...Policy Advocacy Speech Introduction Attention Device: Since 1990 Seventeen million people have been arrested for marijuana related crimes, Thats more than the entire population of Alaska. Credibility: As a non-marijuana smoker I still feel, from past experiences and research, that the legalization of marijuana is very important. Preview: Since the year 1970 we have been wasting tax payers money, as well as law enforcements time and effort to fight something that has the potential to help so many. Body Problem Marijuana, also known as Cannabis, comes from the plant Cannabis Sativa. The main active ingredient is THC or tetrahydrocannibol. When cannabis is consumed for recreational purposes it creates a euphoric and relaxing high that according to "Medical News Today" has both physiological and psychoactive effects. Marijuana is hands down the the world's most popular drug. According to Attorney Bruce Block, "Marijuana use dates all the way back to 7,000 B.C. however widespread use of it recreationally didn't become popular until alcohol was banned during the Prohibition Era. In 1937 the government used fear, and false stories of violence to completely outlaw it. Since then, almost all of the theories used to ban marijuana have been proven false. By making marijuana a legal, taxed, and regulated product, it will result in a sharp decrease in drug related crime and a sharp increase in government income. Solution The Plan: My proposed solution is to model new laws in...
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...Why the Decriminalization and Legalization of Cannabis Would Improve Canadian Society Criminology 101 - Section 02 Nikaya Mirhadi-Pathon Capilano University Cannabis, the plant from which marijuana is derived, is the most widely used, produced and trafficked drug worldwide (Ducatti Flister, 2012). The decriminalization of marijuana has been a widely debated topic on a global scale as many advocate for it’s therapeutic purposes. In the city of Seattle, there are reportedly more medicinal marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks outlets. With the recent rise of dispensaries, two Washington University students are preparing to capitalize on this phenomenon by releasing an app for iPhones called Canary, billed as “Uber for marijuana” where an illegal delivery service can bring high-grade cannabis to your home within the hour (Altman, 2014). Governments world wide have invested copious amounts of money in fighting drug production and consumption, even though, the war on drugs has increased cannabis seizures, we see in countries like Canada, that regulated distribution of marijuana, has made it more readily available for both recreational and medicinal users (Ducatti Flister, 2012). Although, police within the Canadian jurisdiction are capable of pursuing criminal charges for cannabis possession for those who are distributing and consuming illegally, there is still a lack of consensus on the legal status of cannabis in Canada. Though the drug is illegal in Canada, with exceptions...
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...DRUG TRAFFICKING 1. Marijuana and Cocaine Trafficking in the United States DRUG TRAFFICKING 2. This research paper is on Marijuana and Cocaine trafficking in the United States. It is a very interested topic to learn about. There are several people who’s in prison for drug trafficking. This research will define the problems with drug trafficking, it will also explain who it affects and how it affects them. Drug trafficking in the United States can go far and wind. “It is the commercial exchange of drugs and drug paraphernalia. This excludes any equipment used to manufacture illegal drugs or use them,” (Jessica Cook, ehow.com 2011). One of the largest problems that drug trafficking creates is the financial cost on society; for example in 2002 drug related cost society were estimated at $180.9 billion, which is divided between various cost like health care and productivity lose according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Cocaine and Marijuana both brings an increase in violence and criminal activities, even though the level of violence associated with Cocaine trafficking does not compare to the rampant violence of the 1980s when the crack epidemic was at its worst. Drug trafficking can also lead to death both directly and indirectly. In fact between 1991 and 2000, 33 of our officers were killed during drug related operations. In 1993-1997 the F.B.I. details that on an average...
