ENGL147 Hackett Law Firm Legalizing Marijuana Follow up Question QUESTIONDetail the 3 most significant issues found in your review, placing them in the ord
ENGL147 Hackett Law Firm Legalizing Marijuana Follow up Question QUESTIONDetail the 3 most significant issues found in your review, placing them in the order of importance (the basis for a revision plan of action). As you write, be specific in which areas you are referring to, such as the introduction, claim, counterargument, etc., and how it relates to your experience with the writing process.
Research ways to correct the problem, in our textbook and lesson, library writing references, or external sources. Provide an example of at least one corrected based on these resources.Kindly find feedback attached Running head: LEGALIZING MARIJUANA
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Legalizing Marijuana
Name
School
ENGL 147: Advanced English Composition
June 2019
LEGALIZING MARIJUANA
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Legalizing Marijuana
According to (Dragone, Prarolo, Vanin, & Zanella, 2019), the author of Journal of
Economic Behavior & Organization, criminalization of marijuana has existed for the longest time
in the American history, and its impact has been negative for both the individual citizens and public
health. The implications of criminalization for having marijuana are far worse than the effects of
the drug itself. Apart from incarceration, which is detrimental, criminalization for having the drug
has been known to be more harmful. For instance, criminalization causes confiscation of ones
driving license, dismissal from a job, eviction from public housing, prevention from adopting, loss
of educational support fund, and deportation. In states that do not support cannabis legalization
such as Arizona, any individual using it for recreational or medicinal use would end up in jail.
Research shows that, in 2015, the government spent $9.2 daily to incarcerate drug offenders, which
is too much strain on the American economy. Strategies such as treating the addicts to recover
from marijuana dependence are cheaper and better than the infliction of torture for lack of a job or
source of livelihood, due to criminalization.
1st Counterargument
There are, without doubt, unfavorable impacts of legalization of marijuana that are
observed in young users of marijuana. According to (Hopfer, 2014), a psychiatrist lecturer at the
University of Colorado, Marijuana use at or below the age of twelve year presents more chances
for mental illness than it does for teenagers at or above eighteen years old. He describes this as
alarming since statistics from the National Survey on drug use and Health (NDSHU) show that
regular consumption of marijuana among teenagers in the six states (where cannabis has been
legalized), surpassed the overall teenage use in the United States by 30%. 33.3% of the teenagers
in the six states ages between eighteen and twenty-five years used Marijuana, which was a drastic
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increase from the 20% noted in the past ten years. Between the years 2006 and 2017, Colorado
had a 65% increase in the number of first-time teenage users since its legalization of Marijuana in
2012. Additionally, 53% of the Marijuana addicts aged eighteen years or more started using the
drug at the age of between twelve and seventeen years. 5.9% of adolescent users are from senior
high school with statistics showing that in the year 2010, 21% of the older students had consumed
the drug in the past one month and 19% of them drove while under its influence.
2nd counterargument
According to (Anderson & Rees, 2014) who are doctors and researchers in Colorado, a
study conducted in the state before the legalization of marijuana for medicinal use showed that
only two thousand patients had been allowed to take pot for medical purposes. Two years later,
the number increased to one hundred and fifty thousand patients and eight hundred and nine health
facilities registered as marijuana dispensaries. After cannabis legalization in 2014, people from
ages twenty-one years and above were permitted to consume the drug, which contributed to an
increase in tax revenue by $3.5 million, $4 million, and $5 million in the three consecutive months
of January, February and March. The increase in tax revenue shows that the number of users
increased, and research shows that 60% of the drug disorders reported in the United States was
due to marijuana addiction.
An increase in the number of addicts is projected to be a significant challenge, as argued
in the journal of addiction. According to a study published in the journal by a psychologist, the use
of the drug increased among the Oregon college students at a higher rate as opposed to the states
where its use was illegal (Kerr, Bae, & Koval, 2018). Additionally, its use doubled among the
countries where it is legal as opposed to when it was illegal, with 60% of the medical disorders
among drug users linked to marijuana use.
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3rd counterargument
According to (Dragone, Prarolo, Vanin, & Zanella, 2019) there is a rise in crime, with
statistics showing that crime increased immediately after the legalization of the drug at alarming
rates. In Colorado, crime rates were reported to be escalating eleven times faster than in other
states.
Additionally, property crimes in the state increased by 8.3%, and violent crimes were
reported to have escalated by 18.6%. Increase in crime was also published in the District of
Columbia and Seattle. Seattle reported nineteen homicides in 2013, which increased annually with
the highest number reported as thirty-one cases in the year 2018. Additionally, the District of
Columbia said the highest number of homicides in the year 2017 and 2018, which was at 116 cases
and 160 cases respectively. The increase in crime rate is linked to the rise in black market
competition, which stirs conflicts. The legalization of the drug in some of the states may have led
to flocking of the market by dealers from the states where the product is illegal, in a bid to obtain
the drug at a low price, which may stir contentions.
