Sargam Choudhury

08 December 2022

WR152 N3

Medical Debate Research Paper

The Green Debate: Uncovering the Controversy Surrounding Marijuana Legalization in

the United States

Marijuana must be called “the good Kush” for a reason, given that the topic of its

legalization is one of such controversy in the United States. It was not until recently in United

States history that marijuana was criminalized and prohibited for recreational use. Over time,

societal attitudes toward recreational usage became more relaxed and marijuana was legalized

and regulated for medical use in many states in the early 21st century.1 Since then, the debate

about legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes has ensued, causing a lot of turmoil between

those who believe that it should be legal for both medical and recreational use, and those who

call for its federal criminalization. This debate is directly caused by transforming societal

principles regarding recreational marijuana, leading to a huge divide between many different

populations. Those who are against legalization argue that marijuana is a highly potent and

dangerous drug that leads to severe behavioral and physical health issues, and that legalization

will cause increased problematic drug usage, especially in younger adults, and will require more

law enforcement resources to deal with marijuana related public safety issues and arrests due to

overall dysregulation. However, those who favor legalization articulate that marijuana is not as

dangerous of a drug as it has been proclaimed to be because this claim and the enforcement of

drug offense laws as a result of it are founded in racist and xenophobic views, and that

1
“Busted - America's War On Marijuana,” PBS, accessed October 17, 2022,
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html.

1
legalization will also allow for more regulation in sales and quality of product, which will lead to

incredible economic benefits. While the federal legalization of recreational marijuana will most

likely occur in the near future due to more logical reasoning in the pro-legalization argument,

there will definitely be many regulations in place to appease civilians that are anti-legalization

and create a middle ground for both parties.

The earliest known use of marijuana dates back to the 3rd millennium BC in ancient

China, where it was used as a medicine to treat various ailments.2 In ancient India, marijuana was

used in religious and spiritual ceremonies as a means of achieving enlightenment, while also

used for its medicinal properties.3 As marijuana spread to other parts of the world, it continued to

be used for both medicinal and recreational purposes. In the early 1900s, marijuana became

popular in the United States as a recreational drug. However, the rise in marijuana usage also

sparked concerns about its potential harmful effects. In 1937, the United States passed the

Marijuana Tax Act, which effectively made marijuana illegal for recreational use. 4 This was a

direct result of the association of xenophobic and racist anti-marijuana campaigns with the

introduction of recreational marijuana usage to the general public by Mexican immigrants. For

the next several years after the passing of the law, the New York Academy of Medicine and

many studies commissioned by US presidents indicated that the recreational usage of marijuana

did not generate violent, erratic, or addictive behavior as had been claimed.5 Even after these

attempts to clear the air around marijuana, the drug was categorized as a Schedule 1 drug by the

2
Brittany Tackett, “History of Marijuana,” American Addiction Centers, updated November 15, 2022,
https://recovery.org/marijuana/history/.
3
Ibid.
4
PBS, “Busted.”
5
Ibid.

2
Drug Enforcement Administration, which meant that it is an incredibly dangerous drug that

serves no medical purpose and has a high possibility of being abused.6 Despite its prohibition,

marijuana usage continued to grow in popularity, particularly among young people. In the 1980s,

the United States government launched a "war on drugs" in an effort to crack down on drug

usage and trafficking. This led to stricter laws and harsher penalties for marijuana possession and

use.7 However, in recent years, there has been a shift in attitudes towards marijuana; over time,

views on marijuana moved from racist perspectives to a stance that heavily leaned on safety and

public health. Currently, only a few states have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Even

though there has been some production of bipartisan legislation that would set the stage for

federal legalization, federal legalization specifically is something that is being widely debated by

politicians and civilians alike. The perspectives from the 20th century have definitely shaped anti-

legislation views today, given that many of the concerns, especially those regarding public health

and public safety, are still extremely relevant.

One of the main anti-legalization stances is that there are many negative health

consequences of recreational marijuana use, with long-term problematic use among young adults

being an issue specifically. While they may not be common, recreational users of marijuana may

have “unpleasant psychological experiences, such as severe anxiety, palpitations, and psychotic

symptoms,” and dependence on marijuana in adolescents correlates with manifestations of

mental disorders, violent/antisocial behaviors, impaired cognitive skills, and usage of harder

drugs.8 Other scientists and researchers agree on this, stating that legalization could be a route to
6
“Drug Scheduling,” Drug Information, United States Drug Enforcement Administration,
https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling.
7
PBS, “Busted.”

8
Wayne Hall, “The costs and benefits of cannabis control policies,” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 22, no. 3
(Sept 2020): 281-287.

