Arguments For and Against Marijuana Legalization

Introduction: The Shifting Landscape of Marijuana Policy

Today, more than half of U.S. states have already legalized marijuana in some form for various purposes, and several more are expected to follow suit. The reasons for this trend are multiple, but include fundamental changes in social attitudes about marijuana, the recognition that the federal government's so-called "war on drugs" has been an abject failure, and the realization on the part of state lawmakers that marijuana sales can provide an enormous boon to state coffers in the form of additional excise taxes and a reduction in the costs associated with more serious substance abuse practices.

At first blush, the push for nationwide legalization of marijuana at the federal level would appear to be a "no-brainer" given the recent trends across the country, but there are factors that must be taken into account when formulating an opinion on this issue. For example, in states where marijuana has been legalized for medical and recreational use, cultivators are using innovative technologies to concentrate the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to unprecedented levels, meaning that casual users may experience more intense effects than they anticipated (Domestic cannabis suppression, 2020). In addition, the use of marijuana is also believed to cause some physical and mental side effects, some of which may be severe. However, most scientific research into cannabis was largely halted for the past 84 years, for the reasons discussed below.

Historical Evolution of the Marijuana Controversy

For many Americans, marijuana has either always been illegal or always been legal for most of their lives, meaning that the evolution of the controversy over whether marijuana should be legalized has either accelerated dramatically over the past two decades or become moot entirely. In reality, the origins of the controversy date to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. While physicians in the United States continued to prescribe cannabis products for various disorders into the 1940s, increasing reports about immigrants bringing marijuana across the border and committing violent crimes in drug-induced states resulted in a nationwide, racially motivated "reefer madness" reaction. Public opinion about the drug shifted sharply, and marijuana use became prohibited under state and federal law, as well as in prevailing social attitudes (McAllister, 2019). In addition, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 further solidified the country's moral stance against marijuana use for any purpose — including medical applications, with rare exceptions — during an especially turbulent period in the nation's history (St. John & Lewis, 2019).

Today, the question of whether marijuana should be legalized has already been answered in the affirmative by a growing number of states, and it is reasonable to posit that the drug will be decriminalized at the federal level in the foreseeable future. According to Janda, Berry, and Goldman (2017), "Smoking marijuana has become fairly commonplace in the United States. Roughly half of all American adults say they have tried smoking pot. Not coincidentally, the percentage of people who believe marijuana should be fully legalized has gone up, and now more than half of the public favors this position" (p. 26).

Consequently, advocates of legalized marijuana in the United States increasingly ask, "What took so long?" Indeed, during the 84-year period since the enactment of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, virtually all scientific research into the potential medical benefits and commercial applications of cannabis was placed on hold, and millions of Americans — along with their family members — had their lives devastated by criminal charges, in many cases felonies, stemming from nothing more than possessing marijuana. One of the more positive developments accompanying the relaxation of marijuana laws has been the ex post facto eradication of criminal charges for simple possession in states where the drug has been legalized, meaning that former offenders no longer carry a criminal record for a practice that is now legal.

Arguments in Favor of Legalization

Beyond the enormous tax revenues being generated on legal marijuana sales, a number of other compelling benefits have been realized in states that have legalized the drug. These include a reduction in drunk driving (Reduced fatalities for third consecutive year, 2020) and a decrease in opioid overdose fatalities (Overdose death rates, 2020). Moreover, in sharp contrast to some other intoxicants such as alcohol, the effects of marijuana are comparatively mild and highly transient, meaning that consumers can essentially continue with their normal lives while using this drug on a daily basis.

Notwithstanding the relative safety of marijuana compared to other drugs — notably, there has never been a fatality directly attributable to marijuana usage alone — it is also important to consider the positions of opponents of legalization. According to Paluszek (2020), "Marijuana is now legal in more states than ever before, with medical marijuana proving an essential tool to relieve symptoms caused by chemotherapy and AIDS, or for those in chronic pain. But it's important to note that smoking marijuana doesn't come without risks, particularly if you do it every day" (para. 2).

Conclusion

The research showed that a new type of "reefer madness" is sweeping the nation today in the form of increasing numbers of states legalizing marijuana for medical and/or recreational use, driven by the relaxation of social views toward the drug as well as the recognition that cannabis represents a significant opportunity to generate state revenue. While the research also showed that there are some legitimate arguments against legalizing marijuana, the numerous benefits already achieved by states where the drug has been legalized more than offset any of these downsides.

In the final analysis, the day will likely come when marijuana is sold openly in convenience and liquor stores alongside beer and tobacco, and advertisements proclaiming one brand of marijuana superior to another will become commonplace. It is reasonable to conclude that Americans in the 22nd century will look back at the nation's experiment with legislating this form of morality — with its arcane laws against marijuana — as tantamount to the failure of Prohibition. They may well find it difficult to comprehend how the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was allowed to exert such powerful control over the quality of people's lives for nearly a century.

References

Domestic cannabis suppression. (2020). U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Retrieved from https://www.dea.gov/domestic-cannabis-suppression-eradication-program

Janda, K., Berry, J. M., & Goldman, J. (2017). The challenge of democracy: American government in global politics (14th ed.). New York: Wadsworth/Cengage.

McAllister, W. B. (2019, Spring). Harry Anslinger saves the world: National security imperatives and the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs, 33(1), 37–41.

Overdose death rates. (2020). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

Paluszek, E. (2020, January 2). Side effects of smoking marijuana every day according to science. Yahoo! Life. Retrieved from

Reduced fatalities for third consecutive year. (2020, May 5). U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved from

St. John, V. J., & Lewis, V. (2019, January 1). "Vilify them night after night": Anti-Black drug policies, mass incarceration, and pathways forward. Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, 20, 18.

The history of prohibition of marijuana in the United States. (2020). Leafly. Retrieved from https://www.leafly.com/learn/legalization/marijuana-illegal-history