Caneira 1

Independent Study Unit:

Marijuana The Times are Changing

 Caneira 2

Table of Contents:

Definition 3

Summary of Research Methods ......7

Significance .8

Background 11

Expert .13

Role of Control ...15

Religion .17

Logic of Evil ..19

Works Cited ...22

 Caneira 3

Definition

From the 1900s to the early 1930s the majority of American, European, and

Asian countries instated an alcohol prohibition; treating the sale, transportation, and consumption

of any alcoholic beverage as a criminal offence. Soon the smuggling of alcohol became an

organized crime committed by violent gangs. Crime rates went up and eventually alcohol

consumption was at the same level as it was before the inception of prohibition. A well known

social activist and journalist during prohibition, H. L. Mencken, reported on the negative effects

that the prosecution of alcohol put onto society saying:

Prohibition has not only failed in its promises but actually created additional serious and

disturbing social problems throughout society. There is not less drunkenness in the

Republic but more. There is not less crime, but more. ... The cost of government is not

smaller, but vastly greater. Respect for law has not increased , but diminished. (Mencken)

Though not offering an exact example, prohibition showed how placing legal restrictions

on recreational substances can have negative or no effects on society. After jails became over

populated and too much money was being spent on the prosecution of alcohol, countries began

removing the legal restrictions. Despite efforts to regulate substance use, the government was

unsuccessful. This is a model that lays out the pathway of how the criminalization of marijuana

will eventually conclude.

Drugs are any substance that when absorbed can cause physiological changes. These

substances can be prescribed and used to improve health or supress symptoms, or can be for

recreational purposes to relax or change someones psychological state. Marijuana (cannabis) is

the most commonly used illicit substance (Abuse). Every country has different legislation
 Caneira 4

pertaining to cannabis, and all have the same negative stigma surrounding it. This negative

stigma is in the process of changing now that the public has been informed of the many health

benefits and the minimal harm it causes to society and the human body. Even though the public

is aware of the positive benefits of marijuana, there are still many countries that criminalize the

use and sale of this substance. Places where cannabis is not legalized or decriminalized

reasonably hash punishments are implemented. Law enforcement shames marijuana users and

the judicial system prosecutes them with large fines or incarcerates individuals for victimless,

non-violent crimes.

For most of humans recorded history, marijuana use has been either looked down upon

by society or criminally prosecuted. The use of marijuana has been dated to go back further than

7,000 B.C. but laws against the use of marijuana only became globally prevalent in the late

1930s (Guither). The war against marijuana is in the process of changing due to the evidence

leading to the lack of negative repercussions associated with it. The public views it as a waste of

tax dollars and an inappropriate use of our limited law enforcement resources. In the past decade,

the United states alone has made more than 7 million cannabis related arrests and 88% of those

arrests were made for possession (Gwynne). Governmental systems only allocate a certain

amount of money to law enforcement and with the widespread use of marijuana a lot of the

budget is diverted to reduce this high level of use. Arguably this is a waste of resources due to

the non-violent and essentially harmless nature of this crime. These resources can be used to

intervene in dangerous domestic violence situations, the sale and use of more harmful drugs, or

even prostitution and child trafficking.

A large issue associated with the criminalization of marijuana is the back log in courts.

Largely shown in Canadian courts are the major delays caused by ridiculous amounts of arrests,
 Caneira 5

which many of the cases can be directly associated with cannabis. It will create some opening

though because people are not going to be prosecuted for these types of cases anymore and I

think that is to the benefit of the system as a whole . . . and it will be a benefit from a police

resource perspective (Kapralos). Many lawyers agree with this statement that legalization of

marijuana will reduce the number of cases suspended in courts. The Canadian legal system is a

billion-dollar industry that cannot afford to be expanded, this is similar to many legal systems

globally (Mulgrew). Important cases are not having a chance to be prosecuted and the judicial

system is forced to drop many cases due to time constraints. In Alberta, a murder case was

recently thrown out due to trial delays. This and many others illustrates how the legal system

cannot support the large case loads and could possibly end up in a collapse of the judicial system.

