...Kathryn Franklin 12/8/2012 Criminal Law Victimless Crimes In our society there are many different types of crimes. There are crimes, in which victims are involved such as assault and battery, armed robbery, and murder. Then there are crimes known as victimless crimes. Victimless crimes are crimes in which victims aren’t involved such as prostitution, drug abuse, and white collar crimes. What constitutes a victim though? The exact definition of victim is, a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action. Taking this in, is victimless crimes truly victimless? In my eyes, no they aren’t. Throughout this paper I will give my point of view of why victimless crimes are not truly victimless. The rate of the abuse of drugs is constantly rising. “In 2010, an estimated 22.6 million Americans aged 12 or older, or 8.9 percent of the population, had used an illicit drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication (such as a pain reliever, stimulant, or tranquilizer) in the past month. This is up from 8.3 percent in 2002. The increase mostly reflects a recent rise in the use of marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug” (National Institute on Drugs). Drug abuse kills about 200,000 people worldwide each year, according to a new United Nations (UN) report. These people who have died from some type of abuse of a drug does not include in the numbers of people who have died from the violence of drugs. Looking at the war on drugs in...
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...the enforcement of prohibition. Legalization would reduce state and federal deficits by eliminating expenditure on prohibition enforcement, arrests, prosecutions, and incarceration and by allowing governments to collect tax revenue on legalized sales. Many people are concerned that the legalizing of soft drugs such as marijuana would lead to the legalizing of other harder drugs such as cocaine, heroin, or even crack. Stoned driving and other dangers would be increased. Marijuana use isn't truly a "victimless crime" when you consider all the crimes that may be committed when the user is under the influence of the drug. Drunk driving is still a major problem in our society despite all the education and stiff penalties. "Driving high" would be even harder to detect. Unless the user has been smoking in the car, there isn't as distinctive of a smell as there is with alcohol. Also, there's always the possibility that the lapse in judgment caused by drug use will lead to harder crimes like rape or robbery. Legalization would increase the chances of the drug falling into the hands of kids. Even unhealthy legal items such as cigarettes and alcohol are prohibited from being sold to kids. This is because kids generally don't exhibit the same reasoning, responsibility, and judgment of an adult. And their bodies aren't as equipped to handle the intake of these substances. The problem is even worse for marijuana use. Developing brains and bodies can be dealt serious blows by the use of marijuana...
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...Legalizing Marijuana Marijuana is one of the most common “soft drugs” used in the United States. It is usually smoked but it can be cooked and eaten. 32% of high school seniors and 11% of eighth graders have admitted to using marijuana. Some of the “pros” for legalizing marijuana are: It can be a good source of additional tax revenue since an enormous amount of money is raised through government taxation of cigarettes and alcohol, so marijuana would create another item that can be taxed. Police and the courts would be freed up for more serious crimes such as terrorism, harder drugs, rape, murder, and so on. In addition, an already overloaded civil court docket would be improved; thus, the wait time for other cases would be reduced and the cost for public defenders, prosecutors, judges, juries, and court reporters would go down and there would be more room in prisons for more violent or harder crime defendants and there would be less of a chance of them getting out early due to overpopulation in the prisons. Drug dealers would lose most, if not all, of their business because legalization would lower prices and open up for competition; thus, drug cartels (which could include terrorists) would lose all or some of their customers. Legalizing marijuana would create proper means to settle disputes in purchasing marijuana. You can contact your lawyer or the police if a purchase goes wrong instead of dealers and buyers taking it into their own hands if they get...
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...Legalizing Medical Marijuana Should Medical Marijuana be legal? Marijuana is medicine. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of ailments. However the United States government says the marijuana use is addictive and it is harmful. So the government makes it illegal even though alcohol and drugs of nicotine which used in cigarettes are legal. Why is it ok that medical marijuana may be legal in some states but not in others? The legalization of medical marijuana in United States would drastically reduce pain sufferers in our society. Legalizing medical marijuana benefits society by helping decrease government spending, and reduce health care costs. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. Just think to ourselves, is it ethical to deny a person who is having chemotherapy or radiation for cancer, a way to relieve nauseaness and pain caused from treatments? Is it ethical to deny a dying person in pain, get the relief from pain and get comfort? Is it ethical to deny someone who has chronic pain or debilitating pain a medicine that can relieve pain? Who has the right to do this? Even though the government does, it is unethical. Marijuana is a natural alternative medicine to help all these issues. The medicines the doctors have to prescribe, for pain like narcotics, have acetaminophen in them which can cause liver damage or even failures are more susceptible to be abused and addicting. There...
