Sam Feygin 11/19/17

The Case for Marijuana Legalization

Over the past century, the United States had varying opinions on marijuana. While

originally illegal, many Americans today share more progressive opinions on the drug.

Marijuana or by its scientific name cannabis sativa is a psychoactive drug that affects perception.

It is a plant and the active ingredient within the drug is known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,

often referred to as “THC." In most states, marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes. On the

other hand, marijuana is only legal recreationally in very few states and New York is not one of

those states. The marijuana-legalization debate has existed for quite some time and through the

many arguments for legalizing the drug, now should be the time to finally end this debate and the

overall stigma many still hold against marijuana.

While it is illegal to posses marijuana in New York with the exception being for

medicinal purposes, ironically New York was one of the first states to question the stigma

against the drug in the 1930’s and 40’s. According to Emily Brooks’ article “Marijuana in La

Guardia's New York City: The Mayor's Committee and Federal Policy, 1938-1945” published by

the Journal of Policy History, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia brought the marijuana

debate into the limelight in 1938. A strong opponent to the earlier prohibition on alcohol, La

Guardia questioned the public’s anti-marijuana beliefs and ordered a study to be conducted on

the drug. He firmly believed that widely cultivated substances such as alcohol and marijuana are

unfairly judged upon and deemed “dangerous” without any thorough research being conducted to

prove them as such. When the study found marijuana to not be as harmful as believed, federal

opponents of La Guardia’s study and marijuana as a whole managed to slowly stop the progress

of La Guardia to change opinions on the drug.

Sam Feygin 11/19/17

Legalizing marijuana nationwide thus far has been an uphill battle, although it seems to

be improving. The current state of marijuana legality in the United States varies between the

states. As of today, twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia offer legislation that allows

marijuana in some form. Twenty-one of those states, one of which is New York, allows for

medicinal marijuana while the other eight states allow the drug to be used recreationally. Simply

possessing marijuana in any of the twenty-one states where marijuana is entirely illegal is

considered a misdemeanor and can face a year’s imprisonment along with an $1000 fine as per

the Controlled Substances Act or the CSA (Garvey, Doyle, 2014). In enforcing these laws, it is

estimated that the United States spends between $3.6 billion and $7.7 billion dollars on

monitoring marijuana possession. Enforcing these laws consists of policing, adjudicating, and

sentencing those charged with marijuana possession (Maier, Mannes, Koppenhofer, 2017). These

costs are outrageous and that money can most definitely be put to towards a better cause.

The overall change in society’s understanding of marijuana has been a very recent

change. The first law passed towards legalizing medicinal marijuana was in California back in

1996. The United States as a whole progressed immensely since then. In 2014, it was recorded

that more than half of Americans support recreational marijuana legalization, which is twice as

many as recorded in 1995 (Davenport, Caulkins, 2016). Over those nineteen years, the marijuana

market grew immensely. The value of the market is estimated to be worth between $30 billion

and $60 billion dollars, which combines both legal and illegal methods of acquisition.

Marijuana has been researched for decades and society today knows what the drug is

capable of doing. Studies have shown that for adults, marijuana is less harmful to ones health

than tobacco or alcohol, both of which are legal in the United States (Durkin, 2014). While

tobacco has been proven to cause cancer and alcohol is literally the consumption of poison for
Sam Feygin 11/19/17

the kidneys to filter, there has never been any found detrimental effects caused by marijuana in

legal-aged individuals. New Yorkers and many Americans in general have always managed to

have access to marijuana for recreation despite it being illegal, as any high school or college

student would know. When accounting for the drug’s less dangerous health implications in

comparison to tobacco and alcohol, legalizing marijuana is a logical idea that has it’s benefits.

An advantage that can come from legalizing marijuana is the idea that taxing the products

can increase revenue New York State receives. In the the states were recreational marijuana

became legal, marijuana in those states became a massive market in which the states benefited

from (Mohebbi, Greenberg, Speir, 2015). People in those states flocked to marijuana

dispensaries and while the individual stores profited immensely, the local governments profited

as well. If New York were to follow suit in legalizing recreational marijuana, this thought would

definitely be one to consider. States that have already voted to legalize marijuana recreationally

three years ago also have to found to have not regret their decision. A sample of 2,007 adult

Washington state residents were questioned about whether or not they would change their vote.

“Less than 5% of those who voted for marijuana legalization would change their votes, whereas

14% of those who voted against legalization would change their votes” (Subbaraman, Kerr,

2016). The opinions of other states not changing after having legalized recreation marijuana is

beneficial to states such as New York, whose marijuana policy is subject to change.

A large part of the debate factors in the arrests that are made in response to marijuana

possession. The harsh penalties one can receive for possessing the drug are unjustified based on

how marijuana is less harmful compared to tobacco or alcohol. “Every year, the United States

makes 575,000 arrests for marijuana possession alone, which is greater than the number of

arrests for all violent crimes combined” (Nathan, Clark, Elders, 2017). The penalties almost
Sam Feygin 11/19/17

suggest marijuana to be under a prohibition similar to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s.

Just like the previous prohibition, only more problems seem to be created instead of solved. This

“prohibition” of marijuana is creating the belief that the drug is dangerous for everyone. In fact,

marijuana has been proven to only harm young people. The doctors that wrote this article stress

that marijuana legalization and decriminalization should put emphasis on establishing that

marijuana is only harmful for adolescents, not adults.

