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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...
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
As noted before, marijuana is still considered illegal at the federal level but these laws and the associated crackdowns are not being handled in the usual way in the states where weed is partially or entirely legal. This contradiction with the laws on the books really needs to be address at some point but it seems to be working out alright for the moment. At the very least, marijuana ever being treated the same as harder and much more dangerous drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine needs to be rectified as does the rampant abuse of "legal" prescription drugs such as opioids (e.g. OxyContin) and anxiety drugs (e.g. Xanax).
References
Economist. (2014). The difference between legalisation and decriminalisation. The Economist. Retrieved 23 April 2016, from http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/06/economist-explains-10
Roberts, M. (2016). Kansas Attempting to Prove Colorado Marijuana is Wreaking Havoc on State.
Westword. Retrieved 23 April 2016, from http://www.westword.com/news/kansas-attempting-
to-prove-colorado-marijuana-is-wreaking-havoc-on-state-7484055
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