This figure could certainly be allotted towards other vital activities, such as the training and recruitment of more police officers. A recent FBI study, for example, notes that violent crime has increased 28% in 2005 (Fitzgerald 2007)
In his analysis of the costs of enforcing marijuana laws, Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron estimates that the taxpayers spend $7.7 billion annually (Lazarus 2005)
Between 1980 and 1994, state and federal prison population increased from 319,598 to 999,808. The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world" (Anelauskas, 1999, p
Literature Review Regardless or not if marijuana should be considered one of society's greatest problems, it seems rather absurd for the authorities to want to put a disabled woman (for example) as a result of the fact that she was consuming marijuana. An inmate costs the state as much as several hundred dollars per day, meaning that the public has to pay large amounts of money to keep a lady (who surely does not represent a harm to society as a whole) behind bars (Gerber, 2004, p
Society would most function more effectively if marijuana were be legalized, as economy and people as a whole would no longer be affected as a result of people being sent to prison for possessing marijuana. Marijuana can be particularly detrimental for dealers, as when considering that "In September 1969, a twenty-one-year-old man was sentenced to fifty years in prison by the state of Texas for the act of selling two marijuana cigarettes" (Goode, 1970, p
Methodology In order for one to understand more concerning marijuana users or dealers and the degree to which they can be affected by decriminalizing marijuana, one needs to consider several cases involving such individuals. Angelos, a 24-year-old record producer convicted on account of three marijuana sales, has received a 55-year sentence, as the judge had to consider the fact that the suspect had reportedly carried a weapon when he carried out his sales (Mauer, 2007) The authorities need to acknowledge the fact that criminalizing marijuana is actually encouraging drug cartels
"At the federal level, spending for drug enforcement (including interdiction and intelligence) rose from about $1.5 billion in 1981 to over $12 billion by 2002" (Shepard & Blackley, 2007)
The authorities often provide dealers with life sentences on account of the fact that they intoxicate the masses with their substances. "In Alabama, for example, simple possession carried a mandatory minimum of five years, and in Missouri a second offense for possession could bring a life sentence" (Weisheit, 1992, p
Clemens not only considers himself a full 'decriminalization advocate' but would one day like to see marijuana legalized for all Floridians, but that is not his intention with this first effort. (Brochu 2011)" As expected, there are pros and cons to the endeavors with those against having the upper hand at the moment
The deaths from direct alcohol usage are just as vast and there is no telling how many innocent lives are destroyed by drunk driving. (Jones 2011) These two groups of substances are legal but they have caused and are causing more harm not only to individuals abusing them but those around them
Nonetheless, the efforts to have marijuana placed as a Schedule 2 drug, that is potentially addictive but with some accepted medical use and subject to regulation, is gaining steam especially since there have been precedents in the last couple of decades. These precedents have to do with the "thirteen states that have taken steps toward legalizing marijuana, including California, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Alaska (Sammis Law Firm, P
"People smoke the drug to alleviate pain, sleep easier and deal with nausea, lack of appetite and mood disorders such as anxiety, stress and depression. Research now suggests that multiple sclerosis could join the growing list of cannabis-treated ailments (Seppa 2010)" as well as Crohn's disease and even some types of cancer
All of these effects, of course, are decidedly positive and keep pro-marijuana advocacy groups clamoring for its legalization. Utilitarianism is the ethical point-of-view pioneered by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham which always seeks to establish the greatest amount of good achieved by the outcome of a particular action to determine its morality (Mill, 1999, p
It is not enough to observe that three people receive happiness from action A while eight people receive happiness from action B. A utilitarian wants to know how much (and even for Mill, what kind of) happiness each of those persons gets (Parks, Wilke, 2010, p
"Relativism is not a single doctrine but a family of views whose common theme is that some central aspect of experience, thought, evaluation, or even reality is somehow relative to something else. For example standards of justification, moral principles or truth are sometimes said to be relative to language, culture, or biological makeup (Swoyer, 2010)
As for the health effects of marijuana, a World Health Organization (WHO) Study, which was scheduled to be published in December 1997 but was suppressed by its top management due to political pressure, had reported that Cannabis fared better than alcohol and nicotine in five out of seven comparisons of long-term damage to health. (Concar, 1998) In terms of addictiveness too, most studies show that marijuana was less addictive than alcohol, nicotine and caffeine
htm The Congress passed the bill after about a minute of debate, which included a false statement by a supporter of the bill that the American Medical Association (AMA) supported the bill. (Whitebread, 1995) Cannabinoids are the chemicals in marijuana that causes intoxication About 88% of the arrests are for possession rather than for manufacture or distribution of the drug
More to the point, thousands of doctors, patients, and their families have witnessed and experienced the medical benefits associated with marijuana. Marijuana is also known to have mood-enhancing qualities and encourages productivity and clear thinking (Caulkins, 2012, p
Research conducted shows that young people suffering from mental illness or the use of self-medicated drugs would be helped by legalizing and regulating marijuana. In the federal election campaign, marijuana has emerged as an issue, and the promise made by the Liberals is to legalize the plant (Hager, 2015)
This guaranteed the legalization of recreational marijuana for individuals who are over 21 years of age. The measure allowed these adults to possess up to eight ounces of "dried" marijuana and up to four plants (Mapes, 2013)