April 26, 2004
Research Paper
“Dude, you’re getting a Dell!” is now a famous expression that most of us have not heard in a while. The campaign was hugely successful for Dell, but Benjamin Curtis, the “Dell Dude,” has not been appearing on nationally aired Dell ads since charged with the purchase of a small bag of marijuana. Dell thought it would be best to keep him off their nationally aired advertisements after his brush with the law. Curtis was one of over a million people arrested annually for violation of drug laws. Over twenty percent of people in jail are there on drug charges, and three-quarters of them are for possession. Because prisons in thirty-seven states are overcrowded and the federal prison system contains 100% or more than designed for, the prisoners who derive pleasure from the suffering of others are enjoying shorter sentences (United States). The reality that marijuana is illegal is grotesque because, along with many other reasons, it supplies substantial income to countless contraband dealers as the most widely sold illicit drug, and it leaves harmless users in jail, which in turn allows for dangerous criminals to enjoy shorter sentences.
The duty of the United States government is to protect and look out for its people. A government is something created by the people of a country for protection, which should work to their benefit. The government was not something designed to control people by limiting civil liberties, nor as a foundation that will exist indefinitely, one which everyone has to observe and obey from birth. From this, instead of asking why marijuana should be legal, the question arises, “Why, exactly, should marijuana be illegal?” Death from a marijuana smoking overdose is not possible. The risk involved in smoking marijuana is not great, and its consumption is only harmful to the actual user who made the choice to consume it. While marijuana is known to negatively affect memory and concentration, it may also have medicinal value. Research has shown that the active chemical in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly called THC, has been shown to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anti-convulsion, anti-tremor, anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-emetic and appetite-stimulant properties. The medicinal use of marijuana has been approved in eight states to help relieve everything from the pain of those dying of AIDS to reduce the intraocular pressure in the eye to help maintain the vision of glaucoma patients. Opposite of tobacco smoking, marijuana may even help with asthma. THC reduces the inflammation of the bronchioles that is associated with an asthma attack (Medicinal Marijuana). The states where marijuana is legalized for medical purposes, however, only allow the consumption of government grown marijuana because they know that its properties and composition can be trusted.
Marijuana found off the streets can easily be combined, or “laced,” with countless dangerous substances. A drug dealer might lace marijuana with the club drug ecstasy, for example, without the customer’s knowledge. The logic behind this is that these customers will think that their substance is superior and return for more, which means more profit for the dealer. This is dangerous, though; every drug imaginable in a solid form can be mixed and smoked with marijuana. Methamphetamines, such as what is commonly known as “speed,” can leave people’s hearts racing to the point of death from heart attack. Cocaine leaves thousands dead from overdoses every year in America. Not only is buying marijuana off the streets a dangerous way to acquire marijuana, but it also supports the cause of drug dealing. In addition, if a drug dealer fears that a customer or another drug dealer has something against them, they will not take the time to attempt making amends. They often times silence those people by killing them if they fear anyone may turn authority in their direction. Even very small-scale drug dealers may be putting their life on the line at all times.
If marijuana were legalized, its production would be monitored by the government. Even if not regulated and government monitored, people would buy the factory grown marijuana because it would be the purest and cheapest. Illegal dealers would not be able to compete with its price; illegal marijuana now sells on the streets hugely more than the cost of growing it. The great money making opportunity in selling it is one reason so many people get involved in the trade. If legalized, the sale of marijuana would be equivalent to the sale of tobacco today. While tobacco is legal today, it is only grown on large-scale farms. A farmer can grow tobacco commercially today with an easily acquired license, but almost no one grows their own tobacco and rolls their own cigarettes at home. That would be cost irrational, and it would be difficult to achieve similar levels of quality. The government could even tax marijuana sales and bring in cash to the government that way. They could cut back on the billions of dollars invested in the drug war and instead earn some sales commission. The government already taxes and regulates tobacco sales, along with alcohol.
Smoking marijuana is also less dangerous than alcohol in the sense that, from pure marijuana, a person cannot overdose and die. A person could quickly take fifteen vodka shots, for example, but because of vodka’s delayed effects, not even feel the effects until he/she had finished them all. But because of the intensity and dangers of alcohol, this person would likely be dead shortly after from alcohol poisoning. Marijuana’s psychoactive effects are tied a lot closer to the instant of consumption. A person could get so high on THC that they would have trouble going through the actions of smoking more. Even if THC at such high doses could kill a person, this would prevent them from ingesting more. Alcohol is also known to make some people very angry from consumption, which is more common in heavy abusers. People who vow to not even drink an alcoholic drink on their twenty-first birthday because a parent was an alcoholic are common. This should be no surprise, as alcoholism is commonly associated with domestic abuse. The U.S. Department of Justice Report on Alcohol and Crime found that alcohol abuse was a factor in 40 percent of violent crimes committed in the United States (Alcohol a Factor). People do not become angry and abusive from marijuana, however. It is a drug known to calm people and distract them from whatever painful thought or feeling they may be experiencing. Nevertheless, alcohol is legal and marijuana remains illegal. Prescription anti-anxiety drugs are perfectly legal too. Marijuana is often primarily used as a tension reliever, so it should also be legal, even if not through prescription. Because it relieves tension instead of increasing nervous system activity, domestic violence is never linked to the direct use of marijuana. Fathers do not beat their children or abuse their wife when high on marijuana, like many alcoholics have been known to do. In contrast, though, the fathers who lightly use marijuana are the ones put in jail, unless alcoholic fathers are charged with domestic violence or another indirect crime.
