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• What is Public Health?

The Evidence—and Lack Thereof—About Cannabis

Research is still needed on cannabis’s risks and benefits. 

Lindsay Smith Rogers

Although the use and possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law, medicinal and recreational cannabis use has become increasingly widespread.

Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical cannabis, while 23 states and D.C. have legalized recreational use. Cannabis legalization has benefits, such as removing the product from the illegal market so it can be taxed and regulated, but science is still trying to catch up as social norms evolve and different products become available. 

In this Q&A, adapted from the August 25 episode of Public Health On Call , Lindsay Smith Rogers talks with Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS , associate professor of Mental Health , about cannabis as medicine, potential risks involved with its use, and what research is showing about its safety and efficacy. 

Do you think medicinal cannabis paved the way for legalization of recreational use?

The momentum has been clear for a few years now. California was the first to legalize it for medical reasons [in 1996]. Washington and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational use back in 2012. You see one state after another changing their laws, and over time, you see a change in social norms. It's clear from the national surveys that people are becoming more and more in favor of cannabis legalization. That started with medical use, and has now continued into recreational use.

But there is a murky differentiation between medical and recreational cannabis. I think a lot of people are using cannabis to self-medicate. It's not like a medication you get prescribed for a very narrow symptom or a specific disease. Anyone with a medical cannabis prescription, or who meets the age limit for recreational cannabis, can purchase it. Then what they use it for is really all over the place—maybe because it makes them feel good, or because it helps them deal with certain symptoms, diseases, and disorders.

Does cannabis have viable medicinal uses?

The evidence is mixed at this point. There hasn’t been a lot of funding going into testing cannabis in a rigorous way. There is more evidence for certain indications than for others, like CBD for seizures—one of the first indications that cannabis was approved for. And THC has been used effectively for things like nausea and appetite for people with cancer.

There are other indications where the evidence is a lot more mixed. For example, pain—one of the main reasons that people report for using cannabis. When we talk to patients, they say cannabis improved their quality of life. In the big studies that have been done so far, there are some indications from animal models that cannabis might help [with pain]. When we look at human studies, it's very much a mixed bag. 

And, when we say cannabis, in a way it's a misnomer because cannabis is so many things. We have different cannabinoids and different concentrations of different cannabinoids. The main cannabinoids that are being studied are THC and CBD, but there are dozens of other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in cannabis products, all of varying concentrations. And then you also have a lot of different routes of administration available. You can smoke, vape, take edibles, use tinctures and topicals. When you think about the explosion of all of the different combinations of different products and different routes of administration, it tells you how complicated it gets to study this in a rigorous way. You almost need a randomized trial for every single one of those and then for every single indication.

What do we know about the risks of marijuana use?  

Cannabis use disorder is a legitimate disorder in the DSM. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people who develop a problematic use of cannabis. We know there are risks for mental health consequences. The evidence is probably the strongest that if you have a family history of psychosis or schizophrenia, using cannabis early in adolescence is not the best idea. We know cannabis can trigger psychotic symptoms and potentially longer lasting problems with psychosis and schizophrenia. 

It is hard to study, because you also don't know if people are medicating early negative symptoms of schizophrenia. They wouldn't necessarily have a diagnosis yet, but maybe cannabis helps them to deal with negative symptoms, and then they develop psychosis. There is also some evidence that there could be something going on with the impact of cannabis on the developing brain that could prime you to be at greater risk of using other substances later down the road, or finding the use of other substances more reinforcing. 

What benefits do you see to legalization?

When we look at the public health landscape and the effect of legislation, in this case legalization, one of the big benefits is taking cannabis out of the underground illegal market. Taking cannabis out of that particular space is a great idea. You're taking it out of the illegal market and giving it to legitimate businesses where there is going to be oversight and testing of products, so you know what you're getting. And these products undergo quality control and are labeled. Those labels so far are a bit variable, but at least we're getting there. If you're picking up cannabis at the street corner, you have no idea what's in it. 

And we know that drug laws in general have been used to criminalize communities of color and minorities. Legalizing cannabis [can help] reduce the overpolicing of these populations.

What big questions about cannabis would you most like to see answered?

We know there are certain, most-often-mentioned conditions that people are already using medical cannabis for: pain, insomnia, anxiety, and PTSD. We really need to improve the evidence base for those. I think clinical trials for different cannabis products for those conditions are warranted.

Another question is, now that the states are getting more tax revenue from cannabis sales, what are they doing with that money? If you look at tobacco legislation, for example, certain states have required that those funds get used for research on those particular issues. To me, that would be a very good use of the tax revenue that is now coming in. We know, for example, that there’s a lot more tax revenue now that Maryland has legalized recreational use. Maryland could really step up here and help provide some of that evidence.

Are there studies looking into the risks you mentioned?

Large national studies are done every year or every other year to collect data, so we already have a pretty good sense of the prevalence of cannabis use disorder. Obviously, we'll keep tracking that to see if those numbers increase, for example, in states that are legalizing. But, you wouldn't necessarily expect to see an uptick in cannabis use disorder a month after legalization. The evidence from states that have legalized it has not demonstrated that we might all of a sudden see an increase in psychosis or in cannabis use disorder. This happens slowly over time with a change in social norms and availability, and potentially also with a change in marketing. And, with increasing use of an addictive substance, you will see over time a potential increase in problematic use and then also an increase in use disorder.

If you're interested in seeing if cannabis is right for you, is this something you can talk to your doctor about?

I think your mileage may vary there with how much your doctor is comfortable and knows about it. It's still relatively fringe. That will very much depend on who you talk to. But I think as providers and professionals, everybody needs to learn more about this, because patients are going to ask no matter what.

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast , an editor for Expert Insights , and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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• In Debate Over Legalizing Marijuana, Disagreement Over Drug’s Dangers

In Their Own Words: Supporters and Opponents of Legalization

Table of contents.

• About the Survey

Survey Report

Public opinion about legalizing marijuana, while little changed in the past few years, has undergone a dramatic long-term shift. A new survey finds that 53% favor the legal use of marijuana, while 44% are opposed.  As recently as 2006, just 32% supported marijuana legalization, while nearly twice as many (60%) were opposed.

Millennials (currently 18-34) have been in the forefront of this change: 68% favor legalizing marijuana use, by far the highest percentage of any age cohort. But across all generations –except for the Silent Generation (ages 70-87) – support for legalization has risen sharply over the past decade.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 25-29 among 1,500 adults, finds that supporters of legalizing the use of marijuana are far more likely than opponents to say they have changed their mind on this issue.

Among the public overall, 30% say they support legalizing marijuana use and have always felt that way, while 21% have changed their minds; they say there was a time when they thought it should be illegal. By contrast, 35% say they oppose legalization and have always felt that way; just 7% have changed their minds from supporting to opposing legalization.

When asked, in their own words, why they favor or oppose legalizing marijuana, people on opposite sides of the issue offer very different perspectives. But a common theme is the danger posed by marijuana: Supporters of legalization mention its perceived health benefits, or see it as no more dangerous than other drugs. To opponents, it is a dangerous drug, one that inflicts damage on people and society more generally.

The most frequently cited reasons for supporting the legalization of marijuana are its medicinal benefits (41%) and the belief that marijuana is no worse than other drugs (36%) –with many explicitly mentioning that they think it is no more dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes.

With four states and Washington, D.C. having passed measures to permit the use of marijuana for personal use, 27% of supporters say legalization would lead to improved regulation of marijuana and increased tax revenues. About one-in-ten (12%) cite the costs and problems of enforcing marijuana laws or say simply that people should be free to use marijuana (9%).

Why Should Marijuana Be Legal? Voices of Supporters

Main reason you support legalizing use of marijuana…

“My grandson was diagnosed with epilepsy a year ago and it has been proven that it helps with the seizures.” Female, 69

“I think crime would be lower if they legalized marijuana. It would put the drug dealers out of business.” Female, 62

“Because people should be allowed to have control over their body and not have the government intervene in that.” Male, 18

“I think that we would have more control over it by allowing a federal agency to tax and regulate it like alcohol.” Male, 25

The most frequently mentioned reason why people oppose legalization is that marijuana generally hurts society and is bad for individuals (43% say this). And while many supporters of legalization say that marijuana is less dangerous than other drugs, 30% of opponents have the opposite view: They point to the dangers of marijuana, including the possibility of abuse and addiction.

About one-in-five opponents of legalization (19%) say marijuana is illegal and needs to be policed, 11% say it is a gateway to harder drugs and 8% say it is especially harmful to young people. A small share of opponents (7%) say that while the recreational use of marijuana should be illegal, they do not object to legalizing medical marijuana. 1

Why Should Marijuana Be Illegal? Voices of Opponents

Main reason you oppose legalizing use of marijuana…

“It’s a drug and it has considerable side effects. It should not be used recreationally, only for medicinal use.” Female, 20

“It’s a drug that makes you stupid. It affects your judgment and motor skills and in the long term it makes you lazy.” Male, 52

“It gets too many people on drugs. It would put too many drugs on the street, we don’t need that.” Male, 84

“I’m thinking of my child. I don’t want her to try this. I know it’s not good for her health or brain.” Female, 33

“We have enough addictive things that are already legal. We don’t need another one.” Male, 42

Current Opinion on Legalizing Marijuana

The pattern of opinion about legalizing marijuana has changed little in recent years. Beyond the wide generation gap in support for legalization, there continue to be demographic and partisan differences.

Majorities of blacks (58%) and whites (55%) favor legalizing marijuana, compared with just 40% of Hispanics. Men (57% favor) continue to be more likely than women (49%) to support legalization.

Nearly six-in-ten Democrats (59%) favor legalizing the use of marijuana, as do 58% of independents. That compares with just 39% of Republicans.

Both parties are ideologically divided over legalizing marijuana. Conservative Republicans oppose legalizing marijuana by roughly two-to-one (65% to 32%); moderate and liberal Republicans are divided (49% favor legalization, 50% are opposed).

Among Democrats, 75% of liberals say the use of marijuana should be legal compared with half (50%) of conservative and moderate Democrats.

Other Opinions: Federal Enforcement of Marijuana Laws

The new survey also finds that as some states have legalized marijuana – placing them at odds with the federal prohibition against marijuana – a majority of Americans (59%) say that the federal government should not enforce laws in states that allow marijuana use; 37% say that they should enforce these laws. Views on federal enforcement of marijuana laws are unchanged since the question was first asked two years ago.

In contrast to overall attitudes about the legal use of marijuana, there are only modest differences in views across partisan groups: 64% of independents, 58% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans say that the federal government should not enforce federal marijuana laws in states that allow its use.

A substantial majority of those who say marijuana should be legal (78%) do not think the federal government should enforce federal laws in states that allow its use. Among those who think marijuana should be illegal, 59% say there should be federal enforcement in states that allow marijuana use, while 38% say there should not be.

Concerns About Marijuana Use

While most Americans support legalizing marijuana, there are concerns about public use of the drug, if it were to become legal. Overall, 62% say that if marijuana were legal it would bother them if people used it in public; just 33% say this would not bother them. Like overall views of legalizing marijuana, these views have changed little in recent years.

There is less concern about the possibility of a marijuana-related business opening legally in people’s own neighborhood: 57% say it would not bother them if a store or business selling marijuana opened legally in their neighborhood, while 41% say this would bother them.

And just 15% say they would be bothered if people used marijuana in their own homes; 82% say this would not bother them.

As might be expected, there are sharp differences in these concerns between people who favor and oppose legalizing marijuana. A large majority of opponents of marijuana legalization (85%) say they would be bothered by public use of the drug, if it were legal; about four-in-ten supporters (43%) also say they would be bothered by this. On the other hand, a majority of opponents of legalization (65%) say they would not be bothered if people used marijuana in their own homes; virtually all supporters of legalization (97%) would not be bothered by this.

And while 77% of those who oppose legalizing marijuana say, if it were legal, they would be bothered if a store or business selling marijuana opened in their neighborhood, just 12% of supporters of legalization say this would bother them.

About Half Say They Have Tried Marijuana

Overall, 49% say they have ever tried marijuana, while 51% say they have never done this. Self-reported experience with marijuana has shown no change over the past two years, but is higher than it was early last decade: In 2003, 38% said they had tried marijuana before, while 61% said they had not.

About a quarter of those who have tried marijuana (12% of the public overall) say they have used marijuana in the past year. Similar percentages reported using marijuana in the prior 12 months in two previous surveys, conducted in February 2014 and March 2013.

Men (56%) are 15 points more likely than women (41%) to say they have ever tried marijuana.

About half of whites (52%) and blacks (50%) say they have tried marijuana before. Among Hispanics, 36% say they have tried marijuana, while 63% say they have not.

Across generations, 59% of Baby Boomers say they’ve tried marijuana before; this compares with 47% of Generation Xers and 52% of Millennials. Among those in the Silent generation, only 19% say they have ever tried marijuana. Nearly a quarter of Millennials (23%) say they have used the drug in the past year, the highest share of any age cohort.

There is little difference in the shares of Democrats (48%) and Republicans (45%) who say they’ve tried marijuana. However, there are differences within each party by ideology. By a 61%-39% margin, most conservative Republicans say they have never tried marijuana. Among moderate and liberal Republicans, about as many say they have (52%) as have not (48%) tried marijuana before.