3
higher rates of addiction, and that long-term abuse of marijuana is associated with

“psychological and physical health concerns, lower educational attainment, decline in social

class, unemployment, and motor vehicle crashes.”9 Other health concerns with marijuana usage

include lower birth weight and poorer birth outcomes in pregnant woman and an increased risk

of accidents on the road while high.10

The increase in accidents after marijuana legalization is not only a health concern, but it

is also a law enforcement issue. Those against legalization say that utilization of law

enforcement resources will actually increase, especially because of issues such as increased car

crashes. Interviews with law enforcement officials in a study funded by the Department of

Justice showed concern for an increase in many things that would require law enforcement

resources to handle, including high potency or laced product and its correlation with criminal

behavior and self-harm, youth-targeted marijuana marketing, and drugged driving and an

increase in marijuana testing. Another major concern of law enforcement officials was having to

use more resources for marijuana use instead of methamphetamine and heroin related arrests. 11

Religious reasons may also factor into the decision to be anti-legalization. Christians

specifically may claim that “marijuana is not biblical”, through a comparison of getting

intoxicated by marijuana to getting drunk. Drunkenness is technically prohibited by the Bible

because it causes an alteration of normal physical and mental states, so many religious Christians

9
German Lopez, “A new study found marijuana legalization leads to more problematic use,” Vox, accessed October
15, 2022, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/13/20962924/marijuana-legalization-use-addiction-
study.
10
Hall, “Costs and benefits.”
11
Erin J. Farley and Stan Orchowsky, “Measuring the Criminal Justice Systems Impacts of Marijuana Legalization
and Decriminalization Using State Data,” Justice Research and Statistics Association.

4
may argue that because marijuana essentially does the same thing, the Bible most likely also

prohibits the usage of marijuana, medicinally or recreationally.12

As valid as the concerns are on the anti-legalization side of the debate, the pro-

legalization side has equally valid rebuttals, and even more evidence to support their

perspectives. A major claim that many people hold in favor of legalization is that marijuana is

not as terrible a drug as the US government portrays it to be, nor is it a gateway drug that leads to

the abuse of harder drugs. The US Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes it as a Schedule

1 drug and claims that it is a gateway drug that leads to harder drug use. However, many

scientists, users, and enthusiasts alike support the idea that marijuana is not as dangerous as other

Schedule 1 drugs, like heroin or LSD, and it also does not lead to harder drug use. Because of its

categorization, research on marijuana is very limited. However, oncologist and marijuana

researcher Donald Abrams says that prior to marijuana’s categorization as a Schedule 1 drug was

so recent, it was used medicinally, and that he even recommends marijuana for many ailments. 13

Historically, the American Medical Association has requested the rescheduling of marijuana by

the DEA.14 With further research, scientists have also said that “cannabis has no obtainable lethal

overdose threshold,” which only furthers the point that it cannot be as dangerous as other

Schedule 1 drugs.15 Other scientists say that there are a number of things that are in favor of

recreational marijuana, including positive psychological effects of cannabis usage that are more

12
Lauren Shank, “Cons of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Use,” The Liberty Champion, accessed October 15,
2022, https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2022/03/pros-and-cons-weed-should-be-illegal/.
13
David Downs, “The Science behind the DEA's Long War on Marijuana,” Scientific American, April 19, 2016,
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-behind-the-dea-s-long-war-on-marijuana/.
14
Ibid.

15
Ibid.

5
common than a minority of “unexpected psychological experiences.”16 One top of this, marijuana

was determined to be enjoyed by a “substantial portion” of users with minimized harm.

Specifically, scientists regard it to have “smaller impacts on disease burden” compared to

alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs.17 Some supporters also use anecdotal evidence of

positive experiences and health benefits to support their claims, such as their own experiences, or

the experiences of family members or friends that have used marijuana for medicinal and

recreational purposes, which allows for a more holistic approach to reasoning for the pro-

legalization argument.18

The lack of negative health consequences is a corroborated claim supporters of

legalization hold, but a current large safety and health concern is laced marijuana. However,

legalization also offers a solution for this issue: with legalization, purity of product can be

ensured with firmer regulations on sales, making it safer for any consumers, including those who

legally are not allowed to. This is especially a safety concern for young adults; for example,

college students use marijuana recreationally but are more likely to purchase laced marijuana,

but legalization means more regulation of laced products to be purchased at trustworthy

dispensaries,19 which is a claim held by many young supporters of legalization as well.