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...Marijuana Legalization Name Institution Marijuana Legalization Uruguayan government must be the most daring in the world. According to Mic (2014), they proved this as late as they legalized the use of marijuana. There have been divergent opinions on whether to legalize weed or not. And with Uruguay providing the laboratory for scientific prove, it sounds an alert to other nation on pressure to appreciate and embrace the legalization of weed. Against many false dogmas surrounding the use of the ‘drug’, there exist countless benefits from its legalization. This writing elaborates why nations should follow the trend and legalize marijuana. Firstly, the illegality of marijuana is based on unproven theories and delusions. Use of the modern scientific records proves against dogmas of reefer madness associated with marijuana consumption (Alternet, 2007). Claims of how vastly dangerous marijuana use can be, are nothing else, but 20th-century prejudices that existed without any scientific evidence. Since the discovery of cannabinoid receptor system during the late 1980s, cases of psychoneurotic hysteria concerns are yet to be confirmed. Also, a belief wide that marijuana helps in generation of criminals is nothing away from lies. Somebody’s character in inborn and prevalent. We have as many criminal culprits who don’t know the taste of marijuana. There is no any ground to support this. Secondly, almost every government has failed to control the use of marijuana. According to WHO (world...
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...DRUG TRAFFICKING 2. This research paper is on Marijuana and Cocaine trafficking in the United States. It is a very interested topic to learn about. There are several people who’s in prison for drug trafficking. This research will define the problems with drug trafficking, it will also explain who it affects and how it affects them. Drug trafficking in the United States can go far and wind. “It is the commercial exchange of drugs and drug paraphernalia. This excludes any equipment used to manufacture illegal drugs or use them,” (Jessica Cook, ehow.com 2011). One of the largest problems that drug trafficking creates is the financial cost on society; for example in 2002 drug related cost society were estimated at $180.9 billion, which is divided between various cost like health care and productivity lose according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Cocaine and Marijuana both brings an increase in violence and criminal activities, even though the level of violence associated with Cocaine trafficking does not compare to the rampant violence of the 1980s when the crack epidemic was at its worst. Drug trafficking can also lead to death both directly and indirectly. In fact between 1991 and 2000, 33 of our officers were killed during drug related operations. In 1993-1997 the F.B.I. details that on an average half of all police corruption is drug related. Colombians control the majority of the Cocaine trade in the major activities; They...
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...Legalization of Marijuana Jimmy Martin, II Saint Leo University Author Note This paper was prepared for Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior CRM 328, taught by Dr. Pappas. Abstract With exception to the debate surrounding the Affordable Health Care Act and the attacks on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, public policy regarding legalization of recreational and medical marijuana has reached a boiling point in most state legislatures. However, possession and use of marijuana is still viewed by many as comparable to consuming an alcoholic beverage. Regardless, it (marijuana) is still classified as a Schedule I Controlled Substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Introduction After prohibition of alcohol was rescinded by the Twenty First Amendment, years later the focus from the United States government shifted to prohibition of drugs. But there have always been varying ulterior motives. According to Baylor University Professor of Sociology, Dr. Diana Kendall, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed solely to criminalize marijuana by taxing it; this would dissuade migrant Mexican workers who smoked marijuana to seek employment elsewhere and not take jobs from U.S. citizens as the country struggled during the Great Depression (Kendall, 2010). Last year, voters in Colorado and Washington State approved legislation that supported the commercial growth, sale, possession and use of recreational marijuana. In response, United...
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...associate alcohol as means of a drug. A lot of individuals in society may even dispute alcohol being a drug, when in fact, it is. According to Kleiman (2013) “Alcohol is not just a drug, but the archetypal drug: the drug most widely used and the drug that causes the most addiction, disease, and violence” (p. 1). Long-term drug use starts with alcohol. Alcohol is the gateway drug that leads adolescents down the road to more serious drugs. The chemical make-up of these illegal drugs and the stimulation that they offer contribute to the desire for more, leading to addiction and eventually death if the addict is not willing to undergo rehabilitation. There are numerous types of drugs that both old and young people are becoming addicted to, many are already addicts. Many young teens are starting off small in the beginning with cigarettes and alcohol. This leads them to experiment with harder street drugs to get a better high, eventually leading them down a path of destruction. Addicts are always chasing the high they received the first time this is what causes them to continually yearn for me. People of all ages are experimenting with or already have an addiction to heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, Rohypnol aka street name “roofies” and the latest most addictive drug Desomorphine aka street name,”Krokodile”. Heroin is a white, odorless, bitter crystalline compound that is derived from morphine and is strongly physiologically. Heroin is the greatest abused and fast EFFECTS...
