Legalize Marijuana: The Evidence Speaks Loud and Clear
In April 2017, a CBS poll reported that 61% of Americans favor marijuana legalization, which is the highest percentage ever recorded in the poll. At the same time, a whopping 88% of the people favored medical marijuana use. That poll was topped in October 2017 by the Gallup Poll, which reported a 64% approval for legalization. In 1979, the CBS poll showed just 27% in favor of legalization, whereas the Gallup Poll reported only 12% favored it back in 1969.
These findings augur well for legalization, as the trend is steady and gaining as it goes. There is generally very little support among Americans for the federal government getting involved in state marijuana policy and only 23% of the people believe that marijuana engenders violent crime.
THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA BREAKTHROUGH:
One of the turning points in the medical legalization movement came in 2013 when CNN medical analyst Sanjay Gupta published an in-depth study of medical marijuana in a multi-series report on CNN. Gupta apologized for his prior opposition to medical marijuana, and noted that the government had deceived the public for nearly 70 years about the safety and uses of the drug. Gupta was not the first to cast light on the subject, but the timing was right, and the series struck a popular cord. Gupta did not speak to recreational use, but his dramatic turnaround on the medical side appears to have influenced public attitudes across spectrums of society. Indeed, the Gallup Poll reported in 2017 that ever since 2013, a majority of Americans have favored legalization.
Gupta concluded that marijuana does not have a high potential for abuse; it does have some very legitimate medical applications; and, there was no evidence for the draconian listing of marijuana as a dangerous drug by the federal government. The touching scenes of children with seizure disorders being helped miraculously when everything else had failed, along with other similar stories, touched the hearts of viewers worldwide.
TWO-TRACK PROCESS NEARLY IN SYNC:
It is difficult to separate the topic of medical marijuana from discussion of recreational legalization. Talking about one without the other is counter-intuitive. The two movements are going forward hand-in-hand. News of medical breakthroughs tend to nurture recreational arguments as well. Gupta discovered that there are no facts to justify classification of marijuana as a dangerous substance. He observed people getting relief from their seizures and experiencing reduced symptoms. He observed that some people were able to avoid opioids by using marijuana to control chronic pain. With medical facts leading the way, people’s thoughts of recreational legalization were also nurtured.
Public opinion now favors legalization, both recreationally and medically. About 30 states have adopted medical marijuana laws and at least 8 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug recreationally, with another handful ready to do so. The momentum appears unstoppable.
THE NEED FOR RESTRICTIONS:
The need for control of adolescent use is generally agreed. The adolescent brain is sensitive to psychoactive chemical substances, especially with long-term use. However, legalization can help rather than hinder the problem. It removes the drug dealer from the equation. With identification checking, government oversight, and educational programs, youthful use may be minimized. By implementing discussion forums where teens are treated with respect for their own decision-making abilities, the existing problem will be minimized. States that have legalized the drug have not seen an increase in use among underage teens.
Driving must be restricted as much as with alcohol, not because pot will distort one’s driving capacity as much as alcohol, but because it is best to have a bright clear line and to enforce the rules evenly to minimize wasteful debates comparing the two chemicals.
BENEFITS OF LEGALIZATION:
Simply giving the freedom of choice will be a psychologically liberating experience that will pay dividends for individuals who thrive on more, not less, responsibility. But legalization must mean legalization and not a half-hearted attempt at decriminalization. By applying penalties, other than for DUI, the benefit of liberation will be squelched prematurely, and the user will reactive furtively in situations that don’t require such tact.
Legalization will benefit the economies of the legalization states, each of which have thus far enjoyed substantial new revenues. Although the need to tax and to exert oversight over the industry also tends to foster a bureaucratic web of quasi-criminal sanctions and administrative mechanisms, the experiment in existing states indicates that the price is worth the prize.
THE INCARCERATION NATION:
The United States has the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Enforcement of federal marijuana laws excessively taxes the economy. Draconian marijuana sentences have resulted in prison overcrowding and has affected mainly minority groups. The ACLU reports that blacks are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, even though both races use the drug at about the same rates.
Private prisons have flourished and have created an unholy pact with government agencies. They receive compensation for the beds that are not filled. The system feeds on creating criminals. The violator will likely learn a life of crime despite entering the system on a souped-up marijuana charge. That will then increase the need for more beds as violators are released only to commit more crimes. They then re-enter the revolving door that they stepped through only months earlier. Legalization will eliminate this tragic practice.
WELCOME TO A NEW PARADIGM OF REASON AND JUSTICE:
Science has not demonstrated that marijuana is harmful. Only insincere political regimes have declared a danger, and they are a minority. There are no scientific findings that have raised substantial concerns. What we really know is that marijuana has always been a substance of healing, used that way by many different societies over thousands of years. The stories of healing have fit well into our paradigm of scientific trial and error. We are now validating some of those uses and, conversely, debunking others. Recently, studies show a promising tendency of certain cannabinoid compounds to shrink cancer tumors. This research remains to be validated, along with new discoveries that emanate almost daily through now-opened floodgates. That is what we need right now: government supported research to firm in place what works and what doesn’t. Controlled experimentation benefits everyone and hurts no one, and it should continue freely ahead. The tide for recreational legalization is now an unstoppable tsunami, buttressed by the phenomenal scientific discoveries that keep coming.
Please don’t take anything you read here as medical or legal advice. If you need medical or legal advice, consult a doctor or lawyer. The articles and content that appear on this website have been written by different people and do not necessarily reflect the views of our organization.