Among Democrats, liberals (58%) are more likely than conservatives and moderates (42%) to say they’ve tried marijuana.

While a majority of those who say marijuana should be legal say they’ve tried the drug before (65%), 34% of those who support legalization say they’ve never tried marijuana. Among those who say marijuana should be illegal, 29% say they have tried it before, while 71% say they have not.

• These are volunteered responses among those who oppose legalizing marijuana. A 2013 poll found that, among the public overall, 77% said that marijuana had “legitimate medical uses.” ↩

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9 facts about Americans and marijuana

Most americans favor legalizing marijuana for medical, recreational use, most americans now live in a legal marijuana state – and most have at least one dispensary in their county, americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use, clear majorities of black americans favor marijuana legalization, easing of criminal penalties, most popular, report materials.

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• Effective Arguments for Regulating and Taxing Marijuana
• Cannabis Legalization

Introduction

The key to being a successful advocate of ending cannabis prohibition is effective communication. Specifically, advocates must be able to: 1) convey the most important arguments in support of legalizing, regulating, and taxing cannabis, and 2) respond to arguments made in opposition to legalization. Whether you are engaging in personal discussions, participating in public debates, conducting media interviews, or corresponding with government officials, it is critical that you are prepared. This document will provide you with the most persuasive talking points and strongest rebuttals to employ when communicating about the benefits of replacing cannabis prohibition with a system of regulating and taxing cannabis for adults. We recommend you keep it handy when conducting interviews or engaging in public debates. You are welcome to convey the information verbatim or simply use it as a general guide when carrying out advocacy activities. NOTE: New statistics and studies are constantly emerging. If you would like to confirm whether a given piece of information is current, or if you would like to suggest additions or revisions to this document, please contact the Marijuana Policy Project communications department at [email protected] . Some information was adapted from Marijuana Is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink? (Chelsea Green, July 2013) by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert.  

Cannabis and Alcohol (Not Cannabis vs. Alcohol)  

You will notice this document includes many comparisons drawn between cannabis and alcohol, most of which pertain to the relative safety of the former compared to the latter. This information should not be used to express the notion that alcohol should be illegal or that laws governing it should be more restrictive. Alcohol prohibition was a failed policy that produced many of the same problems that are associated with cannabis prohibition. Rather, the information comparing cannabis and alcohol should be used to highlight the intellectual dishonesty and hypocrisy of laws that allow adults to use alcohol and punish them for using a less harmful substance. It can also be used to highlight the inherent harm associated with such disparate, co-existing policies. Just as it would be bad public policy to prohibit people from choosing to consume chicken instead of beef — or beer instead of liquor — it is bad public policy to prohibit adults from consuming cannabis instead of alcohol, if that is what they would prefer.

Proactive Arguments

These are the key points we want to make when given the opportunity to make our case.

• Cannabis prohibition has been just as ineffective, inefficient, and problematic as alcohol prohibition. Polls show a strong and growing majority of Americans agree it is time to end cannabis prohibition. Nationwide, an October 2019 Gallup poll found that 66% support making cannabis use legal for adults, up from 48% in 2008 and 36% in 2005. [1] An October 2019 Pew Research Center poll found two-thirds (67%) of Americans support legalization up from 53% in 2015 and 32% in 2006. [2]
• Cannabis is objectively less harmful than alcohol to the consumer and to society. It is less toxic, less harmful to the body, less addictive, and less likely to contribute to violent or reckless behavior. Adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use cannabis instead of alcohol, if that is what they prefer.
• Regulating cannabis like alcohol will replace the uncontrolled illicit market with a tightly regulated system. By legalizing and regulating cannabis, authorities actually know who is selling it, where it is being sold, when, and to whom. In jurisdictions where cannabis is legal, it is produced and sold by legitimate, taxpaying businesses instead of drug cartels and criminals. These businesses will be required to test their products and adhere to strict labeling and packaging requirements that ensure cannabis is identifiable and consumers know what they are getting.
• Government resources should not be wasted arresting and prosecuting cannabis consumers. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are arrested each year for cannabis-related offenses, the vast majority of which are for simple possession. Government resources could be better spent on things like testing untested rape kits or investing in human needs, such as mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, and activities for at-risk teens.
• Enforcement of cannabis prohibition laws disproportionately impacts communities of color. Despite using cannabis at roughly the same rates as whites, Blacks in the U.S. are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession. In some states, the disparity is even greater. [3]

Reactive Arguments               

These are responses to arguments we frequently hear from our opponents.                                                      

Too Dangerous/Unhealthy for Consumers

• Every objective study on cannabis has concluded that it is less harmful than alcohol to the consumer and to society. Following an “exhaustive and comprehensive” two-year study of cannabis performed by the Canadian government, the chair of the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs reported, “Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol.” [4] Most Americans recognize that alcohol prohibition was a failure and agree adults should have the right to consume alcohol responsibly. [5] It is illogical to punish adults for consuming a less harmful substance, and it is irrational to steer them toward drinking if they would prefer to make the safer choice to use cannabis instead.
• The health effects of alcohol consumption are a primary factor in countless deaths. The health effects of cannabis consumption are not a primary factor in any deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were more than 35,000 alcohol-induced deaths in the U.S. in 2017 (i.e. deaths caused directly by long-term use and accidental overdose; this does not include deaths caused by unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use). The CDC did not report any cannabis-induced deaths. [6] A study published in Scientific Reports  in January 2015 found that the mortality risk associated with cannabis was approximately 114 times less than that of alcohol. [7] In January 2017, the National Academies of Sciences released an exhaustive review of cannabis-related research that found no link between cannabis use and mortality. [8]
• Many people die from alcohol overdoses. There has never been a confirmed cannabis overdose death. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded in 2017 that no link has been established between cannabis and fatal overdoses. [9] Meanwhile, the CDC reports an average of more than 2,200 alcohol poisoning deaths per year. [10] The official publication of the Scientific Research Society reported that alcohol is one of the most toxic drugs and that death can result from consuming just 10 times the effective dose (the amount a person would use to experience the desired effect). Cannabis, on the other hand, is one of the least toxic drugs, requiring thousands of times the effective dose to lead to death. [11] In 1988, after hearing two years of testimony, the chief administrative law judge for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) determined “it is physically impossible to eat enough cannabis to induce death” and concluded, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” [12]
• There are far more health-related problems associated with alcohol use than with cannabis use, and the health-related costs associated with alcohol far exceed those associated with cannabis.  In 2005, a University of Oxford meta-analysis on cannabis concluded that even long-term cannabis use does not cause “any lasting physical or mental harm. … Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for ‘recreational’ purposes, cannabis could be rated to be a relatively safe drug.” [13] In the mid-1990s, the World Health Organization commissioned a study on the health and societal consequences of cannabis compared to alcohol and other drugs, which concluded the overall risks associated with cannabis are “small to moderate in size” and “unlikely to produce public health problems comparable in scale to those currently produced by alcohol and tobacco.” [14] Health-related costs for alcohol consumers are eight times greater than those for cannabis consumers, according to an assessment performed by researchers at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. [15] More specifically, the annual cost of alcohol consumption is $165 per user, compared to just $20 per user for cannabis.

Cancer and the Impact of Smoking or Vaporizing Cannabis on the Lungs

• Extensive research has failed to find a link between cannabis and cancer. In January 2017, the National Academies of Sciences released a review of more than 10,000 scientific abstracts that concluded there is no link between smoking cannabis and the development of lung, head, or neck cancers. [16] It also did not find a link between cannabis use and asthma or other respiratory diseases, and the respiratory problems it did link to smoking cannabis, such as bronchitis, appeared to improve after consumers stopped using it. Similarly, in 1999, the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine reported, “There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use.” [17] According to research published in the journal Cancer, Causes, and Control , cannabis inhalation — unlike tobacco smoking — has not been positively associated with increased incidences of cancers of the lung, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon, skin, or prostate. [18] It was also reaffirmed in 2006 by the largest case-controlled study ever conducted to investigate the respiratory effects of cannabis smoking and cigarette smoking. The study, led by Dr. Donald Tashkin at the University of California at Los Angeles, found “no association at all” between cannabis smoking and an increased risk of developing lung cancer, even among subjects who reported smoking more than 22,000 joints over their lifetimes. [19] , [20] Surprisingly, the UCLA researchers found that people who smoked cannabis actually had  lower incidences of cancer compared to non-users, leading them to the conclusion that cannabis might have a protective effect against lung cancer. Other studies have shown that cannabis can kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor growth. [21] , [22]
• The effects of smoking cannabis pale in comparison to those associated with smoking tobacco. Opponents of cannabis policy reform often talk about the presence of carcinogens in cannabis smoke, oftentimes arguing that there are more cancer-causing chemicals in cannabis than in tobacco. Yet, there has never been a single documented case of a cannabis-only smoker developing lung cancer as a result of his or her cannabis use. Meanwhile, tobacco is responsible for 30% of all cancer deaths in the U.S. and 87% of lung cancer deaths. [23] According to research published in 2013 in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society , “[H]abitual use of marijuana alone does not appear to lead to significant abnormalities in lung function.” It concluded, “In summary, the accumulated weight of evidence implies far lower risks for pulmonary complications of even regular heavy use of marijuana compared with the grave pulmonary consequences of tobacco.” [24] Inhaling any kind of smoke is unhealthy, but the effects of smoking cannabis are relatively mild and short-term in nature. Typically, they take the form of coughing, wheezing, and bronchitis that dissipate after the cessation of use. A 2012 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that moderate lifetime cannabis smoking — defined as at least one joint per day for seven years or one joint per week for 49 years — is not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function. [25]
• Exposure to secondhand cannabis smoke — unlike tobacco smoke — has little to no effect. There is no evidence that exposure to secondhand cannabis smoke has any significant long-term health implications, whereas studies have shown secondhand tobacco smoke can cause health issues. [26] In 1986, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) conducted a study in which they placed people in an unventilated 8x7-foot room and burned a series of cannabis cigarettes. After being exposed to the smoke of four joints for one continuous hour for six consecutive days, most participants had no trace of cannabis in their systems. Those who did only had THC metabolites detectable in their urine (meaning they were never actually “high”). It took researchers burning 16 joints for one continuous hour each day for six consecutive days to produce the effect of consuming one joint. Obviously, it is pretty rare that anyone would ever find themselves in a small room where 16 joints are smoked continuously for one hour per day for six consecutive days.
• Only legalization allows for the regulation of vaporization devices and cartridges, enabling regulators to keep dangerous additives and pesticides out of cannabis products . Most or all of the cannabis vaporization-related lung illnesses and deaths were tied to the illicit market. A California laboratory tested illegal and regulated cannabis vaporization cartridges and found that 13 out of 15 of the illegal products included vitamin E acetate, the compound the CDC identified as the likely cause of the illnesses. [27] None of the legal products it tested had these additives, nor did they have the illicit pesticides or heavy metals that were present in most of the illicit cartridges.
• There are many ways to consume cannabis other than smoking or vaporizing, including edible products, tinctures, capsules, and topicals. Creating a legal, regulated market for a variety of products makes it easier for consumers to choose non-smoked options.  

Addiction and Treatment

• Cannabis is significantly less addictive than alcohol and tobacco. According to a 1998 report by Drs. Jack E. Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California at San Francisco, cannabis’s addiction potential is no greater than that of caffeine. [28] A comprehensive federal study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine arrived at a similar conclusion: “Millions of Americans have tried marijuana, but most are not regular users [and] few marijuana users become dependent on it … [A]lthough [some] marijuana users develop dependence, they appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol and nicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on other drugs.” According to the IOM report, only 9% of cannabis users ever meet the clinical criteria for a diagnosis of cannabis “dependence” based on the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition, revised), compared to 15% of alcohol users and 32% of tobacco users. [29] Some experts believe significantly fewer than 9% of cannabis users are actually dependent because the DSM is clearly biased against cannabis use, whereas it is accepting of alcohol use. [30] It considers moderate, non-problematic cannabis use a “mental disorder,” but goes out of its way to make the case that the moderate use of alcohol — a more addictive and potentially harmful substance — is not a disorder. It even notes, “[S]ocial drinking frequently causes loquacity, euphoria, and slurred speech; but this should not be considered Intoxication unless maladaptive behavior, such as fighting, impaired judgment, or impaired social or occupational functioning, results.” In other words, drinking to the point of experiencing euphoria and slurred speech is not considered “intoxication,” whereas using any amount of cannabis should be considered “intoxication.” The DSM survey is also conducted under the assumption that using cannabis on six occasions could constitute dependence, whereas using alcohol on any number of occasions might not. Specifically, the DSM considers someone dependent if they report that at least three of seven statements about their cannabis use apply to them. For example, it asks if “a great deal of time was spent in activities necessary to get the substance.” Because cannabis is illegal in most of the country, it is quite likely that the individual had to spend more time trying to get it, but that does not suggest they are addicted. It also asks if “important social, occupational, or recreational activities [were] given up or reduced because of use.” Yet, some people might lose their jobs if they get arrested or fail a workplace drug test, or they might feel they have fewer opportunities because they are worried prospective employers will require drug tests. Again, this does not make someone “addicted” to cannabis. A third criterion is whether the individual's use increases as they become tolerant of the substance. If someone experiences increased tolerance of the substance and uses more to get the desired effect, yet experiences no problems as a result, they should not be considered “addicted” to the substance. A couple other DSM criteria for dependence are similarly suspect. It is worth noting that some research has concluded that allowing people to use cannabis could produce a reduction in their consumption of more addictive substances. For example, a study performed by a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley found that “medical marijuana patients have been engaging in substitution by using cannabis as an alternative to alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs.” It also recommended further research to determine whether “substitution might be a viable alternative to abstinence for those who are not able, or do not wish to stop using psychoactive substances completely.” [31] This hypothesis will surely be explored as states continue to remove legal barriers to adult cannabis consumption.
• Most people in treatment for cannabis were ordered there by the criminal justice system. In other words, they didn’t actually seek or need treatment, but were arrested and offered treatment as an alternative to jail time or other serious penalties. According to data released in 2017 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), more than half of the people in drug treatment primarily for cannabis were referred by the criminal justice system, and fewer than one in five checked themselves in voluntarily or were referred by another individual. [32] Essentially, the government arrests people for using cannabis and forces them into treatment, and then it and other opponents of cannabis policy reform use those treatment admissions as “proof” that cannabis is addictive. The real scandal here is that countless needed treatment slots are being wasted on responsible cannabis users whose only problem with the drug was that they got caught with it.

