BENEFITS OF LEGALIZATION ON CANNABIS

Benefits of Legalization on Cannabis

Legalizing Marijuana is an idea that can potentially benefit the public and economies. However, this topic has created a nationwide debate on whether bhang should be decriminalized or not. However, most people suggest that Marijuana is bad for health and dangerous to the community (Smart & Pacula, 2019). However, there is also an allegation that Marijuana is beneficial, and its negative impact overpasses its negative aspects (p.644). Legalizing bhang has been associated with several societal benefits, including reducing illegal activity and black market effects on the economy (Bowles et al., 2017). Similarly, Marijuana has shown to be beneficial to cancer patients and could increase their appetite and minimize their pain. Also, Marijuana has a natural antispasmodic quality which can be helpful to the community. However, regardless of the benefits, the most government have criminalized its use. This study will explore the benefits of marijuana legalization.

The United States government claims the right to criminalize the growing, possession, and selling of Marijuana in all its states. However, the war on drugs is causing more harm to the black community and making the government waste taxpayer's money. According to Block and Obioha (2012), the criminalization of Marijuana has resulted in black community unemployment, discrimination, and murder of young black men in the United States. Therefore, the legalization of Marijuana would ensure back community welfare, equal opportunities, and employment. The study reveals that, due to the drug war in the United States, most black men have been branded as criminals, making them discriminated against even in the workplace (Block & Obioha, 2012). Also, the study reveals that young black community males are being incarcerated at frightful rates, and worst enough, these people are being killed due to drug links (p.106). This means that marijuana legalization can help reduce discrimination among the black community and reduce threats to the black community.

The existing federal law in the United States labels tens of millions of working Americans illegal drug users by description, and there are various policies criminalizing Marijuana regardless of proving to be beneficial in Canada. According to the Gallup poll carried out in 2017, 64 percent of the American population believe that cannabis needs to be legalized, with 94 percent thinking that medical marijuana should be legalized (McCarthy, 2017). Currently, cannabis is scheduled as a Schedule 1 drug (Todd, 2018; Ellis and Silverstone, 2012). According to Bahji and Stephenson (2019), decriminalization of Marijuana can be very beneficial in that in Canada, its legalization for recreational though controversial, has shown many health benefits, has helped to eradicate the black market, has promoted safety and quality control, maximize tax revenues, and enhance the availability of drugs for experimental and medical use. Bahji and Stephenson (2019) state that Marijuana has been used successfully in Canada to relieve chronic pain. The study reveals that there are hundreds of compounds in cannabis, including cannabinoids (p.3095. Cannabinoids have proven to relieve chronic pain due to their chemical makeup. Also, with the increase in stress, in Canada, recreational cannabis has been proven to help treat depression. Marijuana has endocannabinoid compounds that stabilize moods, thus reducing depression. Therefore, the legalization of drugs is beneficial not only to health but also to the economy.

More importantly, legalizing Marijuana is increasingly beneficial since it increases income to the country via revenue generation and individual farmers and sellers, thus reducing poverty. For example, studies show that the legalization of medical marijuana in the UK creates many benefits, including revenue generation (Gupta et al., 2019). The governments can use the money obtained from the taxes on marijuana products in promoting the quality of life for their citizens. Firth et al. (2019) state that after legalizing Marijuana, Washington excise tax is 37%. In 2017 alone, the state of Washington received more than $314 million from taxing marijuana products (Sgroi, 2021). The study also reveals that, in 2019, the state government of Colorado also earned $302 million from licenses, taxes, and fees on the legal marijuana market (p.605). Similarly, as stated in Canada, the legalization of drugs has helped improve safety and quality control, eliminate the marijuana black market, lower gang-related drug violence, maximize tax revenues, and improve the availability of medical cannabis. In another perspective, Bahji and Stephenson (2019) state that the laws that criminalize Marijuana have failed in accomplishing their goals. Marijuana law enforcement costs the US about $3.6 billion annually but has not succeeded in diminishing the availability or use of the drug (Todd, 2018). Therefore, it is evident that criminalizing Marijuana is just a waste of taxpayers' money.

