The marijuana plant has been around since before 7000 B.C. for uses such as food, cloth, rope, and incense. Marijuana did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900’s and it’s only been illegal for 1% of its existence after the law was passed in 1937. Since then over 94 million people have admitted to smoking marijuana at least once. (Guither, 2015) The legalization of marijuana has been an ethical dilemma in our society ever since. Marijuana is considered a wrongful action because of the addictive and harmful substances that it is composed of, such as delta-9-tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC) and carcinogens. It is a schedule 1 drug according to the Controlled Substance Act of 1970. This means the drug has a high potential
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Those in favor of legalization say law enforcement today focus too much on drug use, specifically marijuana, and not enough on bigger crimes, such as violence and theft. There were over 1 million people arrested in 2013 for marijuana related charges. According to recent FBI statistics, in 2014 there were merely 700,000 arrests for marijuana charges alone, one every 45 seconds. (Green, 2015) Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project states, “Clearly we're talking about tens of millions of dollars in police processing time. And for every hour police spend on making and processing marijuana arrests, that's an hour not responding to domestic violence or conducting community policing.” (Katel, 2009) This would make for a more fair justice system and law enforcement would have more caution toward danger. It’s a police officer’s duty to protect their community and prevent violence from happening. According to duty ethics this wouldn’t follow the categorical imperative because this is forcing police officers to focus more of their attention on others who, for obvious reasons, would not want …show more content…
People would be free to do with the drug as they wish, at their own risk, similar to alcohol. Marijuana and alcohol both tend to have the same effects on people but yet alcohol is legal. Likewise, a person can’t fatally overdose on marijuana like he/she could on alcohol. Legalizing marijuana would not fully pass the categorical imperative as not everyone would be treated fairly. American’s support for legalizing the drug has steadily increased over the last few years. In 2013 the number reached 58% in favor of legalization. Therefore, according to statistics, legalizing marijuana would maximize utility in America leading to the greatest happiness for the majority of the people. Marijuana is already legalized for recreational use in Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. (Swift,
Those in favor of legalization say law enforcement today focus too much on drug use, specifically marijuana, and not enough on bigger crimes, such as violence and theft. There were over 1 million people arrested in 2013 for marijuana related charges. According to recent FBI statistics, in 2014 there were merely 700,000 arrests for marijuana charges alone, one every 45 seconds. (Green, 2015) Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project states, “Clearly we're talking about tens of millions of dollars in police processing time. And for every hour police spend on making and processing marijuana arrests, that's an hour not responding to domestic violence or conducting community policing.” (Katel, 2009) This would make for a more fair justice system and law enforcement would have more caution toward danger. It’s a police officer’s duty to protect their community and prevent violence from happening. According to duty ethics this wouldn’t follow the categorical imperative because this is forcing police officers to focus more of their attention on others who, for obvious reasons, would not want …show more content…
People would be free to do with the drug as they wish, at their own risk, similar to alcohol. Marijuana and alcohol both tend to have the same effects on people but yet alcohol is legal. Likewise, a person can’t fatally overdose on marijuana like he/she could on alcohol. Legalizing marijuana would not fully pass the categorical imperative as not everyone would be treated fairly. American’s support for legalizing the drug has steadily increased over the last few years. In 2013 the number reached 58% in favor of legalization. Therefore, according to statistics, legalizing marijuana would maximize utility in America leading to the greatest happiness for the majority of the people. Marijuana is already legalized for recreational use in Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. (Swift,