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...be banned all together, it is highly unlikely considering how long the profession has been around. Consider illegal immigrants working here for less wages and off the books, meaning not being taxed. Why is it we are more bothered by illegal immigrants not paying their fair share of taxes than prostitutes? They are legal citizens getting paid to perform a service tax free, which should be against the law, not the service provided. The taxes that tax payers pay now go into municipalities such as the police department and the judicial system. Therefore, taxpayer's money is being wasted when police pursue prostitutes for a victimless crime, resulting in a brief stay in jail with no added penalties. If prostitutes are fined for an infraction, it cost more money to process them through the judicial system than the cost of the fine itself. The worst crime a prostitute can be charged with is solicitation, which for 1st and 2nd time offenders is more than likely a fine and brief stay in local jail. Why waste money on a consensual...
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...Should prostitution be illegal? 1) The legalization of prostitution would mean more revenue for the country. 2) Legalizing prostitution would protect public health and all involved. 3) The time and cost to incarcerate prostitutes is never recouped and is therefore lost revenue. 4) It would reduce violence and abuse among women. 5) It is a victimless crime involving two consenting adults. If prostitution were legalized, prostitutes would be taxed, earning revenue for the country and have job benefits, such as security and healthcare, allowing for a safer and healthier work environment. Prostitution is a profession that has been around for more than a millennia. However, it seems to be a sore subject that leaves people at odds with one another. One may ponder whether the profession should even exist, while another may believe there is no harm in allowing the profession to thrive. Although one may see the profession as a cesspool for diseases and find it immoral to perform such acts, one can't help but notice the benefits of legalizing prostitution. If prostitution were legalized, prostitutes would be taxed, earning revenue for the country and have job benefits, such as security and healthcare, allowing for a safer and healthier work environment. If prostitution were legalized, prostitutes would be on payroll and have their income taxed, thus bringing more revenue to the economy. While one may like prostitution to be banned all together, it is highly unlikely...
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...Legalization of Marijuana in Canada: Why Provincial Liquor Commissions Should Sell Marijuana to Adults In a time where the Canadian Government is looking for new ways to cut costs, and boost tax revenues, the idea of legalizing marijuana and selling it through provincial liquor commissions has transformed from the dreams of a few, to a country wide debate. This debate centers on whether legalizing and selling marijuana is the appropriate move for Canada, and how this process would be accomplished. Legalization of marijuana could prove to have many benefits for the Canadian people and its government; it is a topic that requires serious consideration, both by the Canadian electorate and those who shape Canada’s laws and policies. Some Canadians – a recent poll suggests less than fifty percent – take issue with the legalization of marijuana because of moral, or personal reasons. However, the legalization of marijuana is supported by many Canadians – polls suggest more than fifty percent – and should therefore be legalized and sold by provincial liquor commissions to people over the age of 18. Firstly, as a democracy, if more than fifty percent of Canadians are for legalization, our laws and criminal code should reflect this. Secondly, the amount of money that would be saved on enforcement and imprisonment costs could be used to fund addiction counseling and support services. Finally, the profit generated from the sale of marijuana would increase the amount of money that provincial...
