marijuana-related health complications that have been reported in any of these countries (Head, 2016). Therefore, if the illegality of marijuana does not limit its consumption, then state governments should consider its legalization.

Legalization of marijuana would further help state governments save taxpayers’ money. It is widely known that in countries where marijuana is illegal, authorities are stringent and will arrest any individual found in possession of the drug (Sanger, 2017). However, as earlier mentioned, laws prohibiting the use of the drug do not prevent its consumption, and this means that many people are arrested and prosecuted for possessing it (Sanger, 2017). State governments therefore use a lot of funds to support law enforcement agencies that seek to uphold laws prohibiting the use of marijuana (Sanger, 2017). Many people have been arrested and incarcerated for either possessing or consuming the drug, and the government has to use taxpayers’ money to sustain such people in prison. Since these actions do not limit consumption of marijuana, state governments should legalize the drug so as to save taxpayers money.

Another advantage of marijuana is that it is less noxious than other legal substances. According to research, marijuana is the least harmful drug among the many legal drugs existent in the world today (Owen, 2014). There are millions of campaigns every year cautioning people against smoking cigarettes, but there has been none seeking to warn people about marijuana consumption (Owen, 2014). Lobby groups have even been making efforts to push for legalization of marijuana. If marijuana had severe health effects as many purport, state governments would be investing heavily in campaigns aimed at discouraging its consumption (Owen, 2014). According to studies, alcohol, which is legal in many countries, is 114 times more harmful than marijuana (Owen, 2014). Therefore, if such harmful substances can be legalized, then there are no justifications as to why marijuana should not be legalized.

Further, marijuana has been proven to have medicinal benefits. Several countries, particularly in Europe, and the United States have legalized both medicinal and recreational marijuana. Their move to legalize marijuana was based on medical reports that showed a variety of health benefits linked to the drug (Noonan, 2017). Research shows that marijuana can reduce seizures in epileptic persons. Several studies have also proven that the drug indeed has a variety of health benefits. For instance, Charlotte Figi, who is now aged 10, used to have more than 100 seizures every month at age three, but since Colorado legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana, her parents started treating her with the substance, and today her seizures have significantly reduced (Noonan, 2017). Marijuana has as well been proven to reduce nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Owing to this medicinal value, state governments should consider legalizing the drug.

Additionally, marijuana has been proven to be a stress reliever. Consumption of the drug causes excitement among its users enabling them to forget about troubling situations. Unlike alcohol which is likely to aggravate stress and depression, marijuana works wonders in alleviating anxiety and depression (Sanger, 2017). There are many health and social effects associated with stress, including mental disorders and violence against others (Sanger, 2017). To avoid cases of stress-related violence and mental disorders, state governments should make marijuana consumption legal.

There are many misconceptions about marijuana in the world today. People have continued to ignore the health benefits linked with this substance and have instead focused on citing yet-to-be proven misconceptions. Owing to the ability of the drug to stop seizures, nausea, and stress in individuals, governments should seriously consider its legalization. The legalization will also help state governments reduce expenses that result from sustaining suspects convicted of marijuana possession and consumption. So far, there is more than enough evidence proving that marijuana has lots of benefits to individuals, the society, and the government, and therefore should be legalized.

Head, T. (2016). “8 reasons why marijuana should be legalized”. ThoughtCo . Retrieved June 27, 2020 from https://www.thoughtco.com/reasons-why-marijuana-should-be-legalized-721154

Markol, T. (2018). “5 reasons why marijuana should be legalized”. Marijuana Reform . Retrieved June 27, 2020 from http://marijuanareform.org/5-reasons-marijuana-legalized/

Noonan, D. (2017). “Marijuana treatment reduces severe epileptic seizures”. Scientific American . Retrieved June 27, 2020 from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/marijuana-treatment-reduces-severe-epileptic-seizures/

Owen, P. (2014). “6 powerful reasons to legalize marijuana”. New York Times . Retrieved June 27, 2020 from https://www.alternet.org/drugs/6-powerful-reasons-new-york-times-says-end-marijuana-prohibition

Sanger, B. (2017). “10 legit reasons why weed should be legalized right now”. Herb . Retrieved June 27, 2020 from https://herb.co/marijuana/news/reasons-weed-legalized

Why Marijuana Should be Legal Essay Outline

Thesis:  Marijuana has health benefits and should thus be legal.

Benefits of Marijuana

Marijuana slows and stops the spread of cancer cells.

• Cannabidiol can turn off a gene called Id-1 and can therefore stop cancer.
• In an experiment, researchers were able to treat breast cancer cells with Cannabidiol.

Marijuana helps with pain and nausea reduction for people going through chemotherapy.

• Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from severe pains and nausea.
• This can further complicate their health.
• Marijuana can stir up their appetite, decrease nausea, and reduce pain.

Paragraph  3:

Marijuana can control epileptic seizure.

• Marijuana extract stopped seizures in epileptic rats in ten hours.
• The seizures were controlled by the THC.

Disadvantages of Marijuana

Marijuana is addictive.

• One in ten marijuana users become addicted over time.
• If one stops using the drug abruptly, they may suffer from such withdrawal symptoms.

Marijuana use decreases mental health.

• Users suffer from memory loss and restricted blood flow to the brain.
• Users have higher chances of developing depression and schizophrenia.

Marijuana use damages the lungs more than cigarette smoking .

• Marijuana smokers inhale the smoke more deeply into their lungs and let it stay there for longer.
• The likelihood of lung cancer can be increased by this deeper, longer exposure to carcinogens.

Why Marijuana Should Be Legal

Paragraph 7:

Improved quality and safety control.

• Legalization would lead to the creation of a set of standards for safety and quality control.
• Users would know what they exactly get in exchange for the money they offer.
• There would be no risks of users taking in unknown substances mixed in marijuana.

Paragraph 8:

Marijuana has a medicinal value.

• Medical marijuana treats a wide assortment of “untreatable” diseases and conditions.
• Public health would be improved and the healthcare system would experience less of a drain.  

Paragraph 9: 

Among the major arguments against marijuana legalization is often that legalization would yield an increase in drug-impaired driving.

• This argument holds that even now when the drug is yet to be fully legalized in the country, it is a major causal factor in highway deaths, injuries, and crushes.
• It however beats logic why marijuana is illegalized on the ground that it would increase drug-impaired driving while alcohol is legal but also significantly contributes to the same problem.

Legalization of marijuana would have many benefits. The drug is associated with the treatment of many serious illnesses including the dreaded cancer. Legalization would also save users from consuming unsafe marijuana sold by unscrupulous people.

Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Essay

There is an ongoing tension between the belief that marijuana effectively treats a wide range of ailments and the argument that it has far-reaching negative health effects. There has nevertheless been a drive towards legalization of the drug in the United States with twenty nine states and the District of Columbia having legalized it for medical and recreational purposes. It was also found by a study that there is a sharp increase in the use of marijuana across the country (Kerr, Lui & Ye, 2017). Major public health concerns are being prompted by this rise. This should however not be the case because marijuana has health benefits and should thus be legal.

Marijuana slows and stops the spread of cancer cells. A study found that Cannabidiol can turn off a gene called Id-1 and can therefore stop cancer. A 2007 report by researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco also indicated that the spread of cancer may be prevented by Cannabidiol. In their lab experiment, the researchers were able to treat breast cancer cells with this component (Nawaz, 2017). The positive outcome of the experiment showed that Id-1 expression had been significantly decreased.

Marijuana also helps with pain and nausea reduction for people going through chemotherapy. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from severe pains, appetite loss, vomiting, and painful nausea. This can further complicate their already deteriorating health. Marijuana can be of help here by stirring up the appetite, decreasing nausea, and reducing pain (Nawaz, 2017). There are also other cannabinoid drugs used for the same purposes as approved by the FDA.

It was additionally shown by a 2003 study that the use of marijuana can control epileptic seizure. Synthetic marijuana and marijuana extracts were given to epileptic rats by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robert J. DeLorenzo. In about ten hours, the seizures had been stopped by the drugs (Nawaz, 2017). It was found that the seizures were controlled by the THC which bound the brain cells responsible for regulating relaxation and controlling excitability.

Some scientists claim that marijuana is addictive. According to them, one in ten marijuana users become addicted over time. They argue that if one stops using the drug abruptly, they may suffer from such withdrawal symptoms as anxiety and irritability (Barcott, 2015). However, the same argument could be applied to cigarette smoking, which is notably legal. There is need for more studies to be conducted into this claim being spread by opponents of marijuana legalization.

It is also argued that marijuana use decreases mental health. Those opposed to the legalization of recreational marijuana like to cite studies that show that users of the drug suffer from memory loss and restricted blood flow to the brain. They also argue that users have higher chances of developing depression and schizophrenia. However, these assertions have not yet been completely ascertained by science (Barcott, 2015). The claim about depression and schizophrenia is particularly not clear because researchers are not sure whether the drug triggers the conditions or it is used by smokers to alleviate the symptoms.

It is further claimed that marijuana use damages the lungs more than cigarette smoking. It is presumed that marijuana smokers inhale the smoke more deeply into their lungs and let it stay there for longer. The likelihood of lung cancer, according to this argument, can be increased by this deeper, longer exposure to carcinogens. However, the argument touches not on the frequency of use between marijuana and cigarette smokers (Barcott, 2015). It neither takes into account such alternative administration methods as edibles, tinctures, and vaporizing.

Legalization of marijuana would lead to improved quality and safety control. Purchasing the drug off the street provides end users with no means of knowing what they are exactly getting. On the other hand, legalizing it would immediately lead to the creation of a set of standards for safety and quality control (Caulkins, Kilmer & Kleiman, 2016). This would certainly work in the marijuana industry just as it is working in the tobacco and alcohol industries. Users would be able to know what they exactly get in exchange for the money they offer. Additionally, there would be no risks of users taking in unknown substances mixed in marijuana sold on the streets.

Marijuana should also be legal because it has a medicinal value. It has been proven that medical marijuana treats a wide assortment of “untreatable” diseases and conditions. These include problems due to chemotherapy, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, migraines, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Crohn’s disease (Caulkins, Kilmer & Kleiman, 2016). Public health would be improved and the healthcare system would experience less of a drain if medical cannabis products were made available to those suffering from the mentioned conditions. Consequently, more public funds would be available for such other public service initiatives as schools and roads.

Among the major arguments against marijuana legalization is often that legalization would yield an increase in drug-impaired driving. This argument holds that even now when the drug is yet to be fully legalized in the country, it has already been cited to be a major causal factor in highway deaths, injuries, and crushes. Among the surveys those arguing along this line might cite is one that was conducted back in 2010, revealing that of the participating weekend night-time drivers, “8.6 percent tested positive for marijuana or its metabolites” (“Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana,” 2010). It was found in yet another study that 26.9% of drivers who were being attended to at a trauma center after sustaining serious injuries tested positive for the drug (“Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana,” 2010). It however beats logic why marijuana is illegalized on the ground that it would increase drug-impaired driving while alcohol is legal but also significantly contributes to the same problem.

As the discussion reveals, legalization of marijuana would have many benefits. The drug is associated with the treatment of many serious illnesses including the dreaded cancer. Legalization would also save users from consuming unsafe marijuana sold by unscrupulous people. There are also other health conditions that can be controlled through the drug. Arguments against its legalization based on its effects on human health also lack sufficient scientific support. It is thus only safe that the drug is legalized in all states.

Barcott, B. (2015).  Weed the people: the future of legal marijuana in America . New York, NY: Time Home Entertainment.

Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., & Kleiman, M. (2016).  Marijuana legalization: what everyone needs to know . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Kerr, W., Lui, C., & Ye, Y. (2017). Trends and age, period and cohort effects for marijuana use prevalence in the 1984-2015 US National Alcohol Surveys.  Addiction ,  113 (3), 473-481.

Nawaz, H. (2017).  The debate between legalizing marijuana and its benefits for medical purposes: a pros and cons analysis . Munich, Germany: GRIN Verlag.

Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana. (2010). In  CNBC . Retrieved June 25, 2020 from  https://www.cnbc.com/id/36267223 .

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THREE ESSAYS ON THE EFFECT OF LEGALIZING MARIJUANA ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL SECURITY

The legalization of marijuana has emerged as a critical public policy issue, with far-reaching implications for health, education, and government programs at both the state and federal levels. The three essays of this dissertation show that medical marijuana legalization (MML) has a negative effect in each of these areas. The first essay shows, that the enactment of MMLs can exacerbate the crisis of overdose deaths in the United States. The study analyzes three key areas: the rate of overdose deaths caused by both legal and illegal drugs, the impact of MML on social norms regarding the perceived harm of marijuana, and an investigation into the gateway theory by examining the use of other addictive drugs. I find that MMLs increase deaths attributed to overdose by 21.5% population. MMLs s also indicate increase the number of deaths due to prescribed opioids by 44.6%, and deaths from all opioids (heroin and cocaine in addition to prescribed opioids) by 37.2 % Results suggest an overall increase in the use of marijuana, primarily due to lower perceived risk among adolescents. Additionally, results show an increase in hospital admissions due to substance abuse. The analysis suggests that legalizing medical marijuana may exaggerate the current problem of drug overdose in the United States. The second essay examines the impact of improved access to medical marijuana, measured by the proximity of schools to the nearest dispensary, on the academic performance of high school students in California. Students in schools farther from a marijuana dispensary have higher academic performance as measured through AP, ACT, SAT scores, and average GPA, and lower number of suspensions due to violence and illicit drug use. To show this, I construct the first geocoded dataset on marijuana dispensary and high school locations, use newly developed difference-in-differences estimators that rule out any bias due to heterogeneous treatment effects over time, and explore dynamic responses. This essay reveals the importance of ensuring a largest possible distance between schools and dispensaries to protect adolescents from the potential harm caused by medical marijuana. Finally, the third essay shows that in the long term, MMLs increase the number of disabled workers who receive Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) because of mental health issues. SSDI is a major social insurance program that provides benefits to workers who become disabled, and understanding how policy changes in other areas may impact this program is important. In this study, there were important differences between the results of a two-way fixed effects model and a new model by Callaway and Santa’Anna. MMLs, in theory, could either increase or decrease the number of SSDI recipients, and traditional fixed effects models suggest both could be at play; however, only the negative effect is robust to correction for heterogeneous effects. This highlights the need for future research to understand the true impact of medical marijuana legalization

