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Marijuana Legalization
A Wide-ranging Argument
Like any good college student, I try to keep up with current issues. Not least among them is any news of marijuana legalization in the United States. Currently there is a proposal in California (oh those crazy Californians) to legalize, and, get this, TAX the sale of marijuana. It's estimated that in doing so they'll net the state $14 billion dollars. Think about that. In 2 years Marijuana sales in California alone could have paid for the entire auto industry bailout. That's just California. Now imagine if there the government legalized, regulated and taxed Marijuana in all 50 states. That's hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue per year. This would go well with the strong precedent we see in alcohol and tobacco; both industries are cash cows for the federal government. Don't even mention the fact that regulation of marijuana would produce jobs and leave more DEA agents and resources available to prosecute drugs that are far more dangerous and destructive (crack and cocaine, anyone?). So it makes sense from an economic perspective, and in today's world you'd think that would count for something. Why, then, is this bill so controversial?
The reason is this: misinformation and ignorance in our policy makers and the general populace. The fact is, moderate use of Marijuana is no more dangerous or harmful than moderate use of alcohol (unless you're a snack cake). Further, Marijuana is far less dangerous than cigarettes. Let's discuss the facts for a minute here. Cigarettes are addictive and greatly increase your risk for all types of cancer, emphysema, and generally are regarded as a grave health risk. Alcohol can be addictive provided you have certain genetic risk factors, can cause cirrhosis and other nasty diseases if you abuse it. Not to mention that you can overdose on alcohol (and it's a serious issue on college campuses nationwide). Marijuana is non-habit forming. Marijuana does increase the risk of men getting testicular cancer (consider that before you light up next time, dude) and, if abused can cause short-term memory loss, but the risk of these symptoms is far lower than the risk of cancer associated with cigarettes and the risk of cirrhosis associated with alcohol abuse. Overdoses cannot occur from the active drug in Marijuana, THC.
On top of that, Marijuana is in no way habit-forming, and repeated experiments have shown that it is not addictive. Further, even if you're against the recreational use of Marijuana, most people will concede that it does have its medicinal purposes. It can be used to treat chronic pain, and unlike most painkillers you cannot become addicted to it. That alone is a huge plus. Additionally, Marijuana stimulates appetite by increasing your metabolism, a very useful side-effect. Take cancer patients: their chemotherapy leaves them in a severely weakened state and typically greatly diminishes their appetite, as well as being agonizing. It has been shown that treatment with medical marijuana not only alleviates pain, but it encourages the chemo patients to eat, which greatly increases their recovery time. Knowing all this, why the hell did we make it illegal in the first place?
I defer to all of you to the excellent History Channel series entitled "Hooked", which describes the history of each drug and how it became illegal. If you watch several, you'll notice a common theme: racism. The illegalization of most drugs have roots in racism and fears of drugged up black people raping white women and murdering white men. It seems to me that if the history of the laws banning substances like marijuana are that murky, the US government would like to take another, earnest look at them. Oddly enough they don't. And why? Again, misinformation. Take one lovely news piece I found online by ABC news that is addressing the issue. It states that the legalized marijuana would cost $50 per ounce plus sales tax. It then shows a clip of an interview with a California DA named Jim Fox saying that "if people are going to have to pay $50 an ounce...ummm...you're going to have a black market". Pretty cut and dry, but after quickly conferring with some of my more...how to say this delicately... "liberal" friends, it was determined that this would be approximately 10 times cheaper than current, black market prices for Marijuana. In other words, the state-regulated marijuana would be so much cheaper than the illegal kind that the black market for it would disappear overnight. So on top of making money for the US, creating jobs and making the war on drugs more efficient, it would also stop American money from falling into the hands of international drug cartels, some of which sponsor terrorist groups. In summary, I can think of no good argument against legalizing Marijuana, and it seems to me that everyone - except the black market - wins in a legalization situation. I realize that by making this argument, some of you will probably think I'm a "stoner", but to me it just makes good business sense. And I'd be willing to be that if you let go of the stigma and prejudice for a few minutes and looked at the situation objectively, you'd eventually agree with me.
The reason is this: misinformation and ignorance in our policy makers and the general populace. The fact is, moderate use of Marijuana is no more dangerous or harmful than moderate use of alcohol (unless you're a snack cake). Further, Marijuana is far less dangerous than cigarettes. Let's discuss the facts for a minute here. Cigarettes are addictive and greatly increase your risk for all types of cancer, emphysema, and generally are regarded as a grave health risk. Alcohol can be addictive provided you have certain genetic risk factors, can cause cirrhosis and other nasty diseases if you abuse it. Not to mention that you can overdose on alcohol (and it's a serious issue on college campuses nationwide). Marijuana is non-habit forming. Marijuana does increase the risk of men getting testicular cancer (consider that before you light up next time, dude) and, if abused can cause short-term memory loss, but the risk of these symptoms is far lower than the risk of cancer associated with cigarettes and the risk of cirrhosis associated with alcohol abuse. Overdoses cannot occur from the active drug in Marijuana, THC.
On top of that, Marijuana is in no way habit-forming, and repeated experiments have shown that it is not addictive. Further, even if you're against the recreational use of Marijuana, most people will concede that it does have its medicinal purposes. It can be used to treat chronic pain, and unlike most painkillers you cannot become addicted to it. That alone is a huge plus. Additionally, Marijuana stimulates appetite by increasing your metabolism, a very useful side-effect. Take cancer patients: their chemotherapy leaves them in a severely weakened state and typically greatly diminishes their appetite, as well as being agonizing. It has been shown that treatment with medical marijuana not only alleviates pain, but it encourages the chemo patients to eat, which greatly increases their recovery time. Knowing all this, why the hell did we make it illegal in the first place?