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...Why Marijuana should be legalized I believe marijuana as a drug is wrong but at the same time I can’t overlook its helpful benefits to those in pain from an illness. Marijuana can be used to help one calm down or relieve stress that has built up throughout the day. Smoking tobacco also helps with stress and has a higher risk of causing mouth cancer, throat cancer, or lung cancer then smoking weed. Legalizing Marijuana means we can treat the problem of drug abuse as a medical problem not a criminal one. It is estimated that the United States government spends $10 billion dollars a year in its attempts to keep Marijuana off the street, while the State of California has revenue of 14 billion annually for the production of its legalized medicinal Marijuana.5If Marijuana is legalized The U.S. can tax the revenues and will have additional fund that can be used for awareness of the drugs affects and treatment. During the prohibition of alcohol during the 1920's the Mafia could produce alcohol and had a considerable control over others who wanted it. The role that the Mafia played in the 1920's has transformed into the corner drug dealers and drug cartel of the 1990's. Legalization will result in a decrease in deaths and violence due to the unregulated black-market trade or Marijuana. 1 out of 6 people in jail are in for non-violent drug offenses6. Prisons are overcrowded and it is very costly to keep people in prison. Legalizing Marijuana would make room for more violent offenders...
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...Article Rebuttal: Legalization of Marijuana BCOM/275 November 1, 2011 Dave Moses This term paper is to examine an article based on an argument to legalize marijuana. In this article the author looks at the benefits of legalizing marijuana. One of the first items that is examined in the article is the taxation that the government could place on marijuana if it were to be legalized. The author examines when the marijuana tax act and how when it was implemented in 1937 it had an impact and was met with opposing force by companies who would’ve gone bankrupt if marijuana were to legalized. The author writes “The Marijuana Tax Act, which passed in 1937, coincidentally occurred just as the decoricator machine was invented. With this invention, hemp would have been able to take over competing industries almost instantaneously. William Hearst owned enormous acres of forest so his interest in preventing the growth of hemp can be easily explained. Competition from hemp would have easily driven the Hearst paper-manufacturing company out of business and significantly lowered the value of his land.”(1) The author suggests that the business end of the spectrum here is the only thing that kept the legalization of marijuana from happening. More was taken into account when thinking about legalizing marijuana. There is an often over looked part of the legalization of marijuana it’s not the costs of the prohibition it’s the costs of that are incurred form the use of it. The impact that...
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...deals. Law enforcements attention cannot focus on the more serious drug offenders because too much time is being taken up citing “marijuana only” offenders. Not only will legalizing marijuana reduce crime, and bring harsher drug dealers to justice; it will also transfer its money power into the economy. Prohibition of marijuana makes society worse. It is generating violence, and money for the black market. This money could be used in our own “struggling” economy. Marijuana being illegal is causing the police to focus their time and effort toward marijuana offenders; this valuable time should be focused toward harsher crime that occurs. The prisons are being filled with marijuana offenders, enabling the release of sex offenders. Legalizing marijuana will eliminate small time dealers, and expose more serious and violent dealers. Marijuana being legalized would mean it would be sold in government regulated concessions, and would be standardized. Customers would not risk buying laced marijuana that could be detrimental to their health. “What are the policy lessons of National Alcohol Prohibition in the United States, 1920-1933?” (Hall, W 2010), states during those years, prohibition did not prevent Americans from consuming alcohol. During these years, organized black market crime increased. So the prohibition on alcohol failed and was lifted. Marijuana should remain illegal because legalizing it could lead to unexpected changes that would have negative outcomes for minors...
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...regulations towards legal access to marijuana. The restrictions for the uses of marijuana are that only allowed to be used with a license prescribed by a doctor and can be only used for medical purposes. Marijuana is known for paralyzing the pain and treats many diseases. Marijuana can also only be prescribed for 90 days by a doctor. Its uses are mainly treating migraines, inflammatory diseases, cancer, fibromyalgia (a medical disorder that spread pains into muscles) and other related diseases. Canada is also one of the first country to legalize marijuana, but because of this decision, more cons outweighs the pros. For instance, legalizing marijuana can send a message to devolving young that is right to smoke because is not against the law. Crime rates and recreational usage of marijuana can also dramatically increase since there is less protective law against it. A lot of our tax money also goes in to healthcare and marijuana is part of that system. Marijuana is a negative impact towards the media, society and economy and the final decision should be reconsider for more possibilities of changes. The laws and restrictions for marijuana have been taken too lightly since the legalizing of marijuana. Many people are abusing and taking advantage of the abandment of illegal use of marijuana. One example of people taking advantage is now more recreational use of marijuana have increased compared to when it was still illegal. By 2001, teens under 18 had increased by 67% compared to the...