By removing the several million marijuana related cases could substantially improve the

effectiveness and timeliness of delivering appropriate sentences.

There is a common misconception that marijuana is used for the sole purpose of

enjoyment and mainly used recreationally. But the cannabis plant is one of the most versatile

plants on earth. With more than 50,000 commercial uses, the cannabis plant and its extracts have

endless functions such as medicine, food, fuel, and paper (Guide). One of the most commonly

used alternative function cannabis are the use or extraction of its medicinal properties. The

medicinal benefits greatly out weigh the negative side effects often associated with marijuana

use such as breathing problems, increased heart rate, and people who started smoking marijuana

heavily in their teens and had an ongoing marijuana use disorder lost an average of 8 IQ points

between ages 13 and 38 (Meierab). Historically statistics similar the one previously mentioned

were used to mask the benefits. Currently only 6% of studies on marijuana analyze its medicinal

properties (Loria). With the low percentage of studies analyzing the health benefits, this
 Caneira 6

accounts for the long period of time in which there was little to no recorded evidence of cannabis

offering any type of medicinal properties. Now with a better understanding of marijuana in the

field of science, it has shown the countless benefits. Some include, the control of spreading

cancerous cells, the prevention of epileptic seizures, it reduces anxiety as well as other mental

health issues, etc. Cannabis is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce symptoms of these

illnesses as well as many others and also improve someones overall quality of living.

The changing social stigma has been due to the increasing evidence that marijuana has

tremendous positive effects removing the spotlight off the negative aspects. This reports main

focus is on the changing legislation surrounding marijuana, focusing on the social and economic

costs associated with marijuana prosecution.

 Caneira 7

Summary of Research Methods

The research in this report includes information about marijuana prosecution and the

medicinal benefits as well as information on the criminal justice system. The majority of this

information was obtained using search engines such as Google scholar and ProQuest. Statistics

were gathered using reputable sources such as the United Nations and official government

documents/reports. The raw data is mostly recent with some dating back to the 1940s (research

on prohibition). News sources were written by political analysts or professors and information

was compared to ensure accuracy. The majority of news sources were online magazines such as

Macleans magazine and Foreign Affairs. University articles and online books were also used to

gather information.
 Caneira 8

Significance

For nearly a century, globally, countries have been fighting to reduce the use of

marijuana, which has shown to be an ineffective use of resources. Countless case studies have

shown the endless benefits, but still the question remains: Why should marijuana use become

legalized? Why should people care? Though it may not be that obvious, marijuana use effects

everyone directly and/or indirectly. For some individuals, it affects them directly with either

them or a family member being users of marijuana. Some affects are indirect, such as large

amounts of cannabis use in a community that attracts law enforcement which infringes on daily

life.

Controlling drug use of any kind, including marijuana, is a very expensive undertaking

for any government. The federal government produces a yearly budget that designates a certain

percentage of money towards law enforcement and the judicial system. Within this percentage

there are sub categories, on average in a first world country, 1% of there yearly budget will put

towards the prosecution of drug use (Spraggon, Koyodo). This money could be relocated to

groups lacking funding that could positively benefit society. Not only does the legalization of

marijuana save the federal governments large sums of their money, but it will also provide an

influx of money to any economy. They can make income on the sale, taxation, and business

licences of marijuana companies. A number of countries profit off the sale or recreational and

medical marijuana already, some of these countries include the United States of America,

Germany, Spain, Holland, and Portugal (Nsubuga).

Marijuana can also improve medical conditions and relieve pain for many individuals.

With the reasonable price of this drug it will also alleviate a lot of the stress associated with

medical care. To this date, nowhere in the world has there been an overdose due to marijuana.
 Caneira 9

With minimal negative impacts that cannabis use has on someones physical body it would be a

disadvantage to countries if it is not used to provide better medical care.