Mental Health

• The evidence shows no causal relationship between cannabis use and the onset of mental health conditions. Many opponents misrepresent a 2017 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which found an  association  between cannabis use and schizophrenia, not that cannabis use  causes In fact, the report itself noted, “In certain societies, the incidence of schizophrenia has remained stable over the past 50 years despite the introduction of cannabis into those settings.” Surely if marijuana use caused schizophrenia, that would not be the case. Further, one of the committee members of the study, Ziva Cooper, rebutted the claim that cannabis use causes schizophrenia in a series of Tweets. Cooper wrote, “Since the report, we now know that genetic risk for schizophrenia predicts cannabis use, shedding some light on the potential direction of the association between cannabis use and schizophrenia.” Similarly, if cannabis causes psychosis, rates of psychosis should rise if cannabis use goes up, but that has not happened. According to a report published by the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet , cannabis use skyrocketed in the 1960s and 1970s, but there was no significant increase in rates of psychosis. [33] In 2009, researchers at the Keele University Medical School in Britain arrived at a similar conclusion: “[I]ncreases in population cannabis use have not been followed by increases in psychotic incidence.” [34] In late 2005, the British government’s scientific advisors on drug policy reviewed the evidence surrounding cannabis and mental illness and determined that the data do not demonstrate that cannabis causes depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. [35] Specifically, the British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs concluded, “The evidence for the existence of an association between frequency of cannabis use and the development of psychosis is, on the available evidence, weak.” A study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors in 2006 found lower rates of depression in cannabis users than in non-users. [36] There have been a handful of studies that have identified a minor association between chronic cannabis use and increased symptoms of mental health conditions, but other studies have failed to find such a link. [37] , [38] Confounding factors such as poly-drug use, family history, and poverty make it difficult to study cannabis’s potential impact on mental health.
• Cannabis affects different people differently — like many substances, it can be problematic for some people and beneficial for others. The relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia is a lot like sugar and diabetes. Both illnesses are primarily genetic in origin. Sugar can set off a diabetic attack in vulnerable individuals, and cannabis can set off or worsen a psychotic reaction in schizophrenics or in people with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. That’s not the same thing as causing the illness in the first place. There are some people who shouldn’t use cannabis, just like there are some people who should avoid sugar. It is worth noting that survey data and anecdotal reports of individuals finding therapeutic relief from depression and other mental conditions are not uncommon. Clinical testing on the use of cannabinoids to treat certain symptoms of mental illness has been recommended. [39]

Brain Damage

• There is no conclusive evidence that cannabis kills brain cells or causes brain damage, even in long-term heavy consumers. According to research published in the Journal of Neuroscience in January 2015, even daily cannabis use is not associated with changes in brain volume in adults or adolescents, noting it “lack[s] even a modest effect.” [40] They also found significant inconsistencies among scientific papers that claimed cannabis causes parts of the brain to shrink.

Decline in IQ

• There is no conclusive evidence that cannabis use results in lowered IQ. In 2014, researchers at University College London reported to the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology that they found “no relationship between cannabis use and IQ,” even among the heaviest users. They also reported that alcohol use is strongly associated with a decline in IQ. [41] Supporters of maintaining cannabis prohibition often cite a 2012 Duke study (based on data from New Zealand) that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , which linked minors’ chronic cannabis use to a long-term reduction in IQ. But they typically fail to mention that the same journal published an analysis later that year that criticized the study for having flawed methodology. [42] In summary, it failed to account for the low socioeconomic status of many of the study's participants, and research has found that adolescents of low socioeconomic status tend to experience declines in IQ regardless of cannabis use. A study published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal that included only middle-class participants found that IQ only decreased among current cannabis consumers, and even in heavy users, it rebounded after they stopped using it. [43] It is also worth noting that one of the researchers who performed the New Zealand study told news sources “[she] is fairly confident that cannabis is safe for over-18 brains.” [44]

Motivation and School/Job Performance

• The claim that cannabis makes people “amotivated” is a myth that has been repeatedly debunked by experts. In its comprehensive 1999 report on cannabis, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine concluded, “no convincing data demonstrate a causal relationship between cannabis smoking and these behavioral characteristics.” [45] Similarly, an Australian government review produced by several of the world’s leading experts concluded, “There is no compelling evidence for an amotivational syndrome among chronic cannabis users.” [46] An analysis released by the World Health Organization in 1995 arrived at a similar conclusion. [47] Some studies of college students have found that cannabis consumers actually earn higher grades than non-users. [48]
• Any substance or behavior can potentially interfere with an individual’s ability to perform well at work or in school. Whether it’s cannabis, alcohol, food, or video games, too much of it can be problematic for some people. The vast majority of cannabis users do not encounter such problems.

Gateway Theory

• The so-called “Gateway Theory” has been debunked repeatedly. Most recently, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reported in February 2017 that there is no substantial link between cannabis use and the use of other illegal drugs. [49] A 1999 study by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine found that cannabis “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association.” [50] In June 2015, the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse published research that concluded cannabis use itself was not a risk factor for use of other substances. [51]
• If there is a “gateway drug,” it is alcohol, which almost always precedes the use of cannabis. [52] But just as alcohol use does not cause people to use cannabis, using cannabis does not cause people to use other illicit drugs. In other words, there is correlation but not causation. Given the wide-scale availability and popularity of alcohol and cannabis, it comes as little surprise that people who use other illicit drugs previously tried alcohol and cannabis.
• The vast majority of people who have used cannabis never try any other drugs. About half of all Americans have used cannabis at some point in their lives. [53] Yet, only 3.4% have ever tried crack, only 1.9% have ever tried heroin, and fewer than 15% of Americans have ever tried cocaine, the second most popular illegal drug after cannabis. [54] If using cannabis caused people to use other drugs, there would be far more users of other drugs.
• By forcing cannabis consumers into the underground market, we are dramatically increasing the possibility that they will be exposed to other more dangerous drugs.  According to a 1997 report published by the Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction: “There is no physically determined tendency toward switching from marijuana to harder substances. Social factors, however, do appear to play a role. The more users become integrated in an environment (‘subculture’) where, apart from cannabis, hard drugs can also be obtained, the greater the chance that they may switch to hard drugs. Separation of the drug markets is therefore essential.” [55]

Cannabis Is Not Harmless

• No drug is entirely harmless, including cannabis, and we’ve never said it is. But it’s also true that independent scientific and government reviews have concluded that the health risks of cannabis are much lower than those of alcohol and tobacco, and that those risks don’t justify arresting and jailing responsible, adult cannabis users. (See other sections regarding relative harms of cannabis compared to other substances.)
• We need to be honest about the actual harms of all substances, and it would be irresponsible not to discuss the fact that cannabis is objectively less harmful than alcohol. Do you think people should be aware of the fact that cannabis poses less potential harm to the consumer than heroin or methamphetamine? Why wouldn't we want people to be aware of the fact that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol, too?

Potency and Concentrates (Oils, Hashes, Waxes, Kief, “Dabs”)

• Even the most potent cannabis is far less harmful than alcohol. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributes about 35,000 deaths per year in the U.S. to alcohol use alone, including hundreds from overdoses. It attributes zero to cannabis, and there has never been a fatal cannabis overdose in history. [56] “You can die binge-drinking minutes after you've been exposed to alcohol. That isn't going to happen with marijuana,” according to Ruben Baler, a health scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). [57]
• Like alcohol, there are more potent and less potent types of cannabis, and regulating cannabis will ensure consumers know what they are getting. Some people prefer to have a cocktail instead of a beer, and as a result, they know to drink less of it. By regulating cannabis like alcohol, we can ensure it is packaged and labeled properly. It would be unthinkable to sell beer and tequila side-by-side without having them labeled so people know one is far stronger than the other.
• If cannabis concentrates are banned, they will end up being produced and sold in the same underground market we are trying to eliminate. We should ensure these products are being produced safely and responsibly by licensed businesses in appropriate locations.
• A majority of Americans support making cannabis legal, and they care just as much about protecting young people as those who wish to keep cannabis illegal. They simply believe regulation would be a more effective way of doing it.
• Cannabis prohibition has failed miserably at keeping cannabis out of the hands of teens. From 1975-2012, 80-90% of 12th graders consistently reported that cannabis was “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain. For the first time since the survey began 40 years ago, high school seniors’ perception of cannabis’s availability has dipped below 80% — after states began to legalize cannabis. [58] If a key goal of prohibition is to keep cannabis out of the hands of young people, yet more than 80% could get it easily, that is a sign that the policy failed. It's time for a more thoughtful approach.
• By forcing cannabis into an underground market, we are guaranteeing that sales will be entirely uncontrolled. Illegal cannabis dealers do not ask for ID, they sell a product that is unregulated and possibly impure, and they might expose consumers to other more harmful drugs. In a regulated market, businesses would be required to ask customers for proof of age, and they would face severe penalties for selling cannabis to minors.
• Strictly regulating alcohol and tobacco products and restricting sales to minors have produced significant decreases in use and availability among teens. The rate of teen cannabis use has generally remained steady over the past several years, whereas levels of alcohol and cigarette use have decreased. [59] Over the past several years, cigarette use and availability among teens, which had been sharply increasing in the early 1990s, began steadily declining shortly after the 1995 implementation of the “We Card” program, a renewed commitment to strictly restricting the sale of tobacco to young people, along with a focused effort on public education. Ultimately, we were able to dramatically reduce teen tobacco use without arresting any adults for using tobacco.
• Research has shown that reforming cannabis laws does not increase teen cannabis use. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in 2016 found that the number of teens using cannabis — and the number with problematic use — is falling as more states legalize or decriminalize cannabis. The findings were based on a survey of more than 200,000 youth in all 50 states. Government surveys of students in states with medical cannabis and legalization laws have consistently shown humane cannabis policies do not result in increases in teen cannabis use. [60] According to the most comprehensive surveys, no state has seen an overall increase outside of the confidence interval since passage. Data has long shown that medical cannabis protections do not cause teen cannabis use rates to increase. A 2015 national study covering 24 years of data published in The Lancet found that medical cannabis laws do not lead to an increase in teen cannabis use. According to the lead researcher, the findings “provide the strongest evidence to date that marijuana use by teenagers does not increase after a state legalizes medical marijuana.” [61] Similarly, as the American Academy of Pediatrics noted in its statement supporting decriminalization, “Decriminalization of recreational use of marijuana by adults has also not led to an increase in youth use rates of recreational marijuana.”
• Available data suggests that legalizing and regulating cannabis for adult use has not led to increases in teen use. In February 2017, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported the rate of cannabis use among adolescents “has not changed since legalization either in terms of the number of people using or the frequency of use among users. …Based on the most comprehensive data available, past-month marijuana use among Colorado adolescents is nearly identical to the national average.” [62] It based this conclusion on the results of its biannual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS), which found 21.2% of high school students in Colorado reported using cannabis within the past 30 days in 2015 (compared to 21.7% nationwide). This was a slight drop from 22% in 2011, the year before the state approved a legalization initiative. HKCS’s 2017 study shows the favorable trend has continued: 19.4% of high school students in Colorado reported using cannabis within the past 30 days in 2017.
• Washington has had a similar experience since voters legalized cannabis in 2012. The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey, a state-run survey of 37,000 middle and high school students, found that the rate of cannabis use remained basically unchanged from 2012-2018. Similarly, Oregon’s Health Teens Survey found no increase from 2013- 2017. The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducts large-scale surveys in five legalization states — Alaska, California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada. Its before-and-after data shows no statistically significant increases in high schoolers’ past-30-day cannabis use. (Four of the states’ data indicated decreases within the confidence interval, while Alaska’s data indicated an increase within the confidence interval.) [63] The head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Nora Volkow, has acknowledged that cannabis usage rates have not risen in recent years despite changes in policy and public attitudes. “All of those factors have led many to predict that there would be an increase in the pattern of use of marijuana among teenagers and we are not seeing it,” she said in an interview in December 2015. [64] She echoed the same point a year later: “We had predicted based on the changes in legalization, culture in the U.S. as well as decreasing perceptions among teenagers that marijuana was harmful [and] that [accessibility and use] would go up. But it hasn’t gone up.” [65]

Sending the Wrong Message to Teens

• Cannabis is already widely available and widely used — regulating it simply sends the messages that cannabis is for adults and should be handled responsibly. Cannabis prohibition laws, which allow adults to use alcohol but punish them for using a less harmful substance, are intellectually dishonest. Once young people realize that cannabis is not as dangerous as they have been led to believe, they are less likely to trust authorities’ warnings about other more dangerous drugs.
• Cannabis prohibition laws send the inaccurate and potentially dangerous message that cannabis is more harmful than alcohol. By allowing adults to use alcohol and making it a crime for them to use cannabis, our laws are steering people toward using the substance that is much more likely to cause harm to them or those around them. Our laws should reflect the facts, and it is a fact that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.