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Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Marijuana Legalization — Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized and Its Benefits

Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized and Its Benefits

• Categories: Marijuana Legalization

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Words: 1013 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 1013 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Introduction

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). (n.d.). The War on Marijuana in Black and White. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white
• Drug Policy Alliance. (n.d.). Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/marijuana-arrests-numbers
• Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). (2014). Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Analgesic Overdose Mortality in the United States, 1999-2010. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1897424
• Leafly. (2020). Cannabis Jobs Report 2020. Retrieved from https://d3atagt0rnqk7k.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/07123735/Leafly-Jobs-Report-2020.pdf
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2021). Marijuana Research Report. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana
• Tax Foundation. (2016). The Budgetary Effects of Ending Drug Prohibition. Retrieved from https://taxfoundation.org/budgetary-effects-ending-drug-prohibition

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Most americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical, recreational use, legalizing recreational marijuana viewed as good for local economies; mixed views of impact on drug use, community safety.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand the public’s views about the legalization of marijuana in the United States. For this analysis, we surveyed 5,140 adults from Jan. 16 to Jan. 21, 2024. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for the report and its methodology .

As more states pass laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use , Americans continue to favor legalization of both medical and recreational use of the drug.

An overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use.

Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57%) say that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, while roughly a third (32%) say that marijuana should be legal for medical use only.

Just 11% of Americans say that the drug should not be legal at all.

Opinions about marijuana legalization have changed little over the past five years, according to the Pew Research Center survey, conducted Jan. 16-21, 2024, among 5,14o adults.

The impact of legalizing marijuana for recreational use

While a majority of Americans continue to say marijuana should be legal , there are varying views about the impacts of recreational legalization.

About half of Americans (52%) say that legalizing the recreational use of marijuana is good for local economies; just 17% think it is bad and 29% say it has no impact.

More adults also say legalizing marijuana for recreational use makes the criminal justice system more fair (42%) than less fair (18%); 38% say it has no impact.

However, Americans have mixed views on the impact of legalizing marijuana for recreational use on:

• Use of other drugs: About as many say it increases (29%) as say it decreases (27%) the use of other drugs, like heroin, fentanyl and cocaine (42% say it has no impact).
• Community safety: More Americans say legalizing recreational marijuana makes communities less safe (34%) than say it makes them safer (21%); 44% say it has no impact.

Partisan differences on impact of recreational use of marijuana

There are deep partisan divisions regarding the impact of marijuana legalization for recreational use.

Majorities of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say legalizing recreational marijuana is good for local economies (64% say this) and makes the criminal justice system fairer (58%).

Fewer Republicans and Republican leaners say legalization for recreational use has a positive effect on local economies (41%) and the criminal justice system (27%).

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to cite downsides from legalizing recreational marijuana:

• 42% of Republicans say it increases the use of other drugs, like heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, compared with just 17% of Democrats.
• 48% of Republicans say it makes communities less safe, more than double the share of Democrats (21%) who say this.

Demographic, partisan differences in views of marijuana legalization

Sizable age and partisan differences persist on the issue of marijuana legalization though small shares of adults across demographic groups are completely opposed to it.

Older adults are far less likely than younger adults to favor marijuana legalization.

This is particularly the case among adults ages 75 and older: 31% say marijuana should be legal for both medical and recreational use.

By comparison, half of adults between the ages of 65 and 74 say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, and larger shares in younger age groups say the same.

Republicans continue to be less supportive than Democrats of legalizing marijuana for both legal and recreational use: 42% of Republicans favor legalizing marijuana for both purposes, compared with 72% of Democrats.

There continue to be ideological differences within each party:

• 34% of conservative Republicans say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, compared with a 57% majority of moderate and liberal Republicans.
• 62% of conservative and moderate Democrats say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, while an overwhelming majority of liberal Democrats (84%) say this.

Views of marijuana legalization vary by age within both parties

Along with differences by party and age, there are also age differences within each party on the issue.

A 57% majority of Republicans ages 18 to 29 favor making marijuana legal for medical and recreational use, compared with 52% among those ages 30 to 49 and much smaller shares of older Republicans.

Still, wide majorities of Republicans in all age groups favor legalizing marijuana at least for medical use. Among those ages 65 and older, just 20% say marijuana should not be legal even for medical purposes.

While majorities of Democrats across all age groups support legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use, older Democrats are less likely to say this.

About half of Democrats ages 75 and older (53%) say marijuana should be legal for both purposes, but much larger shares of younger Democrats say the same (including 81% of Democrats ages 18 to 29). Still, only 7% of Democrats ages 65 and older think marijuana should not be legalized even for medical use, similar to the share of all other Democrats who say this.

Views of the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana among racial and ethnic groups

Substantial shares of Americans across racial and ethnic groups say when marijuana is legal for recreational use, it has a more positive than negative impact on the economy and criminal justice system.

About half of White (52%), Black (53%) and Hispanic (51%) adults say legalizing recreational marijuana is good for local economies. A slightly smaller share of Asian adults (46%) say the same.

Criminal justice

Across racial and ethnic groups, about four-in-ten say that recreational marijuana being legal makes the criminal justice system fairer, with smaller shares saying it would make it less fair.

However, there are wider racial differences on questions regarding the impact of recreational marijuana on the use of other drugs and the safety of communities.

Use of other drugs

Nearly half of Black adults (48%) say recreational marijuana legalization doesn’t have an effect on the use of drugs like heroin, fentanyl and cocaine. Another 32% in this group say it decreases the use of these drugs and 18% say it increases their use.

In contrast, Hispanic adults are slightly more likely to say legal marijuana increases the use of these other drugs (39%) than to say it decreases this use (30%); 29% say it has no impact.

Among White adults, the balance of opinion is mixed: 28% say marijuana legalization increases the use of other drugs and 25% say it decreases their use (45% say it has no impact). Views among Asian adults are also mixed, though a smaller share (31%) say legalization has no impact on the use of other drugs.

