Sociological research methods and applications

¶ … marijuana legalization, or decriminalization for medical purposes, entails significant challenges for sociologists. Supports of legalization argue that the benefits of medicinal usage outweigh any personal or social harms; however, opponents argue that any pro-marijuana policy would have detrimental effects on society as a whole. In this paper, I will evaluate several key contributions to the sociological literature on marijuana policy, ultimately arguing that a federal policy sanctioning private, medical use of marijuana will ultimately offset social problems associated with deviant behaviors such as crime. Moreover, the increased revenue generated by taxation and regulation will ultimately benefit state economies while lessening the strain on prison systems, police enforcement, as well as state and local budgets.

The current national policy is one of non-enforcement of state decisions. Voters in many states have either upheld or rejected specific legalization policies with varying degrees of strictness. California residents, for example, can visit dispensaries upon receipt of a doctor's prescription. Washington state residents are given a list of licensed "dealers" once receiving a prescription. Along this spectrum of legality, the federal government's position has entailed simply looking the other way, prohibiting the Drug Enforcement Agency from prosecuting marijuana-related charges. When left to the discretion of local and state enforcement agencies, most of these charges are dropped following an arrest for possession.

States who oppose marijuana legalization frequently cite the correlation between "innocent" marijuana use, and more serious drug offenses, arguing that marijuana use is correlated with increased probability of moving on to more significant drug use later in life. Leading research proves that marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs and asserts that this gateway theory presents the statistic association between common and uncommon drugs as a causal relationship rather than a correlation. The relationship between marijuana and harder drugs changes over time as different drugs become more or less popular. Because marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the U.S. today, people who have used less popular drugs (heroin, cocaine, LSD) are also likely to have used marijuana. Most marijuana users have never used any other illegal drugs (Morral 2002, Kandel and Davies, 1992).

Opponents also argue that marijuana can cause permanent mental illness. However, there is no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage. Some users may experience distress following ingestion, and while these experiences can be frightening, the effects are temporary. Large doses can cause temporary toxic psychosis, but this generally occurs rarely and almost always when eaten rather than smoked (Iverson 2005, Weiser and Noy 2005, Andreasson 1987, Degenhardt 2003, Weil 1970).