April 14, 2015

1
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
Is possessing a small amount of marijuana really worth being fined one
thousand dollars and up to a year in prison? Also keep in mind that enforcing laws in
America is not as easy as they seem, it takes time and money that the country
dont really have. Therefore America should be reasonable to the crimes they
choose to make laws on. Spending money on enforcing these unnecessary laws is
another wasteful situation in Americas economy. Especially being that the law is
quite redundant to the actual crime. The United States laws on small amounts of
marijuana is not only preposterous, they are waste of the countries money. With this
being said Americas penalties for having small amounts marijuana should be
decriminalized.
Americas penalties for possessing marijuana is quite excessive for such a
harmless crime. Not to suggest that certain amounts marijuana should be legal, but
the penalties for possessing them should not be as extreme. Having possession of
marijuana regardless of the amount in America cost a thousand dollar fine and up to
one year in jail. This punishment is not so suitable for an individual choosing to have
this substance on them. Its not like theyre looking to do harm towards anyone. If
there is going to be punishment for having small amounts of drugs, then it should
be a small punishment. A recent article stated that President Jimmy Carter once
told congress, penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an
individual than the drug itself (Decriminalizing Marijuana, 2011). This is exactly
what the penalty against small amounts of drugs. The fine and possible jail time will
harm the individual using the substance more than the substance itself. A small
amount of marijuana might cause damage in a few brain cells, but paying a
thousand dollar fine could really have a negative effect on someones financial

2
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
stability. Jail time can also prove to have a worst effect than smoking a little amount
of marijuana
The best way to start out is by taking a look at the actual meaning of
possessing marijuana in our society today. When looking at possessing marijuana
from a political stance it might be viewed as a danger to our society. Most politicians
believe that possessing marijuana involves selling it on the streets, which often
leads to violence and other illegal activities. They also believe that it is poison to the
mind and it causes people not to be able to think as good as they were born to.
Politicians views are of marijuana has proven to right but not quite accurate.
Possessing marijuana can also have a positive meaning. Marijuana is has been
proven to be a stress reliever. This is the way most people view possessing
marijuana. Marijuana does has good factors. Another common view of possessing
marijuana is that it is a freedom of choice. An individual choosing to possess
marijuana has no effect on the next person. This is why the legalization of marijuana
is such a popular issue in America. Making it completely will of course lead to a lot
of drama but the laws on them today is a little extreme. This why the laws should be
adjusted meaning decriminalized.
As mentioned earlier legalization of marijuana probably isnt the best
suggestion for this situation either, however the laws that are against marijuana
should not be as extreme. The laws should be adjusted to a lighter penalty against
having the substance. In reality the only reason people are arrested for marijuana is
because the government is trying to get the substance off the street. The
government shouldnt punish individuals that possesses marijuana base off their
political stance of having it. Instead they should be punished based off the trouble
that is caused by them having marijuana. Having possession of a little marijuana is

3
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
not harming anyone so jail should not even be in the conversation. As far as fine
money, a thousand dollars is a little over board as well. This is not really a crime
because there is no real trouble being caused in this case. Only crime that can really
be caused by having possession of marijuana it is being sold to an underage
customer. In this case there should be some type of extreme repercussions since it
is involving a minor. However if an adult choose to buy the substance from another
adult than it should not be considered a crime. The adult have the right to make
their own decisions at any risk. Whether or not the decision is good for your health
you have the right. Charging someone for having marijuana is almost like arresting
someone for eating not eating. It is pointless to charge them for something that is
harming no one just because they will harm themselves. However legalizing
marijuana will still cause social issues, so that might not be the best solution. This
why decriminalizing marijuana is the best way to deal this situation. This way
marijuana can be legal without taking away anyones freedom of choice. The only
way an individual should be penalize for marijuana if there is something beyond
possessing the marijuana that that is causing trouble. This might include smoking
the marijuana in unwanted places or serving it to customers underage. In this case
the individual would be causing trouble therefore he should be penalized. However
if the individual meets the age requirement and isnt bother anyone then they
should not be charged. The marijuana situation should be treated just as cigarettes
and alcohol are. The only way someone could be fined is if they are effecting
someone else using the substance.
The fact that similar substances to marijuana such as cigarettes (nicotine)
and alcohol is legalized is another reason that makes decriminalizing marijuana
sensible. A lot of individuals with opposite opinions on this situation will suggest