I defer to all of you to the excellent History Channel series entitled "Hooked", which describes the history of each drug and how it became illegal. If you watch several, you'll notice a common theme: racism. The illegalization of most drugs have roots in racism and fears of drugged up black people raping white women and murdering white men. It seems to me that if the history of the laws banning substances like marijuana are that murky, the US government would like to take another, earnest look at them. Oddly enough they don't. And why? Again, misinformation. Take one lovely news piece I found online by ABC news that is addressing the issue. It states that the legalized marijuana would cost $50 per ounce plus sales tax. It then shows a clip of an interview with a California DA named Jim Fox saying that "if people are going to have to pay $50 an ounce...ummm...you're going to have a black market". Pretty cut and dry, but after quickly conferring with some of my more...how to say this delicately... "liberal" friends, it was determined that this would be approximately 10 times cheaper than current, black market prices for Marijuana. In other words, the state-regulated marijuana would be so much cheaper than the illegal kind that the black market for it would disappear overnight. So on top of making money for the US, creating jobs and making the war on drugs more efficient, it would also stop American money from falling into the hands of international drug cartels, some of which sponsor terrorist groups. In summary, I can think of no good argument against legalizing Marijuana, and it seems to me that everyone - except the black market - wins in a legalization situation. I realize that by making this argument, some of you will probably think I'm a "stoner", but to me it just makes good business sense. And I'd be willing to be that if you let go of the stigma and prejudice for a few minutes and looked at the situation objectively, you'd eventually agree with me.
WVBR SOAPBOX ARCHIVE
~Burgergate: the media food-fight (Fri 11/13)
~WVBR News Presents: The Student Trustees (Sun 4/12)
~Student Trustee Candidates Speak Out in Forum (Tue 4/7)
~WVBR Interviews Slope Day's Pat Maloney (Fri 3/27)
~Dragon Day Disappointment (Tue 3/24)
~WVBR News Endorses Chris Basil and Nikki Junewicz For S... (Mon 3/2)
~Why We Endorsed a Candidate (Mon 3/2)
~Marijuana Legalization (Wed 2/11) 1 Comment
~The Media Aids Terrorists (Tue 2/10)
~No Mo' Gitmo, Oh-Oh (Tue 1/27) 1 Comment
~Skorton's Murky Tenure (Thu 12/4)
~State of the Republican Party? A-OK! (Tue 11/18) 1 Comment
~What To Do About NBA Basketball (Fri 11/14)
~Marijuana Mandate in Massachusetts (Tue 10/28)
~Teunure Denied Based on Political Viewpoint or
Someth... (Tue 10/21)
~No Honorary Degrees, Says Faculty
Senate (Mon 10/20)
~Sam Levine, Once Again, On the Presdiential Election (Fri 10/17)
~GM foods soapbox (Wed 10/15)
~Stem Cell Soapbox (Wed 10/15)
~Education Soapbox (Wed 10/8)
~Sarah Palin Soapbox (Wed 10/8)
~Sam Levine on The VP Debate (Fri 10/3)
~BBC's Blatant Bias Rebuffs Climate Change Challengers (Tue 9/30)
~Sam Levine on Sarah Palin (Fri 9/26)
~McCain is Able (Tue 9/23)
~The Cornell Review's Response to the
SA (Tue 9/16)
~Sam Levine on Racism (Fri 9/12)
~A Legacy of Political Hunters (Tue 9/9)
~Sam Levine on Palin/McCain (Fri 9/5)
~Sam Levine on His Senior Thesis (Fri 9/5)
~WVBR News Presents: The Student Trustees (Sun 4/12)
~Student Trustee Candidates Speak Out in Forum (Tue 4/7)
~WVBR Interviews Slope Day's Pat Maloney (Fri 3/27)
~Dragon Day Disappointment (Tue 3/24)
~WVBR News Endorses Chris Basil and Nikki Junewicz For S... (Mon 3/2)
~Why We Endorsed a Candidate (Mon 3/2)
~Marijuana Legalization (Wed 2/11) 1 Comment
~The Media Aids Terrorists (Tue 2/10)
~No Mo' Gitmo, Oh-Oh (Tue 1/27) 1 Comment
~Skorton's Murky Tenure (Thu 12/4)
~State of the Republican Party? A-OK! (Tue 11/18) 1 Comment
~What To Do About NBA Basketball (Fri 11/14)
~Marijuana Mandate in Massachusetts (Tue 10/28)
~Teunure Denied Based on Political Viewpoint or
Someth... (Tue 10/21)
~No Honorary Degrees, Says Faculty
Senate (Mon 10/20)
~Sam Levine, Once Again, On the Presdiential Election (Fri 10/17)
~GM foods soapbox (Wed 10/15)
~Stem Cell Soapbox (Wed 10/15)
~Education Soapbox (Wed 10/8)
~Sarah Palin Soapbox (Wed 10/8)
~Sam Levine on The VP Debate (Fri 10/3)
~BBC's Blatant Bias Rebuffs Climate Change Challengers (Tue 9/30)
~Sam Levine on Sarah Palin (Fri 9/26)
~McCain is Able (Tue 9/23)
~The Cornell Review's Response to the
SA (Tue 9/16)
~Sam Levine on Racism (Fri 9/12)
~A Legacy of Political Hunters (Tue 9/9)
~Sam Levine on Palin/McCain (Fri 9/5)
~Sam Levine on His Senior Thesis (Fri 9/5)