Community safety

Hispanic and Asian adults also are more likely to say marijuana’s legalization makes communities less safe: 41% of Hispanic adults and 46% of Asian adults say this, compared with 34% of White adults and 24% of Black adults.

Wide age gap on views of impact of legalizing recreational marijuana

Young Americans view the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in more positive terms compared with their older counterparts.

Clear majorities of adults under 30 say it is good for local economies (71%) and that it makes the criminal justice system fairer (59%).

By comparison, a third of Americans ages 65 and older say legalizing the recreational use of marijuana is good for local economies; about as many (32%) say it makes the criminal justice system more fair.

There also are sizable differences in opinion by age about how legalizing recreational marijuana affects the use of other drugs and the safety of communities.

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Table of contents, most americans now live in a legal marijuana state – and most have at least one dispensary in their county, 7 facts about americans and marijuana, americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use, clear majorities of black americans favor marijuana legalization, easing of criminal penalties, religious americans are less likely to endorse legal marijuana for recreational use, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Five Reasons Why We Should Legalize Cannabis

Cannabis use in the United States has had a long and complicated history. For decades, people who used cannabis were subject to social ostracization and criminal prosecution. However, attitudes toward cannabis have been evolving in recent years. An increasing number of states have started to legalize cannabis for medical or recreational use. This shift in policy has been driven by a variety of factors including changing public attitudes and the potential economic benefits of legalization. In this article, we will explore the potential benefits of legalizing cannabis in our country.

1. Legalization for the Environment

Legalizing cannabis can have significant benefits for the environment. When cannabis is grown illegally, it is often done in environmentally damaging ways, such as using chemical pesticides or clearing primary forests to make room for crops. Legalization could allow customers to support more environmental growers. This will incentivize more responsible growing practices, such as the use of organic farming methods or the use of renewable energy sources to power indoor grow operations. In addition, the culture of growing cannabis can help to discover and preserve precious marijuana seeds , increasing biodiversity and facilitating a deeper understanding of cannabis plants and their cultivation.

2. Legalization for Justice

Where cannabis is illegal, people are being arrested and charged for possession or sale, which leads to costly court cases and a burden on the criminal justice system. Legalization would free up law enforcement resources to focus on more serious crimes and simultaneously reduce the number of people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. This could help to reduce the overall prison population and save taxpayers money.

In addition, legalization can have significant benefits for justice and equity, particularly for marginalized communities that have been disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis. Communities of color have been particularly affected by the war on drugs, with Black Americans being nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white Americans, despite similar rates of use.

By regulating cannabis cultivation and sales, legalization can help to eliminate the black market and reduce the involvement of criminal organizations in the cannabis industry. This can lead to safer communities and reduced drug-related violence in communities that have been most affected by the criminalization of cannabis.

3. Legalization for Public Health

Cannabis has been shown to have many beneficial and therapeutic effects on both physical and mental health. However, people may be hesitant to seek medical marijuana treatment due to fear of legal repercussions if cannabis is illegal. Legalization can allow more people to enjoy better health outcomes. It can also promote the safer use of cannabis by educating the public on appropriate cannabis use and providing quality control measures for cannabis products. Legalization can also lead to increased research into potential medical applications of cannabis and could lead to the development of innovative treatments.

Another potential perk of cannabis legalization is that it could reduce the use of more harmful drugs. In the absence of cannabis, people may turn to more dangerous drugs like heroin or fentanyl to manage chronic pain or other conditions. By legalizing cannabis, we can provide a safer alternative for these individuals and could reduce the overall demand for these more dangerous drugs. States that have legalized cannabis found a decrease in opioid overdose deaths and hospitalizations, suggesting that cannabis are an effective alternative to prescription painkillers.

4. Legalization for the Economy

The legalization of cannabis can generate significant tax revenue for governments and create new economic opportunities. When cannabis is illegal, it is sold on the black market, and no taxes are collected on these sales. However, when it is legal, sales can be regulated, and taxes can be imposed on those sales. In states that have legalized cannabis, tax revenue from cannabis sales has been in the millions of dollars , with California registering a whopping $1.2 billion in cannabis tax revenue in 2021. This impressive income can be used to reduce budget deficits, fund various public services such as education and healthcare, and create new opportunities for investment in projects that revitalize the economy.

Aside from tax revenue, legalizing cannabis can create new jobs. The cannabis industry is a rapidly growing industry, and legalization could lead to the creation of new jobs in areas such as cultivation, processing, and retail sales. This can help to reduce unemployment and create new gainful opportunities for people who may have struggled to find employment in other industries. Legalization can also lead to increased investment in related industries, such as the development of new products or technologies to improve cannabis cultivation or the creation of new retail businesses. There are now several venture capital funds and investment groups that focus solely on cannabis-related enterprises.

5. Legalization for Acceptance

Finally, legalization could help reduce the stigma surrounding cannabis use. Before cannabis legalization, people who use the plant were often viewed as criminals or deviants. Legalization can help change this perception and lead to more open and honest conversations about cannabis use. Ultimately, legalization could lead to a more accepting and inclusive society where individuals are not judged or discriminated against for their personal and healthcare choices. By legalizing cannabis, we can harness the power of a therapeutic plant. Legalization can heal not just physical and mental ailments of individuals but also the social wounds that have resulted from its criminalization.

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Legalizing Medical Marijuana Argumentative Essay

• Author Kimberly Ball
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Disclaimer: This paper has been submitted by a student. This is not a sample of the work written by professional academic writers.

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Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) gets its name from the Spanish word marihuana. The first time for marijuana to be used was in 1894, it came from hemp, an Asian herb. The leaves of the plant can be smoked to cause intoxication to the patient. Many people have fought against the legalization of marijuana for medical use since the use of the drug began to spread among the people. A lot of research shows that marijuana has a positive effect on the society in America. The great number of people who say that marijuana should not be legalized do so because they assume that it cannot have any good effects on the society. The fact is that they do this without having considered both sides of the debate. Although it is true that legalizing marijuana can be the cause of many crimes and injuries, the benefits that could come from it if it is authorized for use as medicine would outweigh those disadvantages. Marijuana can be used in curing deadly diseases and boost the country’s economy. This essay aims at persuading law makers in the United Sates to make the use of marijuana for both medical purposes legal.