The government still claims that marijuana is one of the drugs that destroy families. This is why so many billions of dollars are pumped into the war on drugs every year. Cops could spend their entire shifts fighting crime and helping make America a safer place. Instead they can sometimes spend an entire shift dealing with a drug possession bust. Incredible amounts of money are spent building and operating jails to cope with the huge percentage of those in jail on drug charges. Because of such overcrowding, most convicts get shorter sentences, including convicted murderers. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, D.A.R.E., is likely not helping keep future generations out of prisons for drugs, either. Over an estimated billion dollars yearly have been spent on D.A.R.E. since started over twenty years ago, and studies show that the program failed to produce any resulting changes in those students who went through the program at their school (Armentano). The number of youths experimenting with marijuana is also not declining, with 3 million youths 12-17 having used it at least once in the past year (Marijuana Use). Perhaps this figure is why the D.A.R.E. program focuses most strongly on marijuana. They find the most speculative pieces of information about the drug and feed it to the children, attempting to instill a deep fear in them. But because they can not link marijuana to deaths, their greatest seemingly honest argument is that it is a gateway drug leading to other harsher, more dangerous drugs. First, whether or not marijuana actually is a gateway drug is speculative, and may just be a false way to look at the positive correlation between those who use marijuana and those who use other drugs. Of course, they want to do the right thing and keep children away from experimenting with very potentially harmful drugs, but exaggerating the effects of marijuana can lead the children to distrust their campaigns and not think of other drugs as the highly dangerous chemicals they can be. Even if marijuana is a gateway drug, though, children and teens could still not do other drugs if they did not have access to them. Marijuana opens up a great deal of connections to other drugs from the people that school students acquire marijuana from. Perhaps a better way to look at the problem with marijuana is to see it as a drug that makes access to more dangerous drugs far easier for the youth.
If the American government learned anything from the infamous prohibition of the 1920’s, it should have been that prohibiting a substance that many people desire does not work. Prohibition can actually have an opposite harmful effect. During the alcohol prohibition, thousands of people died from the consumption of bad alcohol. If the brewing of barely or the fermentation of fruits goes wrong, it can leave highly toxic chemicals in the alcohol. Today, because alcohol is now legal and regulated by the government, this rarely occurs. While not as much alcohol was consumed compared to when it was legal, a huge amount was still consumed during the prohibition. This led to arrests, busts, and jail time for many, but its use would just not decline. This corresponds to the illegality of marijuana today. Gangs, and massively powerful groups of organized crime formed and trades were done underhanded. Those who produced and supplied the alcohol during the Prohibition often became incredibly wealthy. Those engaged in the illegal trade were often enjoying higher, and largely untaxed, income levels than those living and working legitimately.
The illegality of marijuana could also be contributing to its high percentage of youth in America. In Amsterdam, where consumption of marijuana is legal, the percentage of regular users of marijuana, 2.5%, is only half of what it is in the United States, 5%. Nevada wants to be the first state to legalize marijuana, and if a petition collects 51,234 valid signatures, the initiative would be placed before voters in the fall of 2004 and again in 2006. One campaign ad tries to convince the public that legalization is good, alerting them to the statistics that 67% of high school seniors in Nevada have used marijuana, compared with only 28 percent of those of similar age in the Netherlands. Nevada may soon be acquiring huge tourism incomes if their initiatives pass. Polls show that of Nevada citizens, the number of those for legalization and those against it is a rather close split. The problem that marijuana would remain illegal under federal law could create further challenges, however, even if the initiative is passed (Vogel). Many who fear legalization there fear the idea that Nevada would turn into a state “up in smoke.” While consumption of the drug may increase, studies repeatedly show that addiction to marijuana is something excessively feared.
Because unlike tobacco cigarettes, marijuana does not contain nicotine, it has been found to be less addictive than cigarette smoking. Among cocaine addicts, chronic heroin users, and alcoholics, more than half of them overall claim their urge for a cigarette can be greater than or equal to their urge for cocaine, heroin, or alcohol. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse rated marijuana as the least addictive among the common drugs, nicotine, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, caffeine, and marijuana. Alcohol, which is legal, was rated as the most intoxicating of the drugs and as the drug with the most severe withdrawal effects. The study also finds that the brain does not tend to develop a tolerance for marijuana, where increasingly more is needed to feel its effects (Hilts).