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...In 1996, medical marijuana became legal in California, which inspired Richard Lee to open businesses associated with the usage of marijuana. Lee was a medical marijuana provider and activist with a dream to legalize marijuana; as a result, he created Proposition 19 in 2010 by using his own funding to the sum of $1.45 million. The creation of Proposition 19 was to legalize marijuana in California through regulation and taxation. In essence, passing of the bill would legally allow individuals that are 21 or older the ability to harvest and use marijuana. However, Proposition 19 would only grant legal rights related with marijuana under the state of California and not under federal law. As a result, federal law must still firmly enforce drug laws against harvesters and distributors of marijuana in California. Although Proposition 19 was unable to pass in 2010, Lee ensures that effort to pass this bill will never stop. Proposition 19 protesters argue that legalizing marijuana creates abuse among adolescents. In the article “Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana”, Dr. Robert L. DuPont stated, “Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal drug in the U.S. and around the world.” The United States Drug enforcement Agency has classified marijuana as a drug that has an extreme potential for abuse. They categorized marijuana as a schedule I drug which is under the same category as cocaine, heroin and morphine. Parents fear that the legalization of marijuana enables easier access...
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...Amanda Steuer May 6, 14 Consequences of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana and Hemp Throughout the US Colorado is expected to bring in $185 million in revenue from taxing recreational marijuana sales. This money will be used to fund substance abuse support, law enforcement support, education support and funds to what they call “statewide coordination.” Recreational marijuana alone however, cannot get our federal government out of the hole that it is in now. Even if the revenue was about $100 million from ever state that has recreation cannabis, and if all states had legal recreational cannabis, it would still not even get close to how much money the government needs to generate. The problem with that is that once the government legalizes marijuana recreationally everywhere, it will create a black market due to people not wanting to be charged such outrageous prices and taxed so intensely. If certain states make marijuana recreationally legal, that would be for the best in my opinion. The US government wouldn’t really benefit from that amount of money even if all the states were legal, there was no black market and everyone was making a lot of money. According to an article in Forbes about a report made on the inefficiencies of legalized cannabis, Colorado won’t even make half of what they were estimating to make. The article explains how right now the cost of growing is around four hundred dollars per pound of cannabis. This price would have to increase to eleven hundred...
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...Running head: LEGALIZING MARIJUANA 1 Legalizing marijuana and why Americans oppose and support idea Melvin S. Walls SS3150 8/19/15 ITT Technical Institute LEGALIZING MARIJUNA 2 Legalizing marijuana and why Americans oppose and support idea In my beginning research into this delicate and controversial topic I found out that Americans and our government are undecided about legalizing marijuana. Some people oppose the idea, while the rest approve the idea of legalization. I think we as a people need to stop, look, and listen and do what is best for our country, our states, and the people that reside within. There are many pros and many cons to making marijuana legal. Here are some breakdowns on both sides of this topic. One of the most important popular topics is the use of medical marijuana to treat patients for various medical conditions. There are over 7 uses for medical marijuana and that number can dramatically increase if marijuana is to become legalize, so that more medical research and studies can continue. Some uses...
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...Medical Marijuana In 1972, the United States put marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. They believed it had no probable medical use. Since that time 23 states as well as Washington DC have legalizes the use of medical marijuana. The legalization of Marijuana has been an ongoing topic for the past couple of years in the United States. Several different opinions have been made but ultimately it comes down to people who are pro marijuana and those who oppose it. Some argue that medical marijuana is safe and effective for several different diseases such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma etc. Although marijuana use has been around for ages and probably has done more to help then hurt many people do not want to see it legalized. People who are opposed to the legalization fear that it is dangerous and leads to harder drug use. This argument is has been presented quite often. Health classroom across the United States teach children that marijuana is a gateway drug. Some of the other reasons for not legalizing marijuana are that if legalized for medicinal use recreational use will spike, especially among teens and adolescents. However, studies have proven that inaccurate. According to a study by the National bureau of Economic Research concluded that there was no significant increase in pot use by teenagers who lived in states where it was legalized. I personally believe that medical marijuana should be legalized. It seems to have helped more than it has hurt. I honestly...
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