With more regulation on sales and product, economic benefits are yet another aspect of

marijuana legalization that those in favor claim will occur. Cannabis is one of the largest

16
Hall, “Costs and benefits.”

17
Ibid.

18
“Why Americans Support or Oppose Legalizing Marijuana,” Pew Research Center, April 14, 2015,
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/14/in-debate-over-legalizing-marijuana-disagreement-over-drugs-
dangers/
19
Lily Williams, “Opinion: The pros of legalized marijuana outweigh the cons,” The Review, May 18, 2021,
https://udreview.com/opinion-the-pros-of-legalized-marijuana-outweigh-the-cons/.

6
growing industries, with even more projected growth: in the last year alone, there were 428,000

new full-time jobs in the cannabis industry, with 33% growth from the previous year.20 Reports

suggest that federal legalization could lead to the creation of 1 million jobs by 2025, and while

the cannabis industry creates millions of dollars in tax revenue already, with billions projected

later on with legalization. Investors can expect increased investment opportunities, with more

liquefiable stock available in the cannabis industry. Surprisingly, another economic benefit of

legalization could be the conservation of law enforcement financial resources as a result of

decreased criminal activity surrounding marijuana.21

Legalizing marijuana would not only conserve law enforcement resources, but it would

decrease the usage of disproportionately enforced and racially motivated drug offense laws. In

states with legalized marijuana usage, studies showed that there were fewer marijuana related

arrests and court cases, which indicates substantial conservation of criminal justice resources. 22

While certain states have shown increases or decreases in post-legalization crime, “overall,

violent crime has neither soared nor plummeted in the wake of marijuana legalization.” 23

Supporters argue that if done correctly, cannabis reform can be allowed to “repair and undo” past

harm done to victims of drug offense laws, especially to black and Latino Americans, who make

up “two-thirds of the prison population in part because of the discriminatory enforcement of drug

laws.”24 In general, the criminalization of marijuana holds lifelong consequences for even
20
Mary J. Gibson and Pablo Delcan, “Federal marijuana legalization is stopped in its tracks,” Vox, March 31, 2022,
https://www.vox.com/22968976/federal-marijuana-legalization-cannabis-policy-decriminalization.
21
Krishna, Mrinalini, “The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana,” Investopedia, accessed October 15, 2022.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/110916/economic-benefits-legalizing-weed.asp.
22
Farley and Orchowsky, “Measuring Data.”
23
Angela Dills, Sietse Goffard, Jeffrey Miron, and Erin Partin, “The Effect of State Marijuana Legalizations: 2021
Update,” CATO Institute Policy Analysis, no. 908, accessed October 15, 2022, https://doi.org/10.36009/PA.908.
24
Gibson and Delcan, “Federal legalization stopped.”

7
possession of marijuana; college students, for example, receive prison time for carrying and/or

using marijuana that will go on to affect them for their whole lives, but many young adults will

agree that “with marijuana being so widely used and legal in many states, it makes the heavy

consequences seem arbitrary.”25

Interestingly, religious and cultural traditions are factors in why certain groups of people

favor legalization. South Asian users specifically call on traditions and religious mythology to

support their reasoning for using marijuana recreationally; bhang, an Indian drink made from

marijuana leaves, is widely enjoyed by people during the religious observances of Holi and

Shivratri. It is also well known that marijuana is a preferred substance of Lord Shiva, one of the

most important of the gods in Hinduism.26 The usage of marijuana is also listed in the Vedas, the

most ancient Hindu texts, for its medicinal use. Specifically, its purpose is to treat “endemic

diseases” as told by the Atharva Veda, which considers marijuana to be a sacred herb. Because

of these reasons, Hindu South Asians, especially those that have been in the United States for

longer than generation, tend to favor legalization. Many South Asian-Americans also support

legalization because of its extinguishing of the model minority myth that rang true for their

immigrant parents and grandparents when arriving to the United States, allowing them to push

past the narrative that marijuana is for “bad people”, namely Black and Latino immigrants, to

use.27

The many perspectives on marijuana legalization hold a lot of justifiable claims – there

are several things to worry about when it comes to legalizing a drug, no matter how normalized

25
Williams, “Pros outweigh cons.”
26
Michael S. Cross, “A History of Bhang, India’s Most Accessible Cannabis,” The Juggernaut, accessed November
3, 2022, https://www.thejuggernaut.com/bhang.
27
Alisha Sahay, “South Asian Americans Are Coming Out Of The Weed Closet,” HuffPost, accessed October 15,
2022, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/south-asian-weed-stigma_n_6333547fe4b03e8038b7ebb3.

