Reform of Marijuana Website

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Rights

Freedom of expression is a right that relates to the legalization of marijuana.  Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol are ways some people express their emotions in life today.  Although this example is privilege, people associate using theses substances as a right that they have.  People who use marijuana deserve this “right” as well as people who use other harmful substances.  Using marijuana correlates to the first amendment as does alcohol and tobacco.  However not everyone agrees that this is a right people should have.  The government is obviously a group of people who disagree that using marijuana should be a right.  Government expresses their feelings about marijuana by enforcing the laws put into place which punish people who use and possess the substance.   

Facts

The idea I hold on the reform of marijuana laws in not nesceciarly a fact.  The notion that I believe marijuana should be legal for medicinal use in not factual because it is not believed and understood by everyone to be true.  A fact that I do pose to you is that marijuana is just as bad for the brain and organs as alcohol and tobacco.  According to the "experts", the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "Alcohol–damaged liver cells allow excess amounts of these harmful byproducts to enter the brain, thus harming brain cells".  Marijuana harms the body as well in various other ways.  According to a scholarly article done by Janet Joy and Allison Mack, "Although free of nicotine, marijuana smoke certainly pollutes the lungs. And since tobacco smoking has been linked to respiratory injury, cancer, emphysema, heart disease, complications of pregnancy, low birth weight, and other ills, it makes sense to worry whether smoking marijuana might prove equally harmful". I know these statements to be true simply because I'm taking into consderation the experts findings on the effects of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco.  Though its not a fact that marijuana should be legal, it is factual to believe that the legal substances alcohol and tobacco are bad for the body, as is the illegal substance marijuana.  If the effects on the body are all harmful, why not treat laws reguarding the use of these substances the same?  Or perhaps, why not make the use of tobacco and alcohol illegal as well? 

Mack, Alison; Joy, Janet. Marijuana As Medicine : The Science Beyond the Controversy.
Washington, DC, USA: National Academies Press, 2000. p 53.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/clunet/Doc?id=10038627&ppg=53
Copyright © 2000. National Academies Press. All rights reserved.

Rules

The rules or laws, that are currently on marijuana make it illegal to possess any amount of marijuana unless you have a medical marijuana license.  As mentioned, the laws governing the use of marijuana are bed rules for the American people.  The laws infringe on civil liberties of citizens who use marijuana in recreation without negative effects on others.  However the goal of this rule is to keep people from using marijuana at all.  In effect these rules may actually want to make people use marijuana even more, as some find it a thrill to break the laws.  even without this factor, the laws are not good deterrents to keep people from using marijuana.  The rules can be improved by being reformed.  Thus allowing people to use marijuana recreationaly in a home environment or where it is deemed socially acceptable.  The substance can be regulated, like alcohol, by a Government agency which will maintain order in keeping the substance within a new rules system. 

Tools

Our current laws regarding the use of marijuana involves sanctions for people who use marijuana illegally (without a medical marijuana license).  For many years it has been clear to the American people that if you use marijuana illegally, and are detected  by a law enforcement officer of a kind, that you will have negative consequences (fines, probation, jail).  Inducements would solve many problems regarding the recreational use of marijuana.  By inducing such behavior all citizens could gain from the use of marijuana.  I'm not inferring that marijuana users are the ones necessarily being rewarded for using marijuana, though we can't forget exercising civil liberties, but as previously mentioned everyone would benefit from the taxes that would be levied on the good.  This brings me to my idea that regulatory tools would best suit my policy issue.
We are already spending way too much taxpayer money regulating the use of marijuana, so regulating the legal use of marijuana would cut back on these costs.  However you may ask yourself, what would be the conflict of legalizing marijuana?  The answer is people would be only be causing harm to themselves (as if alcohol doesn't cause harm to oneself?) not to mention that we are currently causing harm on every American citizen who has the burden of paying for sanctions against marijuana users.  By regulating the recreational use of marijuana, both groups would benefit from the results.

Targets

The targets for the reform of marijuana laws are not only marijuana users but everyone in the United States. The targets can be constructed into two groups; marijuana users, and people who don't use marijuana. Both of these groups would drastically be affected by a policy change in the current marijuana laws. My reasoning is quite simple, people who use marijuana would no longer fear negative repercussions from using the substance and will win back an important civil liberty. People who don't use marijuana would benefit from taxes paid by marijuana users. However this can only be achieved by a collective effort from both groups, or targets, that my policy is aimed towards. Yet one problematic factor is the idea of people using their "local knowledge", or what their individual communities think of the specific policy issue.