Continuing Racial Disparities in Enforcement

• Advocates of reform do not claim decriminalization or legalization will make racial disparity in enforcement disappear. Pointing out that racial disparities exist and that ending cannabis prohibition can decrease the impacts of those disparities is not the same as saying racial disparities will end. Changing policies merely takes away some the mechanisms most commonly used for racially unequal policing.
• Decreases in arrests, searches, and convictions are a net benefit. While disparities continue to be found in arrest rates for things like underage consumption and public use after legalization, the overall decrease in arrests results in fewer people of color being arrested or fined. Following legalization, both the number of searches during traffic stops and the disparities in those searches plummeted in both Washington and Colorado. [66] Unnecessary searches can be intrusive, traumatic, dangerous, and destroy trust between law enforcement and communities.

Legal Age (18 vs. 21 vs. other ages)

• Like with alcohol, it will be up to lawmakers and/or voters to decide the appropriate legal age for using cannabis. Some people believe the legal age should be 18 because the individual is legally an adult and cannabis is far less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. Others think it should be 19 or older because 18-year-olds are still in high school and might be tempted to purchase it for their underage friends. Many people think the age limit should be 21 because, like alcohol, cannabis is intoxicating. It could be different from state to state as it used to be for alcohol, or a national legal age could be set at some point. So far, every legalization state in the U.S. has set the age at 21. In Canada, the legal age for cannabis has mirrored the legal drinking age, which is 18 or 19, depending on the province.                                  

Crime and Violence

• Research generally shows that cannabis — unlike alcohol — is not linked to violent or aggressive behavior. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine performed an analysis of more than 10,000 scientific abstracts about cannabis and did not appear to find a link between cannabis use and violent behavior. In fact, research often shows cannabis use reduces the likelihood of that an individual will act violently. According to research published in the journal, Addictive Behaviors , “Alcohol is clearly the drug with the most evidence to support a direct intoxication-violence relationship,” whereas, “Cannabis reduces the likelihood of violence during intoxication.” [67] The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 25% to 30% of violent crimes and 3% to 4% of property crimes in the U.S. are linked to the use of alcohol. [68] According to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, that translates to nearly 5,000,000 alcohol-related violent crimes per year. [69] By contrast, the government does not even track violent acts specifically related to cannabis use, as the use of cannabis has not been associated with violence. If we truly want to reduce the likelihood of violence in our communities, we should be allowing adults to use cannabis instead of alcohol, if that is what they prefer. Some opponents of cannabis policy reform claim cannabis users commit crimes to support their use of cannabis. Yet, cannabis is no more addictive than coffee, which is why neither cannabis users nor coffee drinkers commit crimes to support their use.
• Alcohol is a particularly significant factor in the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault, whereas cannabis is not. This is not to say that alcohol causes these problems; rather, its use makes it more likely that an individual prone to such behavior will act on it. For example, investigators at the Research Institute on Addictions reported, “The use of alcohol… was associated with significant increases in the daily likelihood of male-to-female physical aggression,” whereas the use of marijuana was “not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of male partner violence.” [70] Specifically, the odds of abuse were eight times higher on days when men were drinking; the odds of severe abuse were 11 times higher. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network’ (RAINN) webpage dedicated to educating the public about “Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault” highlights alcohol as the “most commonly used chemical in crimes of sexual assault” and provides information on an array of other drugs that have been linked to sexual violence. [71] The words “marijuana” and “cannabis” do not appear anywhere on the page.
• Legalization has not corresponded with increased crime rates. Government-published data, academic research, and the experiences of many law enforcement officials indicate that cannabis policy reform does not increase crime rates. Relying on statistics from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, peer-reviewed studies have analyzed changes after passage of both adult-use legalization and medical cannabis laws. Contrary to assertions made by some opponents of legalization, there is no compelling basis for claims that legalizing cannabis and establishing regulated markets undermines public safety.
• Cannabis prohibition leads to violence. Virtually all the crime associated with cannabis is a direct result of its prohibition. Cannabis prohibition has relegated the sale of cannabis to criminal enterprises. In doing so, it is exposing many consumers to more harmful people and products. And since cannabis is illegal, these individuals are unable to rely on law enforcement officials to step in when business-related disputes and incidents occur. Violence is often employed to expand turf, which results in violence that affects not just cannabis dealers and consumers, but the broader communities of which they’re a part. A peer-reviewed paper in The Economic Journal supports the argument that legalizing cannabis reduces crime by displacing illicit markets traditionally controlled by drug cartels and illicit distributors. [72] Meanwhile, legalizing cannabis also frees up police time for crimes with victims. In a 2018 analysis, experts at Washington State University found that police solved significantly more violent and property crimes after passage of legalization laws in Colorado and Washington. [73]
• States’ experiences with medical cannabis dispensaries and retailers have demonstrated that there is no link between regulated cannabis businesses and crime — in fact, they might reduce it. A study published in 2013, which was conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), concluded: “[The] results suggest that the density of [medical marijuana dispensaries] may not be associated with increased crime rates or that measures dispensaries take to reduce crime (i.e., doormen, video cameras) may increase guardianship, such that it deters possible motivated offenders.” [74] A 2017 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that the closure of dispensaries around Los Angeles was associated with an increase in crime in surrounding areas. [75] The following year, researchers from RAND reported a “negative and significant relationship between dispensary allowances and property crime rates.” [76]

Driving Under the Influence

• It is currently illegal to drive while impaired by cannabis, and it will remain illegal after cannabis is regulated and legal for adults. Since law enforcement officials will no longer need to spend time arresting and prosecuting adults for possessing cannabis, they will have more time to spend enforcing laws against driving under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, and other substances.
• Statistics connecting cannabis use to traffic accidents are generally unreliable. For example, cannabis can remain detectable in a user’s system for several days or even several weeks after he or she consumes cannabis, and the data on traffic accidents usually does not differentiate between whether a driver was actually under the influence at the time of the accident. Oftentimes, the data also does not differentiate between which driver was at fault, meaning drivers who tested positive for cannabis may not have actually caused the accident. It is also worth noting that many fatal accidents don’t involve testing for the prevalence of drugs, and in some states it is involved in fewer than half. [77] , [78] In addition, some increases in cannabis detection in accidents can be attributed to increased rates of testing after cannabis became legal.
• Data and research studies cast doubt on the link between legalization and increased traffic safety problems. Though some research has found a modest increase in traffic fatalities in Colorado and Washington post-legalization, other studies have reached different conclusions, and there are good reasons to doubt claims that legalization causes an increase in fatal crashes. A paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed the rates of drivers found with THC (cannabis’s primary psychoactive ingredient) in their systems after fatal car crashes from 2013 to 2016. The researchers then compared the patterns of THC-positive drivers in Colorado and Washington during that time period to those in other states. In a summary of their results, the authors wrote, “We find the synthetic control groups saw similar changes in marijuana-related, alcohol-related and overall traffic fatality rates despite not legalizing recreational marijuana.” Furthermore, according to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, four of the eight states that legalized cannabis from 2012 through 2016 saw decreased rates of fatal car crashes following passage of legalization laws. These reduced crash rates were greater than the reduction seen on the national level over the same time period. Data from the Colorado Department of Transportation do not support the assertion that cannabis-impaired driving is becoming a more significant problem in the state. In 2016 (when the state initiated uniform reporting procedures for cannabis impaired driving cases), there were 51 “cannabis-involved fatalities.” In 2017 and 2018, the state reported 35 and 31, respectively. [79]
• Drivers can be tested for cannabis, and it is currently being done throughout the country. Typically, blood tests and urinalysis are used to determine whether a driver has consumed cannabis. Urinalysis can detect the presence of cannabis even if it was consumed days or weeks earlier, so it is not a good indicator of whether a driver is actually under the influence. Blood tests are far more demonstrative of whether an individual is actually “under the influence,” and states have adopted laws that establish a “legal limit” for cannabis. For example, Washington has established a “per se” limit of five ng/ml of THC in the blood, meaning any person found at or above that level is automatically deemed impaired (just as a person with a 0.08 blood alcohol concentration is automatically deemed impaired). There is evidence that some cannabis consumers maintain levels of five ng/ml of THC or more for several hours or even days after they have consumed, which has led to criticism that such “per se” standards can result in unimpaired drivers being charged for driving while impaired. In light of that evidence, Colorado has established a limit of five ng/ml with “rebuttable presumption,” meaning an individual is not automatically deemed impaired and can challenge the charge in court. Clearly, there is still a need to determine whether a driver is impaired by cannabis, but states already have Drug Recognition Expert training for just that purpose. Police use this training to detect drivers impaired by an array of prescription, over-the-counter, and illicit drugs. Any standards and penalties that are adopted should reflect existing science and must be based on demonstrating actual driving impairment.

Employment Issues and Drug Testing

• State voters or lawmakers can adopt laws that allow employers to maintain or create employment policies that prohibit the use of cannabis by employees on and off the job. Most of the legalization laws require employers to change their employment or drug testing policies. In one state, Nevada, a law does not allow a person to be denied employment based on a pre-employment drug screen, unless the employee has a safety-sensitive position, including a job that “in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect the safety of others.”
• There are laws in place that ensure employers have the ability to prohibit the use of cannabis by employees in “high-risk” or “safety-sensitive” positions. Don’t be fooled by opponents who claim making cannabis legal for adults will result in surgeons, pilots, truck drivers, and electrical line workers performing their jobs under the influence of cannabis.
• Adults should not be punished for using cannabis outside of the workplace unless there is some sort of extenuating circumstance, just as they should not be punished for consuming alcohol outside of the workplace. It’s worth noting that alcohol can produce a hangover, which can negatively affect an employee’s performance the day after he or she consumes it, whereas cannabis does not produce hangovers. Because of how the body metabolizes cannabis, urinalysis can detect it in the body for up to several weeks. The effects of cannabis, however, only last for up to several hours. Any employee drug-testing program should take this into account to ensure employees are not being punished for consuming cannabis outside of the workplace. Since cannabis is detectable for much longer than other substances, testing employees for it could steer them toward drinking or using other less detectable drugs. Employees should not perform potentially dangerous work when impaired by anything , be it sleep deprivation, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medication, or alcohol. The best way to keep workplaces safe is to ensure employees are fit to perform their duties. Cognitive awareness impairment alertness testing is likely a better solution than periodically testing employees’ urine for specific substances.
• Adopting a law that regulates cannabis like alcohol would not be a violation of the Federal Drug Free Workplace Act. The FDFW Act simply requires employers to have a drug policy and to have penalties for violations of that policy.

Industry Concerns (“Big Tobacco,” Advertising, Etc.)

• Why would we want cannabis to be sold by illegally instead of licensed businesses? Cannabis is widely available, widely used, and objectively less harmful than alcohol. There is no reason why we should be leaving it in the underground market where its cultivation and sale are entirely uncontrolled.  
• This is a new industry, and we have the opportunity to create responsible regulations right off the bat. State and local governments are able to create broad rules covering advertising, labeling, testing, serving sizes, additives, permissible financial interests, production caps, licensing classes, etc. Cannabis businesses and business groups are pushing for strong and sensible regulations since they are needed in order to establish and maintain a legitimate cannabis industry. For example, Colorado’s largest cannabis industry organization was a vocal supporter of a successful 2012 effort to ban outdoor advertising by cannabis businesses in Denver. [80] Ultimately, nobody wants to ensure these businesses are following all of the regulations more than the businesses themselves.
• The tobacco industry was initially poorly regulated, and there was not nearly as much public knowledge about the health effects of tobacco as we currently have for cannabis. For example, tobacco companies are now notorious for having used additives to make their products more addictive. Such practices are banned in legalization states. The biggest problem with the tobacco industry is that it sells an exceptionally dangerous product. Its use alone kills hundreds of thousands of Americans per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whereas zero deaths are attributed to cannabis use. Overall, the health-related costs for tobacco consumers are 40 times greater than those for cannabis consumers. More specifically, the annual health-related costs of tobacco consumption are $800 per user compared to just $20 per user for cannabis. [81]

Controlling the Illicit Market

• While it will not happen overnight, within a few years of implementation of a state cannabis regulation law, intrastate demand should be fully satisfied by the regulated market, if enough supply and outlets are allowed . The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division’s Market Size Demand for Marijuana in Colorado Market 2017 Update reported that, “Colorado’s preexisting illicit marijuana market for residents and visitors has been fully absorbed into the regulated market.” However, as long as dozens of U.S. states maintain prohibition, their demand will be served by illegal production somewhere. Colorado, Oregon, and California have long been sources of cannabis exported to other states, and there is no reason to expect that to stop until other states have their own legal supplies.

