Policies on Marijuana

 The use of marijuana has been a controversial topic for quite some time now. Some argue that it is a damaging gateway drug while others protest that it has health benefits for many different physical and mental issues and should be used medically. Some states have banned it while others have legalized it. As of 2020, Illinois has legalized the recreational use of cannabis with some limitations, including: it must be from a licensed dispensary, you must be 21 or older, and there are limits of how many grams you are able to possess at one time. In some states you are required to carry a medical card prescribed from a doctor to purchase from a dispensary. The doctor must be given a specific health condition to prescribe you a medical card. 

Some issues known to be treated by marijuana include chronic pain, nausea associated with chemotherapy, epilepsy, Tourette’s syndrome, loss of appetite or weight loss, and psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. The consumption of marijuana has been associated with many positive and negative outcomes. Positives include improved sleep, mental health, and appetite. However, the disadvantages include the possibilities of addiction, lung and brain damage, impaired perception of memory and reality, irritability, and more. 

Cannabis is often a controversial topic and there are many different policies over the world around its consumption. From its legalization in some states we have found some positive outcomes. The sales directly impacts our economy as we can see throughout the years with it  becoming less stigmatized that more and more people are purchasing the drug. Legalizing the drug can provide many benefits alongside that fact. With individuals purchasing directly from dispensaries it has become a safer way for people to purchase the drug with no risk of dangerous and life altering effects that are possible when purchasing from untrustworthy sellers. With it being legalized crimes of greater magnitude would be brought into clearer focus. This also means incarceration rates would change, ensuring less prisoners from charges of possession. 

My personal opinion is that it should be legalized as people should be expected to utilize their free will and make the decisions they believe are in their best interest with no harm to others. It seems to provide many benefits for our society both economically and structurally. It is known for its medical benefits as well as its cons and with proper information I believe individuals should be able to identify their own risk versus reward and how they wish to proceed.

Controversies around marijuana use go back to the mid-19th century, and there were attempts to restrict marijuana sales to medicinal uses in several state legislatures in the 1880s and 1890s. Federal laws restricting marijuana were enacted in the 1930s, and in 1970 the federal government decided to define marijuana as an illegal substance.  I suspect that the motivating theory to make marijuana illegal had more to do with political oppression of government critics than concerns about the health and well-being of citizens, but the rhetoric that was used was all about controlling dangerous drugs and so forth.  I remember when MDMA was made illegal (when I was a high school student) and there was a similar cry about how dangerous ecstasy could be, possibly causing deaths from overdoses or the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, or deaths from allergic reactions. These claims were based on flimsy evidence, and MDMA was useful in therapeutic settings when used under the direction of a professional, but that didn’t seem to count for anything. 

The arguments that seem especially persuasive to me involve the deprivation of income to unsavory drug cartels that might have grown and trafficked marijuana before it was legalized, and the benefits to our justice system and reductions in costs for incarcerating people involved in the trade or use of marijuana. These arguments are pragmatic (let legitimate farmers and businesses conduct the trade in the open where they can be regulated and taxed rather than encouraging illicit businesses) and ethical (the government should not create victimless crimes and deprive people of liberty or freedom unless there is a compelling benefit to the public by doing so).  So long as the benefits and harms seem to balance out, these other two points seem to make marijuana legalization the wiser choice.

The harms tend to get downplayed. Marijuana can be very bad for persons with bipolar disorder.  Heavy marijuana use is associated with some antisocial behavior. But, there are several benefits for some people, which you have accurately listed. Alcohol seems like a substance that is no safer than marijuana, and it seems to me that our experiment with banning alcohol consumption in the 1920s was a disaster we won’t repeat. However, voters in states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas rejected legalizing recreational marijuana use, and marijuana is completely illegal in Texas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kentucky, and Georgia, even for medical use. Federal legalization of marijuana would be popular, but despite advocacy for a change in federal laws, Republican and Democratic presidents and congresses have not moved bill to legalize marijuana.  

Cannabis Legalization for Recreational Use in Illinois

On the ballot this November, Illinois voters may see a new question: Do you support the legalizing of recreational marijuana? This is a controversial topic people love and love to hate. With economics, morals, and legality coming into play, this is a problem with strong views on both sides of the aisle.

Pros:

Revenue Boost. Taxes coming from marijuana sales will increase dramatically. We have seen this in all states that have legalized pot. Colorado, for example, earned over $247 million in revenue from marijuana licensing, fees, and sales. That money going back in to the Illinois economy would be extremely useful and beneficial, especially considering this state has the second worse debt in the country. Also, Illinois would likely be the only state in the Midwest that would have the votes to pass recreational marijuana, so travelers would come from near and far, further helping our economy.