Marijuana has been with us for many years. In the past, the plant’s leaves and flowering parts were used to treat physiological as well as psychological disorders- the seeds were used as food. Many people support the proposition that marijuana should be made legal for medicinal purposes. There are many reasons why these people do this. One such a reason is that marijuana has shown a high efficacy in the management of medical conditions. In the United States, 20 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana (Ferner 2012). The first retail stores for Marijuana in Colorado were opened for the sale of Marijuana to people who have attained the age of 21 years or higher. There are still other countries where the use of medical marijuana has been legalized. Canada is one such a country. Since its legalization, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has reported a number of testimonies showing the success of use of marijuana as medication. One testimony is that of Pariseau, a 30-yaer-old AIDS patient. Before starting using medical marijuana, Pariseau could keep neither food nor medication in his system. After he began using marijuana for medication, a report from his doctor stated “He is doing remarkably well because he can now digest his medication. The HIV has been suppressed because of his improved immune function, he has put on weight and he has learned to walk again -with a cane” (Gray, 1998).

Use of marijuana as medicine can help alleviate pain alongside other health benefits. In addition, there are no proven disadvantages that are associated with the use of marijuana as medicine (Barnes, 2017). Unlike some other drugs, marijuana used for medical purposes is not addictive. No research has ever shown that marijuana is an addictive drug- people simply use it to please themselves. Marijuana is a herbal drug that can be obtained naturally. It is considered to be very safe in managing the symptoms of various diseases and health conditions like HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Arthritis, hepatitis C, Alzheimer’s disease and migraines as well as some psychological conditions. For a fact, doctors from both within and outside the United States have recommended the use of marijuana as medicine (Friese & Grube, 2013). Marijuana has not shown any long term effects on the cognitive processes of the individual. The only effects occur only for a short time after intoxication, but the brain is not damaged by this in any way.

The people who protest the use of marijuana for medication think of economic relief. They have brought the topic of economic relief from the legalization of marijuana many times. If we take a look at the current problems that the economy of the United Sates is facing, we realize that legalizing medical marijuana has the potential to help boost our economy. Since many Americans will now be free to use the herb, it is likely to funnel money into our economy. The history of the United States has seen similar incidences before. In the prohibition, the bootleggers issue resembles the one on marijuana. At that time, when the government lifted the ban on alcohol, more money came back into the economy. Although the use of marijuana should be legalized, it goes without saying that the use of marijuana needs to be regulated. Just like on cigarettes and alcohol, laws should be made to regulate the use of marijuana once it is made legal for medical use. (smokers should not operate machines). Also, smoking at the place of work should call for firing just like drinking would. Though the feelings of people on this subject are mixed, quite a large number of people believe that marijuana is harmless. The legislators should look at the fact that marijuana makes one to be relaxed and less motivated. This would somehow link to the effect that it would have on the workforce and businesses in general. Lawmakers have to make laws that will govern how businesses that plan to sell only marijuana should operate- they have to determine its use and how much the business owner is going to be taxed for selling marijuana.

The natural herb could generate a lot of money for the economy if the right infrastructure were laid down showing how the drug should be used. Therefore, lawmakers should regulate the use and the sales of the drug. Legalizing marijuana at the federal level would give a large new stream of revenue. Although it may not be possible to know the size of the market for marijuana now and what may happen to the demand and the price for the drug under different legalization levels, we know that the legalization can cause a positive effect on the revenue income and the tax from sales (Ferner, 2012).

The economic benefits of marijuana legalization are not only from taxes- both the local and state governments would save a lot of money that is being spend currently on the regulation of the use of marijuana. Colorado and Washington states (which have made it legal to use marijuana for medical purposes) will serve as the testers for the other states when it comes to the possible positive effect on the economy of the whole country if all the states make it legal to use marijuana in treatment of diseases. It is estimated that Washington will generate up to $1.9 billion in a period of five years because it made marijuana legal. Marijuana legalization, nonetheless, should be made for use as medication and also be allowed for sale in retail shops so that if one person needs to use this medication but cannot get it from the hospital because it is so expensive there that they cannot afford it, they can obtain cheaper options from the dealers and stores to manage their conditions.

Although there are states that have legalized the use of marijuana as medication and have allowed people who possess the permit to sell it to the public, the laws that allow for this in such states have been ruled out by the federal government as being unconstitutional and therefore illegal. Majority of the people in America favor the use of marijuana for medical purposes and have expresses their support by voting. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration still can arrest and impose charges on any people who are aught trading in this substance in accordance with the act that deals with controlled substances (CSA). The laws that are in place in the United States are not in support of the demands of the people. This shows that more people are involved in the use of marijuana than the records show. The problem therefore comes in that while the substance is being sold and used all over the country, nothing comes from it in terms of income tax to help in boosting the economy of the country.

Just like all controversial topics, there are opponents. The first point presented by the opponents is that when smoked, marijuana causes a number of side effects- stunted growth and cancer. However, smoking is not the only way in which marijuana can be taken, one can take it orally or intravenously. These methods of administration will get rid of the problems associated with smoking the drug. Another claim they make is that despite being natural, hemp has harmful chemicals that can damage the user. They claim that THC that is contained in marijuana is harmful to the body. They favor the use of Marinol which also contains THC. In addition, technology can be used to separate the compounds present in the plant, it can also be used to remove he chemicals that are toxic and breed plants that do not have the chemical.

The opponents also claim that the use of marijuana also results in abstinent effects. Although Renard, Krebs, Le Pen & Jayin their 2014 study that there are some short-term effects on adolescents that are associated with marijuana, other later studies contradict this. These studies claim that no clearly defined relationship has been found between the use of marijuana and rates of addiction. According to drugabuse.gov, the use of marijuana does not cause the individual to use other drugs and there are very few withdrawal symptoms associated with marijuana. It is therefore evident that the claims of the opponents are not based on facts and therefore they are not valid.

It does not seem reasonable that an herb that has been used by people since time immemorial because of its medicinal value has been made legal in the past few years just because of the people who have used it as a narcotic to harm their bodies. It is true to say that marijuana is not abused as much as other opium-derived drugs that are legal like ketamine and oxycodone. It is therefore unfair that marijuana, which is more valuable as medicine, is illegal while these other drugs are legal and are sold all over the country freely.

In conclusion, Marijuana is a very efficacious drug for medical use and therefore it needs to be legalized. We should stop grouping marijuana, a useful drug, with narcotics such as heroin and cocaine, it should instead be grouped together with other drugs that are used for the management of serious health conditions such as Adderall. Legalizing marijuana will boost the economy of our country by creating jobs to thousands of people in the United Sates who would otherwise be economically unproductive. My research shows that the positive effects of legalizing marijuana by far outweigh the negative impacts that could arise. Besides boosting the economy and keeping it strong, it can be used to manage health conditions that have previously been difficult to manage. Whether it is made legal or it remains illegal, people will still use it. Research has shown that the illegal drug whose use is commonest is marijuana. All the fifty states in the United States of America should legalize marijuana to help out people who are struggling with medical conditions that can seriously damage their health if not treated and which can be managed effectively by the use of marijuana. Marijuana can replace many things that are harmful to the environment and thus help to save the environment. There would be a tremendous decrease in violence and crime. Although a lot of people think that marijuana is harmful, I believe it can really help our society in this time of need.

