Vice, Drugs and the Law: Is It Time to Completely Legalize Marijuana?

Abstract
This paper looks at the concept of legalizing marijuana nationwide. It examines what the current literature has to say on marijuana research, medicinal benefits, and legal history of the substance. It also includes a look at the economic benefits of marijuana legalization in states like Colorado. An analysis section follows the review of literature, and in the conclusion recommendations are made for further action.
Introduction
Though the banning of marijuana began in the U.S. prior to Prohibition and continued on up through the 1930s across the majority of states, it was not until the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 that it became illegal to possess or transfer cannabis under federal law (unless one was using it for medical or industrial purposes). And it was not until the 1970 Controlled Substances Act that marijuana was made illegal at the federal level even for medical use (Dragone, Prarolo, Vanin & Zanella, 2019). However, in recent years there has been a push among several states to reverse marijuana laws either for medical purposes or for recreational use. Colorado for example has made the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes legal. The problem is that under federal law marijuana is still a schedule 1 narcotic—i.e., it is classified under the same dangerous category as heroin and cocaine (DEA, 2018). The criminalization of marijuana has led to more than half of all drug arrests in 2010 coming from marijuana possession or sales (ACLU, 2018). As the American Civil Liberties Union has noted, “of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana” and African Americans were 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites (ACLU, 2018). In other words, there is a direct link between the incarceration problem in the U.S. and marijuana criminalization. As there is still tension between the federal and state authorities over the issue of marijuana, there is a clear need to understand the ramifications of keeping marijuana illegal or of decriminalizing it totally. This review is thus important because it will shed light on the history of marijuana criminalization in America and show what researchers and experts have found with respect to marijuana as a helpful or harmful substance. This paper will provide findings from research on whether decriminalization of marijuana would be in the best interests of America.
Literature Review
Marijuana was a staple crop of American colonialists at the founding of the country, just as it had been grown all over the world for thousands of years (Deitch, 2003). The Founding Fathers grew marijuana and used it both recreationally and medicinally (Deitch, 2003). It was a popular crop throughout the early decades of American history because of its health qualities and for its industrial use. Hemp was used for textiles, rope, and other purposes. It was good for the soil and the CBD was viewed as effective in remedying a number of ailments. It was not until the pharmaceutical and plastics industries began to grow that marijuana was viewed as a threat and as a public danger (Deitch, 2003). Because marijuana had both medicinal and industrial uses, Big Pharma and Big Oil viewed it as the competition—and they urged legislators to have it banned and used propaganda films like Reefer Madness to move legislators to take action against marijuana. However, for thousands of years, though the potential for marijuana to produce a high was well known, the plant was never considered dangerous to society or to human life (Deitch, 2003). Thus, the criminalization of marijuana had more to do with business and industry than it did with any potential threat that it represented. The plant was basically banned because the pharmaceutical industry wanted to sell its own chemical substances (that have since proven to be far more dangerous and fatal for Americans than marijuana) and the oil industry wanted to make plastic the new main resource in textiles and other equipment (Deitch, 2003). For these reasons, a campaign to ban marijuana got underway in the early 20th century.
Though marijuana has been criminalized since the 1930s by the federal government, the classification of marijuana as a harmful substance like that of other hard drugs has not always been accepted. Beginning in the 1970s, the schedule 1 narcotic classification was challenged and in 1988 the DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young found marijuana to be “one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man” (Eddy, 2010). In Eddy’s (2010) review for the Congressional Research Service, he noted what Young had reported more than two decades prior as DEA—namely that the evidence “clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for [the] DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record” (p. 9). Nonetheless, Young’s recommendation was blocked the following year and the DEA continued to keep marijuana scheduled as a highly dangerous substance.
As Fiala (2019) notes, the problem with the medical community asserting one thing—i.e., that marijuana can help with pain especially with arthritis patients—and the law enforcement community continuing to view it as an illegal substance is that it leads to very tense and unnecessary confrontations between members of society and law enforcement officers. One recent example of this, Fiala (2019) shows is the arrest of a 69 year old grandmother at Disney World for having CBD oil prescribed to her by her doctor in her purse for arthritis pain. The grandmother was arrested by a local sheriff and kept incarcerated for 12 hours before being allowed to post bail. Though her case was later dropped by the local prosecutor, the arrest showed that not even grandmothers who are prescribed cannabis by their doctors are safe—and the most confusing aspect of it all, as the grandmother’s lawyer pointed out—is the legal framework: “A little drop of oil, with the CBD, is a felony. Meanwhile, you can have up to 19.9 grams of leaf-marijuana, and it’s a first-degree misdemeanor” (Fiala, 2019). The problem in the legal system is evident in this discrepancy and that problem is only worsened by the findings of the medical community, which has conducted extensive research on the ways in which marijuana can help with pain.
