Marijuana
Recently, Uruguay became the first country to legalize in its entirety and without qualification the marijuana trade. Uruguayan senators spent a total of twelve hours debating the issue, which was proposed by the country's President. The bill was described by its proponents as "an unavoidable response to reality, given that the 'war' on drugs had failed" (BBC, 2013, 1). The law allows registered citizens to buy up to 40g per month. The law is the first of what could be many as South American nations in particular are coming to the realization that drug prohibition, backed by American interests with the support of the United Nations, has left the continent with powerful and violent gangs that control the trade, while doing nothing to stem consumption (Ibid). Indeed, the UN has already weighed in by stating that Uruguay's legislation is in contravention of the international treaties that are enforced by the International Narcotics Control Board (BBC, 2013, 2).
The reality is, however, that the UN has no coherent drug policy. People like to get high, and they will find a way to consume. It is demand that drives drug markets, not supply. The "war on drugs" is a failed policy that has done nothing to affect demand. The result of this war is higher crime rates around the world, the incarceration of people for mere possession or consumption, a loss of tax revenues, and the creation of violent drug gangs, just as happened during alcohol Prohibition. Chokshi (2013) notes that several U.S. states have some form of legalized marijuana, including legalization in Washington and Colorado. The move is on to find the best ways to legalize the production, consumption and sale of this plant, and not a moment too soon. These states, Uruguay and other pioneers will be the test subjects for the legal trade in marijuana, with many nations both in the West and in Latin America looking for the best pathways to legalization (Gray, 2013).
Marijuana should be legalized in the United States, because its prohibition has been a complete failure on every conceivable level. On a criminal level, prohibition merely creates more criminals -- some imaginary like users and some very real and very violent like the gangs who earn their profits from marijuana. On an economic level, prohibition costs law enforcement millions and denies tax dollars to governments. On a social level, prohibition has not done a thing to stem consumption. When the UN throws arguments out there like "this endangers young people and contributes to the earlier onset of addiction," it has no facts whatsoever to back these claims up. The people standing against marijuana prohibition do not deal with facts, only anger and arguments. One cannot be a reasonable, rational person and stand against the legalization of marijuana.
The Crime Argument
The first thing that needs to be stated outright is that marijuana users are not criminals until the law defines them as such. In the absence of other crimes, drug use or possession itself is not a valid measure of the crimes relating to drug use. What does matter is the crimes that the war on drugs creates that are genuine crimes, in that they would always be considered to be crimes no matter what the drug policy is. In almost all cases, this is the gang warfare that arises when rival factions fight for control of an illegal substance. When companies fight for control over a legal substance, it is called competition and its rules are clearly governed in the trade laws of the nation. Firms tend to stick within these laws, and transgressions are usually mild in nature. When the commodity is illegal, this inherently reframes the nature of competition as one between lawless entities. The folk saying "in for a penny, in for a pound" applies. When your entire business is illegal, the use of other illegal acts to manage your business is not off the table. Thus, we have gang violence to control the drug trade. Since the war on drugs began, gangs became more prominent, and they were directly involved in the trade of crack cocaine (Howell & Decker, 1999). Violence increased significantly, and was related to competition for market...
Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is one of the most popular recreational drugs in the United States, exceeded in popularity by only alcohol and tobacco. Recent research reveals that "more than 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some point in their lives, and that 18-20 million have smoked during the last year (NORML, 1999)." According to R. Keith Stroup, Esq., the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
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" Moreover, instead of spending billions of dollars on fighting the war, the Mexican government could channel this money -- which is significant for the Mexican economy -- into meeting the population's social needs, thus decreasing the incentives for Mexico's youth to resort to crime. Prohibition of marijuana, one might even argue, is the lead cause of violence in Mexico. It is the prohibition that drives the drug market to the
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