Wider Access for Medicinal Use. Marijuana has shown to be effective at helping people cope with their pain and illnesses, from epilepsy to PTSD to depression. Those who do not have a medical marijuana dispensary nearby, or do not have the appropriate means to have a doctor sign off on their need for it, have the opportunity for easier access to the health benefits marijuana offers.

Safety Control. Legalizing recreational marijuana would allow for laws and regulations to be enforced on the type and quality of the product, ensuring consumers would know it is safe.

Criminal Justice Reform. If marijuana were legal, many say law enforcement officers would have more time to reduce more significant crimes such as those involving violence. If marijuana use was legal, prisons would have more room for serious, violent criminals.

Liberty. It is better to allow people to do what they want to do, and only regulate their behavior with rules and laws when doing so gives us significant gains in protection, justice, or prosperity; banning recreational use of cannabis does not give us benefits to justify the limitations of personal liberty we suffer.

Cons:

Drug. Marijuana is a drug, no matter how you frame it. Drugs alter a person’s mental state, and many fear we do not know all the consequences to long term marijuana use.

Health Issues. Studies have shown that marijuana has caused brain, lung, and heart issues. Studies have claimed that it restricts blood flow in the brain, raises your heart rate, and higher levels of carcinogens than cigarettes are pumped into the lungs because of larger inhales by the smoker.

Morals. Many are against drugs of any kind, whether it be alcohol or prescription pills. This is a mind-altering substance, and that just does not fly with some people.

Gateway Drug. Some fear that marijuana use will lead to the use of harder drugs such as heroin or cocaine. It could be an introduction to the larger world of drugs, and studies have shown that marijuana use could lead to a higher risk of prescription drug use.

Who Will Profit?  If Cannabis is legalized for recreational use, perhaps the very violent and wicked persons (Mexican Drug Cartels, for example) who now make so much profit from the sale of illicit marijuana will have their businesses legitimized and normalized.


Social Decline and Quality of Life. People who smoke lots of marijuana tend to be annoying.  They stink (marijuana has an unpleasant odor), and when they are stoned they often act immaturely or congregate to loiter and play obnoxious music. If recreational marijuana use is allowed, we will have more of these nuisance users in our public parks and at public events, where they will diminish everyone else's enjoyment of public spaces and events.

Now that you have seen arguments on both sides, how do you think you will vote in November?

Student advocates for legalization of marijuana

Dear State Representative Norine Hammond, 

      rephammond@macomb.com

My name is [I removed the student's name] and I have lived in your district all my life. I was raised in Beardstown, Illinois but moved to Bath, Illinois three years ago. I have never written to you before, but I have come to know your politics through, [name redacted], a close family friend.  On March 1, 2018 the Illinois Senate passed the State Bill 2275, also called the Marijuana Legalization Referendum Act, with a vote of 37-13. The measure now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration. The Marijuana Legalization Referendum Act is a simple question on the next voting ballot, asking voters if they support legalizing recreational marijuana for people 21 and over. I would like to discuss some of the pros of legalizing recreational marijuana with you.

The first argument for legalizing recreational marijuana is the possible revenue boost. State and local governments are currently struggling with rising costs and decreased revenue; many are looking for creative ways to help increase income to pay for everything from new parks, road repairs, to funding schools. It is believed that marijuana legalization could be the windfall in the form of new taxes that could be applied to its distribution and sale. For example, in Colorado, analysts suggest that taxing the drug could raise between $5 million and $22 million annually. The job industry is also growing as marijuana is becoming more of an above ground type of industry with respected companies stating to investigate possibilities for growth. This legalization can generate quite a bit of income for marijuana consulting companies whether they are helping with growing or producing a butane free wax which has become popular recently. The possibilities are endless for economic growth.

I also want to discuss the possibility of a more effective criminal justice and law enforcement system. The legalization advocates claim this move will provide police officers more money and time to go after criminals committing other crimes, such as violent cases. Legalization advocates also argue that legalizing recreational marijuana could create wiggle room in the criminal justice system, that would then allow judges and prosecutors to focus more on the violent crimes, thus freeing space in our overly crowed prison systems. There was a study that estimated that nationwide legalization would save the government $8.7 billion annually. 

Spending less money supporting organized crime is also a good argument in favor of legalization. Legalizing recreational marijuana cuts off an important revenue steam for a large amount of illegal drug trade. Legalization advocates claim that by making the substance less profitable for the criminals, it will provide a decrease in the violence associated with the trade. The result could save lives while taking pressure off law enforcers. 

The last point I am going to discuss is the safety controls legalizing recreational marijuana could provide. When a person is buying marijuana off the streets, there is no way for them to know what or if dangerous substances are cut into the drug. Although current legalization efforts do not address safety issues, they do create a framework for safety control systems, which would work to eliminate some of the risks from smoking a substance potentially laced with toxic ingredients and would reduce the risks coming from smoking illegal marijuana. 