In New York City alone, marijuana-related arrests increased from 3,000 in 1994 to over

50,000 in 2000, and have been about 30,000 in the mid-2000s (Johnson, Golub, Dunlap,

Sifaneck, 2008). While this is stated in this article, the given visual supports this claim. Many of

those people faced jail time ranging from a day to fifteen years, along with fines being upwards

of $100. In turn, legalizing and decriminalized marijuana would decrease the overall crime rate

as those who are arrested and convicted for marijuana possession are added towards the FBI’s

crime statistics. Race is brought into question in response to all of the arrests for marijuana

possession. In an article that focuses entirely on New York City, the authors wrote “In 2000,

Black adults were nearly six times (5.9) more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than
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were Whites based on their percentage of the residential population. Hispanics were more than

three times (3.3) as likely as Whites” (Johnson, Golub, Dunlap, Sifaneck, 2008). Racial profiling

is already an issue in the United States. With marijuana remaining illegal, the possession of the

drug would just add onto a larger issue unnecessarily.

Legalizing marijuana would never come without some sort of opposition. There is a fear

that loosening marijuana laws for adults could potentially lead to more adolescents using the

drug. While for an adult, marijuana is less harmful that alcohol or tobacco. On the contrary, if a

minor with a developing brain were to use marijuana, the drug could negatively impact brain

development (Durkin, 2014). If New York were to legalize recreational marijuana, the state

would definitely implement a minimum age, which would likely be 21. This would mirror other

states like Colorado and Washington who already legalized the drug for individuals older than 21

as well as copying the age minimum for alcohol consumption the United States enforces

nationwide.

Many people, especially high school administrators, stress how marijuana can act as a

gateway drug. A gateway drug is considered to be a substance which after using would lead to

the experimentation with more potent and dangerous drugs. When tested by a 2006 study, it was

found that marijuana leading to more illicit drug use only positively correlated in lower income

neighborhoods in which the youths had greater exposure to drugs where they lived and had more

neglectful parents (Tarter, Vanyukov, Kirisci, Reynolds, Clark, 2006). The idea that marijuana

acts as a gateway drug is based more on environmental factors rather than individual factors.

Those who oppose the marijuana question it’s lesser risk in comparison to other drugs.

Marijuana is commonly smoked and marijuana smoke has been found to contain some of the

cancer causing carcinogens that were found in tobacco smoke. In the case of tobacco, it has been
Sam Feygin 11/19/17

proven that it causes cancer. Logically, it makes sense to question marijuana smoke as well. In

the studies reported on by Mia Hashibe, Kurt Straif, Donald Tashkin, Hal Morgenstern, and

Sander Greenland’s article, the results on whether marijuana causes cancer were inconclusive.

The amount of marijuana required to be smoked to elevate suspected cancer risk was so large

that tracking the subject was too hard to accomplish. Results were found that propose that

childhood cancers can be caused by parental marijuana use but were said to be too “unstable” to

be relied on.

Alcohol has been proven to impair drivers and unfortunately causes thousands of

premature deaths annually. Since marijuana can also influence perception, many people fear that

marijuana legalization can cause even more car crashes in the United States. Recreational

marijuana has been legal in Colorado and Washington for three years, leading some to research a

possible relationship between marijuana influence and car accidents. After utilizing the US

Fatality Analysis Reporting System for Colorado and Washington, it was found that the crash

rates in those states did not vary enough from states without legalized recreational marijuana

(Aydelotte, Brown, Luftman, Mardock, Teixeira, 2017).

Legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes has been a widely debated topic in the

United States. New York and twenty other states have marijuana legalized for medicinal

purposes. Currently, eight states allow for the recreational use of the drug and that number is

expected to rise. The legalization process began in 1996 and continues today. With the increasing

supporters of marijuana legislature, and findings that the drug is less harmful than currently legal

substances alcohol and tobacco, societies overall perception of marijuana is expectedly and

deservingly going to change for the better.

Sam Feygin 11/19/17

References

Aydelotte, J. D., Brown, L. H., Luftman, K. M., Mardock, A. L., Teixeira, P. G. R., Coopwood,

B., & Brown, C. V. R. (2017). Crash fatality rates after recreational marijuana

legalization in Washington and Colorado. American Journal of Public Health. Retrieved

from http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH2017.303848

Brooks, E. (2016). Marijuana in La Guardia's New York City: The mayor's committee and

federal policy, 1938-1945. Journal of Policy History. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/

10.1017/S0898030616000269

Davenport, S. S., & Caulkins, J. P. (2016). Evolution of the United States marijuana market in

the decade of liberalization before full legalization. Journal of Drug Issues. Retrieved

from http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022042616659759

Durkin, A. (2014). Legalization of marijuana for non-medical use: Health, policy,

socioeconomic, and nursing implications. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental

Health Services. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20140721-03

Garvey, T., & Doyle, C. (2014). Marijuana: Medical and Retail Selected Legal Issues. Current

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10.1016/j.alcohol.2005.04.008

Johnson, B. D., Golub, A., Dunlap, E., & Sifaneck, S. J. (2008). An Analysis of Alternatives to

New York City's Current Marijuana Arrest and Detention Policy. Policing. Retrieved

from http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13639510810878703
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Kingston, D. (2014). Marijuana Arrests Are Falling In New York City And Across The Country.

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marijuana-arrests-are-falling-in-new-york-city-and-across-the-country/

Maier, S. L., Mannes, S., & Koppenhofer, E. L. (2017). The implications of marijuana

decriminalization and legalization on crime in the United States. Contemporary Drug

Problems. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0091450917708790

Subbaraman, M. S., & Kerr, W. C. (2016). Marijuana policy opinions in Washington state since

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10.1177/0091450916667081

Tarter, R. E., Vanyukov, M., Kirisci, L., Reynolds, M., & Clark, D. B. (2006). Predictors of

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