...Legalize Marijuana The issue of marijuana is a very conservative and taboo subject in American Politics today. According to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the act that effectively made marijuana illegal, was based on the notion that "marijuana caused violent crime and sexual excess." These theories have since been discredited. If marijuana was legal, crime would decrease because street dealers would be replaced by the government which can provide lower prices, and the government would benefit from the added tax revenue. The government could also control the purity and potency of drugs. The reason that it is such a taboo subject is because many people are uneducated or misled under government education, and feel that marijuana users are a danger to society. However, marijuana use is a victimless crime only affecting the user and their body. It is evident that these laws eliminate personal responsibility and free choice, leading to government infringement on individual rights. This was on drugs is not only affecting our civil liberty, it is also wasting our tax money at a rate of 18 billion dollars a year, and there are more than 300,000 people each year arrested on marijuana charges filling up our prisons and over-crowding our courts. The legalization of marijuana would also bring utility to people because it would generate much needed revenue, and it would only affect the people who choose to use it. Marijuana should be legalized because it would promote human rights...
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...Stuart Mill define harm in this scenario? The minority group in this scenario is the terminally ill cancer patients who need marijuana to ease their pain. Mill defines harm in the ‘Harm Principle’. He says that the only reasoning for social coercion is when a person prevents another person from harming the society. He says that the society has an obligation to protect people and to prevent them from exerting harm on their bodies. In the marijuana scenario, the government has a duty to protect people from taking the substances even though the people intend to take it. Task 2. Provide a discussion of John Stuart Mill’s ethical theory in light of current federal law that does not allow patients in Texas to seek alternative medicine, such as medical marijuana, because it is illegal at both the state and federal level. Is this an ethical law according to an application of Mill’s ethical theory? According to John Stuart Mill, an action is right if it promotes happiness to the greatest number of people. Utilitarianism is a moral theory which is founded on the principle that, “if an action promotes happiness it is right and if it promotes pain it is wrong”. There are three principles of this theory. One is the ‘Harm Principle’ which states that the only reasoning for social coercion is when a person prevents another person from harming the society. If marijuana is legal for the cancer patients it will have negative consequences on the society when it becomes readily available. The second...
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...The Economy of Marijuana The United States offers its citizens a vast variety of freedoms. People have the freedom to vote for their leaders, the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and also the freedom to possess vices. They have the freedom to gamble away all of their belongings, drink away their livers, and smoke tobacco until cancer takes their lives, yet the ownership or use of marijuana is prohibited by law. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was passed with the help of untruths spread by Harry J. Anslinger, who was the first Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Less than a year after the acceptance of the Act, the mayor of New York City at the time, Fiorello La Guardia, assembled a group of illustrious scientists to investigate the effects of marijuana and found that their research contradicted Commissioner Anslinger’s arguments (Lupien). The question is: why is marijuana still illegal? Lawmakers and the medical community still fight the marijuana war when there is sufficient proof that it is not as harmful as Anslinger and his associates led the American people to believe, that the physical impairment from marijuana use is comparable to alcohol or tobacco use, and that the economy could benefit immensely from the legalization of marijuana. The media and members of the medical community still support the illusion that marijuana has many detrimental side effects. For example, the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) news release states, “people...
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...Marijuana is one of the world’s oldest plants to come to wide practice of production, sale, and consumption originally used for medical purposes. This generated rapidly growing industries based around the variety of uses for the easily grown plant species. Hemp has been used for a variety of everyday purposes in Americas past including paper, clothing, food, and fuel; the economic potential for this plant type surpasses many plants which are considered staple crops today. Marijuana is America’s number one cash crop surpassing corn and other items. Its decriminalization would open new tax revenues and slash old tax budgets as funds are re appropriated to satisfy a hungry criminal justice system. There have been many non-violent convictions in the justice system that costs the country potentially hundreds of billions of dollars every year and have since the start of the war on drugs during the Reagan era. These convictions could be avoided if the government let each American decide if the production and consumption of marijuana violated their moral and ethical values as individual liberties. As Americans, we are given, at birth, unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the freedom to pursue happiness through whatever means beyond any clear and eminent harm. The combined benefits that would be experienced from legalization are obvious, evident, and too important to remain illegal; the decriminalization of marijuana is more a matter of time due to the variety and abundance of positive...
