LEGALIZED MARIJUANA 1

LEGALIZED MARIJUANA 7

Legalized Marijuana

Nikita Warren

Southern New Hampshire University

8-1-2020

Introduction

Marijuana is an end product obtained from cannabis plant and it is one of the oldest plants and crops in the history of mankind. In the United States, marijuana is known for since 1600’s and have been found useful for different purposes for instance because of its medicinal value, it could be used to manufacture different types of medicines, it could be used for recreational purposes, and spiritual purposes as well (McMahon, 2017). However, in the history of the United States, marijuana is none of the products that have a complex history because of the effects it could have on users which could differ from one person to the other. For instance, the use of marijuana which was legalized in the 1600’s could positively affect one person by helping the person relax and sleep comfortably or recover from an ailment while as it could cause mental instabilities in another. The different effects caused the various US leaders that have rules in different sessions and times to differ in opinions, feelings, and attitudes about the issue.

For instance in 1850’s marijuana was added to the United States pharmacopeia because it could be used as a treatment for pain, nausea relief, vomiting, appetite stimulation, and opioid withdrawal and this made marijuana a legalized product. In the 1930’s during the Great Depression, many people realized the stimulation ability of Marijuana and could use it to handle life and job related stress and other life challenges and this made to start abusing the product. The increasing rate of marijuana abuse led to increased negative effects and this made the government to ban the product declaring it illegal (Heilig, 2016). Over the years with realization and introduction of other products that could be used in the production of pharmaceutical products that were found more reliable in terms of medicinal value made the medical industry to discredit marijuana making its use illegal in all US states and sectors an action that other states followed suit later on (Yu, Chen, & Yan, 2020). Even in the present times, though there is high use of marijuana in the United States, it is an illegal product with the recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which is the same institution that can help in reaching most suitable results regarding marijuana.

Sides of the debate

Since the establishment of marijuana in the 1600’s up to the current times, the product has both its negative and positive effects to different industries and individuals as well both in the United States and across the world (Yu, Chen, & Yan, 2020). This is to mean that marijuana is a global product that is widely known and have been used for different purposes even though the users suffered some negative effects after its use. For starters, marijuana has a medicinal value and it has been for many years in the production of different pharmaceutical products. For instance, it could be used produce medicines that could alter the effects of opium use; it could be used to manufacturer drugs that facilitate sleep in people suffering from insomnia, low appetite, pain killers as well.

According to Rogeberg, (2018); marijuana has great potential when it comes to boosting economic growth and development. Marijuana has therapeutic abilities and has a way of stabilizing the brain, helping a person to relax and get over stress. For this reason it could be used in different recreational facilities to help people to help people relax thereby improving the quality of life. The product could be used by some American communities for spiritual purposes and this helped in promoting and maintaining cultural values and beliefs.

Nevertheless, marijuana is one of the highest abused product due to the enormous benefits that comes with it use. Due to the fact that it helps users to relax, it requires usage in recommendable portions a knowledge that only a few people and professionals could know. For this reason, marijuana is an easy to abuse product and its affects the effective working of the brain when overused (Yu, Chen, & Yan, 2020). Moreover, it addictive in nature and this has made many users to gradually become dependent leading to high drugs abuse and dependency in the United States. When abused, it makes a person to develop other weird behaviors for instance, extensively huge food appetite, laziness, crime rate, fear, anxiety, distrust, and users neglect personal and general hygiene (Mechcatie, 2018). Users also due to brain alteration lose sense of time thereby making the life of users completely disorganized and this is why it is considered as a narcotic substance.

Position

Despite marijuana having a series of weaknesses that should not be ignored if a healthy community is anything to go by, legalizing marijuana is the best thing that the US government and other governments across the world should embrace. The strengths of marijuana outweigh the weakness and the good thing is that the weaknesses can be controlled. This is to mean that challenges brought about by marijuana should not prevent the people to enjoy the enormous benefits and what the government and the society should be working on doing is developing strategies that would mitigate the weaknesses instead of doing away with the product entirely. According to Rogeberg, (2018); in the present times, marijuana is the highest abused illegal product in the United States and other countries across the globe due to the practice of making the product illegal. For this reason, users have no other choice since they want to enjoy the benefits but use the product while hiding and in the process since no information about marijuana are being shared; they overuse and end up being dependent.