Legalization will benefit communities all over in regards to safety. It creates a safer

environment in two different ways, by freeing up law enforcement and by taking the sale and

transportation of marijuana out of the hands of drug cartels. Law enforcement spend a lot of time

and resources punishing people for the use or sale of marijuana instead of focusing their time on

something that poses a threat to a community. In regards to the sentencing portion of

prosecutions, people will not be let out on the street who are a danger to society because of court

backlogs. Law enforcement can be a presence that focuses on deterring violence and fraud rather

than a personal choice of recreation. A large majority of marijuana export/imports and sales are

run by drug cartels. Cannabis provides about 30% of drug cartels revenue and

This revenue lets criminal groups carry out violent trafficking operations in much of

Latin America, contributing to the killing and kidnapping of tens of thousands of people

each year as well as horrifying stories of cartels beheading and torturing people. And

some violence occurs in the US, where gangs fight over turf to position themselves to sell

illegal drugs. (Lopez)

Drug trafficking promotes a violent unsafe environment but with legalization, it would

move the majority of illegal sales done on the black market to the legal market where violence

does not play such a prominent role. Marijuana provides a lot of revenue to criminal

organizations, without this revenue they will have a difficult time paying for illegal actions.

By having marijuana not legalized, it can have negative backlash on the community and

create a dangerous community environment. With the stigma surrounding marijuana changing,
 Caneira 10

legislation will change leaving countries will reap the medical, social, and economical benefits of

legalization.
 Caneira 11

Background

Marijuana has been prevalent since ancient times, dating all the way back to 2737 B.C.,

where it was used as a medicinal plant in central and south Asia. The cannabis plant can date

back long before but it was really only used for its strong fibres to create clothing or tools. The

Chinese emperor Shen Nung was first to record the use of cannabis as a psychoactive substance.

It was used to treat things like rheumatism, gout, malaria, and absent mindedness (Authors).

Though the Chinese were aware of the plants intoxicating properties, importance was put on the

medicinal benefits. Not only was the Asian culture using marijuana for medicinal purposes but

so were the Vikings in Europe. They were hunters and gathers and marijuana grows natively in

in parts of North Western Europe. They used it as a pain killer for childbirth and toothaches

(Blaszczak-Boxe).

Using drugs for recreational purposes has been a practice in most cultures since

prehistoric times. Brought to India by the Chinese, Indian culture was the first to use marijuana

recreationally. It was very popular in the Muslim culture because in the Quran alcohol was ban

leading them to other non-sinful intoxicating substances. Recreational marijuana use has also

been a part of religious and spiritual history. It was often used as a portal to the spiritual realm

giving them the ability to go on spiritual vision quests as well as thought to give users a higher

level of intelligence. These vision quests are what some believe to be the birth place of religion.

Brought to America in the early 1900s by Vikings and Asian ships, marijuana became

heavily popularized for recreational use. The American laws against marijuana use is largely due

to the blame on Mexicans for bringing this evil drug into the United States. The demonization

of the cannabis plant was an extension of the demonization of the Mexican immigrants

(Burnett). At the time marijuana was first introduce around 1911, Mexican immigrants were
 Caneira 12

committing crimes and smoking marijuana recreationally, immediately the two were linked.

Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The

churchs reaction to this may have contributed to the states marijuana law (Guither). Both

religion and race contribute to the reasons for laws against the use of marijuana in the United

States.

In 1914, the first US drug law was passed called The Harrison Narcotics Act. This act

was aimed at schedule one drugs and due to the Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) within marijuana.