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...Recreational drug use is defined as the consumption of narcotics to have a altered state of mind, usually to create a positive atmosphere (White 2012). In Canada the judicial opinion on recreational drug use is that it is illegal. In the cases of R.v Malmo-Levine and R.v Caine have challenged the constitutionality of the criminalization of recreational drugs. R.v Malmo-Levine ran an organization that attempted to reduce the harm associated with marijuana, police raided his club and he was charged with the possession of marijuana and for trafficking. R.v Caine was caught with marijuana in his car and was also charged for the possession of marijuana(Dyzenhause et al 2007). In the case of R.v Malmo-Levine and R.v Caine have argued the criminalization...
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...the age of 12 had tried marijuana as of 1998, which is more than 25 percent of the national population. There are millions of regular pot smokers in America and millions more infrequent smokers. Smoking pot clearly has far fewer dangerous and hazardous effects on society than legal drugs such as alcohol. Liberty: people deserve freedom to use marijuana. The first and most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why should marijuana be legalized?" but we should ask "Why should marijuana be illegal?" From a philosophical point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves. The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so according to his or her own free will. The government also may have a right to limit individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual. But this argument does not logically apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs which are legal, such as alcohol and tobacco. SUMMARY: Individuals deserve the right to decide whether or not they should use marijuana. The government should not tell individuals what to do as long as they do not harm others. Cost: keeping marijuana illegal is expensive. The second important reason that marijuana should be legal is that...
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...Substances Act (CSA). Schedule I drugs are classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” (DEA p.1). American country singer and marijuana advocate Willie Nelson said, “I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?” (Nelson p.1). Larry Malerbra D.O, a practitioner, educator and leader in the field of holistic medicine argues that, “The medical benefits of marijuana (cannabis) are pretty well established. There is voluminous scientific research on the subject that verifies its efficacy when applied to a variety of medical conditions, and plenty of first-hand evidence that it works for those who use it for their own health problems.”(Malerbra p.1) With so many different ideas on what exactly Marijuana is, a controlled substance, an herb and a flower, or a medicine. There is no wonder there is much controversy of the legalization of the substance that has just as many names as descriptions. It is referred to as, weed, pot, dope, grass, reefer, herb, Mary Jane, Cannabis sativa, hemp, and most commonly marijuana. In our country we are free to smoke cigarettes until our lungs are black and cancerous, and drink alcohol to the point of...
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...Huffington Post | By Matt Ferner Cons of Legalizing Marijuana One of the most commonly cited negative consequences of legalizing marijuana is the physical risks of the drug, both to those using it and to bystanders. Research has shown that marijuana can increase the likelihood of schizophrenia, mainly if the individual started smoking before the age of 18. There are also the health risks associated with smoking, including second-hand smoke for non-consumers, and the probability that driving under the influence of marijuana would be more common. It may also contribute to IQ declines when used by teens, according to a recent study. Although legalization measures include age restrictions, like alcohol and tobacco, legalizing marijuana would make it considerably easier for children to get hold of. This is an obvious consequence of the increased and open availability of the substance, and the fact that marijuana is especially dangerous for adolescents makes this a much more serious consequence. Some individuals also believe that it’s morally wrong to consume marijuana. The fact that people who take drugs are more likely to commit related crimes (such as theft to fund habit) also means that legalizing the drug could potentially lead to more criminals being out on the street. Drug use is another reason police can use to take law-breakers off the streets. There is also a slippery slope argument, which states that the legalization of marijuana would eventually lead to the legalization of...
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...September 2015 Freedom Rewritten Our freedom is limited because we mistakenly misunderstood what the right to be free meant. Thomas Jefferson’s, “The Declaration of Independence,” argues in his 1776 draft that if the government goes against what people want, they have a right to rebel and form a new type of government. As well as, if there is an unbalanced amount of respect, we the people are turned down the right to a full voice and the activation of our rights. With that being said, he expressed American Freedom around what we were willing to risk for a change and what we would allow come between our wants and needs. Naomi Wolf’s, “Freedom is intended as a challenge,” explains The Declaration of Independence in a way that would be more modernized for people that could not grasp what Jefferson was meaning. Wolf also continues to elaborate the challenges Americans personally sacrifice for the sake of freedom. Having said that, the pursuit of happiness mirrors the time period in which we live in. Nowadays you see the laws changing all around us. Currently same-sex marriage is now legal but just a few years ago they weren’t allowed to. Black people and white people are no longer segregated and 23 states have change their drug laws and have made marijuana legal. Everyday seems like the idea of freedom is changing. The pursuit of happiness is a reflection over how it was back then and how it is now. In Jefferson’s writing he uses words like “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of...