With cannabis being beneficial to epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and depression, the criminalization of cannabis at the federal level and its categorization as a Schedule 1 drug significantly impact people and general United States health. Criminalization impacts people who would otherwise benefit from this drug. Therefore, cannabis is safer than a lot of legal substances such as tobacco and alcohol. If the country cares more about health than punishment, it has to focus on its public choices on cannabis are connected to using of other substances (Todd, 2018). Studies have revealed that patients who use cannabis minimize their overall usage of opioid pain medications (Todd, 2018). A survey undertaken at Harvard University shows that oral cannabinoids prevent nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy (Grinspoon, 2020). The study also reveals that oral cannabinoids improve symptoms of spasticity for people with sclerosis. According to Grinspoon (2020), medication containing cannabidiol was successfully used to treat severe types of epilepsy- Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. These infections are difficult to control using other kinds of drugs. Also, the use of Marijuana has been proven to relieve existing symptoms of bipolar disorder among mental health patients. Grinspoon (2020) also states that Marijuana has been used successfully to slow-growing seminoma subtype of testicular cancer. Therefore, the legalization of cannabis helps promote public health and reduce the impact of infections on communities.

Conclusion

The decriminalization of Marijuana has attracted debate over the years. However, bhang has been proven to be beneficial to the public. Legalizing bhang has been associated with several societal benefits, including reducing illegal activity and black market effects on the economy. Therefore, regardless of criminalization, the war on drugs is causing more harm to the black community and making the government waste taxpayer's money. Also, young black community males are being incarcerated and killed due to drug links. Besides, marijuana legalization has proven to eradicate the black market, has promoted safety and quality control, maximize tax revenues, and enhance the availability of drugs for experimental and medical use. Similarly, legalizing marijuana help in revenue generation in states like the UK, Washington where the cannabis excise tax is 37%, thus generating $314 million from taxing marijuana products in 2017. Also, Colorado is earning from Marijuana, thus proving that criminalization and use of public funds to criminalize bhang is useless. Also, Marijuana has proven to help relieve epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and depression, thus criminalization creating a negative impact on public health.

Use of feedback

From the feedback, I have followed the feedback step to step and observed that most of the topic sentenced were limited. Also, I realized that the references were not appropriate. Therefore, I have decided to use the feedback to improve the reference and the content of the essay. Moreover, I have adopted effective academic writing skills to introduce points and ensure that they are clear and relevant to the overall question. More importantly, I have introduced a conclusion to the whole essay to summarize my points. Likewise, I have used the proposed references guideline to improve my in-text and bibliography.

Looking for further insights on Balancing Human Rights and Legal Norms? Click here.

References

Bahji, A. and Stephenson, C., 2019. International perspectives on the implications of cannabis legalization: a systematic review & thematic analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(17), p.3095.

Block, W.E. and Obioha, V., 2012. War on Black men: Arguments for the legalization of drugs. Criminal Justice Ethics, 31(2), pp.106-120.

Bowles, N.P., Herzig, M.X. and Shea, S.A., 2017. Recent legalization of cannabis use: effects on sleep, health, and workplace safety. Nature and science of sleep, 9, p.249.

Ellis, T. and Silverstone, D. 2012. 'Legalise Drugs? in Ellis, T and Savage, S (Eds). Debates, in criminal justice, London: Routledge: 149-184

Firth, C.L., Maher, J.E., Dilley, J.A., Darnell, A. and Lovrich, N.P., 2019. Did marijuana legalization in Washington State reduce racial disparities in adult marijuana arrests?. Substance use & misuse, 54(9), pp.1582-1587.

Grinspoon, P., 2020. Medical marijuana. Harvard Health . Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085.

Gupta, S., Fellows, K., Weinstock-Guttman, B., Hagemeier, J., Zivadinov, R. and Ramanathan, M., 2019. Marijuana use by patients with multiple sclerosis. International journal of MS care, 21(2), pp.57-62.

McCarthy, Justin. 2017. Record-high support for legalizing marijuana use in U.S., Gallup News. https://news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx

Sgroi, N., 2021. Economic Recovery Through Interstate Cannabis Commerce. Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper, (605).

Todd, Tamar. 2018. The benefits of marijuana legalization and regulation. Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. 1(23). 100-119, https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38NK3652D

Smart, R. and Pacula, R.L., 2019. Early evidence of the impact of cannabis legalization on cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, and the use of other substances: findings from state policy evaluations. The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse, 45(6), pp.644-663.