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...fight the war on Marijuana. Marijuana has been a hot topic lately, and the debates really been heating up. The main question is how much would our country benefit from the legalization of recreational marijuana? Our citizens and political leaders have a chance to cash in on one of the biggest cash crops in existence today. Legalizing marijuana for recreational use has the potential to be very lucrative and beneficial to our country and society. To fully understand the debate on legalizing marijuana, you must know what marijuana is and how it came to be outlawed in the U.S. in the first place. Marijuana is a plant that produces flowers or buds that can be smoked to produce...
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...[deaths] than the number of U.S. military personnel [killed] in Iraq” (“Is Mexico’s” 3) in that same time period. You have to wonder why more isn’t done for this reoccurring violence and illegal activity. The Mexican drug war masked by powerful gang leaders called cartels and hidden by intimidated citizens will continue for many years unless both the United States and Mexico join together further more to stop this ongoing problem that has cost thousands of lives. The cartels using various forms of illegal money making techniques to attain their powerful state has received minimal defiance until recently by U.S. and Mexican governments. The cartels use highly illegal techniques to obtain power. These techniques originated because of the chance at 8-23 billion dollars estimated for anyone to obtain (“Is Mexico’s” 4). Topping the list to acquire money are illegal drugs which are the most “widely recognized source of criminal power in Mexico” stealing cars, kidnapping, smuggling Mexicans into United States, and protection rackets also increase their profit (Walters 2). This profit is made from drugs shipped to the U.S., and sold there because of the high demand. At the peak of these drugs is marijuana which it is the “single largest source of drug profits for cartels”. They can easily ship their marijuana to marijuana legal states by calling it “medical” (Walters 2). Although the popular belief to think that this war is at fault to Mexico we also play a significant role in powering these...
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...Legalizing Marijuana in the United States Jennifer Wilkins English Composition I Engl 1301 July 21, 2009 Bertha Webster Legalizing Marijuana in the United States Introduction Marijuana is a substance that has become very much a part of American culture. By definition, marijuana derives from the Indian hemp plant thought to have originated in the mountainous districts of India, north of the Himalayan Mountains (http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861628419/marijuana.html). Nearly 95 million Americans have either used marijuana occasionally or regularly (Belville, 2009, p.60). Marijuana’s history is long and extensive. Marijuana comes from a Mexican word meaning “Mary Jane”. Marijuana has been grown for medical use for thousands of years. It is an established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco (http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/60959/?page=2). Today in the United States there is an ongoing debate whether marijuana should or should not be legalized. Legalizing marijuana can cut the cost to the government for the on-going “war on drugs”, be used medically in numerous proven ways, and eliminate the failure of prohibition. Cost of the “War on Drugs” In the United States, all levels of government (federal, state, and local authorities) participate in the “War on Drugs.” More than thirty years after the “War on Drugs” was declared...
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...years, there has been an increase in the number of states legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. The prohibition of marijuana has been the source of countless debates with people on opposite sides of the spectrum defending their beliefs. The history of marijuana prohibition, the consequences resulting from the prohibition, money spent on enforcing prohibition and potential profits, medical marijuana, dangerous manufactured substances, confusion between the state and federal governments, the ineffectiveness of current laws, and marijuana’s affect on state and local politics have all contributed to large debates across the states as legislatures decide the right way to regulate marijuana. The prohibition of alcohol and the restriction of cannabis use have certain similarities. Both were directed against the evils of using these substances, the negative rhetoric against both substances was the same, and both started at the state level with congressional action following later. During the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, the government spent millions of dollars trying to enforce an ineffective law it had in place.2 The same can be said about marijuana, but one a much larger, more devastating scale. The “evils” of alcohol were matters of public knowledge, with countless debates leading to the Eighteenth Amendment and later the Volstead Act. It was the direct opposite regarding marijuana. There were no public opinion polls before legislation was passed...
