Marijuana is a stimulant drug obtained from cannabis tree. The intended use of marijuana is to help in curing psychoactive diseases. Five states in the United States of America have changed their laws to legalize small amount of marijuana. The states include Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. The main reason why these states have legalized marijuana is for economic benefit. Marijuana is one of the largest cash crops produced in the United States. By restricting the production and use of the drug, the country stands a chance to lose great economically. Now that research says that marijuana has much positive mental effect, these states believe that there is no need to illegalize marijuana. There is also the issue of cost of illegalizing marijuana. In this case the states will have to employ more Drug Enforcement Agent which is quite costly. Studies also indicate that more than 50% of the American population support the legalization of production and use of marijuana (Kilmer, 251).
Many countries have weighed the effect versus the cost of marijuana and resolved to legalize it. Some countries like Jamaica fully allows for the possession of marijuana of any amount and even the use. In 2015, the district of Washington DC legalized the use and possession of marijuana in small quantities. There was also a proposal that marijuana be commercialized and even taxed. However, the congress opposed the move to commercialize and even tax marijuana. Twenty three states in the District of Colombia have also formed some laws that legalize marijuana in some forms.
Unlike alcohol and tobacco use which follows more of a daily pattern, marijuana is taken occasionally. Studies show that many marijuana users are the youths (Kilmer, 13). This indicates that marijuana is not mainly used because of addiction but because of experimentation. People who take marijuana really form an intense addiction. It can therefore be said that marijuana is one drug that is less addictive. But like any other drug, we can’t say entirely say that marijuana is not addictive at all. Continuous use of marijuana can lead to an increase in instances of addiction. When marijuana is legalized, more people will have an access to it. As a result of greater accessibility, there are chances that more people will become addicted to the drug. Legalizing marijuana will therefore make it a more addictive drug causing more effects and instances of addictions.
Looking at countries and states where marijuana has been legalized, one will realize that the use of the drug has increased by some percentage. Studies in Uruguay show that since the legalization of marijuana in 2001, the instances of juvenile drug addiction have increased. 4% more youths in Uraguay are now drug users. This increase is as a result of increased access to the drug, (Vitiello, 156). It is therefore evident that legalizing marijuana will increase the instances of juvenile drug abuse. The case is not just about the youths alone, even adults will have more access to the drug and hence the increase of marijuana use in the entire population.
Another problem with legalizing marijuana is the instance of crime. Studies show that the use of the drug may lead to involvement of crime. Legalizing marijuana therefore means that more people will have an access to the drug, hence become drug users. By becoming drug users, these people will end up committing crimes that they might not have done when they were sober. Studies show that almost 76% of inmates have used drugs at least some time in their life. Some people can oppose this by saying that almost all people who have been arrested have taken milk at one point of their life; but this does not mean that taking milk increases rate of crime. However, biologically speaking, the use of drugs like marijuana impairs one’s judgement. When one’s judgement is impaired, they tend to have less fear. Taking drugs will therefore make one become less fearful of the consequences of committing crimes. It can therefore be said that legalizing drug will cause more instances of people getting into criminal activities.
The problem with this premise is that there are so many other factors leading to one involving in criminal activities. Factors like social status, intrinsic behaviour or an individual upbringing can also lead to criminal activities. But what is true is that drug use, to some extent increase the rate of criminal activities. One can say that there are many drugs that can lead someone to crime. They can list more powerful and addictive drugs like cocaine to be more influential to criminal activities. Some studies show that drug related crimes mainly come as a result of the person trying to do illegal things so that they can acquire the drug. That is very true. It is also true that marijuana is quite cheap and affordable that people will rarely steal so that they can get money to buy it. The baseline fact here is that marijuana is an entry drug. It is the drug for most starters. As people get used to it, they tend to yearn for something stronger. As a result, they go for stronger drugs like cocaine. By using cocaine, they become more addicted and start stealing to get more and more of cocaine. We can therefore say that legalizing marijuana will lead to crimes in the long run.
David Boyum and Mark Kleiman wrote a paper in order to review drug policies. Their finding was that drugs like marijuana and cocaine are more likely to cause crime. This is because these drugs are taken in small quantity. They can easily be hidden by the users, hence hiding from law enforcement officers. In my opinion that the use of marijuana should never be legalized. By making marijuana more accessible, mostly to the adults, crime rates will definitely scale up. This proponent can easily be opposed by marijuana supporters saying that since marijuana started being legalized from 1990s the crime rates have been seen to be reducing. They can therefore say that marijuana does not lead to higher crime rates. What is important to notice is that many steps have been put in place to ensure that crime rates are reduced.
Studies have shown that there has been an increase in the number of arrests over the years, since some states and countries started legalizing marijuana (Swift, 79). People from other countries and states have been influenced by the step taken by other governments to legalize marijuana. The main reason for this increase is that the dug-users believe that when other states or countries have legalized marijuana, then it must be a good drug with more befits than detriments. As results, the countries have spent a lot on the litigation and arrests of marijuana users and sellers. This means that steps taken by other countries to legalize marijuana have also affected some other countries both economically and socially.
My suggestion is that marijuana should be illegalized. Possession and use of marijuana should only be for medical purposes only. Like most of the countries do, growing of marijuana should only be done by licenced individuals. The production and distribution should also be done for medical purposes only. The use of marijuana should be restricted to patients who have prescriptions for the same. However, when countries and states continue to legalise marijuana, the rates of criminal activities will definitely increase.An increase in the rate of abusing other stronger drugs is also expected. Marijuana may not be very strong addictive drug, but it is a step towards drug abuse by very many people. Many people will not start from stronger drugs; they will need something less strong like marijuana. After taking marijuana for some time, they will graduate to stronger drugs which will have adverse effect to their life and to the entire community.
Reference
Kilmer, Beau, et al. Altered state?: assessing how marijuana legalization in California could influence marijuana consumption and public budgets. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2010.
Swift, Art. "For first time, Americans favor legalizing marijuana." Gallup Politics (2013).
Vitiello, Michael. "Legalizing Marijuana: California's Pot of Gold?." Wisconsin Law Review (2009): 10-09.
