Legalize it!

Musical artist and social activist Bob Marley once said, “Herb is the healing of a nation.” The ‘herb’ he was referring to is not parsley or garlic. The plant he spoke of is known as cannabis sativa, more commonly referred to as weed, pot, or marijuana. Cultivation and consumption of this plant has long been illegal in the United States for a variety of reasons, ranging from difficulty in taxing it to its association with other narcotics (Bonnie and Whitebread). Though the words of this musician ring false in the ears of an apparent majority of American policy makers, there seems to be little reason why this prohibition continues. Because the practice of smoking has only a low impact on health and because the costs of prohibition far outweigh its benefits, cannabis should be legalized and regulated.

When the dried flowers of a cannabis plant are smoked or prepared into food, a variety of effects may be noted by the consumer. Neuroscience for kids, a website sponsored by the University of Washington, notes several effects such as relaxation, reduced coordination, reduced blood pressure, sleepiness, and altered perception of time and space. Another commonly reported symptom is increase in appetite. These effects are rarely a danger to the user or to those around one. Alcohol, a legal psychoactive chemical, is known to have many more adverse effects, including nausea, impaired judgment, unconsciousness, and at very high doses, death. Cannabis has an incredibly low level of toxicity, making it nearly impossible to overdose. In one test a dog was fed 3000mg of cannabis for every 1 kilogram it weighed, a dose comparable to 46 pounds of cannabis consumed by a 154 pound human, and did not die ("What is the lethal").

Some may worry about the long term damage done by cannabis consumption. While there is no denying that chronic use can have a negative impact on long term health, such effects are much less common and severe than the potential damage done by alcohol and cigarettes. The website for the National Institute on Drug Abuse lists addiction, mental health problems, lung damage, and increased risk of heart attack as possible long term effects of marijuana use. Many of these risks, however, can be avoided or are too mild to be a concern for the average person.

Smoking anything will most definitely damage your lungs. Unlike tobacco, however, cannabis does not have to be smoked in order to produce effects. Erowid, a website promoting the responsible use of psychoactive chemicals, provides more than 20 recipes for preparing cannabis into food. A simple Google search can potentially find hundreds more. Even when smoked, cannabis causes less damage to lungs than tobacco does. Cannabis, like tobacco, has a number of carcinogens and irritants that cause lung damage over time. Typical cannabis smokers smoke much less often than most smokers, meaning that the typical cigarette smoker causes far more damage to his lungs over time. Furthermore, there has been no link between cannabis use and lung cancer ("Myths and Facts").

NIDA makes no connection between cannabis consumption and heart disease; it states that there can be a 20-100% rise in heart rate that can last for up to 3 hours after smoking. The average person has a heart rate between 60-80 beats per minute. Even at a 100% increase, a rare event, this would bring the average person’s heart rate to somewhere between 120-160 bpm, 20 bpm lower than the maximum heart rate of a 40 year old. Though there may be some danger for an older man or someone with heart disease, the increased heart rate is nothing to be concerned about for many Americans.

Potential for addiction is another platform prohibitionists use to deny cannabis legalization. There are two kinds of addictions, physical and psychological. When someone becomes physically addicted to something, it means that that person’s body has developed a chemical need for the substance. Heroin, alcohol, and tobacco are considered physically addictive because they produce physical withdrawal symptoms after prolonged use. In order to avoid feeling these symptoms, one must continue using the drug. When something is psychologically addictive, it means that a person has become emotionally or psychologically attached to the pleasure it gives them. Cannabis, because it has the potential to cause pleasure, can be habit forming. Psychological addiction can be present in many things however. In 2005, a South Korean man died of heart failure from exhaustion while going on a 50 hour video game binge ("S Korean dies"). Though things such as sugar, video games, television, and even reading can be habit forming, most people see little sense in making these things illegal.

A final health concern NIDA mentions is the potential to damage a person’s mental health. While there has been some correlation between cannabis use and psychosis, there is not enough evidence to prove whether its use causes psychosis or whether those with psychosis seek its use (McLaren et al.). This correlation is found primarily in adolescents. Most cannabis users who begin their use as an adult do not develop mental illness.

