Research Paper Undergraduate 442 words

Legalization vs Decriminalization of Weed

Last reviewed: April 23, 2016 ~3 min read

Marijuana

The author of this report has been asked to analyze and expand upon a particular issue or matter within the law as it exists in the United States. The author of this report has chosen to look at the use of medical and/or recreational marijuana. The laws that exist as it relates to marijuana are quite different from jurisdiction. It is quite intriguing as marijuana is completely illegal in some states, legal only for medicinal applications in other states and legal for any use in states like Washington and Colorado. While it does not make sense from a law standpoint, there does seem to be a so-called method to the madness thus far even if some laws are obviously being ignored or at least relaxed.

Analysis

Even more intriguing is that marijuana is technically still illegal at the federal level but enforcement of banking regulations surrounding marijuana-related commerce where it is legal and the crackdowns on the same in the states where it is legal make for quite an interesting paradigm given that federal supremacy as it pertains to the law usually reigns supreme. Marijuana seems to be on its way to being legalized or at least decriminalized (Economist, 2016). However, there are some states that will never legalize it and the federal government really cannot agree about anything given how divided and rancorous the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court happens to be right now. Just to use one example, the use of recreational marijuana is entirely legal in Colorado. However, Kansas directly borders Colorado to its east and marijuana is not legal at all in that state. Further, there are those in Kansas saying that this is "wreaking havoc" on Kansas (Roberts, 2016).

Conclusion

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PaperDue. (2016). Legalization vs Decriminalization of Weed. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/essay/legalization-vs-decriminalization-of-weed-2156335

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