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Will Hawaii legalize weed? The fight for recreational marijuana is complicated

Hawaii’s state Senate made headlines last month after overwhelmingly approving a bill to legalize recreational marijuana by 2026, but its passage into law is far from certain given the state’s complicated history with cannabis.

The bill is opposed by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, including Honolulu prosecutor Steve Alm and Hawaii Attorney General Anne E. Lopez, both Democrats, and former Republican Governor Linda Lingle. They’re concerned about an overall increase in youth consumption, addiction rates and the potential boost to Hawaii’s black market.

According to Colin Moore, a political science professor at the University of Hawaii, the state’s anti-recreational marijuana coalition has been “a little more organized than they’ve been in the past.”

“Expanded decriminalization of marijuana may increase recreational use in a way similar to legalization,” Lopez’s office wrote in submitted testimony related to the bill. “However, decriminalized marijuana is unregulated, untested, and untaxed. This lack of regulation and testing creates a significant public health concern, particularly as marijuana use increases.”

More: Florida Supreme Court OKs ballot measure allowing recreational pot

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Local law enforcement officials have also raised alarms about the potential ramifications of legalization, expressing concerns about impaired driving and the impact on public safety. Moreover, the state’s economic reliance on tourism, particularly from Japan, raises questions about how legalization could affect visitor perceptions and industry dynamics.

“Hawaii is the only Pacific state without recreational marijuana. The social conservatism here is something that is often lost, and I think that is something driving the fact that this fails year after year after year,” Moore said. “And I think that people who are opposed are, I mean, this for them can be a voting issue.”

The Aloha State was the first in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana in 2000 and decriminalize personal use in 2019; efforts to legalize recreational cannabis have repeatedly stalled in the Statehouse . This pattern underscores the deep-rooted divisions within Hawaii’s political establishment, where even a Democratic majority does not guarantee support for progressive legalization.

Despite these challenges, the bill still has a number of fans in the state Legislature, who remain steadfast in their belief that legalization is long overdue. Advocates argue that regulation and taxation of marijuana would promote public health, reduce criminalization and generate revenue for the state at a time when it desperately needs it. Hawaii’s tourism-driven economy continues to suffer nearly eight months after wildfires decimated Lahaina in August.

“The decriminalization of cannabis is far overdue. People use cannabis. Decades of rigorous prosecution, imprisonment, and forfeiture have not changed this simple fact,” State Sen. Karl Rhoads, a Democrat, wrote in submitted testimony related to the bill. 

More: Most Americans want legal pot. Here's why feds are taking so long to change old rules.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat and a licensed physician, said he would sign the bill into law if the House passed it. He recently told Hawaii News that marijuana could have beneficial side effects in mitigating the impact of other drugs. 

“I have some thoughts that marijuana might blunt the effect, if you will, of people on these heavy drugs, these horrible drugs,” Green said. “It is a relative sedative. People are far less violent. They are much hungrier, but they, aside from snacking and stealing Cheetos, will probably do less harm.”

A poll by the nonprofit advocacy firm Pacific Resource Partnership found that 58% of Hawaii residents support legalizing recreational marijuana , a majority Moore said is “noteworthy” but “significantly lower” than similar polls in other West Coast and blue states.

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X @JeremyYurow

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A Legal Pot Pioneer Was Busted in Idaho With 56 Pounds. He Has a Plan.

At 77, Dana Beal is charged with trafficking marijuana. It could be the finale for a man who never stopped crusading even after the victory was won.

By Corey Kilgannon

In retrospect, the Idaho shortcut might have been a bad idea.

The mission had already begun to go sideways when Dana Beal — a pioneer of New York’s marijuana legalization movement but someone who has never obtained a driver’s license — enlisted a ketamine enthusiast to chauffeur him across America.

Or perhaps the fateful moment was when Mr. Beal decided to avoid the cold by staying in the minivan conked out on the shoulder of Interstate 84. That forced the helpful state trooper to come over and get a noseful of the 56 pounds of weed that Mr. Beal was bringing back to New York.

In reality, there were any number of chances for Mr. Beal, 77, to avoid his current situation: facing felony drug trafficking charges carrying a potential 15 years in prison.

Mr. Beal has spent nearly six decades challenging pot laws and is a fixture of New York’s graying counterculture, famous for handing out joints at rallies. He has undertaken many weed-buying odysseys and has wiggled out of scores of arrests. Usually, anyway. Now, despite the broad legalization of cannabis, he has managed to get arrested in one of the strictest states in the country and finds himself in his most serious jam yet.

After his Jan. 15 arrest, he spent nearly two months in jail and a fortune in prepaid phone time to mobilize his network of activists to raise a bond payment on his $250,000 bail, which freed him on March 9. He has rejected an offer to plead guilty and serve a year, and says he will “roll the dice” at trial.

He now says he will stick around Idaho. He has a plan.

“My legal strategy now hinges on me helping to legalize marijuana in Idaho,” Mr. Beal said.

Mr. Beal has made a life out of penurious activism. He was an early member of the Youth International Party, the Yippie movement known for its Dadaesque pranks and theatrical Vietnam War protests, and he lived for years in the group’s Greenwich Village headquarters, before the place was foreclosed upon in 2014.

He led civil rights demonstrations and furnished medical marijuana for AIDS and cancer patients. He helped organize Rock Against Racism concerts and the Global Marijuana March. He put together hundreds of smoke-ins, demonstrations, marches and parades, and made cross-country smuggling runs to both finance his activism and procure pot to hand out at events where he could be found carrying a giant inflatable joint.

“Nobody has pushed for the legalization of pot in New York for so many years as Dana,” said John Penley, a friend of Mr. Beal’s and a legalization advocate.

And, in 2021, he succeeded when New York legalized marijuana, as much of the rest of the country has.

But legal weed was no panacea: The prices at medical and recreational dispensaries were too steep for Mr. Beal and his longtime circle, many of whom live on fixed incomes. Mr. Beal himself was couch surfing in Manhattan after being booted out of the attic of a Midtown synagogue where he spent the pandemic lockdown.

So Mr. Beal continued his weed runs in the name of affordable pot for all, and also to raise money for his other legalization crusade: a banned psychoactive vegetable substance called ibogaine that has long been studied as a treatment for opioid addiction , Parkinson’s disease and many other ailments.

His latest scheme was to produce ibogaine abroad and then bring it to Ukrainian soldiers suffering from battlefield trauma and brain injuries. He had just finished one such mission in December before heading out to Oregon to buy a large amount of marijuana to resell in New York to fund another one.

It may have been his career finale.

Mr. Beal’s misadventure started one day in mid-January, when his ride out of southern Oregon fell through. “The truck was stolen by some speed freaks and the driver relapsed,” Mr. Beal said in a call from jail earlier this month. “Somebody put fentanyl in his ketamine.”

