why is marijuana illegal?
Why Is Marijuana Illegal?
Why is marijuana illegal? In the early 20th century, the United States had little knowledge about this plant. Mexican immigrants brought the tradition of smoking marihuana with them. With a growing fear of Mexican immigrants, hysterical claims about marijuana began to circulate. The term “cannabis” was largely replaced with the Anglicized “marijuana,” which was meant to promote the foreignness of the drug. Ultimately, many states began to pass laws prohibiting marijuana use. medical marijuana card ny age
As a result, the Controlled Substances Act began a process of scheduling drugs based on their perceived danger. Marijuana was placed in schedule I, which means it has no accepted medical use and high abuse potential. In 1972, the government created the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to crack down on marijuana use. As a result, marijuana remains illegal to possess and sell in the U.S., but the use of marijuana among teenagers and adults became more common.
Despite the widespread use of marijuana, its prohibition is politically motivated. The government doesn’t want its citizens to become addicted to drugs, which means they’re not gaining a single new voter. Instead, they want to control the population. During the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration discovered that many protesters were smoking marijuana. He commissioned a study about the drug’s dangers, destroyed copies and recalled pages of research from university libraries. This led to the beginning of the war on drugs.
While the public debate over legalizing marijuana has raged over the years, there’s little doubt that if it were made available to citizens, it would be an important tool in the fight against the drug. Legalizing marijuana would free up the streets for police to focus on more important crimes. It’s estimated that the government made 9.3 billion dollars on cigarettes last year, but could have made the same amount off of marijuana. Moreover, the 800,000 arrests made by the police each year are unproductive, taking up precious jail space for more serious crimes.