Of course, if legalized, there should still be a legal age limit for the consumption of marijuana, just as there is alcohol, because it can impair judgment. A person can experience a somewhat similar disillusion of reality compared to alcohol, and pose a threat to themselves and others if driving a car or operating heavy machinery. Marijuana should also not be consumed during pregnancy because it may have an effect on the development of the fetus. However, the U.S. government gives trust to women that they will not consume alcohol or smoke cigarettes while pregnant, both of which can extremely alter fetal development. Studies show that the most threatening of the drugs to the normality of an unborn fetus is alcohol by far, with the potential to cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, FAS, which can affect every organ (Needlman).
No one can use a drug if they do not have access to it. Marijuana is a drug that is not, in particular, difficult to acquire. In fact over half of youth aged 12-17 polled said that it would be fairly or very easy for them to obtain marijuana (Marijuana). If marijuana were legalized, the number of people dealing more dangerous substances would decrease. Because marijuana is by far the most widely used illicit drug, this means it is the most widely dealt drug. In fact, only six-tenths of one percent of 25,755 polled marijuana users in claimed to have grown their product themselves (Results from the 2002 National Survey). How much money is made in the trade of marijuana is unknown since all trades are untaxed on the black market. However, the Drug Enforcement Agency estimated that total marijuana consumption in 1992 was approximately 1600 metric tons (Harrison).
Some religions may be contributing to the amount of consumption. Multiple religions instruct their followers to use marijuana. Like Christians and Jews are understood to drink wine on certain occasions, some Rastafarians, Hindus, Buddhists, and several other religions use marijuana as a part of their religious and spiritual ceremonies. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that the government cannot “prohibit the free exercise” of religion, but the government is prohibiting the free exercise of religion by keeping marijuana illegal. These people deserve the freedom to practice their religion as they see fit, without the government invading on their rights. Marijuana has been used for medical purposes for five thousand years. The Chinese emperor, Shen-Nung, recommended marijuana for malaria, beriberi, constipation, rheumatic pains, absent-mindedness, and female disorders. The use of hemp rope, which comes from the male cannabis plant, dates back to 3000 B.C. (History of Marijuana).
The first step to the complete legalization of marijuana likely begins with the legalization of industrial hemp. Cannabis plants have all sorts of industrial uses. Growing it has been effectively prohibited in the United States since the 1950’s, though. Hemp, acquired from the male marijuana plant, has been farmed for at least the last 12,000 years for its fiber and food. Thomas Jefferson even drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper. BMW is experimenting with hemp materials in automobiles as part of an effort to make cars more recyclable. Hemp seed oil can also power an automobile. The growth of hemp in the United States should be legal like it is in 25 other countries. Unlike marijuana, the female cannabis plant, hemp, which comes from the male cannabis plant, contains so little THC, that it is nearly impossible to get high off of it. All sorts of food products can be made from hemp seed oil in addition. Hemp oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids, also known as the good fats, containing 81% by volume. It's also high in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid, a very rare nutrient that is also found in mother's milk (Hemp Facts). Butter spreads and fuels can be made from hemp oil. In fact, over 25,000 known products can be created from industrial hemp. In February, 2004, a federal court overturned the ruling of the Drug Enforcement Agency that hemp should be illegal in consumer goods, now allowing for the production and sale of foods containing hemp in some form. This may be a sign that America is on a future track to complete legalization.
Of course, common arguments for keeping marijuana include the notion that its legalization would corrupt more youth. This argument is contested, though, by the ease of availability most secondary school students seem to have to the drug. One could also argue that it should remain illegal due to the carcinogens it releases when smoked. This can also be disputed because many of the same cancer-causing carcinogens inhaled from smoking marijuana are also found in legal cigarettes. Another fear is that America would become a culture not facing reality, and instead be high all the time. When the prohibition ended, the consumption of alcohol escalated because of its new legality, but then it settled off. Culture adjusts to such change. In the Netherlands where marijuana is tolerated and sold legally, a smaller percentage of Dutch teens have tried it than American teens. Not only does Amsterdam also have a smaller percentage of regular marijuana users, but a much smaller percentage of Amsterdam’s population use harder drugs. America is a country with a performance-driven culture, which is, at least in part, shown by the rising prescriptions for attention deficit disorder medication. The American people would not quit working for the prosperity of their families to be high all the time, and studies continue to show it as not addictive. Others argue that marijuana should stay illegal because of its impairing effects on concentration, learning, and memory. Studies still show, however, that after four weeks of discontinued use of the drug, the habitual user’s cognitive abilities had returned to normal on their dynamic cognitive tests (Marijuana).
Perhaps one day, the government will reach the conclusion that marijuana’s state of illegality is actually causing more harm than it helps. The chances of legalization of marijuana for private consumption appear to be increasing. Many think Nevada’s overall “live and let live” philosophy will ensure that it will be the first state to legalize it, and the potential for tourism would increase exponentially if it were legalized there. No state wants to loose potential money, and therefore, if this does happen, more states will likely follow suit. Our society needs to stop putting money into the hands of drug dealers and back into the economy.
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