In Southern California it seem that peoples "local knowledge" towards marijuana and the reform of the current laws is more accepting than other parts of the nation. If it were up to the public, for example in Venice, California, the "local knowledge" of peoples view on marijuana would most likely cause the residents to favor or propose policies that would favor the reform of marijuana laws. However where I'm from, Wimberley, Texas, people who use their "local knowledge" in determining policy issues with marijuana would most likely be opposed to a change in our current marijuana laws. Its all a matter of what is deemed acceptable in each community, or region. California being a Democratic state with many liberals, and Texas a Republican state with many conservatives. Although I'm not suggesting that all liberals are for the legalization of marijuana and all conservatives opposed. So with this factor could the targets be changed from marijuana users and people who don't use marijuana to target groups of liberals and conservatives, or perhaps Democrats and Republicans?

Slideshow on Reform of Marijuana Laws

NORML Marijuana Arrests 2

Causal Stories

There are several different stories that can be told when discussing changing the current marijuana laws.  One argument is that people should not use marijuana because it is against the law, its been like this a long time, there is obviously a reason the government decides to regulate it, and nothing can be done to change the frame politicians put around marijuana usage.  This is a great example of an "accidental" causal story, in which people believe that marijuana is illegal because that is just the way it is, and there is nothing that can be done about it.  I strongly disagrees with this view, because it should be an individuals choice.  Despite the fact it has been illegal since 1937, it doesn't have to stay that way, and there is lots that can be done to change the laws.  The best causal story that describes the current laws making marijuana illegal is the "intentional" causal story.  The government intended to make marijuana illegal, knowing that it would infringe on peoples civil rights, and people would be opposed to it.  The 1936 Propaganda film "Reefer Madness"was created in attempt to drive youth away from using marijuana.  People generally see marijuana through the first causal story mentioned (accidental), however I see the issue through the intentional causal view because the government has attempted to convince the polis that marijuana is not good for the collective in our society.  Regardless of the fact that they have placed a law on individual morality.

Marijuana Progression

The following piece of data is the result of a survey conducted by The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).  The people surveyed were from various regions of the United States and of different age, gender, political and ideological groups.  The question asked was, should the use of marijuana be legal?  The overall result was that 44% of U.S. adults believed marijuana indeed should be legal for use.  This tells a very different story from polls taken from the late 1970s to the mid-1900s in which only about 25% of the adult population was in favor of legalization of marijuana use.  Thus showing that peoples opinion on the issue has drastically changed over the years.  This ties to my policy because it is now apparent that the public views on the reform of marijuana laws is increasing.  If the current statistics continue on the same path it is very apparent that the public's support for reform will continue to grow.  With more public support for the reform only means one thing, which is marijuana laws are on the verge of change in the United States.  That is because the only way the government will support the cause is if its people back the policy issue and show growing support and favor for the laws to be changed.

Annual American Deaths From...

The image above is very controversial for many Americans. The picture shows annual American citizens deaths from various different categories of substances. The reason this would image would bring a debate among the public is because marijuana is listed as causing no deaths to citizens, yet it is illegal. Tobacco and alcohol on the other hand, according to the image, account for 500,000 annual deaths, despite the fact that they are legal. The main debate here is why is marijuana illegal? If various other legal substances cause an enormous amount of deaths but are permitted by law, then why does the government deem marijuana "harmful" to citizens and to our society?

Symbols

Marijuana stands for many things that depends on how the individual "sees" the "drug". Peoples perception of marijuana may depend on many different things, from personal use or, experimentation, to a synecdoche view. Synecdoches are figures of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. Some of our society and our government as whole see marijuana as a "bad drug", that is both bad for individuals and and for the entire U.S. population (with the exceptions of certain states allowing medicinal use). The media helps to frame marijuana as a negative substance towards society, for example, that is a gateway drug that leads to the addiction to "hard drugs". However people are basing their opinions on facts that may very well be true in some cases, but as a whole are inaccurate. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month. However not ever individual of those 14.4 million people are addicted to other drugs. The government and media tend to take extreme examples of cases with marijuana users and blow them out of proportion to make the public bias towards marijuana. Yet when some state governments began to sink into debt, they were quick to turn towards the idea of marijuana as revenue, not as a "bad drug".