A schedule one drug is currently labeled as a drug or other substance has a high potential for

abuse. A drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the

United States. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under

medical supervision (Anderson). With modern research conducted about marijuana, the

common opinion is that it should be taken off the schedule one list. The act restricted the

manufacture and sale of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and morphine (Stanford). Though this was

mainly targeted at suppliers and medical professionals this was the first time that the government

did anything to reduce the abuse of drugs. These laws were toughly enforced and pharmacists or

doctors would be sentenced to jail if they were caught prescribing medicine to those who did not

have a necessity for it. From the first law that was enacted in 1914 many have followed suit and

made it difficult to use marijuana for medical or recreational purposes.

 Caneira 13

Expert

William Sterling "Bill" Blair is a current member of the Canadian parliament and former

police chief of the city of Toronto. He is the member of parliament representing the liberal party

of Scarborough Southwest. He went to school during the 1970s at the University of Toronto

where he studied economics but eventually left to become a police officer, a couple years later

her returned eventually to return his bachelors degree in economics and criminology. Blair acts

as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and to the attorney general. This position

fit Blair perfectly because he grew up in Scarborough, Ontario and worked for 39 years as a

Toronto police officer and 10 years as a police chief. Through his years of working in law

enforcement he learned the social issues that directly effect Toronto and surrounding areas,

allowing him to advise properly.

Throughout his nearly 40 year long police career, he has been recognized multiple times

for the exemplary work he has done in Ontario. In 2013, he was awarded the Leaders for

Change Award for his exemplary leadership during the protests of 2009 in Toronto. He has won

four other awards for his police service including the Police Exemplary Service Medal.

Bill Blair is very involved in marijuana legalization, and is involved in many discussions

to change the laws. Being an MP for the liberal party, he played a key role in the new decisions

to change the laws. He travels all over Canada and discusses the federal governments plan to

legalize marijuana. He takes into account many opinions including dispensarys, users, and

medical professionals.

There is a recommendation that we received from the task force that suggested as a

minimum age, the age of 18, but also a recommendation that provinces could make a
 Caneira 14

determination of setting the age higher . . . It really is a decision based on competing values: on

the one hand we want to protect kids from any potential health harm related to its use, and on the

other you dont want to (push) this mass market of young people over to organized crime. (Blair)

He understands the risk legalization poses to young people and takes that into account by

talking to medically educated individuals. He poses solutions to any problem that arises in the

talk of legalization and tries to appease to everyones requests.

 Caneira 15

Role of Control

In the case of the legalization of marijuana, the one who holds the control is the federal

government. They are the ones who create and organize the enforcement of legislation.

Criminalizing marijuana has proven to be an unsuccessful fight that has been ineffective in

reducing marijuana use. Even though the government designs the legislation and aggressively

enforces it, the drug suppliers continue to traffic large amounts of marijuana and get away with

making a large profit. The government has backing from a large majority of the population, since

2006 marijuana legalization support is increasing at an exponential rate (Geiger).

No matter what political party is in control at the time, the federal government in power

creates legislation. Different parties have different outlooks on whether or not marijuana should

be legalized. In Canada, the conservative party strongly opposes the legalization of marijuana

and penalizes the liberal party for making motions towards legalization, with old prime minister

Stephen Harper saying Obviously I think Mr Trudeaus actions display poor judgmentour

priority as a government is not encouraging the spread of drugs, its encouraging job creation in

this country (CBC). This split reflects the split in opinions of the population and why minimal

changes have been made in legislation. The government is moving towards understanding there

will always be illegal actions if marijuana is illegal. For the government to completely control

the trafficking and use of marijuana they have to give up a portion of control to local

governments.

Control should move in to individual states or provinces and legislation should be created at the

provincial or regional level of government. Controlling a smaller population is easier and gives

law enforcement the opportunity to prosecute in with legislation that works effectively in the

environment. The government needs to gain control in order for any positive change to take
 Caneira 16

place. To do this a change in policy must take place. The government must provide reasonable

options to local government rather than treating drug users like violent criminals. This control

must come from a state or provincial level because every location has different attributes that

lead to marijuana use. This will give states and provinces an opportunity to better understand

how to control the use through marijuana legislation.