4
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
that decriminalizing marijuana will lead to more people damaging their body with
this drug, however cigarettes and alcohol are just as harmful to the body as
marijuana, but jail and fine money isnt at risk. A 2004 article stated that Smoking
(cigarettes) remains the leading cause death in the United States (, 2004). There is
no sensible explanation to why cigarettes are legal and marijuana isnt. There isnt
any major laws that are against smoking cigarettes, except smoking in unwanted
places. Not only isnt there laws against it but it is legally sols here in the United
States. Alcohol is just as damaging as well. However it is not legal to drink as much
alcohol as you want. Lindsey Wahowiak stated that More than twenty two thousand
people die from alcohol each year (Wahowaik, 2015). Once again this is another
situation where the laws on marijuana does not make that much sense. If there is no
penalty against using this substance than why are there such harsh penalties
against marijuana. The only way you can get arrested for being drunk is if you are
driving in you put other innocent drivers lives in danger. The marijuana laws should
be decriminalize to these stakes. The only time marijuana should considered to be
against the laws is when it puts the security of an innocent individuals life at stake.
In addition to the fact that there is legalized substances that does as much
harm as marijuana, it kind of goes against an American core democratic value.
Banning people from smoking marijuana is actually the government going against
the pursuit of happiness value. James R. Rogers stated that The Pursuit of
happiness is the right to meet physical and mental needs without interfering with
anyone else happiness (Rogers, 2012). Smoking marijuana is technically an act of
the pursuit of happiness. However as stated earlier making it completely legal
would most likely cause some drama as well. Decriminalizing marijuana laws to less

5
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
extreme punishments would enhance the situation, since after all it does goes
against an American core democratic value.
Also it isnt like decriminalizing marijuana laws would cause a major change
in society. The only changes that would be made is the chances of being arrested
for marijuana would be lowered. The possibility of more people smoking more
marijuana would not change as well. In reality with or without the laws people is still
going to find a way to somehow obtain the marijuana substance. Making prohibition
laws against possession of marijuana does not determine the way people will use it.
So if this is the government way of stopping drug use it helping anything improve.
So once again Americas resources is being wasted on a solution for a problem
thats not even being resolved. Decriminalizing marijuana laws would save time and
money, along with securing the use of marijuana from completely getting out of
control. The only possible effects of decriminalizing marijuana are beneficiaries.
Another reason marijuana should be decriminalized is, the time that is put
into enforcing these laws can go towards more serious crimes. It cost money to
enforce these laws worthless laws that America dont really have. Spending time
and money trying to enforce laws that forces people to stop smoking marijuana is
wasting limited resources of ours. To make this situation worst the number of arrest
for possession of small amount s of marijuana is high in America. Kristen Mack
stated in 2012 Chicago police department statistics indicated that last year there
were 18,298 arrest for possession of less than ten grams of cannabis (Mack, 2012).
Due to the fact that so many people smoke marijuana, it causes a large amount of
people to get arrested for the substance throughout America. It causes money
arresting these people and time that could be put into crimes that are more serious
than possessing marijuana. If the marijuana laws are decriminalized than police

