Marijuana Should be Decriminalized

By: Khushi Patel

During the 1600s, hemp was a fundamental harvesting crop in the U.S. for the production of goods such as silk, rope, and clothing. Marijuana, a mix of shredded dry flowers produced from the Cannabis Savita hemp plant, was widely known for its benefits in medicine and healthcare. Over time, the U.S. grew to become a massive “boiling pot” of different ethnic cultures as immigrants traveled for better lifestyles and jobs; however, being apart of the minority in a multicultural environment was never a complete, pleasant experience. The media’s false narrative that people of color tended to be “more violent” and “more likely to commit crimes” contributed to the criminalization of marijuana, which began with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1930. In the Act, all use and sale of marijuana were outlawed. Part of this Act was repealed in Leary vs. the United States in 1969 due to its violation of the 5th Amendment, following with a new policy, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. This new law continued to criminalize the use of cannabis. Ultimately, it has everything to do with political conflict, and nothing to do with the effects of the drug itself. The fact that it was pure political fearmongering and exploitation should be enough to declare the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 unconstitutional.

The ban on marijuana in the U.S. has nothing to do with the scientific health risks of the drug, but rather everything to do with the communities associated with it. This is obvious because, while marijuana can become addictive and detrimental to health if overused, alcohol is proven to be much more harmful and continues to remain legal. The mortality risk from consuming marijuana is actually 114 times lesser than the mortality risk of consuming alcohol. The criminalization of marijuana occurred in 1930, mainly due to the large groups of immigrants from Mexico as a result of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. These groups carried marijuana to the U.S. during a period where it had been legal, but mass immigration further instilled racist themes into American politics to ultimately lead to a ban on the drug. The War on Drugs began under President Richard Nixon in 1971 contributed to the mass incarceration of Black Americans. This was a discriminatory decision because the U.S.’s criminal justice system began to disproportionately convict Black Americans for carrying marijuana even though they were consuming it at approximately the same rate as white people. A similar system carries on into the present day; black people are being arrested for holding cannabis at a 4:1 rate compared to white people, despite both White Americans and African Americans carrying and using it at a near-exact ratio. The racial disparity in marijuana arrests exists due to racial profiling, implicit bias, and over-policing in predominantly African-American and Hispanic communities.

Additionally, the War on Marijuana leads to huge amounts of money being wasted and proves to be ineffective. According to the American Civil Liberties Union , also known as the ACLU, “The aggressive enforcement of marijuana possession laws needlessly ensnares hundreds of thousands of people into the criminal justice system and wastes billions of taxpayers’ dollars.” The criminalization of marijuana use not only displays racial discrimination but also effectively harms the economy. While diminishing billions of dollars to the U.S.’s criminal justice system to make racially motivated arrests, there have been no diminishing rates of marijuana use. This is important to consider because the true reason for all arrests is to prevent future rates of the same crime from happening.

Medically speaking, Marijuana is an important drug. Although many states have legalized the drug for medical advancements, Alabama is one of the many which have not. In the drug, there are two main cannabinoids: THC and CBD. THC is capable of reducing nausea, swelling of the joints, and muscle control problems. On the other hand, CBD can be used for medical diseases such as childhood epilepsy and Dravet syndrome. Recent studies, in fact, show that marijuana extracts may kill and possibly reduce the size of cancer cells. If the drug has shown to carry a variety of benefits that could possibly save a countless number of lives in the future, then the thought of legalizing it may just sound like an ideal and medically wise decision.

Overall, if marijuana became legalized and taxed in all fifty states, the U.S. economy would flourish and racist patterns would become mitigated. In states like Washington and Colorado, where marijuana is decriminalized, huge amounts of taxes from the drug have been earned to fund education and healthcare, as well as other vital investments for the public (Why We Must Legalize Marijuana). Millions of new job opportunities would also be open for the citizens. For example, there would be a surge in demand for new professionals that can coordinate with farms and retailers (Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere). This would contribute to a much better economic system than the one the U.S. has today, as job opportunities and funding to public facilities would give way to economic growth and reform. Medical centers would also have many new alternatives to treatment in states like Alabama where cannabis is completely criminalized. Most importantly, Black and Brown Americans would stop being profiled and convicted of carrying marijuana at disproportionate rates, ultimately creating a stronger sense of equality and justice in the policing system.

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