Slippery Slope Toward Legalizing All/Other Drugs

• Every substance should be treated based on its relative harms and the facts surrounding it — cannabis is far less harmful than alcohol and should be treated that way. We can have different policies for cannabis, cocaine, and heroin, just as we now have different policies for alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. Drugs are not all the same, and our laws should reflect that. Cannabis policy reform is being debated because cannabis is widely recognized as a substance that should be made legal and regulated. We are not proposing changes to any laws other than cannabis laws.

Cannabis Use is Wrong/Immoral

• Americans differ about the morality of many things, but our public policies should be focused on minimizing harm to individuals and to the community. Some people consider alcohol use immoral, but most recognize that alcohol prohibition was a disaster. Cannabis prohibition has been just as big a failure, and it has caused far more harm than cannabis itself.

Cannabis Possession Laws Are Not Enforced / Nobody Actually Gets Arrested / Nobody Faces Serious Consequences

• Roughly 663,300 Americans were arrested or cited for cannabis-related offenses in 2018, and almost 92% were for possession alone. [82] That's one possession arrest every 48 seconds, and it’s more arrests than for all violent crimes combined. It's true that most people arrested for possession do not go to prison, but they all do face potentially life-altering consequences. They will have a drug-related offense on their record. Many people lose their jobs or find it difficult to gain employment. Parents can lose custody of their children. College students can lose their federal financial aid. Non-citizens can be forced to leave the country. People lose their public housing benefits. And those who are on parole or probation, or who have past offenses, could very well find themselves in jail or prison. According to leading cannabis policy researchers, “About 40,000 state and federal prison inmates have a current conviction involving marijuana; perhaps half of them are in prison for offenses related to marijuana alone.” [83]

“Legalization” vs. “Decriminalization” vs. “Regulation”

• The term “legalization” without mentioning “regulation” often leaves far too much to the imagination. Would it be available to people of all ages or only to those 18 and older or 21 and older? Would it be legal like tomatoes? Would it be sold only in state-licensed businesses? Referring to “legalizing and regulating cannabis” or “treating cannabis similarly to alcohol” makes it more apparent that cannabis would be legal only for adults. Only in a legal, regulated market can consumers and the environment benefit from rules to prevent the use of dangerous pesticides, testing and potency laws, and environmental protections.
• The word “decriminalization” can be a source of confusion. It generally refers to a system of reduced penalties for possession of a small amount of cannabis (usually a fine but not jail, oftentimes without formal arrest and booking), with more severe penalties retained for cultivation, sales, and possession of larger amounts. Decriminalization is not the best solution because it leaves cannabis production and distribution in the criminal market and continues to punish adults for responsible cannabis use.
• Regulation is the most realistic and effective alternative to prohibition. Under such a system: there would be a strictly enforced legal age limit for purchasing and using cannabis; cannabis and cannabis-infused products would be produced, distributed, and tested by state-licensed businesses; adults of legal age would be permitted to grow limited amounts of cannabis for personal use (similar to home-brewing); and cannabis would be subject to local and state sales taxes, as well as reasonable excise taxes established by voters or their elected representatives.

Legalization and Prohibition are Both Too Extreme (Project SAM's “third way”)

• The proper balance between incarceration and unrestrained legalization is regulation. We need a cannabis policy that reflects the realities of cannabis and minimizes the harm surrounding it. Cannabis is relatively safe for responsible adult use, it is widely available and commonly used, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. As such, its production and distribution should be regulated and controlled, not left to the underground market. Any policy that keeps cannabis illegal for adults is not a “third way,” it’s the same way we’ve been treating cannabis for decades. Coercive treatment programs that give arrestees the choice to go to treatment are not viable alternatives because they can still result in criminal sanctions and can cause space shortages in treatment facilities that could be devoted to voluntary admissions.

Federal Law

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) made it exceptionally clear that states can regulate the cultivation and sale of cannabis for adult use. In an August 2013 memo, then-Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the DOJ would refrain from interfering as long as states are establishing and enforcing regulations that adequately address specific federal interests, such as restricting cannabis sales to minors and preventing inter trafficking. In fact, the DOJ memo acknowledged that regulating cannabis might be more effective than prohibition when it comes to addressing those interests. In particular, it notes that the establishment of large for-profit cannabis businesses could be beneficial. [84] While former Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole memo, in practice his Justice Department did not appear to target any businesses in compliance with it. Moreover, Attorney General nominee William Barr has said in writing he plans to follow the Cole memo.
• Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis, and many of them — including our nation's capital — are regulating the cultivation and sale of medical cannabis.
• Fifteen states have legalized cannabis for adults’ use, without facing any significant federal interference. Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota all passed voter-enacted initiatives to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis, with the first laws passing back in 2012. In 2019, Illinois became the 11th state to legalize cannabis for adult use — and the first state in the country to adopt a regulatory system for cannabis cultivation, testing, and sales through a state legislature. Meanwhile, Vermont’s legislature and governor legalized personal possession in 2018 and enacted a regulatory system for sales in 2020. Regulated sales have begun in all of the states except Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Vermont (all of these laws passed in 2020 and are awaiting implementation).

International Drug Control Treaties

• International drug treaties allow considerable flexibility. In the U.S., 36 states, four U.S. territories, and Washington, D.C., have comprehensive medical cannabis laws, while another 13 states have more limited medical cannabis laws. Both Canada and Uruguay allow adult-use cannabis sales nationwide. The U.S. has traditionally been the driving force behind these prohibitionist treaties, and we can renegotiate them anytime if it becomes necessary. It does not appear it will be.

[1] Jeffrey Jones, "U.S. Support for Legal Marijuana Steady in Past Year," Gallup , October 23, 2019. https://news.gallup.com/poll/267698/support-legal-marijuana-steady-past-year.aspx

[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/14/americans-support-marijuana-legalization/

[3] American Civil Liberties Union. “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” April 2020. .

[4] Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs. Final Report: Cannabis: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. (2002).

[5] Wagenaar AC, Harwood EM, Toomey TL, Denk CE, Zander KM. “Public opinion on alcohol policies in the United States: Results from a national survey.” Journal of Public Health Policy 21 (2003): 303–27.

[6] Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Arias E, “Deaths: Final data for 2017,” National Vital Statistics Reports Vol. 68 No. 9 (2019): 13. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf

[7] Lachenmeier DW, Rehm J. “Comparative risk assessment of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach.”  Scientific Reports 5 (2015): 8126.

[8] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research.” (2017).

[10] Centers for Disease Control. “Vital Signs: Alcohol Poisoning Deaths — United States, 2010–2012.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Vol. 63 No. 53 (2015): 1238-1242.

[11] Gable, Robert. “The Toxicity of Recreational Drugs: Alcohol is more lethal than many other commonly abused substances,” American Scientist Vol. 94 No. 3 (2006): 206-208.

[12] Young, Francis L. “In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition.” DEA Docket No. 86–22 , September 6, 1988.

[13] Iverson, Leslie, “Long-term Effects of Exposure to Cannabis,” Current Opinions in Pharmcacology 5 (2005): 69–72.

[14] Hall, Wayne. “A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine, and Opiate Use.” (1995). National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

[15] Thomas G, Davis C. “Cannabis, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Canada: Comparing risks of harm and costs to society.” Visions Journal Vol. 5 No. 4 (2009): 11.

[16] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research.” (2017).

[17] Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999).

[18] Sidney, et al., “MarijuanaUse and Cancer Incidence,” Cancer, Causes, and Control 8 (1997): 722–28.

[19] Hashibe, et al., “Cannabis Use and the Risk of Lung Cancer and Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancer: Results of a Population-based Case-control Study,” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 15 (2006): 1829–34.

[20] Mark Kaufman, “Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection,” Washington Post , May 26, 2006.

[21] Sarfaraz, et al., “Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise,” Cancer Research 68 (2008): 339–42.

[22] Manuel Guzman, “Cannabinoids: Potential Anticancer Agents,” Nature Reviews Cancer 3 (2003): 745–755.

[23] American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures 2013 , Atlanta: American Cancer Society (2013).

[24] Tashkin, Donald, “Effects of Marijuana Smoking on the Lung,” Annals of the American Thoracic Society Vol. 10, No. 3 (2013): 239-247.

[25] Pletcher, et al., “Association Between Marijuana Exposure and Pulmonary Function Over 20 Years,” Journal of the American Medical Association 37 (2012).

[26] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General — Executive Summary , 2006.

[27] Conor Ferguson, et al., “Tests show bootleg marijuana vapes tainted with hydrogen cyanide,” NBC News , September 27, 2019.

[28] Hilts, Phillip, “Is Nicotine Addictive? It Depends Whose Criteria You Use,” New York Times , August 2, 1994.

[29] U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 1999).

[30] Aggarwal, Sunil, “'9 Percent of Those Who Use Cannabis Become Dependent' Is Based on Drug War Diagnostics and Bad Science,” The Huffington Post , January 29, 2014.

[31] Amanda Reiman, “Cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs,” Harm Reduction Journal 6 (2009).

[32] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS): 2005-2015. National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services . (2017).

[33] W. Hall, “Is Cannabis Use Psychotogenic?,” Lancet 367 (2006): 193–5.

[34] Frisher, et al., “Assessing the Impact of Cannabis Use on Trends in Diagnosed Schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005,” Schizophrenia Research 113 (2009): 123–8.

[35] Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, “Further Considerations on the Classification of Cannabis Under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971,” December 2005.

[36] T.R. Denson and M. Earleywine, “Decreased Depression in Marijuana Users,” Addictive Behaviors , April 2006.

[37] Moore, et al., “Cannabis Use and Risk of Psychotic or Affective Mental Health Outcomes: A Systemic Review,” Lancet 370 (2007): 319–28.

[38] Ferdinand, et al., “Cannabis Use Predicts Future Psychotic Symptoms, and Vice Versa,” Addiction 100 (2005): 612–18.

[39] C.H. Aston, et al., “Cannabinoids in Bipolar Affective Disorder: A Review and Discussion of Their Therapeutic Potential,” Journal of Psychopharmacology , Vol. 19, No. 3, 2005.

[40] Dobuzinskis, Alex, “Daily pot use not associated with brain shrinkage: Colorado study,” Reuters , February 5, 2015.

[41] Mokrysc C., et al. “No relationship between moderate adolescent cannabis use, exam results or IQ, large study shows.” Annual Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) . 2014.

[42] Stromberg, Joseph, “Long-Term Marijuana Use Could Have Zero Effect on IQ,” SmithsonianMag.com, January 14, 2013.

[43] Fried, et al., “Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults,” Canadian Medical Association Journal 166 (2002): 887–91.

[44 ] Hughes, Dominic, “Young cannabis smokers run risk of lower IQ, report claims,” BBC News, August 28, 2012.

[45] U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 1999).

[46] W. Hall, L. Degenhardt, and M. Lynskey, “The Health and Psychological Effects of Cannabis Use,” Commonwealth of Australia, National Drug Strategy, Monograph Series No. 25, 2001.

[47] W. Hall, R. Room, and S. Bondy, WHO Project on Health Implications of Cannabis Use: A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate Use, Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, August 28, 1995.

[48] M. Earleywine, Understanding Marijuana , Oxford University Press, 2002.

[49] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research.” (2017).

[50] U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (Washington, D.C: National Academy Press, 1999).

[51] Thompson, Dennis, “Marijuana Study Counters ‘Gateway’ Theory,” HealthDay , July 10, 2015.

[52] Kirby, T. and Barry, A. E. (2012), “Alcohol as a Gateway Drug: A Study of U.S. 12th Graders,” Journal of School Health , 82: 371–379. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00712.x

[53] Gallup Poll, July 19, 2017.

[54] U.S. Office of Applied Studies, 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables . Accessed online August 28, 2017.

[55] Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Cannabis Policy: An Update (Utrecht: Trimbos Institute, 1997).

[56] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application, 2013. Available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI/Default.aspx

[57] Brownstein, Joseph. “Marijuana vs. Alcohol: Which Is Really Worse for Your Health?” livescience , January 21, 2014.

[58] University of Michigan/National Institute on Drug Abuse, Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975 – 2019 . (Fewer than 80% of 12th graders reported marijuana was “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain in each 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The lowest figure since the survey began was reported in the most recent year, 2019: 78.4%.)

[60] For data and sources, see https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/teen-marijuana-use-does-not-increase/ .

[61] Hasin, Deborah S., et al. “Medical marijuana laws and adolescent marijuana use in the USA from 1991 to 2014: results from annual, repeated cross-sectional surveys,” The Lancet Psychiatry , Vol. 2, Issue 7, 601-608.

