Recreational Marijuana
While Cannabis is expected to bring $70 million in tax revenue for the state of Colorado this year, many feel that it is a gateway drug, and that the legalization of marijuana will have many negative effects. How will marijuana change the states of Washington and Colorado, and will the rest of the nation follow in their footsteps?
While the numbers show that marijuana is bringing money into the states of Washington and Colorado, many still feel that the dangers of legalization are not worth the monetary benefits. It is often viewed as a “gateway drug,” meaning that after getting high from marijuana, users resort to other drugs for more intense, psychedelic experiences.
Some also believe that marijuana should not be regulated the same way as alcohol because the effects of marijuana are more instant an unavoidable than drunkenness.
“You can consume alcohol with a meal and not be drunk, but you can’t exactly smoke marijuana without being high,” said recent University of Illinois graduate Ben Henderson. “Since the effects are felt immediately, I think it should be controlled and regulated differently than alcohol.”
Others feel that current marijuana laws have led to unjust or unnecessary arrests and imprisonment.
According to usnews.com, marijuana-related offenses made up 48.3 percent of arrests in the United States in 2012, and these crimes are typically non-violent. These arrests are often believed to be racially biased, as well. In the state of South Carolina, for example, African-Americans are jailed at four times the rate of Caucasians for marijuana-related crimes.
Former presidential candidate Ron Paul said in an interview with Fox News, ““There is a disparity. It’s not that it is my opinion, it is very clear. Blacks and minorities who are involved with drugs are arrested disproportionately.”
Many believe that with marijuana legal and regulated, there would be less chances for racial prejudice to occur within law enforcement; Ron Paul is one of those people.
“Sometimes people can use drugs and be arrested three times and never committed a violent act and they can go to prison for life,” said Paul. “I think the federal war on drugs is a total failure.”
The United States is currently a nation where the penalty for possessing marijuana changes drastically as you cross state lines. Federal legalization could have financial benefits and possibly reduce the number of unjust arrests, but it could also have negative side effects due to the gateway drug theory and intoxicated behavior.
In a nation where an estimated 38% of the population has recreationally consumed cannabis, the future of the plant remains to be seen.
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Time to legalize,