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...2 Marijuana (also known as weed, pot or grass): 2 Cocaine: 2 Alcoholism 3 LAW AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE MOTHERS 4 THEORIES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE 6 Biological Theories 6 Genetic Factors 6 Metabolic Imbalance 7 THEORECTICAL PERSPECTIVE 8 MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT 10 SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 11 EXPECTED RESULTS/TIMEFRAME 12 CONCLUSION 13 REFERENCES 14 PICTURES ILLUSTRATING PREGNANT SUBSTANCE ABUSE WOMEN AND FETUS 15 INTRODUCTION Social problems exist at the door step of every community it has been in existence decades ago and still lives on today. Social problems can be defined as an issue that relates to society’s perception of an individual’s personal life and their behaviour is considered to be out of the norm. Substance abuse has vast becoming an epidemic in today’s society and it is considered as a social problem. Substance abuse is one thing but to see pregnant women abusing these endangering substances is another issue. People use drugs for many different reasons but for a pregnant woman to use drugs she may be mentally ill or depressed. Substance abuse may not have a serious or long-lasting effect on you but the same is not always true for a foetus. Mothers that abuse substances give birth to "drug babies." These children have serious developmental problems. Researches show that using substances legal or illegal during pregnancy has a direct impact on the foetus, whether smoking, consumption of alcohol, or ingesting caffeine. If you use marijuana or cocaine...
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...Legalization of Marijuana “Marijuana is a mind altering substance produced from a plant whose scientific name is Cannabis sativa” (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2003). Marijuana is primarily used because its active chemical, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) induces relaxation and heightens the senses. Marijuana is dried shredded leaves, to include stems, flowers, and seeds of the cannabis plant. This substance resembles tobacco however; it is green, brown or gray, and most recently purple in color. Marijuana comes in varying quality types, and is priced accordingly. Higher quality types of marijuana comes in colors such as purple, shades of red and yellow, and is composed of buds (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2003). Marijuana has many street names to include; Pot, Bud, Grass, Weed, Chronic, Indo, Ganja, Mary Jane and Herb, to name a few. Marijuana is used by many, to include teens and adolescence, and many debates have ensued as to legalities and dangers of use, however marijuana continues to be the most liked, and drug of choice by many. Marijuana is used by smoking it like a cigarette in a joint, pipe, bong or blunt. Recently, marijuana has become legal in many states, for the purposes of treatment of many medical disorders and diseases, which has resulted in legislation to legalize it, making it available to patients with medical conditions, for use by a prescription. Legalization of marijuana would reduce incarceration rates of drug related offenses...
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...Marijuana, subject that has been around since most were even born, yet still controversial to this very second. There are very passionate parties on both ends, some for it, and some against it. There are also positives and negatives to each. In a day and age where numbers are everything, it is “the” thing. This is a disclaimer: I am not writing about the legalization of weed. In fact, I am addressing the economic argument of if marijuana is the productive economic stimulus the United States has been looking for. Marijuana as of right now is an illegal banned substance in most states, yet without many documented negatives, is left out and unable to bring most state revenue departments hundreds of millions of dollars per year, further helping this country and keeping it out of another economic recession. In this argumentative piece, I am going to address if marijuana is actual an economic benefit in the states that do allow it, or if it is just a myth. Now we must first address the elephant in the room. There is a certain stigma with Marijuana. It has been said by many that the legalization of marijuana is not in hopes of revenue and economic gains, but instead our troubled generations excuse to legalize a substance that as of now is still widely illegal. It is important to note the now cultural norm marijuana’s widely gained. On the Expanded Academic ASAP Gale, Ventrell Marvin goes into depth on Colorado’s land mark experiment of Marijuana. The author of the scholarly source...
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...police officer and the police officer arrested him immediately. It is said that Gray took off with one of his friends, but the police officers soon caught up to them. The other friend chose not to run but he did record the ordeal. This recording of Freddie Gray was the last time anyone would see him conscious ever again. When the police officers caught up to Freddie and his companion, they gave up without a fight and 6 police officers collectively put him in the back of their van. Freddie Gray was put into the back of the van at full health, completely fine and able to function properly. When he was taken from the van however, he was not able to breathe nor talk. He was sent to Shock Trauma where he died a week later. Racially motivated violence has been an issue ever since America gained its independence from the British in 1776. North and South Carolina refused to sign the Declaration until the clause of abolishing slavery was removed. Samuel Adams eventually gave in, making slavery perfectly legal. Flash forward about 100 years where the civil war commences, pitting brother against brother because the...
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