 Caneira 17

Religion

Religion can play an important role as why any drugs can be treated as such a criminal

item. They are often portrayed in a negative way in biblical or religious writings. Many religions

have varying opinions on the use of marijuana. In ancient history religions often used to use

marijuana as an entheogenic, for its psychoactive properties, to help discover the divine within.

In some instances, religion assisted in popularizing marijuana. In India, this was the case, the

Islamic religion book (The Quran) banned the use of alcohol.

They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit

for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they should

spend. Say, "The excess [beyond needs]." Thus Allah makes clear to you the verses [of

revelation] that you might give thought. (The Quran, Al-Maidah 2.219)

The ban of alcohol led Islamic followers to find another intoxicating substance. There

was a boom in cannabis use as the Muslim and Islamic population began to grow and since

marijuana was not directly mentioned in the Quran as a bad substance, many became users.

Muslims were also the first to use hashish (an extract of the cannabis plant) and this caused the

quick spread to Iran and north America in the 12th century.

In modern day religious practices, religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism all

oppose the use of marijuana by members and also disagree with the actions to legalize marijuana

for the public. With nearly 40% of the worlds population disagreeing with the legalization of

marijuana due to their religion, this can make passing new legislation quite a challenge

(Division). Other religions do not agree with the use of recreational marijuana, but agree with

legislation moving towards legalizing for medical purposes. These religions include Christianity
 Caneira 18

and Judaism. In the United States, even though there is a separation from church and state

religion still plays a significant role in legislation. The more frequently that people attended

religious services, the less likely they were to support marijuana legalization (Blaszczak-Boxe).

Many different studies have proven this fact and show that a religious majority in an area can

sway even non-religious community members votes to legalize marijuana.

Religion creates a social stigma surrounding marijuana so individuals are often less likely

to vote against even if their own beliefs differ. These beliefs are why it has taken a long time to

slowly change legislation.

 Caneira 19

Logic of Evil

The logic of evil is to look beyond superficial and moralistic personal judgements to

view a situation from a participants perspective in order to find reasoning behind their actions.

In the eyes of law enforcement and the government what they are doing to reduce recreational

drug use is the right way to go about it. Prosecution in the past has helped lower crime rates so if

something works often it is used until it no longer works, in the case of marijuana it is not

working and is putting the medical field at a disadvantage. Still to this day, there is a universal

fear of any thing that can change someones physical of mental state is negative. In most cases,

criminalizing marijuana is done for historical reasons for historical reasons because in the past

when an individual did something out of the societal normalities or that was culturally looked

down upon, they would often be punished. In some cases, a countries religious beliefs play a

role in the reasoning behind the penalization of marijuana.

In some / many places, recreational marijuana use is looked down upon. This is because

marijuana is classified as a drug and recreational drug use often has some serious negative health

effects. In 2016 alone there has been over 207,400 drug related deaths worldwide (Kunnen). All

drug use including marijuana use, can have an impact in four different ways: the toxic effects of

the drugs, the effects of intoxication (such as accidental injury and violence), the development of

dependence, and adverse health effects of sustained chronic, regular use, such as physical

diseases (Life Science Staff). The judicial system and law enforcement see these effects and

immediately work to eradicate them because that is what part of there job is, to help clean up

cities. These effects drastically vary in the severity and when using marijuana though, the effects

are limited. But up until recently research has not shown any benefits and not with new research

legislation is in the process of changing globally.

 Caneira 20

Often political parties will take legalization off their list of priorities or some will add it

to their list because they think this will affect who votes. In a few studies this has proven to be

untrue. A political parties decision to decriminalize can be detrimental to the success of re-

election because even some voters of leftist parties disagree with the legalization of recreational

substances. In a poll by Harvard University, it reported how different demographic would feel

about political parties that were for the legalization of marijuana, to identify if that would attract

their vote or defer it.

