Summer Ray
Zachary Burks
ENC1101
11/14/2016
Legalizing Marijuana
The legalization of marijuana, which is a plant called “hemp” that is either smoked or orally ingested with the intent of having a mind-altering and sensory experience, has been an ongoing battle between the American people and the government for over 80 years. Marijuana was first brought to the U.S. by the Spanish in 1545 and was grown as fiber by our forefathers until 1937, when the federal government had passed the Marijuana Tax Act (Whitebread). The act would have it so any man caught dealing with marijuana commercially would be given a fine. It wasn’t until 1952 that Congress passed the Boggs Act, lumping marijuana with narcotic drugs and sharing the legal consequences …show more content…
Those in proposition have expressed fears that through ease of access, numbers in pot consumption would increase drastically causing a spark in crime, possible health risks, and a lazier society which would potentially increase unemployment and welfare. While studying Colorado, who had been the first state in the U.S. to legalize recreational use of marijuana in January 2014, we can now see that these fears held no depth. In fact, the criminalization of marijuana has had a great strain on the American people through paying billions in taxes for the enforcement of marijuana related crimes and the overcrowding marijuana cases causes in prisons and jails (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). We have since seen, through Colorado’s full recreational legalization in beginning 2014, that the fears of legalized recreational marijuana held no depth or truth. In fact, Colorado has shown us the endless pros of such: boost in revenue, de-crowding in correctional facilities, boost …show more content…
While there is no way to study the levels of “laziness” in a society, we can look at the employment rates before recreational cannabis legalization and after. Colorado has one of the fastest growing economies in America and has a 6-year long record low of unemployment (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). Between two dispensaries alone, 280 jobs were created and they produced $33 million in revenue (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). Not only are hundreds of jobs being created through opening dispensaries, the money from marijuana tax revenue going towards programs for the improvement of mental health in youths will create thousands of more jobs across Colorado. Unfortunately, there extremely less evidence and research to dispute or prove the accusation that marijuana use has any critical effect on health. In the past 4 years, absolute findings through research on the abnormal health impacts of marijuana have been limited. Constant use of marijuana has been suspected to lead to dependency issues, those similar to the addiction of tobacco and alcohol. Similarly, there are also possibilities of respiratory issues if consumed through
Zachary Burks
ENC1101
11/14/2016
Legalizing Marijuana
The legalization of marijuana, which is a plant called “hemp” that is either smoked or orally ingested with the intent of having a mind-altering and sensory experience, has been an ongoing battle between the American people and the government for over 80 years. Marijuana was first brought to the U.S. by the Spanish in 1545 and was grown as fiber by our forefathers until 1937, when the federal government had passed the Marijuana Tax Act (Whitebread). The act would have it so any man caught dealing with marijuana commercially would be given a fine. It wasn’t until 1952 that Congress passed the Boggs Act, lumping marijuana with narcotic drugs and sharing the legal consequences …show more content…
Those in proposition have expressed fears that through ease of access, numbers in pot consumption would increase drastically causing a spark in crime, possible health risks, and a lazier society which would potentially increase unemployment and welfare. While studying Colorado, who had been the first state in the U.S. to legalize recreational use of marijuana in January 2014, we can now see that these fears held no depth. In fact, the criminalization of marijuana has had a great strain on the American people through paying billions in taxes for the enforcement of marijuana related crimes and the overcrowding marijuana cases causes in prisons and jails (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). We have since seen, through Colorado’s full recreational legalization in beginning 2014, that the fears of legalized recreational marijuana held no depth or truth. In fact, Colorado has shown us the endless pros of such: boost in revenue, de-crowding in correctional facilities, boost …show more content…
While there is no way to study the levels of “laziness” in a society, we can look at the employment rates before recreational cannabis legalization and after. Colorado has one of the fastest growing economies in America and has a 6-year long record low of unemployment (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). Between two dispensaries alone, 280 jobs were created and they produced $33 million in revenue (DPA, Drug Policy Alliance). Not only are hundreds of jobs being created through opening dispensaries, the money from marijuana tax revenue going towards programs for the improvement of mental health in youths will create thousands of more jobs across Colorado. Unfortunately, there extremely less evidence and research to dispute or prove the accusation that marijuana use has any critical effect on health. In the past 4 years, absolute findings through research on the abnormal health impacts of marijuana have been limited. Constant use of marijuana has been suspected to lead to dependency issues, those similar to the addiction of tobacco and alcohol. Similarly, there are also possibilities of respiratory issues if consumed through