As Romano and Hazekamp (2013) show, CBD oil, which stands for cannabidiol, comes from cannabis and is used to treat pain. Cannabis-based medicine has a range of positive effects on a person and can be of substantial help for elderly people who may suffer from joint pain or arthritis in the legs and hands. It has even been used to help with pain caused from cancer. The benefits of CBD oil as compared to other drugs like fentanyl are that it is less addictive and destructive: fentanyl overdoses have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the opioid epidemic, while marijuana has only rarely and indirectly been associated with fatalities. Romano and Hazekamp (2013) also note that all the previous records and research on marijuana’s beneficial effects “have been historically helpful to provide hints on the biological processes controlled by the endocannabinoid system, and on the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids” (p. 2). In other words, the science of marijuana as medicine has been studied in great detail and it is understood precisely how it affects the body and helps to relieve pain and bring comfort.
Marijuana can help with chronic pain and provide relief for elderly people suffering from multiple sclerosis (Zettl, Rommer, Hipp & Patejdl, 2016). The benefits of marijuana are often associated with young people, who enjoy smoking it or vaping it, but for the elderly it can be quite a comfort. The grandmother arrested in Florida was not unique at all in terms of an elderly person using cannabis. As Zettl et al. (2016) show, cannabis is often prescribed for elderly patients who have chronic pain, multiple sclerosis or other issues.
However, pain relief is not the only benefit of marijuana for medicinal purposes. It has also been found to cure depression (Collins, 2014). But because of the taboo nature of marijuana, many find that recommending it to patients who are not open to the idea can raise eyebrows. The problem that health care providers find is that there is not enough health literacy available on the benefits of marijuana usage for patients—and the primary reason for that is because marijuana is still classified as a schedule 1 narcotic, so health care providers do not feel comfortable advising patients to carry a substance with them that could potentially land them in jail. Nonetheless, the benefits of marijuana for pain relief, depression, treatment of Tourette’s syndrome, and treatment of Alzheimer’s are all well-documented and known within the medical community (Collins, 2014; Romano & Hazekamp, 2013).
In terms of decriminalization among the states, Oregon was the first to get that ball rolling in the 1970s when it made the penalty for possession of an ounce of marijuana a $100 fine (Anderson, 1981). This example was followed by other states, including Ohio and California (Anderson, 1981). However, it took a few more decades for voters to get the matter on state ballots so they could overturn laws against marijuana usage completely. But finally in 2012, both Washington state and Colorado voters voted to completely legalize marijuana so that it could be bought and sold legally even for recreational purposes. Many other states followed, including Alaska, California, Nevada, Maine and Oregon as well as the District of Columbia. In 2018, Vermont was the first state to legalize marijuana through an act of state congress.
The benefits of marijuana for these states have been shown to be economical as well: Colorado has posted tax revenue increases of half a billion dollars since legalizing recreational marijuana (Smith, 2017). This shows that legalizing takes money out of the black market and puts it into the real economy, which can help bring about more investment, create more jobs, and help to improve communities, lives, schools, and workplaces.
Summation
The summation of the findings of this literature review shows that marijuana was made illegal not because there was any evidence that it was dangerous (on the contrary history for thousands of years showed its positive benefits for health and recreation). The substance was banned because it was a business threat to the pharmaceutical industry and to the oil industry. The problem that has occurred since is that people have turned to harder drugs, both legal and illegal, as a result of not having access to legal marijuana. However, in recent years medical studies have shown that medical can be helpful for people’s health and many states have legalized it. These states have also seen an economic incentive to legalizing marijuana as tax revenues have increased dramatically from legal marijuana sales.
Analysis Significance
The reason this information is important is that it shows how wide the disconnect is between the federal government and the desires of the people of the nation. The voters of several states have now voted to legalize marijuana completely and yet the federal government still has it classified as a schedule 1 narcotic, meaning it is just as dangerous as heroin (which can kill) and cocaine (which can destroy lives). Many people who want to use or sell marijuana either for recreational or for medicinal purposes have to be very careful because as the case of the grandmother with CBD oil in her purse at Disney World shows, even a 69 year old woman prescribed marijuana by her doctor can be arrested and put behind bars. The level of disconnect between law enforcement which still follows the letter of the law and the people, who favor in most states that have voted on the matter already legalization of marijuana.