6
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
officers will be able to focus on more serious crimes. Also there will be more money
saved up to put even more police officers on the streets. Mack also stated in the
argument that Superintendent Gary McCarthy estimated that new ordinance will
free up more than twenty thousand hours of police time which is equivalent to
about one million dollars (Mack, 2012). With this type of time and money saved
police reaction to crimes period could really improve. Really there is no reason that
so much of this quality time need to be put into such an absurd crime. Its like if the
police was putting too much time in trying to arrest people for jaywalking and
littering. Being that so many people do it, if police really took it serious
Than too much time would be wasted trying to enforce the law towards
everybody that break this law. Not to suggest that possession of marijuana should
be treated as if it was jay walking or littering, but illustrating the effect of too much
time and money being put into these minor crimes. Marijuana has also proven to be
not as harmful as it has been told be. Of course there are negative effects to
smoking marijuana, but on the other hand there are some positive effects to
smoking marijuana as well. Marijuana be beneficial in some health cases. For
instance Jennifer Welsh and Kevin Loria stated in article that Marijuana use can
prevent epileptic seizures (Welsh, Loria, 2014). They also stated that Marijuana
can be used to treat the eye disease glaucoma, which increase the pressure in your
eyeball (Welsh, Loria, 2014). The substance should not be viewed as if it is a
completely horrible source. As stated earlier alcohol is a legalized substance in
America, even though there isnt too many positive effects that comes from it.
The penalties against marijuana isnt really against the use of it, it is more
like the penalties is against the crimes that is usually involved with it. Its not
necessarily having possession of the marijuana that harms the community it is

7
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
mostly the crime that is involved with selling the drugs. Drug dealers usually act in
violent ways which causes high murder rate in the communities. This causes the
government to label anything concerning marijuana as a negative effects. This is
the reason why government has such extreme laws against marijuana. However
having possession of the marijuana doesnt totally affiliate with that scene. A large
amount of people that possess marijuana simply have it to smoke. Everyone dont
wish to sell the drugs and get involve the violent acts.
Instead of making laws against possessing marijuana so extreme, the laws
should aim specifically at the drug dealing. Owen Pointdexter stated in an article
According to Human Rights Watch 30,000 New Yorkers had no convictions when
they were arrested for possession of marijuana (Pointdexter, 2014). This simply
proves that a lot of marijuana users are not affiliated with violence. If the
government wants to better our communities they need not to focus on punishing
those who possess the marijuana, but more so on the ones who making profit off of
it.
Another supporting reason behind decriminalizing possession of marijuana is
that some people cannot help the use of marijuana. A lot of people who uses
marijuana often, physically depends it or in others addicted to it. They mean no
harm by using the drug, they just arent able to stop using it. According to a recent
article Estimate from researchers suggest seventeen percent of American
marijuana users are addicted to the drug (Drug facts: Marijuana, 2014). The use of
drugs to addicts is often a stress reliever and thats why they use it so much. They
are not looking to cause harm to anybody they just wishes to relieve stress going on
in their personal lives. These addicts could be the most humble people a person
could know who seek no type of trouble, however they are look at by the

8
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
government as criminals. Therefore they had to be treated as a criminal and deal
with extreme consequences. This is a situation where justice isnt correctly served.
Just because an individual has a strong dependence of a substance, does not mean
they should have to pay a thousand dollar fine or possibly do some jail time. A
person should not be charged as a criminal if they are not causing no trouble to
another person or to the community. In this case the law should be decriminalized
to where the person is assigned some type of mental help. In this case the
government could be decreasing the amount of drug use without giving people
unfair punishment for doing something that they arent able to stop.
Not only are laws against marijuana unjustified, they are also a waste
because they are not a solution to the governments plans to reduce the usage of
marijuana. At the end of the day no matter how extreme the laws are marijuana
users are guaranteed to continue to gain possession of the substance. The
government being trying to reduce drug usage by enforcing laws against them for a
long time now. However the drug usage rate just continue to remains the same and
even increase at times. Owen Pointdexter stated in an article that After three
decades of criminalization of marijuana has not affected the general usage; about
thirty million Americans use marijuana every year (Pointdexter, 2014). This means
three decades of funding marijuana laws has proven to be a complete waste. A
large amount of Americans still use marijuana throughout the years regardless of
the laws. So continuing to spend this money on something that has been proven to
have no benefits in the communities is not only foolishness but harmful to
Americans. It is harming to the country because the money that is being wasted on
those unbeneficial laws could be going to a more sensible cost that helps out the
communities. In the article Pointdexter also mentions that 51 million dollars are

