By Derek Olsen

Marijuana, a psychoactive drug that causes distorted perceptions of reality, loss of short term memory, and the feeling of accomplishment. The constant use of the drug can eventually lead to lung and airway problems, and weight issues (due to its appetite stimulating effects). Yes, this is the medical reasoning of why marijuana can be bad for you, but it is not why it is illegal. It dates back to the 1910 during the Mexican revolution and the immigration of Mexicans. One notable difference in Mexican-Americans was the use and ownership of marijuana. Due to the tensions between America and Mexico at the time, the marijuana first became illegal in California. It was perceived as an exclusively Mexican drug; a Texan senator had even stated, “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff is what makes them crazy.” Eventually myths arose through yellow journalism portraying marijuana to be un-American (Timber versus Hemp). Yes, the medical effects of marijuana can be harmful, but it is important to not correlate it to its legality.

With sixty-four thousand inmates in prison at about 4% of the US prisoner population, marijuana conviction rate is at an all-time high. In 2006 alone, 829,625 arrests related to marijuana were made, 89% of which were just for possession (Marijuana Policy Project). Convictional statistics aside, it is perceived that illegalization of marijuana constitutes a healthy and safer society. In fact, the de-motivation of marijuana ultimately slows down the advancement of oneself. But does incarceration not do the same?

The illegalization of marijuana is perceived to ultimately lower or abolish the use of the substance. Or is it just the opposite? As Prohibition demonstrated, crime rates rose, and quite ironically, so did the consumption of alcohol. This is not to say that the same would happen for marijuana, in fact it may even go up in use. The issue with prohibition was the illegal alcohol trade. Once it legalized, the illegal profit gains of alcohol came to a halt. Both legalization and illegalization have negative effects on society as a whole; it simply comes down to the lesser evil.

Legalization and approval are two words that are simply mixed up to be the same concept. When something is legalized, it doesn’t mean that all of society will partake. What about cigarettes? It’s legalized, but it remains a notorious cancer agent in our society. Simply put, if marijuana legalization was instituted tomorrow, it doesn’t mean that all of America is going to smoke up. I believe there are health related issues with marijuana; it’s obvious that our lungs weren’t designed to intake smoke. As a person who does not smokes himself, I find myself observing the side effects of my peers who do. It is quite obviously a stupefying drug as is alcohol, but there is a big difference: marijuana never causes someone to be violent.

An issue that comes up with every drug (legal or not) is the addiction that follows it. But what is addiction exactly? Many correlate addiction with withdrawal and the reoccurring use of a certain substance. This is not the case. Under the Merriam Webster Dictionary, addiction is the “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance.” When a person intakes THC, the cannabinoid receptors in the brain are stimulated. Through the Nucleus accumbens, the user will experience the feeling of reward, which is what ultimately fuels the urge to smoke marijuana. So is it addictive? Yes, marijuana is addictive, that is, psychologically addictive. But in that case, everything is addictive including: food, exercise, videogames, and even relationships. Anything that stimulates our Nucleus accumben receptors has a potential of becoming addictive; the issue is the physical dependence that follows the addiction. According to a drug research in Canada: “Significant physical dependence on cannabis has not been demonstrated in humans or animals, and it would appear that there are normally no serious adverse physiological effects or withdrawal symptoms resulting from abstinence from the drug” (Cannabis and its effects).Yes it is very likely to come across users who have a psychological dependency on marijuana. The user just has to maintain self-control as they do with things as menial as food.

Why is it that alcohol and tobacco use prospers in legality over marijuana? It is possibly because of the psychological altering factors of marijuana compared to tobaccos little effect on user’s sobriety. And don’t get me wrong, marijuana along with most other drugs can and is abused via use and trade. Through legalization, we can focus our attention to more destructive drugs (controlled or not). In 2003, the U.S. Centers for disease control reported 20,687 deaths that were related to alcohol (excluding accidents and homicides). As for that same year, the CDC reported 0 deaths related to marijuana use.

Legalization does not mean that people will have the ability to drive while under the influence of marijuana. It is a mind altering, reality deceptive substance just as alcohol is; there is no need for a “don’t drive while high” law. Driving while intoxicated is a law not limited to just alcohol, it can be applied for anything that impairs one’s ability to drive. This in turn may raise the rate of ‘under the influence’ drivers. But the real issue is that the legal control of marijuana today is causing more harm to people than that of the negative side effects can cause. It is simply – the lesser evil.

Medical marijuana, this is a method in which we justify marijuana as a medicine for people with chronic pain. Why is it just chronic pain? It’s not, but the majority of people pursuing medical marijuana have no medical reasoning to obtain it. They tell their doctor they have “chronic pain” which isn’t very diagnosable. They then receive a card which legalizes the ownership of 24 plants. I’m not saying that there aren’t people who actually use this process to cure their chronic pain; it’s just the medical process of obtaining the card is quite exploitable. It’s simply a way politicians can beat around the bush. They don’t want to completely legalize it nor do they want to impose a statewide ban on it. It’s not an effective alternative. The illegal drug trade stays as strong as ever, if not, stronger, now that a few people with “chronic pain” have legal ability to grow up to 24 plants.
The US received 15 billion dollars in tobacco industry taxation in 2004 alone (Tobacco Tax Revenue 1977-2004). Could the same process be as successful through the taxation of marijuana? It has been said, due to the subjectivity and wide range of quality, that a flat rate tax could possibly be an ineffective tax that could be taken advantage of. So instead of so many dollars per pound, a more effective tax would be to price it according to the percentage of THC in each trade. Though it would be extremely subjective to project possible tax revenue from marijuana; the cheap production cost of the drug, however, would allow for a hefty amount of taxation. Though it may not be intentional, those delinquent potheads would now be paying for our roads, schools, welfare and etc. Hence legalization gives back to everyone and the community, and takes it out of the pockets of the drug lords in unison.

The most pressing issue at hand is the arrests and convictions that infest our prisons with harmless people. Marijuana often goes hand-in-hand with other crimes (which should be punished), for those who end up imprisoned solely for marijuana use, however; the punishment is damaging our society as a whole. Felonies stay on record forever, this meaning that a source of employment is much more difficult to find. In many situations, the convict has connections through his previous imprisonment. The window to crime is not only open, the window to a law abiding life is closed. I have a cousin in a maximum security for delivery of marijuana alone. The fact that he is dwelling with murderers and rapists just seems like a punishment gone too far. Yes, he did break the law by trafficking marijuana. But is a 19 year old boy who sold a little bit of weed a big enough threat to imprison him for a year in a maximum security prison?

Just as every controversial topic, there are virtually an infinite amount of arguments from both sides. The perpetual use of marijuana will eventually lead to irreversible lung and airway damage. The de-motivational factors of the drug leads people to disregard their goals and may lead to a fake delirium of accomplishment. These are all issues; it is why we should teach future generations that pot is bad. But this shouldn’t be taken into the hands of our political superiors. Police officers are spending a lot of time and energy to catch these “pot heads.” Eventually it results into imprisonment of tens of thousands of people who wouldn’t harm a fly. Let morality and common sense be our law keepers. Marijuana control is simply not worth it, at the expense of our society – it’s not worth it.


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