The Marijuana Debate
By now, Marijuana has been legalized in four states: Colorado, Alaska, Washington and Oregon. A large number of Exonians, citing numerous benefits, have applauded the efforts of these states. Before we encourage its decriminalization in other states across the United States, I believe that we must stop and evaluate the harms and pressures that result from marijuana legalization. More importantly, we must realize that the government has an obligation to value the lives of its citizens over its own economic profit.
Proponents of legalization cite its effects on the black market and drug trafficking. They claim that legalization allows for the government to better control the selling of marijuana. However, the black market will continue to exist. Rather, its audience will shift from the general population to teenagers, who legally wouldn’t be able to obtain the drug. After all, legalizing the drug will not suddenly turn criminals into altruistic, honest citizens. Instead, it will motivate them to sell drugs in more clandestine ways. In the status quo, teenagers understand the risk they undertake in smoking marijuana. Through its legalization, we disseminate the social stigma around marijuana that exists in society today.
Others claim that legalizing and then taxing marijuana will increase tax revenue and therefore help local economies. Reducing the legal restrictions would increase the availability of the drug, decreasing the perceived harm and raising the incidence of use. The Drug Enforcement Agency states that the “drug treatment costs, hospitalization for long-term drug-related disease and treatment of the consequences of family violence” would burden our already failing and inefficient healthcare system. Economic productivity will decrease, with more unexcused absences and safety problems in the workplace. Traffic accidents and family problems will contribute to the lowered social welfare that will result from marijuana legalization. The National Institute on Drug Abuse adds that “marijuana use is likely to precede use of other licit and illicit substances.” Even if one doesn’t agree that society cannot profit from a person’s addiction, the legalization of marijuana would carry many perceivable economic and social costs.
Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, described a state of nature in which each individual is free to decide what he/she needs, as well as what is considered “right.” Hobbes explained that giving every person the authority to resolve societal issues and the opportunity to judge what’s best creates a “state of war.” People are likely to indulge in their own interests without considering the effects of their actions on both their own long-term interests and the people around them. The government must take away certain rights from citizens in return for other freedoms and liberties. By removing the ban on marijuana, we perpetuate and worsen the “state of war” that Hobbes describes. Because a person who has taken marijuana will have impaired judgment and likely not consider the consequences of his/her actions, the government has the right to take away a person’s “right to marijuana” for the safety and health of others.
Even if we overlook any economic or social argument, the debate on marijuana comes down to the sanctity of life. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, marijuana produces anxiety, fear, distrust or panic and, in the long term, causes cancer and damage to the hippocampus. Even if we were to compare tobacco with marijuana, WebMD finds that marijuana has higher levels of toxic compounds than tobacco. To legalize marijuana is to agree that society can profit from and promote one’s addiction.