The legal status of marijuana is a hot topic – nearly everyone seems to have an opinion. The drug does have some medical uses and in many places around the world, patients use it to manage their chronic pain. Different cultures believe it has spiritual properties and use it during traditional ceremonies. But what about legalization for recreational use? State by state, the legislation around marijuana has been changing over the past few years, and countries like The Netherlands and Canada have legalized the drug country-wide. Let’s take a look at what people on both sides of the argument are saying about it.
The Pros of Legalizing Marijuana
- It could boost the economy: In Canada, the government heavily regulates the sale of marijuana. Legal marijuana is only available through government-run shops and the country’s GDP was boosted by $8.26 billion in its first year of selling legal marijuana.
- Regulation makes use safer: When the only place to purchase marijuana is on the streets, there’s always the risk that the drug could be covered with harmful substances like mold or pesticides. By allowing the government to regulate the production and sale of the drug, there’s less chance that a user may inadvertently ingest something poisonous.
- Improved Quality And Safety Control: As the recent fentanyl-laced-heroin problem brought to light, there is really no way for end users to know exactly what they’re getting when they purchase marijuana off the street. Legalizing marijuana, on the other hand, immediately creates a set of standards for quality and safety control. Improved quality and safety control also translates into less of a burden on the medical system. There is less of a risk of serious problems occurring due to overdoses on unknown substances hidden in the marijuana that is sold on the streets.
- Crime goes down: According to an analysis by the ALCU, 88% of the 8.2 million marijuana-related arrests were simply for possession. The legalization of marijuana will give police officers more bandwidth to spend their time searching for and arresting violent and dangerous criminals.
- Increased Tax Revenue: One of the biggest pros that have come from the legalization debate is that of increased tax revenue. To illustrate the point, legal sales of cannabis products amounted to $996 million in 2015. That’s almost a billion dollars spent! And the tax revenue collected off those sales was equally as staggering—$135 million. That money can be used to fix roads, fund public projects, improve schools, hire more police and firefighters…the list goes on and on.
The Cons of Legalizing Marijuana
- Marijuana is not completely safe: Despite its reputation for being benign, there are negative effects to using marijuana. Contrary to what many believe, marijuana dependency is a real thing. It can also damage the brain, especially in teenagers and young adults whose brains are still developing.
- Increased use by teens: Across the US, marijuana use rates among 12- to 17-year-olds are higher in states where the drug is legalized compared to the national average. In 2018, 16% of teens in Colorado and nearly 19% of teens in Alaska have reported using marijuana in the past year. In comparison, the nationwide average of marijuana use in teenagers is just over 12%.
- Traffic accidents will rise: Driving under the influence of marijuana is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. While users high on marijuana may feel like they are perfectly capable of driving, the drug still messes with their judgement ability and reaction time. In fact, after marijuana was legalized in Colorado, marijuana-related traffic deaths rose by 62%
- Problem of second-hand smoke: We are all familiar with the debate involving the negative health effects of second-hand smoke from cigarettes. The same debate swirls around cannabis smoke. Could second-hand smoke from marijuana cause non-smokers to have lung problems? Can they accumulate THC in their bloodstream? Will they experience a contact high? These questions are still being studied to determine the efficacy of the opponents’ claims.
- Decreased Mental Health: Opponents of legalized recreational marijuana like to point to studies that show that marijuana smokers suffer from everything from restricted blood flow to the brain, to memory loss, to the increased likelihood of schizophrenia and depression. However, science is still not completely certain about these assertions. The schizophrenia and depression issue is particularly cloudy because researchers don’t know if the drug itself triggers the problem or if cannabis users use the drug to alleviate and deal with the symptoms.
Thus, it becomes clear that there are significant advantages as well as disadvantages to this issue. Needless to say, governments must carefully analyse both sides of the coin before legalizing cannabis.
YLCC would like to thank Riya Gupta for her valuable inputs in this article.