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...was lodged with the police by a neighbor. This gave the police the right to enter onto the property to investigate the complaint. Once they arrived at the residence and started talking to the party goers they smelled marijuana on the individuals. Because of the reasonable suspicion and probable cause that criminal activity was taking place they had a right to search the premises. This is found in the Fourth Amendment under Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion (Farlex, Inc., 2014).To protect evidence from being destroyed they also had a need for the search of the premises. To protect themselves as well as possible evidence they were also permitted to frisk the individuals that were out on the porch of the house. This exercise is permitted when they have reasonable suspicion that a criminal activity is taking place (Daniel E. Hall, 2012, pp. 509-510). While frisking the individuals a bag of marijuana was found. This led the police officers to then call for backup for searching the house before evidence inside the property could be destroyed before a warrant could be obtained. While waiting on the backup they proceeded to search the remaining individuals inside the home, again to keep themselves safe. Drugs are a type of evidence that can disappear either by use or being destroyed. Under the evanescent evidence exception police are allowed to search and obtain evidence that could disappear or be destroyed before a warrant can be obtained (Daniel E. Hall, 2012, p. 510). The officers...
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...Legalizing Medical Marijuana Should Medical Marijuana be legal? Marijuana is medicine. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of ailments. However the United States government says the marijuana use is addictive and it is harmful. So the government makes it illegal even though alcohol and drugs of nicotine which used in cigarettes are legal. Why is it ok that medical marijuana may be legal in some states but not in others? The legalization of medical marijuana in United States would drastically reduce pain sufferers in our society. Legalizing medical marijuana benefits society by helping decrease government spending, and reduce health care costs. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. Just think to ourselves, is it ethical to deny a person who is having chemotherapy or radiation for cancer, a way to relieve nauseaness and pain caused from treatments? Is it ethical to deny a dying person in pain, get the relief from pain and get comfort? Is it ethical to deny someone who has chronic pain or debilitating pain a medicine that can relieve pain? Who has the right to do this? Even though the government does, it is unethical. Marijuana is a natural alternative medicine to help all these issues. The medicines the doctors have to prescribe, for pain like narcotics, have acetaminophen in them which can cause liver damage or even failures are more susceptible to be abused and addicting. There...
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...1. Relief of Spasticity 1 2.2. Treatment of movement disorders 1 2.3. Medical Marijuana as Pain Killer 1 3. Economic Benefits 1 3.1. Increased Tax Revenues 2 3.2. Fiscal Equalization with Alcohol and Tobacco 2 3.3. Reduction of Public Expenditures 2 4. Conclusion 2 5. Reference List 3 Affidavit 1.Introduction Prohibition of Marijuana is an ongoing debate and is one that will need to be dealt with in a serious manner in the coming years, in Europe as well as in the United States of America where Colorado and Washington legalized Marijuana this year. But other states merely legalized it for medical purpose only. In Europe however the possession and consumption of Marijuana is still illegal despite of one exception, the Netherlands where the possession of small quantities is allowed. In our society, most people regard Marijuana as a starter drug or even a drug on the same level with hard drugs. Unfortunately, what people do not see are the medical, economical and social benefits related to the legalization of Marijuana. This paper examines these three mentioned areas and shows what potential an abolishment of the marijuana prohibition has. 2. Medical benefits The benefits of a legalization of Marijuana regarding the use for medical purposes • There are several anecdotal reports suggested that marijuana can relieve the spasticity related with multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury and also animal...
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...could not provide for them. When the new settlers arrived, the frontier areas had no government to provide them with goods or services. Texans soon realized they were individuals in society and would need to find his or her interests and set goals for themselves. Texas’ government believes they should not intervene in a person’s private life or business. Economic liberalism is an ideological belief in organizing the economy by a private individual’s decision. Liberalism is an attempt to limit the power of the state for the sake of individual freedoms and favors the social progress by implementing law and reform rather than revolution. This belief feels equal right and liberty are of great importance. In the last three centuries, economic liberalism is the greatest economic orientation of thought and practice. It is based on four main principles: the economy is governed by law and objectives, is based on private property, presents freedom of actions, and free competition on the liberal market. Economic liberalism plays important roles in the state by the limiting of work hours, enforcing...
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...Whose responsibility is it when it comes to health? Is it a matter of individual choice, healthcare providers, or do governments have a role to play? Discussion of this issue can be a controversial topic. Different views can vary from considering individual liberty to desperately asking health professionals to tackle public-health problems. The ethical dilemma between public-health policy and individual liberty continue to receive attention surrounding topics such as vaccination requirements, legalization of marijuana, teen pregnancy rates, health reform, abortion, or chronic and behavior disease epidemics. Individual liberty revolves around the lifestyle of how one might choose to live. Some might argue that the government should do little...
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