Should Marijuana Be Legal or Illegal? Research Paper Example

Abstract

This paper examines the legality of the argument for use of the soft drug Marijuana. The argument put forward is based upon the usefulness of the drug and it being less harmful to society than tobacco, other drugs or alcohol abuse.  The paper is divided into four main sections: (i) Introduction and Background to the use of Marijuana (ii) The Pro’s and Con’s supporting the use and legality of the drug (iii) The legal position – should it be changed ?  (iv) Concluding remarks.  Will legalization of Marijuana benefit society by reducing crime, helping the economy and be beneficial to society?

Introduction and Background

Marijuana is a widely used illicit drug in the USA.  It is essentially derived from the hemp plant ‘cannabis sativa’ .  The drug  is comprised of the dried shredded components of the plants mainly seeds, leaves, flowers stems etc.  The resultant dried substance contains an active chemical called THC[1].  The drug is normally taken by rolling cigarettes often termed as a joint.  It can equally be smoked in a pipe  or another method is that of “blunts”  or cigar stubs that have been emptied of  the tobacco and replaced with marijuana.

THC is a drug that impacts the brain by inhalation of the smoke which use passed to the lungs and into the blood circulates the system.  Drug essentially acting as a strong sedative and impacting those receptors in the brain that influence pleasure, memories, thoughts.  Concentration of sensual perception.  The continued use of marijuana can lead to addiction and produce a number of potentially harmful side effects.  The drug has been used in certain medical treatments but in general scientists believe the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The Pro’s and Con’s of using Marijuana

Arguments put forward in support of legalizing the drug have included that of it will help to reduce crime by bringing the drug out into the open and not creating a drug sub culture. It is considered that there are far more serious narcotics in the market place that cause a great deal more harm than Marijuana.  Others state that it is no significant difference to that of tobacco smoking and despite its proven medical links to lung cancer, nevertheless people have freedom of choice.  Others have stated that it is so widely used as an illicit drug that it might as well be legal owing to the amount of people abusing the system.  Fig 1 Illustrates the general accepted use of the drug. Source :  (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009).

Figure 1:  12th grader statistics on marijuana use

The support of the medical community for use of the substance ” Key developments in the assessment of marijuana’s medical use include: acceptance of marijuana’s medical use by health care professionals; recognition of marijuana as a medicine of last resort by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences; recognition of the therapeutic properties of cannabinoids by the scientific community and health care providers; the emergence of basic research explaining the mode of action of cannabis-based medicines; the emergence of clinical research on the medical use of cannabis; and acceptance of marijuana’s medical use by eight states”  (Drug Science Org, 2006).

Arguments against the legalization of the drug are pretty formidable and include the following counter arguments:

• potential for addiction — long-term use of the drug is known to uphold Forsythe’s including irritability, fatigue, decreased appetite, anxiety and drug craving.  Addiction can lead to progression to more harder and hold for drugs like cocaine;
• effects on the heart — use of the drug increases the heart rate by 20 to 100% and increases the risk of a heart attack.  4.8 fold.  The risk being incrementally higher in the elderly population;
• Cancer risk — many people are unaware that marijuana smokers run an even higher risk of lung cancer than that of tobacco smokers.  Marijuana smoke contains between 50 to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than that of tobacco.  Despite this there is a lack of clinical evidence at the moment in terms of proving a link between cancer and marijuana smoking.
• Mental health — there have been a number of studies carried out which are linked to the use of marijuana for certain mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies.  High dose of marijuana on nature produce an acute psychotic reaction.

Conclusion

The American national survey on drugs indicated that in 2007 there are some 40.4 million Americans using marijuana.  These being in the age groups of 12 or older.  Another study that has not been fully conducted relates to that of passive smoking.  With tobacco products.  It has been proven that passive smoking can lead to potentially smokers getting lung cancer.  Hence smoking indoors has been banned in most public places.  As marijuana contains an even higher percentage of carcinogenic hydrocarbons, as contained in the smoke produced, it may be a reasonable hypothesis that passive smoking from cannabis is equally or more dangerous to that of tobacco smokers.

One of the legal arguments is based upon the fact that marijuana is a gateway drug.  And as such once addiction has taken place.  It provides a stimulus to move on to more harder drugs ” The people who are predisposed to use drugs and have the opportunity to use drugs are more likely than others to use both marijuana and harder drugs … Marijuana typically comes first because it is more available”.  (International Debate Education Association, 2008).   The view held in Canada by the Centre of Mental Health and Addictions (CAMH) states ” CAMH thus holds the position that the criminal justice system in general, and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) specifically, under which cannabis possession is a criminal offense, has become an inappropriate control mechanism.”  (CAMH, 2009).

It is considered that with America’s current crackdown on illicit drugs, and in particular, drug trafficking, it is unlikely that marijuana smoking will be legalized in the near future.  Undoubtedly, the controversy and debate’s will continue.

Works Cited

CAMH. (2009). The Legal Sanctions Related to Cannabis Possession/Use Position Statement. Retrieved 5 26, 2010, from CAMH: http://wwww.camh.net/Public_policy/Public_policy_papers/cannabis.html

Drug Science Org. (2006). Arguments Supporting the Cannabis Rescheduling Petition . Retrieved 5 26, 2010, from Drug Science Org: http://www.drugscience.org/intro/arguments.html

International Debate Education Association. (2008, 6 27). Argument: There is little evidence that Marijuana is a gateway drug. Retrieved 5 26, 2010, from International Debate Education Association: http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Argument:_There_is_little_evidence_that_Marijuana_is_a_gateway_drug

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2009, 7). NIDA InfoFacts: Marijuana. Retrieved 5 26, 2010, from National Institute on Drug Abuse: http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html

[1] delta-9-terahydrocanabinal or THC for short