One worry of prohibitionists is that there is currently no way to test whether someone is under the influence of cannabis, meaning that police officers could not give DWI’s to someone who is driving under the influence of cannabis. Tests done by the US Department of Transportation indicate that cannabis use may have no significant effect on driving ability. Even at doses of 300 g/kg, actual driving impairment was less than that of someone driving with a blood alcohol level of .08%, the legal limit of blood alcohol content while driving (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). In some tests, the greatest impairment to driving occurred in those given the lowest dose of cannabis. Responsible drivers know that they should never drive while under the influence of any substance, but there is little danger to other drivers if someone were to attempt to drive while under the influence of cannabis.

There are also many positive benefits to the legalization of cannabis. According to John Gettman, a leader of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, $41.8 billion dollars were spent in 2007 as a result of the current laws regarding cannabis. Much of this cost is caused by enforcing the laws regarding cannabis use. In 2002, 45% of all drug related arrests were marijuana related, costing approximately $16.4 billion dollars in law enforcement costs (Gettman 10). “These [costs],” Gettman argues, “are not effects of marijuana use… These are measures of policy output AND NOT indications of policy effectiveness or impact.”

If cannabis were to be legalized, regulated, and taxed as other commodities, significant revenue could be generated. Gettmann’s estimate on the supply of cannabis based on several national studies indicates that there is around 14,349 metric tons of cannabis available annually in the United States (33). Based on other national studies, Gettmann places the price of one metric ton at $7,871,480, meaning that the price of the annual national supply would be worth $119 billion (34). All of the money made in the cannabis trade is illegal and therefore untaxed. If this commodity were taxed, Gettmann places a minimum estimate of revenue made by the US government to nearly $15.9 billion, with a more accurate estimate of $31.1 billion (35). These staggering estimates are based on the assumption that the market would not grow if legalization occurs.

Cannabis was originally made illegal with the Marijuana tax act of 1937. Transcripts taken from the congressional hearing where this decision was made reveal some blaring inaccuracies, along with racism and some sensational storytelling. Some reasons backing its illegalization include: “It is said that the [Muslim] leaders, opposing the Crusaders, utilized the services of individuals addicted to the use of hashish for secret murders,” “Those who are habitually accustomed to use of the drug are said to develop a delirious rage after its administration,” and “Two weeks ago a sex-mad degenerate, named Lee Fernandez, brutally attacked a young Alamosa girl… Police officers here know definitely that Fernandez was under the influence of marihuana.” Based on these transcripts, it would appear that a good deal of misinformation and irrelevancies lead to the initial prohibition of cannabis. Though we know a good deal more about this plant today, we continue its prohibition through force of inertia.

For centuries cannabis was considered a highly useful plant for millennia, both for its therapeutic and practical applications. It is only within the last two centuries that this cherished plant has received such harsh persecution. While there are no guarantees that legalization will have a strong positive effect on our economy, there is little doubt that it will not have a strong impact on our nation’s health. There is little gained in the continuance of this prohibition, and there would most certainly be little lost if it were to end. (Insert final sentence here)

Works Cited
Bonnie, Richard J, and Charles H Whitebread II. “The Genesis of Marijuana Prohibition.” Drug Library. DRC Net, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/LIBRARY/studies/vlr/vlr2.htm>.

Gettman, John. Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws. DrugScience.org. Drug Science, 5 Sept. 2007. Web. 8 June 2010. <http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr4/Lost%20Taxes%20and%20Other%20Costs%20of%20Marijuana%20Laws.pdf>.

“The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.” DrugPolicy. DRC Net, n.d. Web. 10 June 2010.
“Marijuana.” Neuroscience for Kids. Ed. Eric H Chudler. U of Washington, 9 June 2010. Web. 9 June 2010. <http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/mari.html>.

McLaren, Jennifer A, et al. “Assessing Evidence for a Causal Link between Cannabis and Psychosis: A Review of Cohort Studies.” International Journal of Drug Policy 21.1: 10-19. ScienceDirect. Web. 10 June 2010.

“Myths and Facts About Marijuana.” DrugPolicy. Drug Policy Alliance, n.d. Web. 10 June 2010. <http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/>.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance. N.p.: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1993. N. pag. DrugLibrary. Web. 11 June 2010. <http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/misc/driving/driving.htm>.

“NIDA InfoFacts: Marijuana.” National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse, July 2009. Web. 9 June 2010. <http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html>.

“S Korean dies after games session.” BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation, 10 Aug. 2005. Web. 10 June 2010. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm>.

“What is the lethal dose of marijuana?” Drug Library. DRC Net, n.d. Web. 9 June 2010. <http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/library/mj_overdose.htm>.