[62] Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Monitoring Health Concerns Related to Marijuana in Colorado: 2016. Changes in Marijuana Use Patterns, Systematic Literature Review, and Possible Marijuana-Related Health Effects.” (2017).

[63] For data and sources, see https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/teen-marijuana-use-does-not-increase/ .

[64] Sifferlin, Alexandra. “High School Seniors Now Prefer Marijuana to Cigarettes.” Time , December 15, 2015.

[65] Nelson, Steven. “Marijuana Is Harder Than Ever for Younger Teens to Find.” U.S. News and World Report , December 13, 2016.

[66] Sam Petulla and Jon Schuppe, “Police Searches Drop Dramatically in States that Legalized Marijuana,” NBC News , June 23, 2017.

[67] Hoaken, P. & Stewart, S. (2003). Drugs of abuse and the elicitation of human aggressive behavior. Addictive Behaviors 28 , 1533-1554.

[68] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health , June 2000.

[69] U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, Alcohol and Crime: Data from 2002 to 2008 . Available at http://www.bjs.gov/content/acf/apt1_crimes_by_type.cfm

[70] Fals-Stewart, F., Golden, J., & Schumacher, J. (2003). Intimate partner violence and substance use: A longitudinal day-to-day examination. Addictive Behaviors 28 , 1555-1574.

[71] Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Drug Facilitated Sexual Violence . Retrieved August 21, 2014, from https://rainn.org/get-information/types-of-sexual-assault/drug-facilitated-assault

[72] Gavrilova, E., et al. (2017). Is Legal Pot Crippling Mexican Drug Trafficking Organisations? The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on US Crime. The Economic Journal . Accessed from https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12521

[73] Makin, D.A., et al. (2018). Marijuana Legalization and Crime Clearance Rates: Testing Proponent Assertions in Colorado and Washington State. Police Quarterly . Accessed from https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611118786255

[74] Freisthler, B., Kepple, N.J., Sims, R., & Martin, S.E., “Evaluating medical marijuana dispensary policies: Spatial methods for the study of environmentally-based interventions,” American Journal of Community Psychology 51 (2013): 278–288.

[75] Chang, T., Jacobson, M., “Going to Pot?: The Impact of Dispensary Closures on Crime,” March 2017.

[76] Hunt, P., et al. (2018). High on Crime? Exploring the Effects of Marijuana Dispensary Laws on Crime in California Counties. Institute of Labor Economics. Accessed from http://ftp.iza.org/dp11567.pdf

[77] “Drug Involvement of Fatally Injured Drivers,” NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, November 2010, DOT HS 811 415, 1.

[78] Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: The Impact (August 2013), 5.

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[80] Ingold, John, “Denver medical marijuana advertising ban passes key vote,” Denver Post , August 13, 2012.

[81] G. Thomas and C. Davis, “Cannabis, Tobacco, and Alcohol Use in Canada: Comparing Risks of Harm and Costs to Society,” Visions: British Columbia's Mental Health and Addictions Journal 5 (2009).

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Home » Uncategorized » Five Reasons Why We Should Legalize Cannabis

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Five Reasons Why We Should Legalize Cannabis

Cannabis use in the United States has had a long and complicated history. For decades, people who used cannabis were subject to social ostracization and criminal prosecution. However, attitudes toward cannabis have been evolving in recent years. An increasing number of states have started to legalize cannabis for medical or recreational use. This shift in policy has been driven by a variety of factors including changing public attitudes and the potential economic benefits of legalization. In this article, we will explore the potential benefits of legalizing cannabis in our country.

1. Legalization for the Environment

Legalizing cannabis can have significant benefits for the environment. When cannabis is grown illegally, it is often done in environmentally damaging ways, such as using chemical pesticides or clearing primary forests to make room for crops. Legalization could allow customers to support more environmental growers. This will incentivize more responsible growing practices, such as the use of organic farming methods or the use of renewable energy sources to power indoor grow operations. In addition, the culture of growing cannabis can help to discover and preserve precious marijuana seeds , increasing biodiversity and facilitating a deeper understanding of cannabis plants and their cultivation.

2. Legalization for Justice

Where cannabis is illegal, people are being arrested and charged for possession or sale, which leads to costly court cases and a burden on the criminal justice system. Legalization would free up law enforcement resources to focus on more serious crimes and simultaneously reduce the number of people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. This could help to reduce the overall prison population and save taxpayers money.

In addition, legalization can have significant benefits for justice and equity, particularly for marginalized communities that have been disproportionately affected by the criminalization of cannabis. Communities of color have been particularly affected by the war on drugs, with Black Americans being nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than white Americans, despite similar rates of use.

By regulating cannabis cultivation and sales, legalization can help to eliminate the black market and reduce the involvement of criminal organizations in the cannabis industry. This can lead to safer communities and reduced drug-related violence in communities that have been most affected by the criminalization of cannabis.

3. Legalization for Public Health

Cannabis has been shown to have many beneficial and therapeutic effects on both physical and mental health. However, people may be hesitant to seek medical marijuana treatment due to fear of legal repercussions if cannabis is illegal. Legalization can allow more people to enjoy better health outcomes. It can also promote the safer use of cannabis by educating the public on appropriate cannabis use and providing quality control measures for cannabis products. Legalization can also lead to increased research into potential medical applications of cannabis and could lead to the development of innovative treatments.

Another potential perk of cannabis legalization is that it could reduce the use of more harmful drugs. In the absence of cannabis, people may turn to more dangerous drugs like heroin or fentanyl to manage chronic pain or other conditions. By legalizing cannabis, we can provide a safer alternative for these individuals and could reduce the overall demand for these more dangerous drugs. States that have legalized cannabis found a decrease in opioid overdose deaths and hospitalizations, suggesting that cannabis are an effective alternative to prescription painkillers.

4. Legalization for the Economy

The legalization of cannabis can generate significant tax revenue for governments and create new economic opportunities. When cannabis is illegal, it is sold on the black market, and no taxes are collected on these sales. However, when it is legal, sales can be regulated, and taxes can be imposed on those sales. In states that have legalized cannabis, tax revenue from cannabis sales has been in the millions of dollars , with California registering a whopping $1.2 billion in cannabis tax revenue in 2021. This impressive income can be used to reduce budget deficits, fund various public services such as education and healthcare, and create new opportunities for investment in projects that revitalize the economy.

Aside from tax revenue, legalizing cannabis can create new jobs. The cannabis industry is a rapidly growing industry, and legalization could lead to the creation of new jobs in areas such as cultivation, processing, and retail sales. This can help to reduce unemployment and create new gainful opportunities for people who may have struggled to find employment in other industries. Legalization can also lead to increased investment in related industries, such as the development of new products or technologies to improve cannabis cultivation or the creation of new retail businesses. There are now several venture capital funds and investment groups that focus solely on cannabis-related enterprises.

5. Legalization for Acceptance

Finally, legalization could help reduce the stigma surrounding cannabis use. Before cannabis legalization, people who use the plant were often viewed as criminals or deviants. Legalization can help change this perception and lead to more open and honest conversations about cannabis use. Ultimately, legalization could lead to a more accepting and inclusive society where individuals are not judged or discriminated against for their personal and healthcare choices. By legalizing cannabis, we can harness the power of a therapeutic plant. Legalization can heal not just physical and mental ailments of individuals but also the social wounds that have resulted from its criminalization.

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Marijuana Argumentative Outline

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211 Marijuana Essay Topics & Examples

Should marijuana be legalized? This question is controversial and worth discussing!

🔝 Top 10 Marijuana Research Topics

🌱 marijuana essay: how to write, 🏆 best marijuana essay examples.

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Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a psychoactive drug made from a plant and used for recreational and medical purposes. Being fully prohibited in some countries, it is fully legalized in others. In your essay about marijuana, you might want to focus on the pros and cons of its legalization. Another option is to discuss marijuana dependence. One more idea is to compare and contrast marijuana laws in various US states. Finally, you can discuss the business aspects of the issue.

Whether you have to write an argumentative, descriptive, or cause and effect essay, our article will be helpful. It contains marijuana topics to research and write about. You can use them for a paper, speech, or any other assignment. Best marijuana essay examples are added to inspire you even more.

• Mental and physical effects of cannabis
• Marijuana and mental ability: the correlation
• Cannabis consumption: the key modes
• Marijuana: short-term and long-term effects
• Cannabis and reproductive health
• History of cannabis
• Legal status of marijuana in various countries: compare and contrast
• Should cannabis be legalized?
• Cannabis as a gateway drug
• The use of marijuana for medical purposes

With the current-day process of drug legalization and the popularization of cannabis, writing a marijuana essay becomes more than a one-track, anti-drug endeavor.

Whether your stance is for or against recreational drug use, you should be able to call upon credible sources to form a well-rounded and informed opinion that may sway your readers toward your cause.

Starting from your pre-writing process and bibliography and until you write your conclusion, you need to keep in mind particular points that will make tackling any marijuana essay topics easy. From a structural and pre-writing viewpoint, you should:

• Brainstorm your ideas. Doing so will allow you to decide on a particular approach to your subject.
• Do your research, compiling your bibliography, and perusing various book and journals titles, as well as research papers, interviews, and statistics.
• Utilizing authoritative sources to support your argument will make your writing more academic and respectable.
• Write a marijuana essay outline, which should help you better your essay structurally.
• Compose an eye-catching title. Marijuana essay titles are already intriguing, so do your best not merely to draw your readers in but to prepare them for your argument by demonstrating your stance on the topic.

If you are still not sure how to begin your paper, look for sample ones online. Searching for good examples will help you understand the tools that work in essay writing, which ones you can apply to your issue, and which bore the audience.

Just remember that plagiarism is a punishable offense. However, gaining some inspiration from the work of others is not!

Now you are ready to begin, having carried out the research and created guidelines for your writing process. However, an intriguing title and an issue that may easily excite people is not enough to convince your readers of your subject’s validity.

Nonetheless, the potentially provocative nature of your paper provides you with the ability to write a fail-safe marijuana essay hook. Your introduction should build upon the sentiment expressed in your title and give your audience an initiative to read further.

You can start by providing surprising statistics or describing a present drug scenario. The goal of writing an introduction is to give your readers a brief understanding of your issue and present them with partial facts, making them want to continue reading.

Do not be afraid to expand your topics and link various data together while keeping in mind an academic approach.

Adverse societal effects of marijuana use may include an increase in the number of car accident cases, especially if there is no culture of safety around recreational drug use. However, trying to link it to society’s degradation may require more evidence than mere statistics.

Understand which approach is more likely to convince your audience and be ready to respond to potential counterarguments to your facts. Treating your audience as knowledgeable is one of the central characteristics of a good essayist.

Remember to write only sentences that are relevant to your argument. A sound mental practice when writing an essay is to continuously ask yourself, whether each phrase relates to your thesis statement.

If yes, does it help advance it forward? If the answers for these questions is no, you may have to rephrase, remove, or even re-research your facts to demonstrate a compelling understanding of the issue.