1st Rebuttal (your point)
Marijuana use started in Asia in 500 BC and has been used globally as a medicinal and a
recreational product. According to (Caulkins, Kilmer, & Kleiman, 2016), 14.1% of Americans (1
out of 7) has used the drug in the past one year, with 51.1% being adults. The widespread use of
Marijuana among adolescents has existed even in the era of criminalization with statistics showing
that there has been 5.8 percent to 8.4 percent rise among adolescents between 2007 and 2014. An
illegal marijuana policy recognizes the statistics presented above as of those who have committed
a federal drug crime.
A law against the use of marijuana describes American adults and
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adolescents as criminals based on the statistics presented above. This law covers all marijuana
users whether they use it for conditions such as epilepsy, cancer, to reduce the effects of opioidsbased drugs or for recreational purposes.
In 2017, 64% of the American population, 75% of the voters and 94% of citizens advocated
for the legalization of marijuana. In the same year, 94% of the citizens opposed the infliction of
states that have legalized marijuana by federal government law. The law is for the people and
should be established to favor the opinions of the majority who want the drug legalized. A
commission appointed to test the harm of marijuana advised the government in 1971 to stop
scheduling the drug under schedule one drugs along with heroin, because of its medicinal benefits.
The government has, however, not heeded to this, and the federal law still opposes its consumption.
2nd rebuttal
The purpose of law enforcement on drugs is to reduce its use, reduce its access and use by
minors, and to promote the health of the populations. According to (Kerr, Bae, & Koval, 2018),
psychologist lecturers at the University of Oregon, this has not been the case with research showing
that the nation has been spending $3.6 billion a year and has not been able to eliminate the drug or
reduce its use. This amount is very high compared to the amount that can be used to treat 4 million
addicts out of the many users (24 million). Additionally, it is essential to remember that
legalization has nothing to do with the increased number of users. This is backed up by statistics
that show one out of six teenagers and 20-25% of adult users were addicted to Marijuana even in
the age of criminalization. Criminalization has also increased crime rates, which are directly
related to the increase in competition among marijuana suppliers. The legalization of Marijuana in
some states has resulted in an invasion of the free markets by the suppliers from the illegal states,
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which has contributed to the increase in crime rates. The competition, which results in black market
crimes, has led to losses worth tens of billions annually.
3rd Rebuttal
Criminalization of marijuana is linked to racial claims that emanated from the coming of
Mexican immigrants in America. According to (Dragone, Prarolo, Vanin, & Zanella, 2019),
criminalization based on racism does not uphold the values of the American constitution. The few
crime cases at Seattle (31 homicides) and the District of Columbia (160 homicides) that can be
managed and controlled cannot be compared to the torture of incarceration or criminalization
among the 12.7% of the black Americans who have reportedly used marijuana at some point in
their lives. Criminalization of the drug users was started by Harry Anslinger, whose arguments
were racist. He argued that black Americans and Mexicans use of the drug made them drug
addicts, psychopaths, murders, and rapists. Presently, the criminalization process is also racist,
both black and white people use drugs, but the blacks are arrested and incarcerated more. The rate
of fining and punishment for this group is also eleven times higher.
Conclusion
The legalization of Marijuana has a variety of benefits and positive side compared to the
negative outcomes being publicized. Marijuana should cease to be ranked among hard drugs like
cocaine and heroin. Legalization of marijuana will bring about more productivity to the economy
and aid in treatment of medical conditions with minimum side effect. Legalization will also bring
about a decrease in addiction rate, decrease in crime rate and reduce discrimination amongst users.
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References
Anderson, D. M., & Rees, D. I. (2014). The legalization of recreational marijuana: how likely is
the worst-case scenario. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 33(1), 221-232.
Caulkins, J. P., Kilmer, B., & Kleiman, M. A. (2016). Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone
Needs to Know. Oxford University Press.
Dragone, D., Prarolo, G., Vanin, P., & Zanella, G. (2019). Crime and the legalization of
recreational marijuana. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 159, 488-501.
Hopfer, C. (2014). Implications of marijuana legalization for adolescent substance use. Substance
Abuse, 35(4), 331-335.
Kerr, D. C., Bae, H., & Koval, A. L. (2018). Oregon recreational marijuana legalization: Changes
in undergraduates marijuana use rates from 2008 to 2016. Psychology of Addictive
Behaviors, 32(6), 670.
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