8
recreational usage has become. Legalization is appropriate as long as it is heavily regulated from

a public health stance, and is used as a stepping stone for reparations towards Black and Latino

Americans. Currently, lawmakers in the Senate are debating on passing the MORE Act, which

would officially decriminalize marijuana at a federal level.28 As time goes on, we can expect to

see more legislation being passed to make sure that marijuana can be used recreationally in the

United States without the fear of being arrested, which would significantly decrease the racially

motivated and disproportionately enforced drug offense laws. We can also expect to see more

public health policy regarding marijuana usage as federal legalization becomes reality; at this

point in time, there are already studies depicting that public health policies will change with

federal legalization and become far more regulated than at the state level. 29 Above all else, the

health of individuals using marijuana recreationally should be valued, and this involves many

factors, including things like purity of product, or regulation of minors’ accessibility to

it.30 Politicians and civilians alike must keep in mind while advocating for either side that not

everything is good for you, but that does not mean it is necessarily always bad for you either. If

you drink too much alcohol, smoke too much, or even eat too much, you will face the negative

consequences that come with addiction. Products like marijuana are controversial because they

are said to have the ability to be abused, but we must also keep in mind that there are many

products on the market, like alcohol and cigarettes, that are abused daily, both nationally and

globally. With policies and community plans in place to prevent, or at the very least treat, drug

abuse, the recreational usage of marijuana becomes much safer. Prior to the federal legalization

28
"H.R.3617 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act." April 4,
2022. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3617.
29
Gillian L. Schauer, “Cannabis Policy in the United States: Implications for Public Health,” Journal of the
National Cancer Institute 58, (Nov 2021): 39-52.
30
Lopez, “Problematic use.”

9
of marijuana for recreational usage, local, state, and federal governments should generate

standardized plans to deal with the possibility of marijuana abuse. With a strong and supportive

plan in place, the legalization of recreational marijuana would be a lot less controversial.

10
 Bibliography

Cross, Michael S. 2021. “A History of Bhang, India’s Most Accessible Cannabis.” The
Juggernaut. https://www.thejuggernaut.com/bhang.

Dills, Angela, Sietse Goffard, Jeffrey Miron, Erin Partin, and CATO Institute. 2021. “The Effect
of State Marijuana Legalizations: 2021 Update.” Policy Analysis, no. 908. https://doi.org/
10.36009/PA.908.

Downs, David. 2016. “The Science behind the DEA's Long War on Marijuana.” Scientific
American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-behind-the-dea-s-long-
war-on-marijuana/.

“Drug Scheduling.” United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Accessed December 6,

Farley, Erin J., and Stan Orchowsky. 2019. Measuring the Criminal Justice Systems Impacts of
Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization Using State Data. N.p.: Justice Research
and Statistics Association.

Gibson, Mary J., and Pablo Delcan. 2022. “Federal marijuana legalization is stopped in its
tracks.” Vox. https://www.vox.com/22968976/federal-marijuana-legalization-cannabis-
policy-decriminalization.

Hall, Wayne. 2020. “The costs and benefits of cannabis control policies.” Dialogues in Clinical
Neuroscience 22, no. 3 (September): 281-287. 10.31887/DCNS.2020.22.3/whall.

“H.R.3617 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and

Krishna, Mrinalini. 2022. “The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana.” Investopedia.

Lopez, German. 2019. “A new study found marijuana legalization leads to more problematic
use.” Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/13/20962924/marijuana-
legalization-use-addiction-study.

“Marijuana Timeline | Busted - America's War On Marijuana | FRONTLINE.” PBS. Accessed

11
Sahay, Alisha. 2022. “South Asian Americans Are Coming Out Of The Weed Closet.” HuffPost.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/south-asian-weed-
stigma_n_6333547fe4b03e8038b7ebb3.

Shank, Lauren. 2022. “Cons of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Use - The Liberty
Champion.” Liberty University. https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2022/03/pros-and-
cons-weed-should-be-illegal/.

Schauer, Gillian L. “Cannabis Policy in the United States: Implications for Public Health.”
Journal of the National Cancer Institute 58, (November 2021): 39-52.

Tackett, Brittany. “History of Marijuana.” American Addiction Centers, updated November 15,
2022. https://recovery.org/marijuana/history/.

“Why Americans Support or Oppose Legalizing Marijuana.” 2015. Pew Research Center.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/14/in-debate-over-legalizing-marijuana-
disagreement-over-drugs-dangers/.

Williams, Lily. 2021. “Opinion: The pros of legalized marijuana outweigh the cons | The
Review.” UDReview.com, May 18, 2021. https://udreview.com/opinion-the-pros-of-
legalized-marijuana-outweigh-the-cons/.

12