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• Reason Why Marijuana Should Be Legal This is an important consideration since data on the prevalence of Marijuana indicates that the US is still the world’s largest single market for the drug.
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Marijuana Countries including Netherlands, Israel and Canada have lenient laws regarding the use of marijuana, cases in point that proponents of its legalisation have used to highlight the merits of legalising it.
• Alcohol and Drugs Effects on High School Students According to Martin, “society also advertises the image of individual and social happiness for alcohol and drug users; this misconception results in the societal decrease of achievement, especially, of high school age students”.
• Legalization of Marijuana: Arguments For and Against It will therefore be difficult to regulate the use of marijuana among young people and other unauthorized people if it is legalized. It should be noted that marijuana has various negative effects to the health […]
• Legalizing Marijuana: Pros and Cons The focus of this paper will be on the impact of the legalization of the U.S.economy with possible positive and negative sides of the matter.
• How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain? One of the profound findings of the studies is on the negative effects of marijuana on the brain. Research findings on the brain show that abuse of marijuana for a long time affects the brain […]
• Should Marijuana Be Legal? It is perhaps very essential to be acquainted with an account of laws that surround marijuana in order to understand the reasons why the drug ought to be legalized.
• Usage and Effects of Marijuana In the modern world, more and more countries are recognizing the role of cannabis in bringing benefits to the population. For the purposes of better understanding the drug and navigating the modern realities, it is […]
• Political Opinion on Legalization of Marijuana On the other hand, the case introduces the man as a member of the Methodist Church, and this community is known for its strict opinion about marijuana as a gateway drug.
• Marijuana as an Alternative Medication for Pain Relief The PICOT question for the identified health care issue is the following: in a patient population requiring pain relief, does marijuana represent a viable alternative medication as compared to opioid-based prescription drugs for alleviating the […]
• Marijuana: Properties, Effects, and Regulation At the same time, a regulated cannabis industry slowly emerges, with companies attempting to profit off of the legalization and destigmatization of marijuana.
• Preventing Negative Effects of Marijuana Use The aim of the study is to ascertain specific interventions that would allow reducing cannabis use within the framework of the environment where marijuana is legal.
• Analysis of Arguments: Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Pro Arguments: The majority of Americans agree on the necessity to legalize marijuana. This initiative is accompanied by concerns regarding the actual use of marijuana.
• Risks and Benefits of Medical Marijuana The use of marijuana in the medical sphere is a highly debated and discussed topic. Patients with epilepsy claim that the use of marijuana prevents seizures and provides immense relief.
• Medical Marijuana: Issues & Ethical Considerations The use of medical marijuana in anxiety disorders and PTSD has many concerns. Prescribing medical cannabis can potentially benefit a patient but can cause additional health and legal issues.
• The Benefits of Medical Marijuana This paper aims to discuss that medical marijuana is helpful in the treatment and management of chronic pain conditions such as cancer and epilepsy.
• The Issue of Legalization of Marijuana The issue of the legalization of marijuana in the territory of the state is not unambiguous, therefore it is analyzed by a large number of specialists.
• Synthetic Marijuana: Physiological and Social Factors The report generated by Drug and Alcohol Dependence article in the year 2010 showed that the majority of the people who used synthetic marijuana were between the ages of 12 to 29.
• Cannabis or Marijuana for Medical Use In the West, for the first time, medical use became known thanks to the work of Professor O’Shaughnessy, who personally observed the process of her treatment in India.
• Marijuana Research: Personal Connection and Medical Use In the United States, military marijuana is prohibited, but initially, it was used for recreation and as a form of medicine in the twentieth century.
• Marijuana Possession in a High-School Student Case Her participation in the program will be an educational experience and put the juvenile offender in touch with professionals who can understand the motives of her behavior instead of giving Jane Doe an actual criminal […]
• Marijuana Legitimization and Medical Controversy The proponents of the legitimization of marijuana for medical use argue that it has numerous medical uses. Currently, in the US, there is a rather peculiar situation with the legalization of marijuana for medical use.
• Workplace Policy on Marijuana Use in Michigan The legalization and decriminalization of marijuana use in 23 states of the US lead to complicated issues when it comes to the consideration of workplace policies.
• Law: Legislation Regarding Marijuana Farming To evaluate the applicability of the proposed marijuana farming bill, the current marihuana production legislation needs to be reviewed, and the changes in social norms regarding criminal behavior are to be analyzed.
• Marijuana Legalization: Controversial Issue in Canada Canada became the second country in the world to legalize the cultivation and consumption of cannabis in 2018. Besides, the substance is addictive, and it is challenging to stop consuming it.
• Marijuana: Myths and Legal Justification Over the past decades, much attention has been drawn to the question of the categorization of marijuana in terms of the national systematization of drugs controlled by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
• Marijuana Legalization and Issues to Consider If marijuana is fully legalized, there might be a rise in use among youth, which is dangerous from the physiological point of view, and there will be no legal justification to end it.
• Hip-Hop and Marijuana Use in College Students It has been estimated that over half of the college student population regularly use marijuana, while over 25% used it during past month.
• Marijuana Use among American and Bolivian Students The study is a perfect example of the use of theory in a research. As such, it is possible for college students in Bolivia to have a similar deviant behavior, which in this case is […]
• The Relationships Between Marijuana and the Legal System The most common ideas discussed within a framework of this debate are connected to the issues of permission to keep marijuana at home for personal needs such as medical needs, and a total ban on […]
• Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option? Medical marijuana is used to refer to the use of marijuana as a physician-recommended form of medication in its natural or synthetic form.
• Use of Marijuana for the Medicinal Purposes It is therefore quite evident that even though the marijuana legalization will go hand in hand with a set minimum age within which individuals will be allowed to use it, at the long run the […]
• The Medicinal Value of the Marijuana: There Are Potential Benefits to a Patient Other Than Risks This article provides an insight to the effects of chemotherapy treatment to the body of the cancer victims. It defines the drug in a lengthy way including what the drug is, the effects of taking […]
• Pros and Cons of Legalization of Medical Marijuana It is evident that medical treatment with the use of marijuana would be beneficial for both: patients and the government because of the opportunity to earn on taxation.
• Legalization of Recreational Use of Marijuana The role of the Supreme Court in the specified case boils down to stating the conditions, in which the prescription and the following use of marijuana by the patient, can be deemed as legitimate.