This disconnect is not healthy or constructive for society. When law enforcement and the criminal justice system and that separated in terms of the general sense of what is just from the people, a schism is created in society. Bazelon (1975) argues that criminal justice should be in alignment with social justice—i.e., the concept of justice that is understood and embraced by the community. When the two are not in alignment, there is discord in the community. This discord reverberates and shakes the foundations of law and order. It occurred mid-century when the Civil Rights Movement began: the criminal justice system was out of alignment with social justice—and the effect was riots, protests, and violence. Until the criminal justice system aligned itself with social justice, the situation remained out of control. There must be equitability and equality in the law and under the law. When it comes to marijuana law, that equitability is simply not there—and there reason it is not there is that the federal government views marijuana differently from what the people of the nation and the states view it. Because the federal government still views it as a dangerous substance, law enforcement will treat it as such—even if it is being carried by a 69 year old woman at Disney World. The police will take her to jail—though a prosecutor who has his finger on the pulse of the nation and knows no jury or judge would convict her will drop all charges instantly, as was the case here. Others, of course, are not so lucky and cannot use age or gender to escape the heavy hand of the law: they will spend significant time behind bars as a result of their illegal possession of marijuana—even if just across the state border it is perfectly free and legal to buy, posses and use.
Today, the problem of marijuana and even drug use in general has created a situation in which there is no consistency throughout the land. People are being incarcerated at alarmingly high rates under the “three strikes” program in some states while in others they are free to use marijuana at their discretion. This approach to the law creates a schizophrenic feeling in society. People begin to distrust the law and to think the state hypocritical for allowing it under one set of rules in one part of the country and not allowing it under another set of rules in another part of the country. Either marijuana should be completely legalized our outlawed. This middle of the road approach is too conflicting and problematic for everyone.
This issue needs to be studied further, however, because there are social, political and economic ramifications that surround the issue. Were marijuana to be legalized nationwide, the effects would have to be forecasted and predicted so that there would be no surprises. One place where such a study can be conducted is Canada, which recently legalized marijuana nationwide. The effects of this legalization should be monitored so that legislators and stakeholders in the U.S. can be informed as to what would happen here in the States were a similar approach to be taken.
The fact that marijuana has so many medical benefits, however, shows that it should not be classified as a schedule 1 narcotic when it is nowhere near as dangerous as heroin or cocaine or the other drugs classified under that label. This was even recommended by the DEA in the 1980s, though the organization never actually acted upon the recommendation. The reason then was the same as it ever had been: marijuana is, was and will be a threat to the oil and pharmaceutical industries. It is naturally occurring, has great durability, and can ease pain without fear of debilitating or fatal side effects—unlike what can be said for drugs like fentanyl or for fossil fuels like petroleum. Hemp is industrial grade fiber that can be used in construction and manufacturing and yet it is not allowed to be grown in most states.
When it comes to vice, drugs and the law, a good long and hard look needs to be taken at marijuana. It is a naturally occurring plant that has grown all over the world and has been known to mankind since history was recorded. In this very country it was a staple crop for the Founding Fathers, many of whom used it themselves. I was never deemed dangerous or damaging until the 20th century when the new captains of industry intertwined themselves with legislators and worked the culture industry to create the perception that marijuana was harmful. Today, many people are recognizing the truth of the matter, which is that marijuana can help people—and does not need to be classified as something that hurts.
Conclusion
The research shows that marijuana is a substance with a great deal of good to it. Still, some attention should be paid to research that examines the negative effects of too much marijuana on the minds of young people. Because young people are still developing and their brains may be chemically altered by marijuana usage, which could impact them for the rest of their lives, there is a need also to understand the risks of marijuana legalization in terms of what threats it might pose for young people who have access to it.
For that reason, it may do well to consider legalizing marijuana but regulating it in the same manner in which alcohol and tobacco are regulated in the U.S. While both are legal to sell and consume, there are laws that regulate both: for example, it is illegal to sell either to a minor. For marijuana, similar laws could be enacted so as to safeguard and protect young minds that are still developing. Just because marijuana has medicinal effects does not mean it should be consumed by adolescents whenever they feel like getting high. This in itself can create issues with motivation that can negatively impact a community as well.
Thus, future evaluations should be conducted that examine the benefits and risks of marijuana legalization and compare them one to the other so that a fuller understanding of how to legalize and regulate the substance can be conducted. This study would be equally important to this one. It could be conducted by using Canada as a case study.

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