Term paper on Legalization On Marijuana

Legalization On Marijuana Essays

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Marijuana has been a very controversial issue. Many speculate that changes in the laws concerning the possession of marijuana (see Appendix A) are long overdue and our society can no longer postpone this decision. Three possible changes to the law (legalization for medical purposes, decriminalization for medical or general reasons, and full legalization) are being considered. According to an Angus Reid survey in October, public support for legalization is swelling in Canada. A slim majority of Canadians, 51%, now believe that smoking marijuana should not be a criminal offence, up from 39% in 1987. 83% agree that it should not be a criminal offence if used for medicinal purposes only. Nonetheless, marijuana remains illegal while other more dangerous drugs, both addictive and harmful, remain legal. Statistics Canada reports that 74.4% of Canadians over 15 drink alcohol, about 70% drink coffee, and some 25% smoke tobacco. Alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco are highly addictive and to some extent mind-altering, hence if these three are legal it only stands to reason that marijuana should likewise be legalized.

The medicinal uses of marijuana are being seen as a legitimate claim for the legalization of marijuana.

Judge Patrick Sheppard, the Ontario judge who presided over the Terry Parker epileptic case of 1997, ruled that marijuana was therapeutically beneficial, that Parker be exempt from further charges concerning marijuana, and that Parker's seized marijuana plants were to be returned to him. Specifically, Judge Sheppard concluded that the smoking of marijuana had a therapeutic effect in the treatment of: nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat cancer and AIDS patients ; intraocular pressure from glaucoma; muscle spasticity from spinal cord injuries or multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy; migraine headaches; epileptic seizures; and chronic pain. Smoking marijuana has also been proven to have a therapeutic effect in combating weight loss in AIDS patients. It relaxes the patient, eliminating pain, and brings upon hunger and thirst, obviously leading to the patients eating and drinking more, which builds up the patient's immune system. One AIDS patient using marijuana had blood tests taken last fall which show that he has a higher T-cell count, and also carries the antibodies to Hepatitis A, B, and C.

This evidence also brings the anti-marijuana claims of marijuana destroying the user's immune system into question. The most prominent anti-marijuana group is the US government. Their marijuana propaganda is quite similar to the propaganda used in W.W.II. Marijuana smokers are said to lack any ambition, make fools out of themselves, do poorly in athletics and academics, and have a high risk of catching AIDS. They also claim that marijuana causes an abundance of problems, primarily lung cancer. However, the US government has not produced a single case where pneumonia or lung cancer was contracted from smoking marijuana. After reviewing the evidence, DEA administrative law Judge Francis Young declared that, "marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" despite the governments accusations.

An increasing number of influential organizations, such as the Lymphoma Foundation and the Physicians Association for AIDS Care, have been fighting the marijuana laws because its use does not cross a "sufficient threshold of harm" and they believe the state should not prohibit private behaviour that causes little harm to the user or society, and that the law interferes with legitimate medical uses of cannabis. Sheppard, after listening to expert advice for and against the medical use of marijuana, concluded: 'the consumption of marijuana is relatively harmless compared to the "hard" drugs, tobacco and alcohol; no hard evidence existed demonstrating irreversible organic or mental damage from the consumption of marijuana or it induces psychoses and is addictive; marijuana is not "criminogenic" and does not make users more aggressive or violent; the health-related costs of cannabis use are negligible when compared to the costs attributable to tobacco and alcohol; and regular moderate use of marijuana causes no physical or psychological harm to the vast majority of users'. He also accepted the fact that marijuana smoke is much more efficient than the legal pill form of marijuana (see Appendix B) and prohibition denies Parker his right to an effective medicine and Parker stands a daily risk of being deprived of his right to life, liberty, and security. Sheppard stressed several times in his address to the court that any person granted "medically approved use" of marijuana by a doctor would be exempt from laws that prohibit the possession or cultivation of marijuana. The judgement is not a resolution of the issue, but it is clearly a first step. It provides legitimacy to the claim of the medical necessity of marijuana consumption and can be used as precedence in court. Thus, the court has shown compassion where the government has been entirely unwilling to.

Economically, legalization would result in saving the money currently spent on enforcing the law and also generate money from taxing marijuana. Realistically speaking, prohibition has been an incredibly expensive and inevitable failure. Also, marijuana does not seem to be harmful enough to justify the laws, causing little harm to the user or society, being a victimless crime. Moreover, Prohibition criminalizes otherwise law abiding citizens. Furthermore, suppression fosters far more socially destructive criminal activity. Finally, many people believe legalization will result in a safer product, a cheaper product, and fewer resources spent on law enforcement.

The legalization of marijuana in Canada would have huge economic effects. Criminology Professor Neil Boyd, of Simon Fraser University, estimates the cost of catching, prosecuting, and punishing marijuana users at anywhere from $200 million to $2 billion annually. Professor Eric Single, of the University of Toronto's department of preventive medicine and biostatistics, testified cannabis accounts for only part of the $1.37 billion price tag for illicit substance abuse in Canada, compared to $7.5 billion for alcohol and $9.6 billion for tobacco. Early in July, a freedom of information request by researcher Ken Rubin unearthed a series of Health Canada internal memoranda, which revealed that departmental bureaucrats are already looking ways to control marijuana's strength and tax its sale after legalization. Also, a November 1996 Health Canada memo revealed that senior bureaucrats are considering the possibility of taxing marijuana growers should the drug become legal. These two memos show that the possibility of taxing marijuana is already being considered. If you took the $200 million to $2 billion that the government spends against marijuana users annually and added the revenue collected from marijuana taxes, in the event of legalization, the government would have a substantial surplus of money.

There are also many people who believe the prohibition of marijuana has been an inevitable failure. The evidence suggests prohibition campaigns have met with mixed results, at best. The evidence is that there is a continuing upward trend in drug use despite the harsher penalties and the increased threats. It is hard to imagine a better test of this model than the US, which has had tremendous increases in resources devoted to enforcement, and very tough sentencing. In 1988-89 they got even tougher and yet they have an enormous amount of recreational, casual, experimental drug use as well as a large number of addicts. One of the main reasons prohibition does not work is because people quickly realized that if they were careful they probably would not get caught.

Since people use it willingly and in secret there is no complainant, making it very...

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