Legalization Essay, Research Paper
LegalizationLegalization of marijuana has been a controversial issue in the U.S. forthe past several years. The people vs. the federal government is just one ofthe main debates over legalization. In the past marijuana was required to be grown on most plantations inthe southern region. It could be purchased in one ounce packages for onlytwenty five cents. Further down the time line we find that marijuana isincreasingly being used in the inner cities and suburban areas. Marijuana wasconsiders legal in the late 1800’s but a bill was passed and marijuana wasquickly considered to be illegal. The federal legislation prohibiting marijuanapassed at the end of 1937 congressional session was virtually scare enacted. people feared the effects of it and wanted to stop the growth and importationof it. Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which “requires all personswho import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, and dispense paya graduated occupational tax.” This tax was an attempt to make it harder fordealers of marijuana to make money off the export and import of marijuana. Attempts that he government has made to pass bills that decriminalizemarijuana were shot down by legislature and the federal government. Asurvey taken says that although illegality should be maintained, the penaltiesfor it should be lessened. There is a theory that marijuana stimulatesviolence, yet it has not been proven as a fact. In several states, such as NewJersey, the marijuana regulations and penalties have been lessened. GovernorCahill, from New Jersey, recommended that criminal penalties for a small2possession of marijuana should be reduced by making it a disorderly personoffense. Several states have lessened their penalties for possession, but nonehave legalized it. Dr. Tod Mikuriya, from the Indian Hemp drug commission,proposed a list of regulations for the control of marijuana if it were to becomelegal. It stated that possession without intent to sell shall not be consideredto be a crime, all growers importers shall be regulated and watched over likea typical industry, public places where marijuana is sold for on premises useshall be licensed like any alcohol serving bar, and determination of the THCpotency and purity shall be regulated by the U.S. Drug and Food
Administration. Attempts to legalize have also been made by presidential issuedcommissions. A commission issued by president Nixon researched marijuanaand reached a conclusion that it would be okay to decriminalize marijuana.This, was of course, quickly shot down by the president and the congress.Jimmy Carter, another president of the United States, also wanted to legalsmarijuana. In the present day there are groups such as, NORML (NationalOrganization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) , that issue petitions andbills to the DEA and federal government that try to persuade the legalizationof marijuana. NORML compared marijuana to alcohol and reached aconclusion that alcohol is more lethal than marijuana. Their studies haveshown that prolonged use of marijuana causes lack of ingenuity severebronchitis, and it lessens reaction speed. Alcohol has been named forhundreds of thousands of death in the United States. It causes liver disease, asevere mental and physical dependance, and depression. Marijuana is only3psychologically addictive and use of it can be stopped easier than alcoholabuse. Also no deaths have ever been recorded that were accused by the useof marijuana. Marijuana is considered to be a Scheduled I controlled substance. thatmeans that it is considered to be a drug that can be easily abused. NORMLhas made attempts to get the DEA to reschedule marijuana, but they wererejected. If the opinions of major contributors to the illegal view of marijuanacould be changed, marijuana might be legalized. Too many studies and toomany federal officials tell us that it is wrong for our country to condone a socalled “life threatening drug.” Legalization of marijuana could bring extraincome to the country and also help in the decline of alcohol abusers. Iflegalization was to happen the united states would only prosper. 4Bibliography”Reefer Madness” Atlantic Monthly; August 1994. Eric Schlosses; p. 45-63″Marijuana” Crime and Delinquency Literature; June 1970. Linda Whitlock; p.363-382″Pot Law Experience” The Washington Star; May 6, 1975Lee Johnson; p.A1-A10″Marijuana Alert” Peggy Man Copyright: 1985p.261, 101, 444″International Drug Traffic” Edward F. Dolan, Jr. Copyright 1985p. 85-86
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