So Mr. Beal said he found another man headed east, albeit with a vehicle that “wasn’t up to snuff.” Thus he and his 56 pounds of pot were entrusted to a stranger who drove a 2003 minivan with a dying transmission.

Still, he had his urgent ibogaine plan to accomplish, so Mr. Beal pushed to cut through Idaho. Sure enough, the transmission expired on the interstate and the two men and the illicit cargo glided to a stop on the shoulder just outside Twin Falls.

“I thought we were going to pull over and then call for a tow,” he said, but were instead espied by a state trooper. “In less than 10 minutes, this guy pulls up on us.”

“It was all bad timing,” he said.

With temperatures well below freezing, Mr. Beal, wearing his usual tweed jacket and cowboy boots, stayed in the vehicle — another mistake, he lamented — forcing the state trooper to come to them and wind up getting a whiff of the cargo. (Mr. Beal said he regretted not having packed an air freshener.)

Mr. Beal tried his Ukraine story on the trooper, who was not buying it.

“I told him, ‘I was bringing them the medicine they really need, and now it’s on you,’” Mr. Beal said.

Mr. Beal acknowledged that the bags in the car belonged to him, the trooper said in a sworn complaint. The driver was released with a summons.

Idaho is surrounded mostly by pot friendly states and is strict about people driving through with the stuff. The authorities are especially vigilant in “corridor counties” along Interstate 84, of which Gooding County — where Mr. Beal encountered the state police — is one.

Under state law, carrying more than 25 pounds of marijuana is a felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years; the maximum is 15 years, with a maximum fine of $50,000.

“It’s one of the worst places in the country to possess marijuana, definitely,” Michelle Agee, Mr. Beal’s court-appointed lawyer, said. “Idaho is stuck in the 1950s as far as marijuana goes. It’s definitely the wrong place, wrong time for a person to be accused of having marijuana.”

Many longtime comrades view the Idaho debacle as just another Dana Beal mishap, but he fears that his prominence might tempt prosecutors to make him an example.

Reached for comment, Idaho’s attorney general, Raúl R. Labrador, a former Republican congressman who helped found the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said that legalization in neighboring states had done nothing to deter the strict enforcement of the laws in Idaho.

“We’ve watched how those decisions to legalize drugs have ruined other states, and Idaho demands just a bit better for our citizens and communities,” he said. “If you are trying to transport marijuana across state lines through Idaho, take the long way instead. It’ll save us money on your incarceration.”

Mr. Beal is no stranger to the cell, having been arrested during countless trips to buy weed over several decades.

In Nebraska in 2009 he was arrested with more than 100 pounds of pot. After an arrest in 2011, he spent two years in a Wisconsin prison, during which he had a double bypass operation after a nearly fatal heart attack and spent a week in a medically induced coma.

In 2017, he was busted with 22 pounds of illegal marijuana in Northern California after the authorities spotted him in a rental car weaving slowly across a road. He served no time then, nor after he was arrested in 2020 in Oregon, he said.

Mr. Beal was finally bailed out of the Gooding County Jail this month by the marijuana activist Adam Eidinger and Don Wirtshafter, a lawyer who founded the Cannabis Museum in Athens, Ohio.

In hopes of leniency, Mr. Beal said he was also trying to get Idaho prosecutors his medical records from his episode in Wisconsin.

Mr. Beal’s legalization efforts are a decided long shot. Idaho has steadfastly refused to legalize weed. But Mr. Beal said that, after a trip back to New York to regroup, he will maintain a presence in Idaho for the fight, and not just to bolster his own case.

“It’s a moral stand, man,” he said. “I’m not, like, the average guy passing through.”

Last week, he was crashing with a fellow activist in Boise and was visiting the State Capitol to wangle a meeting with a Democratic state legislator to pitch his vision for legislation.

Mr. Beal said he had teamed up with an old acquaintance whom he worked with organizing the annual Global Marijuana March, and had gotten in touch with organizers at Kind Idaho, a group advocating legal medical marijuana. He is already scheduled to speak at the Boise Hempfest on May 11 and hopes to pack the courtroom with activists when he appears at a court hearing shortly afterward.

“If they didn’t want to change the law in Idaho,” he said, “they shouldn’t have stopped me.”

Mr. Wirtshafter was not so sure. Mr. Beal is in tougher political terrain than he is used to navigating, he said.

“But he’s irrepressible,” he added. “He’ll make himself enough of a pain in the ass that they’ll either be more vengeful in their prosecution, or just get rid of him.”

If so, Mr. Beal said, he will resume the ibogaine mission now sidelined by his hasty decision to cut through Idaho.

“Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have done that,” he said. But, he explained, “I was in a rush, man. I had to get back to Ukraine.”

Corey Kilgannon is a Times reporter who writes about crime and criminal justice in and around New York City, as well as breaking news and other feature stories. More about Corey Kilgannon

Debates Around Legalization of Medical Marijuana Argumentative Essay

The emergence of scientific evidence on the effects of the main chemical components in marijuana has initiated a metamorphosis of the perception of marijuana as a drug that warrants legalization due to its medical and socioeconomic benefits.

The supporters and opponents of the legalization of marijuana have opted to focus on either the positive or the negative aspects of the effects of the drug to support their views on policies to legalize or criminalize the drug. The US Congress passed laws that placed marijuana in the Schedule 1 of the controlled substances in 1972.

A significant number of states in the US, 21 out of 50, have adopted laws to legalize the medical use of marijuana. The essay analyzes the rationale for the support of the legalization of marijuana for medical use and the rationale for the counter argument.

The ability of marijuana components to alleviate symptoms associated with medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS, pain, epilepsy and glaucoma has prompted increased support for laws that allow the use of medical marijuana.

Reports and studies from renowned medical personnel and organizations highlight the significance of harnessing marijuana’s main components, THC and CBD, to treat various medical conditions. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) helps to relieve pain by mimicking compounds such as dopamine and anandamide, which occur naturally in the human brain.

Clinical trials have shown the effectiveness of THC in the treatment of spasticity due to sclerosis and spinal cord injury (Brashear & Elovic, 2011). The compound has had satisfactory levels of success in reducing pain, tremor and ataxia in patients (Columbus, 2005).

THC helps in the treatment of glaucoma by reducing intraocular pressure by about 30 percent (ElSohly, 2007). Cannabidiol (CBD) relieves convulsions in epileptic patients, acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and reduces nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy (Russo, 2001).

CBD inhibits the growth of cancerous cells by coordinating cross talk between apoptosis and autophagy (Shrivastava et al., 2011). Marijuana is useful in treating psychiatric problem such as schizophrenia due to the antipsychotic effects of CBD.