In conclusion, I am asking for your support of State Bill 2275. I feel this would be a positive change for the State of Illinois. Thank you for your consideration and for all you do for the betterment of Illinois.

Respectfully Submitted,

[Student in SWK-355 Social Welfare Policy and Services Course]

Legalizing Cannabis: An Incendiary Topic

An editorial written by a student... a creative student.

First, I would like to preface this article with the fact I do not engage in recreational drug use. I refrain from engaging in such activity for personal reasons and, quite honestly, have never felt the desire to pick up such a habit. I understand the moral reasons why some people refrain from casual cannabis use and also the health benefits that some cannabis users claim justify their use. While radical conservatives –even Democrats—may balk at the moral fabric of our society becoming compromised if marijuana is legalized for recreational use, many fail to recognize the economic benefits legalizing marijuana could produce; this is my focus and position for believing marijuana should be legalized.

 As Illinois lawmakers and officials march forward waving figurative signs of protest backing their respective causes, our state flops around like a fish out of water, on the brink of total economic chaos. Proposed budgets ooze with either too many Lucky Charms marshmallows or not enough enough cereal in the bowl to prevent starvation, and the population sits precariously on the edge of their seats waiting for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters to begin his famous walk through the cities eating everyone’s pensions and entitlements for dinner. Instead of opening dusty doors with potential gold nuggets sitting on the other side, our state legislature continues to staple bright yellow caution tape over them to see if everyone will just ignore the doors and move on to something easier to open like boxes of municipal bonds. The problem is that we can all see the rectangular shape of the doors under the layers of bright yellow nonsensical caution tape. We see state after state legalizing recreational marijuana and joining the increasing number of fiscally responsible governments that care about opening the doors instead of finding every possible way to keep them locked. 

Illinois legalized medical marijuana several years ago, and then completely destroyed the financial opportunity by regulating the manufacturers as if they were opening proxy headquarters for the NSA or CIA. How can a viable business break out when the red tape is wrapped around its potential, like titanium shackles? Does each medical marijuana plant in the facility really need to be monitored, tracked and witnessed through Illinois State Police spy cam feeds? Why do we throw away the potential tax windfall from this billion-dollar industry when we are Kung Fu fighting over crumbs? It is unbelievable to think that our elected officials would rather whine and moan about how to fund various programs, while the American Civil Liberties Union estimates that it costs America over $3,600,000,000 to enforce marijuana laws at the local level (Poindexter, 2014).  Law enforcement officers could be spending their time and our tax dollars on more pressing and serious issues, than making it a point to bust “tokers.”  However, Illinois’ recent decriminalization of small time marijuana users will undoubtedly ease the burden on our state’s economic back by  trying to suck money out of the pot smokers instead of spending debt based money to incarcerate them, yet it is just a token of what could be earned from the honest taxation of a fully functioning reefer market. 

How much could Illinois gain, financially, from legalization? We need to look at the experience of other states that have legalized.  Colorado has only had a working recreational marijuana industry for a few years and they are already puffing on an additional $135,000,000 in tax revenue from the almost $1,000,000,000 fledgling industry (Poindexter, 2014). There isn’t any way the United States will ever eradicate recreational marijuana smoking, so why not allow it and tax the puffers? As the residents of Illinois watch their sales taxes, property taxes and medical insurance premiums continue to fatten like a pet wooly mammoth, can there be any wonder why ever higher percentages of the population want to see this prohibition go up in smoke? Every day we read of folks in more enlightened states discovering an increasing number of new uses for the plant, but our ridiculous, overbearing legislative parents maintain the myth of the diabolical gateway drug. 

Marijuana has been proven to be less addictive and much less harmful to the human body than both alcohol and tobacco, yet the cloudy gateway drug argument is continuously used as a rickety old platform from which to stand on by rickety old control freaks who never seem to understand when they have outlived their usefulness in the state legislative body. On the contrary, cannabis has been proven to have legitimate medical benefits, so why require individuals to jump through hoops in order to smoke it legally, when they can purchase without a doctor’s order and use at leisure to alleviate physical discomfort? Cannabis has been shown to reduce discomfort associated with AIDS, chemotherapy, general pain, and glaucoma. Cannabis has also been shown to provide relief from spasms that result from multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease (Poindexter, 2014). 

Illinois taxpayers want to see freedom ring and watch as this budding industry provides another much-needed income source that does not involve the forced theft of a greater percentage of their hard-earned paychecks. 

References

Poindexter, O. (2014) Available at: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/6-powerful-reasons-new-york-times- says-end-marijuana-prohibition