Running head: MY COUNTRY TIS’ OF WEED 1

My Country Tis’ of Weed

Michael Morel

Arizona State University

Abstract
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This paper explores various sources and statistics to highlight the benefits of legalizing the

recreational use of marijuana in the United States. Tamar touches on the laws in place, how

people in the country are being affected, and how actual Americans feel about the legalization of

the marijuana. Booker goes more into depth when it comes to the laws in place, such as the

Marijuana Justice Act, and how Congress should implement a reform. Hendricks, L., Abassi, A.,

& Aslinia, D. show both the pros and cons of the drug, but get an honest view of both of the

sides. Using all of this information, this paper will give the reader an understanding of marijuana

and why it should be available for recreational use.

Keywords: Marijuana, decriminalization, recreational,

My Country Tis’ of Weed

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“Approximately one out of every seven American adults (14.1%) has used marijuana in

the past year. Over half of all American adults (51.1%) have used marijuana during their lives.

All of these people have committed a federal drug crime” (Tamar, 2018). Marijuana is a very

controversial topic in our country. Some states have already legalized marijuana for recreational

use: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont

and Washington. The benefits of marijuana far outweigh any of the argued cons. Recreational

marijuana use should be legalized on a federal level because of lower crime rates, lower tax

spending, and lower maintenance of regulation.

“In October 2017, sixty-four percent of Americans—two-thirds of people—believe that

marijuana use should be legal” (Tamar, 2018). Decriminalizing marijuana consists of changing

the laws so that people who are smoking or in possession of marijuana are not in any legal

trouble. There are so many occasions and conditions in which Americans use marijuana, that it is

hard to be consistent across the board of enforcing the law. Some people are smoking or

consuming marijuana for medical needs, while others are doing it in the privacy of their own

homes. “Currently marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance” (Tamar, 2018).

Schedule I drugs are those that the government considers most serious, most dangerous.

Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Heroin is a

Schedule I drug. Methamphetamine is Schedule II” (Tamar, 2018). Marijuana and Heroin are

placed on the same degree of danger, which seems a little extreme. The government is clearly

avoiding the fact that many people support marijuana and its highlighted medical benefits.

Lastly, many of the crimes that involve marijuana are based on prejudice. “In California, there

have been nearly five hundred thousand marijuana arrests in the last decade. In 2015, black

people in the state were more than twice as likely as white people to be arrested for a marijuana
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misdemeanor and nearly five times as likely as white people to be arrested for a marijuana

felony” (Tamar, 2018). When it comes to regulating marijuana and enforcing laws it has to have

a system that is fair and just. People are being racial profiled and held to different standards than

others.

Regulating marijuana consists of using a lot of taxpayer money. “Jeffrey Miron, an

economist at Harvard, states that legalization in the U.S. would save annually almost eight

billion dollars from curtailing enforcement activities and would generate over six billion in tax

revenue (as cited in Siezkowski, 2012)” (Hendricks & Abassi & Aslinia, 2013). Not only is there

a benefit from a law enforcement standpoint, but also just the sales of the marijuana. States like

Colorado have used the money made from marijuana and reallocated to other things. “Colorado

distributed $230 million to the Colorado Department of Education between 2015 and 2017 to

fund school construction, early literacy, bullying prevention, and behavioral health” (DPA,

2018). Not only Colorado is participating in these acts, but so are other states where it has been

made legal. States, such as Massachusetts and California are investing their marijuana tax money

on low-income and colored areas to help fix the damage done by unfair law enforcement actions.

(DPA, 2018).

Lastly, the more individual states legalize marijuana for recreational use the harder it is to

regulate the movement of the drug. The black market is improving because drugs are now

accessible in certain states, and then smothered over state lines. “Ask these modern day dealers

about their hookup, and they’ll just say something like, “Man, we’ve got a friend out West.”

(Adams, 2018). “But as I mentioned earlier, marijuana is presently flourishing in all parts of the

country, even in places where it is against the law, which proves that cutting the dogs of the drug

war loose in select states is only making the impact more of a problem for those trying to hold
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the leash” (Adams, M). At this point keeping the marijuana distribution under control is time

consuming, and wasting money that could be applied to another area. “Police and courts still

spend millions of dollars each year prosecuting marijuana offenses and hundreds of people

remain incarcerated at a cost of more than $22,000 each year per inmate,” study co-author Jill

Manzo said in a press release. “By ending these prohibitions, Illinois taxpayers could save $18.4

million per year” (Adams, 2018). Lawmakers are still hesitant and it is due to the youth and how

it may affect them. I always bring up alcohol because it has been proven way more dangerous

than marijuana. They allow alcohol to be sold, and it is still being used by minors. It is no

different, but marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol.

All in all, marijuana legalization does just benefit the people smoking, but also the non-

smokers. Legalizing marijuana on a federal level will allow the economy to prosper, crime rates

to decrease, and regulation wouldn’t be an issue anymore. America is making the marijuana

game harder for themselves. The government should come up with a law system and still set

restrictions but allow it to be used across the country. Illegal or legal people will find a way to

get a hand on it, and all that is doing is causing more of a hassle for law enforcement. Their time

and money could be applied to more departments, etc. Speaking of money, if legalized tax

money wouldn’t be so involved in enforcing the law when it comes to marijuana. This would

allow America to put tax money back into itself and shows taxpayers that their money is going

into more beneficial work.

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References

Adams, M. (2018, November 13). Marijuana Legalization Makes Black Market Better In

Prohibition States. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeadams/2018/11/13/marijuana-legalization-makes-

black-market-better-in-prohibition-states/#656e7e792633
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[Drug Policy Alliance] (2018, January 22). From Prohibition to Progress: A Status Report on

Marijuana Legalization. Retrieved from http://www.drugpolicy.org/legalization-status-

report

Hendricks, L., Abassi, A., & Aslinia, D. (2013). The Pros and Cons of Marijuana. Retrieved

from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de44/60c652c4bacd4cab9dcb80906d7f074a32bf.pdf

Todd, T. (2018). The Benefits of Marijuana Legalization and Regulation. Retrieved from

https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/bjcl/vol23/iss1/6/