9
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
annually put into the laws against marijuana (Pointdexter, 2014). This is a lot of
money that could have went towards actually solving an issue in America.
Decriminalizing marijuana laws could lower the funds put into them and cause
America to save a lot of money. The money saved could then be put towards a
better cost that might prove to be beneficial like getting guns off the streets or
making school areas safer. This is another beneficial effect that will come out
decriminalizing marijuana.
An important point to bring up is that decriminalizing marijuana isnt
suggesting that possessing marijuana should be completely legal with no type of
boundaries. This is suggesting that the punishment should not be too extreme.
However there should still be some type of regulations and boundaries on
possessing the marijuana. For instant there should be a legal age set for who is able
to possess marijuana. It should not be okay for a teenage child living with their
parents to smoke marijuana freely without having consequences to deal with. If you
are under the legal age set for possession of marijuana then jail time and fines
wont be completely unnecessary. In this case it wont be considered just being
arrested for having marijuana. It will be the fact that an individual is underage
possessing marijuana that get them arrested. This way people wont be able to
argue that decriminalizing marijuana would cause a negative effect on the youth in
America. However if that individual meet the age requirement then there should be
nothing wrong with them possessing marijuana. If someone is selling marijuana to
someone underage than they should be arrested as well. Also marijuana should not
be allowed to be everywhere. Properties where marijuana is unwanted should be
banned for marijuana usage. This ties back to the pursuit of happiness act. As
long as no one is being bothered by someone possessing marijuana than there

10
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
should not be a law against it. If a storeowner dont appreciate marijuana being
used around his store then they have the right to make marijuana prohibited from
their store. If someone choose to ignore this prohibition than they should be
arrested as well.
Basically the government should set rules and regulations that prevent the
usage of marijuana from completely getting out of control. There should be more
than simply possessing marijuana that causes someone to be arrested. Just as there
is rules that goes with drinking alcohol. Also when these laws are broke the
punishment should not be so severe. The most jail time that should be considered is
like two to three months. Also fines should not be thousands of dollars. The fine for
breaking marijuana laws should not exceed five hundred dollars.
The overall point being made is that marijuana isnt so harmful that people
should be arrested for simply possessing it. Also the resources that are going
towards enforcing these laws are being wasted. For one possessing marijuana isnt
that harmful to the communities and with all this money going towards trying to
reduce the usage of marijuana for so many years, a large amount of Americans still
continues to use the substance. Decriminalizing marijuana will not only be fair but it
will also benefit the economy. If the laws are less punishing, then less money will
have to go into enforcing them. Also if it isnt as easy to get charge with the laws
then less people will get arrested causing money to going into arresting people to
be saved. Marijuana should not be completely legal but the laws against marijuana
should make sense. Simply possessing marijuana shouldnt result in a thousand
dollar fine and up to a year in prison. In fact simply possessing marijuana should not
result in any type of punishment. There should be something about an individual
possessing marijuana that causes trouble that leads to them to being penalized.

11
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
Decriminalizing marijuana laws is the most sensible solution for the issue on
legalization of marijuana.

Work cited
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Marijuana Retrieved from
http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana on March 25, 2015

Decriminalizing Marijuana. (2011, April 25).

12
SHOULD MARIJUANA BE DICRIMINALIZED
Wahowaik, L. (2015, March 24). 6. Retrieved from Power Search.

Hazards of smoking? The list grows longer. (2004, June). Today's science. Retrieved
from http://tsof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?wid=96895&ID=16752