💡 Interesting Cannabis Topics to Write about

• The Chances of a Successful Appeal by a Marijuana Convict The Superior Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment rights of the defendant were violated; a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
• Marijuana Legalization: Chronic Seizure Treatment With that said, despite numerous states already having legalized one or both applications, the federal government remains opposed to either form of legalization, and marijuana possession and use remain federal offenses.
• Adverse Effects of Marijuana Use This paper aims to provide an analysis of the article that gives a perspective on the adverse health effects and harm related to marijuana use. Thus, the academic article on the adverse effects of marijuana […]
• “Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use” by Volkow et al. Based on national marijuana studies and DSM-IV, the researchers conclude that addiction to marijuana is a non-debatable statement and that starting marijuana use in adolescence doubles or even quadruples the risks of cannabis use disorder.
• Marijuana Use May Double the Risk of Accidents for Drivers According to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the number of Americans driving under the influence of illegal substances has risen drastically. The risk of a crash is also related to the number of […]
• Legalized Marijuana: Negative and Positive Sides The economy and finance from the very beginning were anticipating that this law will bring the largest income to the state’s budget and create plenty of job opportunities under the rule of law.
• Marijuana: Legislative History and Future The focus of the legislation in many states is to end the illegal sale of cannabis and monetize it for tax purposes and so that distribution can be controlled.
• Ethical Perspective of the Legalization of Marijuana In spite of a popular view of the medical benefits of marijuana, doctors insist that the use of marijuana provides the same dangerous effect as other drugs.
• Marijuana Legalize: Advanatages and Disadvantages The truth that marijuana is illegal and prohibited is suitably caused by the number of funds invested in the war against drugs.
• Arguments for Banning the Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is a dangerous drug that should not be legalized even if it is in the context of it containing the medicinal value.
• Federalism and Medical Marijuana Needless to say, United States faced political and social challenges as well, and the disputes over federalism and over the legal use of marijuana in medicine are still the most burning and controversial issues in […]
• The Effects of Marijuana on the Body, Mind and Brain Cells A drug is a substance that changes the bodily function of a body when consumed, there are several definitions of the word drug but it is believed that the most important function of a drug […]
• College Students in UK and Marijuana The reasons for the punishments are very different but the result remains the same: marijuana is still used by the majority of students and is available for everyone.
• Decriminalizing Marijuana for Medicinal Use Because of inconsistent and problematical data, it is impracticable to access quantitatively to what extent that drugs encourage the incidence of crime.
• Psychological Effects of Marijuana Some people experience panic reactions, which tend to be temporary and often are triggered by a feeling of not being in control Marijuana’s psychological effects include a sense of euphoria or well-being, relaxation, altered time […]
• Logical Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana This will be a source of revenue to the government; when the revenues increase, it means that gross domestic product for the country increases. It will be a source of income not only to the […]
• Social Effects of Marijuana Research has shown that the use of marijuana affects the smoker’s day-to-day lifestyle in relation to society, the environment, and day-to-day activities.
• Federal vs. State Law: Medical Marijuana in the US The main problem is that these laws and regulations have not reduced the number of people who use marijuana for medical purposes.
• Medical Marijuana: Pros of Legalizing It must be admitted that at the time of the passage of these laws, histories from some, but not all, heroin users indicated that the use of marijuana had preceded the use of heroin.
• Marijuana Legalization and Consumption Among Youth The most popular excuse among drug consumers is the instrumental use of the drug. As long as the drug influence is undermined, the number of college students willing to experience the marijuana effects will be […]
• Legalization of Medical Marijuana: Help or Harm? Nowadays, a majority of people worldwide support the legalization of marijuana, and it is possible to predict that this support will keep getting stronger in the future.
• Medical Marijuana Legalization Concerns This change raises political concerns and requires the government to review its economy to adapt to the use of MM. The representation of the legal process highlighted the history of previous legislations and reported on […]
• Medical Marijuana: Legal and Research Concerns However, while the purpose of recreational marijuana is often disconnected from its long-term effects on people’s health in scholarly discussions, the use of medical marijuana is viewed from the point of patient’s health and the […]
• Medical Marijuana in the Army: Addressing a Problematic Issue Denying the use of medicinal marijuana as one of the fastest and the most efficient ways of relieving pain in the military setting, one will inevitably infringe upon the rights of American troops.
• Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Marijuana legalization is a topic of social trends and beliefs that are based not only on health but political and economic factors as well.
• Marijuana Legalization and Its Benefits for Society The example of several states that have already introduced the appropriate law provides the ground for vigorous debates about the absence of the expected deterioration of the situation and emergence of multiple problems associated with […]
• Marijuana Legalization in 5 Policy Frameworks The legalization of marijuana is still one of the debatable issues at the federal and state levels. For instance, the use of marijuana is prohibited at the federal level while the recreational and medical use […]
• Marijuana Legalization in California The muscle relaxation effect of marijuana also appears to be a positive effect that should be used to argue for its legalization.
• Medical Marijuana Legalization by National Football League However, it must be realized that some of these players are usually in excruciating pain to the point that some may have lost consciousness.
• Marijuana: Users, Desired Effects and Consequences The frequent users consist of youths and adults who have abused Marijuana to the extent they have become dependent on it.
• Effects of Marijuana on Memory of Long-Term Users The pivotal aim of the proposed study is to evaluate the impact of marijuana use on long-term memory of respondents. The adverse impact of marijuana after the abstinent syndrome refers to significant changes in prefrontal […]
• Trends in the Use of Marijuana The researchers claim that the legalization of marijuana in California led to the development of the acceptance of marijuana use as well as the increase in this drug consumption.
• Medical Marijuana Legalization Rebuttal The claim of fact is that A.C.A.continues to be beneficial despite the arguments of Republican politicians and current challenges. The claim of policy is the appeal to Republicans and Democrats to work together on the […]
• Marijuana Legislation and Americans’ Contribution To identify whether patients with intractable pain hold more favorable views regarding legislation of marijuana use than the general public, it is necessary to determine various inclusion and exclusion criteria that might influence the society’s […]
• Medical Marijuana Policy and Framing Approach This is a clear indication that different arguments can be presented by these actors to support the legalization and use of medical marijuana.
• Policy Analysis: Rules for Growing Medical Marijuana Overall, the main goal of the document is to address the health needs of people requiring marijuana to relieve the manifestations of their illness as well as the implications of growing marijuana for medical purposes.
• Marijuana Crime in California State and Federal Courts To compare the severity of the punishment that could be imposed by a federal court to what was announced at a state institution, it should be remembered that the investigation process would not take long […]
• Legal Marijuana Market Analysis and Taxes Impact Consequently, the primary goal of this paper is to understand the impact of taxes on the financial stability of the market for legal marijuana with the help of the law of supply and demand and […]
• Controversy Around Medical Marijuana Legalization The consideration of the problem of marijuana legalization from the perspective of public safety involves such points as crime rates and traffic accidents. The fact of economic benefits of the Cannabis legalization is also apparent: […]
• The Legalization of Marijuana: Regulation and Practice It is imperative to note that legalization of marijuana is a topic that has been quite controversial and has led to numerous discussions and disagreements.
• Marijuana History, Medical Purposes and Threats Although many people believe that marijuana is harmless and the access to it should be unlimited, it has a number of negative health effects and might lead to addiction.
• Marijuana Use and Serious Mental Illnesses 21% of the respondents of 18 years and above claimed to have used marijuana for the first time prior to their 12th birthday.
• Marijuana as an Unjustifiable Pain Reliever The debate on whether to legalize the use of marijuana has been there for the last 20 years. In addition to this, it causes panic and anxiety hence causing the user to hallucinate.
• The Safety of Using Medicinal Marijuana for Pain Relief Speaking about the introduction section of the study, it is important to note that it is rather short if compared to other parts of the article as the researchers were paying more attention to presenting […]
• Should Marijuana Be Treated Like Alcohol? Considering the benefits that would accompany the legalization of marijuana and its treatment like alcohol, I strongly agree with Buckley’s comparison; marijuana should be treated like alcohol. First, the use of marijuana affects the body […]
• Political Issues of Marijuana in America The largest demographic groups against the legalization of marijuana include the Republicans and the southerners. Most of the Democrats continue to support the legalization of marijuana in the country.
• Changes in Laws of Marijuana Regulation In addition, the study intends to uncover the impacts of the said laws and the accompanying changes. The case studies will be compared to assess the impacts of legislations on marijuana in the society.
• Concepts of Legalizing Marijuana Although in most cases, most individuals associate Marijuana with numerous health complications and social problems, for example, brain damage, and violent behavior hence, supporting its illegalization, such individuals take little consideration of its significance in […]
• Marijuana Legalization in Illinois The case for legalization of marijuana in Colorado evidences the need to alter federal laws prohibiting marijuana for its legalization law to have both statutory and federal backing in the state of Illinois.
• Public Safety and Marijuana Legalization Some of the states have failed to tax marijuana. Hence, it is difficult to get the precise figures in terms of tax values that states could collect from marijuana.
• Heroin and Marijuana Abuse and Treatment The success in the process of drug addiction treatment is only possible when the patient is willing to co-operate and has a desire to recover and defeat the habit.
• The Marijuana Usage Legislation This research paper is aimed at discussing the effects that can be produced by the changes in the legislation on the use, storage, and distribution of marihuana.
• Medical Marijuana Program in California The physicians should also do a periodic review of the treatment and how the patients respond to the medical marijuana. The medical marijuana is only restricted to patients who are qualified and recommended by a […]
• History and Effects of Legalization of Marijuana As predicted, the legalization of marijuana in several states has led to an increase of marijuana abuse among youngsters Studies have shown a pattern of the use of cannabis and risky behavior of the individuals.
• Debates Around Legalization of Medical Marijuana The supporters and opponents of the legalization of marijuana have opted to focus on either the positive or the negative aspects of the effects of the drug to support their views on policies to legalize […]
• Federal Drug Laws vs. State Medical Marijuana Acts A senate bill for the case of Los angeles is on the process of considering the use of marijuana for medical purpose.
• The Use of Marijuana and Its Benefits Criminalization of the use of marijuana and negative reviews as well as negative exposure from the media has driven marijuana use to the black markets with often negative consequences to the economy and society.
• Marijuana and Its Effects on Mental Health The effects of the use of marijuana can be comparable to those exhibited by the removal of this important part of the brain.
• Medical Marijuana use for Terminal Colon Cancer The author hopes to use this paper to highlight the uses of marijuana in management of colon cancer at its terminal stage.
• How New York Would Benefit From Legalized Medical Marijuana The arrests resulting from possession of marijuana in New York is quite huge compared to those in California and New Jersey states in America.
• Should Be It Legal to Sell the Marijuana in the United States? What I want to know is the reasons of why so many people use such serious psychoactive drug as marijuana of their own accord and do not want to pay special attention to their activities […]
• Supporting of Marijuana Legalization Among the Adult Population Proponents argue that legalization of marijuana will lead to increased revenues for the government amid economic challenges. Legalizing marijuana will not lead to cancer and deaths but will spark the debate for apparent effects of […]
• Marijuana: The Issues of Legalization in the USA To understand all the possible effects of the marijuana legalization, it is necessary to pay attention to the definition and classification of the drug with references to determining the most important social and legal aspects […]
• Reasons for Legalization of Marijuana The legalization of the drug would bring to an end the discrimination of the African Americans in marijuana-related arrests, reduce the sales of the drug and its use among teenagers, encourage the development of hemp […]
• Legalizing Marijuana: Arguments and Counter-Arguments On the other hand, many groups have outlined that the legalization of marijuana would lead to an increase in the rate of crime in addition to opening up of the gateway to the abuse of […]
• Drug use and misuse in western society: Effects of chronic marijuana use among young women and girls It is also based on the fears of the impacts of the drug use, concerns over the reduced productivity that’s likely to cause harm to the user and the society and so on.
• Medical Marijuana Policy in the United States The importance of legalization of medical marijuana is that, the government will be able to monitor and control marijuana in the country.
• The Arguments For and Against Marijuana Decriminalization The production, preparation, trade and use of marijuana has been prohibited in most parts of the world and a lot of resources are used every year to combat it.
• The Illegal Use of Marijuana Canada is among the leading nations in the percentage use of illegal marijuana as stated in the World Drug Report of the year 2007.
• Marijuana and Its Economic Value in the USA The grim reality of the economic performance of the United States of America lies in the lengthy debate over the legalization of marijuana.
• Should We Legalize Marijuana For Medical Use? In addition to that, the use of Marijuana especially by smoking either for medical reasons or to heal ailments, is a social activity that will help bring them together and improve their social ties.
• Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized? The government should save that money it uses in prohibiting the use of marijuana as it has no proved harm to the users.
• Arguments on Why Marijuana Should Be Illegalized The greater part of the population believes that the sustained use of this product is beneficial in numerous ways. Therefore, it is clear that the negative effects of the drug outdo the constructive ones.
• A Case for Legalizing Marijuana Marijuana is one of the drugs that the government policy targets and as it currently stands, the government uses a lot of resources in prosecuting and punishing marijuana consumers through the legal system.
• The Marijuana Industry and Its Benefits Marijuana use also slows down the growth of cancerous tumors in the brain, lungs, and breasts; thus, it is valuable in the management of cancer.
• The Decriminalization of Marijuana One of the main reasons that the supporters of this argument have progressed is that by decriminalization of marijuana, the government would save huge amounts of money that it uses on enforcing laws that relate […]
• The Use of Marijuana in California The US government ensures that its use is limited to a minimum by enforcing harsh punishments to the dealers and users of marijuana.
• Federal Government Should Not Legalize the Use of Marijuana On the other hand the use of marijuana actually increased in the country. It is not only the DEA or the federal government that is reluctant in the legalization of marijuana.
• Issues with Marijuana Legalization in the United States This is the reason why the debate on the legalization of marijuana has been on the increase since the past 10 years.
• The history of marijuana According to the new set of legislation, it was considered illegal to be found in possession of 25 grams of marijuana.
• Does Legalizing Marijuana Help or Harm the United States? The latter measure is not merely being advocated by the proponents of marijuana use since the legalization of marijuana has been supported by NAACP not because it fully backs the smoking of marijuana.
• Marijuana, Heroin and Prescription Opiate Abuse and How Are They Related to the Society The core issues mentioned in the article revolves around addiction and abuse of opioid agents as well as its relation to the use of heroin and marijuana.
• Increasing Marijuana Use in High School The author’s concerns in the article are that the usage of marijuana is becoming prevalent among the American youth. It is evident that the author is against the publication and marketing of the medical marijuana […]
• The Union: The Business Behind Getting High by Brett Harvey Some other reasons advanced by the documentary include the ability of the government to control the sale of such drugs to minors and also collection of tax revenue. The documentary espouses a number of reasons […]
• The Debates on the Legal Status of Marijuana This means that the use of marijuana encourages the consumption of other drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes. Additionally, the use of marijuana is associated with increase in crime and consumption of other illicit drugs.
• Marijuana Is a Healthier Alternative to Cigarettes Cigarette smoking has also been reported to cause respiratory infections due to the damage caused in the cells that prevent entry of microorganisms into the respiratory system hence reducing the immunity of the system.
• Marijuana’s Negative Effects and Advantages Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug among the youths and adults in the United States and other countries in the world.
• Use of Marijuana and Its Consequences The plant was grown in the United States of America for agricultural purposes during the colonial period up to the beginning of the 20th century.
• Should Marijuana Drugs Be Decriminalized? The production, preparation, trade and use of marijuana has been prohibited in most parts of the world and a lot of resources are used every year to combat it. Thus, decriminalization of marijuana is likely […]
• Argument About Legalizing Marijuana in America Therefore, if at all the government of the United States is to prohibit the use of marijuana in the country, it should be ready to cater for the high costs that come in hand with […]
• Marijuana’s Positive and Negative Effects The main aim of creating these institutions is to evaluate the impact and the effects of marijuana on the abusers and on the environment.
• Limited and Controlled Use of Marijuana The question of legalizing marijuana refers to the legal use of marijuana both in private and public places for medical use or otherwise.
• The Moral and Ethical Reasons Why Marijuana should be legal It is my humble opinion that the billions of dollars being spent on the war against marijuana should be diverted to more useful projects like feeding the less fortunate in the society.
• The Problem of Legalization of Marijuana and Hemp Many individuals tend to believe that the use of Marijuana is morally wrong as it alters the mental state of the user and leads to dangerous addictions and actions in the end.
• Minor and Major Arguments on Legalization of Marijuana Premises 1: If marijuana were to be legalized it would be impossible to regulate its’ sell to, and use by the minors. Making marijuana illegal is denying them a right to the use of this […]
• The Reasons Why Marijuana Should be Made Legal Among the reasons that support the legalization of marijuana include: the medical basis that marijuana has some benefits and that the state could gain revenue from the trade of marijuana as opposed to the costs […]
• Why Is Marijuana Legalized In Some States And Not Others? I consider the legalization of marijuana to be a positive step as its prohibition entails intrusion of personal freedom and just like any other substance it is only harmful when it is not taken in […]
• Marijuana Legalization and Crime Rates The possible outcome of this effort will be the safe consumption of the drug, easy monitoring, and creation of awareness to the public on the dangers of excessive use of the drug and lastly the […]
• The Effect of Legalization of marijuana in the Economy of California It has been predicted that if the government legalizes the drug, there will be a lot of changes pertaining to the demand for the drug in the market and as a result, there will be […]
• Marijuana Must Not Be Legalized According to the national institute of drug abuse, the active chemical in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, act on the region of the brain responsible for time awareness, sensory, attention, thoughts, memory and pleasure.
• Decriminalization of Marijuana The decriminalization of marijuana resulted due to public outcry over the effects of marijuana. Among the disadvantages include the saving of money and time for other businesses, promotion of the judicial justice as the centre […]
• Policy Brief: Why Marijuana Use Should Be Legalized in the Us In this perspective, it is valid to argue that marijuana users may be undergoing long incarcerations in US jails due to the misconceived fantasies that took root in the public mind in the 1930’s, and […]
• Medical Uses of Marijuana The feelings of hallucination make one to lose consciousness and feel as though in very different world that is full of bliss.
• Should Marijuana Be Legalized in Canada?
• Drug Testing and Legalization of Marijuana
• Has the Time Come to Legalize Marijuana?
• Framing the User: Social Constructions of Marijuana Users
• Drugs and Legalization Drug Marijuana Dealing
• Decriminalization and Marijuana Smoking Prevalence
• Has Marijuana Become More Accepted in Today’s Culture?
• Get Ready for Americas Fastest-Growing Industry: Marijuana
• Clearing the Smoke Between Cigarettes and Marijuana
• Key Findings and Decriminalization of Marijuana
• Facts That Most People Don’t Know About Marijuana
• Issues Hampering the Legalization of Marijuana
• Economical Argument for the Legalization of Marijuana
• Juvenile Smoking and Marijuana Use
• All the Reasons Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized for Medical Purposes
• Exploring the Effects and After Effects of Marijuana
• Factors That Influences Teenagers to Use Marijuana
• College Students Attitude Toward Marijuana Use on Campus
• Drugs Case for Legalizing Marijuana
• Logical Reasoning for the Legalization Marijuana
• Future Trends and Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes
• Countering Anti-Medical Marijuana Efforts in Massachusetts
• Abnormal Psychology Problem: Excessive Use of Marijuana and Alcohol
• Food and Drug Administration Bans Use of Marijuana in the US
• Addiction and Smoking Marijuana Plays
• Analyzing Affordable Care Act and Marijuana
• Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana is Hazardous
• America Requirements Medicinal Weed: Marijuana Legalization
• Comparing and Contrasting Marijuana and Alcohol
• Many People Believe That Marijuana Should Be Legalized
• How Media Framing Effects Marijuana Prohibition and Legalization?
• How Can Legalize Marijuana Help the United States?
• How Does Military Jurisdiction Deal with Marijuana Now Would Legalization?
• How America Will Benefit from Legal Marijuana?
• How Legalizing Marijuana Will Impact Society?
• Does Marijuana Cause Brain Damage?
• How Marijuana Will Not Work in the US?
• Does Marijuana Have Any Medicinal Uses?
• How Many Individuals Smoke Marijuana in the United States?
• Does Previous Marijuana Use Increase the Use of Other Drugs?
• How Medical Marijuana Works?
• How the Social Contract Theory Prevents the Legalization of Marijuana?
• How Marijuana Affects Hauora?
• Why Do Americans Enjoy Marijuana?
• What are the Positive and Negative Effects of Legalizing Marijuana?
• What are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Legalising Marijuana?
• Does Legalizing Marijuana Make Sense?
• What Are the Medical Causes and Effects of Marijuana Use?
• How Are Employers Coping with Medical Marijuana Legislation?
• Does Marijuana Work the Treatment of Diseases?
• Does Marijuana Have Medicinal Purposes?
• How Does Marijuana Law Work in District of Columbia Class?
• Does Increasing the Beer Tax Reduce Marijuana Consumption?
• How Legalizing Marijuana Could Help Boost the Economy?
• Does Marijuana Have More Harmful or More Beneficial Effects?
• How Will Marijuana Legalization Affect Public Health?
• Does Marijuana Use Impair Human Capital Formation?
• How Gender and Age Effects Marijuana Usage and Brain Function?
• How Marijuana Affects Our Society?
• How American Children Start to Smoke Marijuana and Why?
• Mental Disorder Essay Topics
• Drugs Titles
• Sleep Disorders Research Topics
• War on Drugs Questions
• Chronic Pain Research Ideas
• Criminal Behavior Essay Topics
• Epilepsy Ideas
• Drug Trafficking Research Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Home / Essay Samples / Law / Marijuana Legalization / Persuasive Speech on Legalizing Weed

Persuasive Speech on Legalizing Weed

• Category: Health , Law
• Topic: Marijuana , Marijuana Legalization , Medical Marijuana

Pages: 2 (1106 words)

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• “Opioids Market Size, Share, Trends: Global Industry Report, 2019-2026.” ​Opioids Market Size, Share, Trends | Global Industry Report, 2019-2026​, www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/opioids-market​.
• II, Vann R. Newkirk. “What Can't Medical Marijuana Do?” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company, 18 July 2016, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/medical-marijuana-costs-elderly-health/491306/

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