Military Marijuana
military has a number of jurisdictional and operational issues associated with what it will do with personnel involved with the use of medical marijuana. Though it claims that there is no ambiguity -- that its Directives (DOD 1010.1) are clear -- in reality it now finds itself facing a "Don't Ask, Don't Smoke" problem. What is happening inside and outside of the armed services is mystifying how the rules are actually enforced and understood by its legal structure.
In general, the rules are clear. Law enforcement and command personnel inside of the services say the same as those on the outside who advice people about this issue:
The fact that your state has decriminalized marijuana use is not relevant to military law. The military is a federal institution, governed by federal laws. Drug use is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Article 112a, 10 U.S.C. 912a. Further, there is no "off time" for service members when it comes to drug use, nor does the law vary depending on location or even the dominant public perception of the drug use (whatever it may be) (Free Advice, 2011).
The real-life service circumstances...
But we could also say that deaths caused by illegal drugs are not even close to those caused by cigarette smoking. We discussed the fact that in 1997, about sixteen thousand American died as a result of illegal and illicit drug use. In comparison, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that smoking related deaths worldwide will reach 10 million per year by 2030! And we know that 40,000-50,000 people
Particularly, many democrats and republicans expressed their dismay about the fact that the Bush administration did not notify or seek congressional input while the policy was being developed. However, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta Jacobson, who actually drafted the 'Merida initiative' says, "Although it [Merida] was proposed by a Republican administration, it was passed by a Democratic [party-controlled] Congress." [Jim Fischer, 2009] Some
Marijuana, which comes from the Cannabis plant, has been used by people since time immemorial. It was only in the 1960s that this plant received excessive media attention for the effect it had on people and the adverse potential to go wrong. Therefore, the American government illegalized the use of marijuana and anyone found to be in possession of this plant, or to be intoxicated by it, was told to
Military Orders That May be Unethical Military orders are seen as non-optional when they are given. In other words, they cannot be ignored or discarded by those they are given to if the person does not want to follow them for any reason at all. They are not negotiable in any way, under any circumstances. But, are these orders always ethical? In some cases, it would seem as though these
Medical Marijuana Legislation and Civil Liberties When the historic passage of legislation permitting medical marijuana use in states like Arizona (2010), Delaware (2011) and Massachusetts (2012) is considered in conjunction with the fact that 13 other states have similar legislation or ballot measures pending, the traditional conception of marijuana ingestion as a criminal act is being reexamined on a societal level. Further bolstering this assertion is the legal situation in California,
Communication Legalization of Marijuana Pro-Side: There are many good reasons for the legalization of marijuana. While there are few jurisdictions from which to pull evidence on the positive benefits of legalization, we do have extensive experience with the negative impacts of marijuana prohibition. Marijuana prohibition has resulted in high arrest rates, in particular for minorities, which has created social chaos in those communities as young men are incarcerated long-term for what is
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now