According to Morris, Gerber, & Menard, (2011); social control and self-control theories explains that human beings prefer doing things that are prohibited as they find fun and curiosity in doing them as compared to things that they are free to do. the social control theory hence claims that morals, values, principles, and beliefs should be taught on people so that they can learn and develop the right internal perception and attitude that would help them do what is right thereby boosting their levels of self-control. Further, Rogeberg (2018) claims that when people are allowed to have social and self-control; they are able to enjoy economic growth that naturally seals all loopholes that would make them have deviant and criminal behaviors.

It is a fact that in the American society today, many people are suffering from marijuana addiction due to its illegalized state. The fact that the government has insisted that the product is illegal and users are harshly punished, its production, importation, and supply in the United States have not only remained active bit have also increased. As a matter of reality, the amount of marijuana present in the US currently exceeds amounts that have ever been present in the US history. This is to mean that people are not willing to let go the use and sale of marijuana anytime soon. The government is also losing because no revenues are being generated from the sale of marijuana since it is an illegal business (Leyton, 2016). To save the people and the nation, it is important for the House of Representatives or senators to re-introduce a “legalizing marijuana” bill offering societal, individual, and national benefits that would be enjoyed. For instance, the Senator can state that people will be taught about marijuana, the right stage recommendable for use like it is the case with use of alcohol in the United States, recommendable portions, and consequences of abuse. The government to also be enlightened on how the economy would grow if the business is transacted legally right from the farming stage, to production and distribution. It is a fact that such a bill or motion might attract heated debate with some members supporting and others opposing since policy-making process is complex but the good thing is that it is practical and realistic and would attract misunderstandings but with clear elaborations, there would be an agreement.

Considerations/recommendations

In the United States, the current political climate is moderate especially because of the current COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the economy and the health of the people. With the high number of people getting infected and dying on daily basis, the government, companies, politicians, and all other stakeholders are desperate on how to best solve the problem. It is a reality that criminalizing the use of marijuana is only making matters worse because people using and sharing the substance while hiding thereby boosting the spread of the virus. This is to mean that this is the right time for the bill to be introduced as a way of offering politicians a practical way of mitigating the current health and economic turmoil that the country is facing. It is a fact that opposers might feel that legalizing marijuana might create ways of more spread and that illegal supplies would still continue; it is a fact that changes goes through challenges before they can push through and positively impact individuals, societies, and governments as initially intended.

It is for this reason that government institutions should advocate for the creation of a new legislation or change the current law that criminalizes marijuana. The more reason is that amending the law would eliminate the need to hide when using marijuana and the product would be openly used in the different industries. While at it, the government institutions would have experts to address the people about marijuana thereby creating the right awareness that would help people to have the right self-control. With the issue addressed from a positive point of view considering the high number of people quietly suffering from it, it is likely that the proposal will attain over 60% success (Leyton, 2016). Moreover, parents and people in the society do not appreciate seeing young and energetic people wasting away as a result of drug use which a majority has become dependent on due to lack of ample knowledge.

With the government legalizing, the available products would not be sold illegally to young people but rather the target market would change to companies for production of different goods and services. According to Mechcatie (2018); the current day advanced technology would help in coming up with better ways of developing other users goods that would have no negative impact on users and the need to use the product illegal would have vanished completely and people saved from compelling forces that have pushed them to abuse marijuana since the suppliers would have an alternative point to deliver their products legally.

References

Heilig, S. (2016). Clearing Some Smoke: Medical Cannabis, Fifteen Years Later. Hastings Women’s LJ, 27, 223.

Leyton, M. (2016). Legalizing marijuana. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience: JPN, 41(2), 75.

McMahon, J. (2017). Marijuana History and Legal Aspects in the United States.

Mechcatie, E. (2018). The impact of legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 118(7), 16.

Morris, R. G., Gerber, J., & Menard, S. (2011). Social bonds, self-control, and adult criminality: A nationally representative assessment of Hirschi’s revised self-control theory. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38(6), 584-599.

Rogeberg, O. (2018). Prohibition, regulation or laissez faire: The policy trade-offs of cannabis policy. International Journal of Drug Policy, 56, 153-161.

Yu, B., Chen, X., Chen, X., & Yan, H. (2020). Marijuana legalization and historical trends in marijuana use among US residents aged 12–25: results from the 1979–2016 National Survey on drug use and health. BMC public health, 20(1), 156.