What Are The Social Theories Of Legalizing Marijuana

Since marijuana was introduced into the United States society, social factors have played an important role in its status change. While some social factors made it illegal at the first place, others make it remains illegal today. During 1910 to 1911, the Mexican Revolution brought waves of Mexican immigrants into southwestern part of the United States, along with their herbs. As the use of marijuana is widely spread among these Mexican immigrants, many early prejudices against marijuana were merged from the racism towards minority immigrants. Also at that time because media frequently blamed Mexican immigrants for smoking marijuana, remaining unemployed and conducting crimes and related these things together, the public generated more negative …show more content…
(Scherf 149) Many people believe marijuana is a “gateway drug” and regard it as one of the social factors that block marijuana’s way to nationwide legalization. But is that true? An interview in this year with Carl Hart, a neuropsychopharmacologist in the Division of Substance Abuse at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, debunked this commonly misbelieved theory. According to Hart, “It is true that the vast majority of people who use heroin and cocaine, for example, used marijuana before they used these hard drugs. But, then you look at the fact that the vast majority of marijuana smokers don’t go on to use those drugs. So, it’s not a gateway drug”. (“Where
drug myths die” 16) Apparently people make a logical mistake here pointing the arrow of causation at a wrong direction. Therefore, the “gateway theory” is not a valid and reliable reason to explain why marijuana legalization has not been …show more content…
From the comprehensive analysis above we are able to conclude that while the false image of marijuana as a drug of abuse, the social pressure from competing synthetic fibers industry and the lack of evidence of its harm made it illegal at the first place, today’s studies have revealed its physiological damage including increased risk of lung cancer, negative influence on brain structure and cognitive abilities, decreased of brain grey matter and other adverse effects of marijuana withdrawal. In addition, this research paper debunks some misbelieves that marijuana legalization will bring increased crime rates as well as marijuana is a “gateway drug” and discuss some reliably reasons from social perspective to answer the research question such as early prejudice from the racism towards minority immigrants, increased usage rate among children and adolescents, teenagers’ inabilities to make informed decisions involving marijuana, lack of systemic measurement of drugged driving and deficit in pharmacy education for medical marijuana use. Although there are more potential reasons to be discussed and analyzed, this research paper successfully presents several historical, physiological and social factors to explain why marijuana legalization has not been nationwide