Free

By definition, all everyday U.S. citizens are "free" to use marijuana as they please, in the sense that they are no physical constraints stopping someone from using marijuana. However in reality people do not have the "freedom" to use marijuana, because of the negative repercussions by the government. “Freedom” would be citizens having the legal ability to use marijuana for recreational use, without fear of persecution, as long as they are “of age”. The polis model would best help to achieve “freedom “, because using marijuana is simply people perusing their own interests, and not harming anyone else in the process.

Security

Marijuana is used by most people as a desire, not a need.  However there are some people who do consider marijuana a need in their everyday life, not a biological need, but more of a need to feel more secure in their lives.  Some cancer patients claim that using marijuana reduces their physical and emotional pain, as well as the stress that is a result of chemotherapy, despite the fact the the FDA has found that there is no medical use for marijuana.  Marijuana is also used in cancer patients because though they may lose weight during chemotherapy, marijuana has a side effect that increases appetite.  I argue that the use of marijuana should not be limited to medicinal use (thirteen states have legalized medical marijuana use: AK, CA, CO, HI, ME, MI, MT, NV, NM, OR, RI, VT, and WA) but should be legal for recreational use as well.  The use of marijuana provides a alternative to people who, for example, don't like to drink alcohol.  People drink alcohol because the effect alcohol causes on the body makes people feel good, so why shouldn't people be able to use marijuana if it makes them feel good?  For some people using marijuana represents a more spiritual or artistic mood, rather then just a sense of entertainment.  For these people, using marijuana brings not quite the direct satisfaction that people who use it for fun experience, but it provides for artists by enabling what they are able to do because of using marijuana.

People feel secure when their basic needs are taken care of (in our case by the government).  A secure outcome for the reform of marijuana laws would be to legalize marijuana for recreational use, because people who use marijuana would feel secure by not having to worry about being penalized by the law for using marijuana.  People who use marijuana illegally should not have to fear the government, or fear how they are looked upon by the others, simply because they see using marijuana as a desire, or in some cases a need.  Security could best be achieved through the market, because reforming the marijuana laws would maximize self-interests.  Interests in which i believe the government has not right to put a barrier on.  If the government stands by their decision to keep marijuana illegal because society doesn't need it, then why don't they go ahead and bring back prohibition?

Efficiency

The most efficient way to reform the current marijuana laws would be to legalize the good for recreational use. The government would have to help to regulate the amount a person possesses and the age of the person possessing marijuana. I think that the government should allow a person, 18 years of age or older, to possess up to 3 oz of cannabis for recreational use, because no one has a legitimate reason to possess anymore than that at one time for personal use. However controlling these factors would be much easier and more efficient than spending tax payer’s money, as we currently are doing, to persecute people (overcrowding jails with nonviolent offenders) for breaking the current laws. In exchange the government, and the polis, would profit from the money gained through taxation of marijuana, and from the money saved by freeing our jails of people incarcerated for possession of marijuana charges. The input the government would have to exercise would be even more minimal than they are already exerting, and the output would heavily outweigh the input as it would help our economy that is in much need of funds. The cost to legalize marijuana for recreational use would cut back government income from current fines such as possession of marijuana fines, yet this aspect of cost would be canceled out by the judicial systems acquittal of people currently overcrowding jails due to marijuana charges. The benefit would outweigh the cost, and help the polis, because the funds saved by freeing up our jails could be used towards more important issues such as education.

What is Fair?

I believe a “fair” outcome for the reform of marijuana laws would be to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and for the government to place the sin tax on the good, like they have done for tobacco and alcohol. The sin tax would be the best way to achieve fairness, because marijuana users would be able to legally use the good, there would be no negative effect towards people who don't use marijuana, and the government would receive a large amount of money from taxing marijuana, thus benefiting all three categories of people. The market would benefit from the legalization by new business opportunities such as trades between companies, production competition, or competition in sales. The polis would have new job opportunities and would also have more individual freedoms as they would possess the choice to legally consume marijuana as they wish. If the current marijuana laws were changed the polis would also benefit by having safer neighborhoods throughout the U.S. which are currently plagued by drug wars.

Intro

I am creating this blog to inform readers of the need to reform our current marijuana laws in the Unites States. I believe that marijuana should not only be legal for medicinal use, but also for recreational use.