Opponents of the legalization of medical marijuana argue that the availability of FDA-approved drugs that can serve the supposed medical purposes of marijuana eliminates the need to legalize the drug. The existence of conflicting evidence on the medical benefits of marijuana in the long-term necessitates the continued prohibition of the drug.

For example, the treatment of nausea and vomiting requires the administration of high THC dosage, which increases the likelihood of addiction (Haerens, 2013). Studies show that mainstream drugs such as metoclopramide have higher efficiency in treating nausea and vomiting compared to marijuana. The use of marijuana in treating epilepsy can induce convulsions in patients (Kanner & Schachter, 2008).

Opponents of medical marijuana cite the numerous peer-reviewed reports, which indicate that marijuana has psychoactive components that impair normal human abilities such as driving and interferes with the functioning of the immune system, respiratory system and neural system (Iversen, 2000).

THC effects such as euphoria and altered space-time perception can have counter effects on the use of the drug in the treatment of psychiatric symptoms such as sleep disorders, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia (Joy et al., 1999).

The psychotic effects of THC can worsen the psychiatric symptoms of patients using medical marijuana. The use of drugs such as amisulpride has minimal side effects on the treatment of psychiatric problems compared to marijuana (Lambert, 2009).

Brashear, A., & Elovic, E. (2011). Spasticity diagnosis and management . New York: Demos Medical Pub..

Columbus, F. H. (2005). Treatment and management of multiple sclerosis . New York: Nova Science Publishers.

ElSohly, M. A. (2007). Marijuana and the cannabinoids . Totowa, N.J.: Humana Press.

Haerens, M. (2013). Medical marijuana . Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Iversen, L. L. (2000). The science of marijuana . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Joy, J. E., Watson, S. J., & Benson, J. A. (1999). Marijuana and medicine assessing the science base . Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Kanner, A. M., & Schachter, S. C. (2008). Psychiatric controversies in epilepsy . Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.

Lambert, D. M. (2009). Cannabinoids in nature and medicine . Zürich: Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta ;.

Russo, E. (2001). Cannabis therapeutics in HIV/AIDS . New York: Haworth Integrative Healing Press.

Shrivastava, A., Kuzontkoski, P. M., Groopman, J. E., & Prasad, A. (2011). Cannabidiol Induces Programmed Cell Death in Breast Cancer Cells by Coordinating the Cross-talk between Apoptosis and Autophagy. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics , 10 (7), 1161-1172.

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Marijuana activist and 'Detroit's resident radical' John Sinclair has died at 82

A champion of legal marijuana, counterculture hero and poet, John Sinclair died Tuesday morning at age 82.

His representative, Matt Lee, confirmed he died at Detroit Receiving Hospital of congestive heart failure.

Sinclair was an influential activist who was best known for his fight toward legalizing marijuana and for his role as band manager for the MC5. The Davison native was also a champion of civil rights and co-founder of the radical anti-racist group the White Panther Party.

"He was on the forefront of the marijuana movement, that's for sure," Lee said. "But I don't think people realized how knowledgeable he was in American music and he was a certified expert in all forms of American jazz and rhythm and blues."

More: The power of rock: 50 years after the John Sinclair Freedom Rally

Sinclair was famously arrested for felony possession of two joints in the late 1960s and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The arrest and sentence galvanized counterculture activists and many came to his defense with a 1971 freedom rally at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena, headlined by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with performances by Bob Seger and Stevie Wonder. The 14-hour event drew 15,000 people and Sinclair was released from prison in Jackson three days later after serving fewer than three years.

Lennon, who had been arrested for marijuana possession himself, wrote a song for Sinclair, which appears on the John Lennon and Yoko Ono album "Some Time in New York City," released in 1972. “They gave him 10 for two/What else can Judge Colombo do/We gotta set him free,” Lennon's lyrics say.

The song "John Sinclair" was covered by 1990s rock band Blind Melon, which may have exposed a new generation of pot activists to Sinclair, including former Hash Bash organizer Nicholas Zettell, who heard the song at age 14. His dad took him to hear Sinclair speak in person a year later.

"That was a very inspirational event in my life that led me to passionately pursue cannabis legalization activism ... something about the injustice of his story lit a fire in me," said Zettell, who was inspired to go to school in Ann Arbor after learning about the Hash Bash and Michigan's medical and legal cannabis movement. "I wanted to keep the radical spirit thriving.

"I and many, many others owe a lot to John and his righteous ways."

In a Detroit News interview in 2021, on the 50th anniversary of the freedom rally for Sinclair, the activist said he was surprised it took Michigan so long to legalize marijuana.

"The truth prevailed," he said. "People didn't quit using it, you see? And more and more people got on the side of the felons and pretty soon they had to remove the felony. It just didn't make any sense."

Sinclair had been living in the Cass Corridor in recent years. He was able to see marijuana not only be legalized in his home state, but become so available that dispensaries dot the entire landscape from county to county.

"He thought it was great. He would say, 'We finally got the squares to come around,'" Lee said. "He was definitely on the cutting edge of counterculture. When you look at how other towns had their Abbie Hoffmans and their Jerry Rubins and those people, he was the Detroit equivalent to them. He was definitely Detroit's resident radical."

Sinclair was scheduled to speak Saturday at the annual Ann Arbor Hash Bash, a rally and festival that is held at noon the first Saturday of April on the University of Michigan Diag. The first Hash Bash happened in 1972, just months after Sinclair's historic freedom rally.

Instead, this Saturday's 53rd annual Hash Bash will partially be a de-facto remembrance event for Sinclair. Event coordinator Jamie Lowell said there was already a portion of the Bash earmarked to pay homage to other legalization activists who have recently died, including Rick Thompson, Brad Lemke, Gersh Avery and Rhory Gould. Several politicians and cannabis activists, including John's ex-wife, photographer Leni Sinclair, are scheduled to speak Saturday.

"He and Leni Sinclair, in my mind anyway, they kind of kicked off the modern movement that led to where we are now in Michigan and it's taken tens of thousands of people over decades to get here," said Lowell, adding that he was grateful Sinclair was able to speak at the Hash Bash in 2023, in spite of bad weather.

"He decided to stick it out anyway and offer up his wisdom and he did, and people really, really appreciated it. It was really special," he said. "A lot of people were there for the first time, so to hit a Hash Bash and get an address from John Sinclair is pretty cool."

Sinclair leaves behind a huge body of work in the form of books and recorded poems and essays backed by blues and jazz musicians. His last book, "Collected Poems 1964-2024," is currently at the printer, set to be released next week by M.L. Liebler at Ridgeway Press.

"John Sinclair was my hero poet in my youth, and then he became my good friend," said Liebler.

Sinclair is survived by his daughters Celia Sinclair and Sunny Sinclair, granddaughter Beyonce and his ex-wife, Leni Sinclair.

[email protected]