Approximately one-in-four young (23%) Americans agree with the statement that they

would be more likely to vote in an election where legalizing marijuana were on the ballot,

and 32 percent disagreed. The plurality (43%) of 18- to 24- year olds report that they

neither agree or disagree with this statement, essentially saying that it is a non-factor.

There was no statistical difference in the number of Democrats (26%) who agreed with

the statement compared to Republicans (21%). (Harvard Authors)

The poll demonstrated how the topic of legalizing marijuana was an option it would not swing

the vote to one specific group. Many did not have an opinion on this subject showing that the

legalization of marijuana would not affect them. It did not come to any conclusive evidence as to

if it would promote participation in voting.

Marijuana itself is relatively a harmless drug but the culture associated with it is what

causes danger. It is illegal so is traded on the black market along with guns, hard drugs, and

prostitution. Marijuana has not always been seen so negatively "The idea that this is an evil drug

is a very recent construction" (Blaszczak-Boxe). Criminalizing marijuana does not produce a

profit for the government but only creates an unregulated environment. The criminalization of

marijuana has great deal of reasoning backing up the governments and law enforcements
 Caneira 21

actions. Though there is little political justification the intention of helping clean up the streets

gives enough rationale to countries leaders to harshly prosecute marijuana and not take steps

towards legalization.
 Caneira 22

Case Studies

Portugal:

Sixteen years ago, in 2001, Portugal did a complete overhaul on legislation pertaining to

drug use and decriminalized all drugs. From heroin and cocaine to weed, every thing was

decriminalized and possession or use of small quantities were punished with small fines or a

referral to a rehabilitation facility. Marijuana was allowed to be carried in quantities of no more

than 25 grams at a time without being fined or forced to appear in court (an estimated three-day

supply). All drugs were still illegal, but now drug users were not treated like criminals but the

abuse treated as a health issue. Since the decriminalization in 2001, drug use including hard

drugs and drug related deaths have dropped exponentially.

Before 1974, Portugal was run by an authoritarian dictatorship. That year on April 25th, a

military coup in the countrys capital, Lisbon, over threw the authoritarian regime of Estado

Novo. Following these political changes, Portugal began to have major problems with drug

addiction. For the next 27 years Portugal struggled with overdose and addiction affecting over

100,000 people in a country with a population of 10.35 million people. (Ingraham) This was

when the Portuguese government decided to take action try an experimental (at the time) method

which would reduce all types of drug abuse.

Even with all of these actions taken to try and reduce drug use Portugal is sill ineffective in

reducing one type of drug use, marijuana use. Cannabis use and trade have been going up every

year and hard drug use continues to go down. Even with marijuana use increasing this is not a

concern or pose a threat to the Portuguese government and their medical system. This is because

marijuana use does not produce addicts or lead to overdose, proven with not a single person ever
 Caneira 23

recorded dying from a marijuana overdose. After the decriminalization in 2001, homelessness

started to steadily decrease but when the financial crisis in 2008 happened and the economy

collapsed the homeless population grew and has been on the rise ever since. (Jardim) However,

many other benefits came along with the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal. The

transmission of HIV has gone down due to a lot of individuals turning to weed when seeing the

health benefits and minimal risk which has many safe and hygienic ways of administration. Even

with marijuana use and trade on the climb drug related deaths are going down. The policies

implemented even affected the law enforcement in Portugal. "This small change actually makes

a huge change in terms of police officers' work, of course every police officer knows where

people hang out to smoke joints. If they wanted to they would just go there and pick up the same

guy over and over. That doesn't happen (Oakford). These new changes have encouraged the law

enforcement to focus on issues that put peoples health and well being at risk. Resources are

being allocated to violent crimes when drug use is being dealt with by the judicial system and

health sector.

Portugal has impacted how other countries look at drug abuse and with their success has

inspired countries to begin decriminalizing, dealing with drug abuse as a health issue and

viewing marijuana users as less of a threat to human health. Goes to show marijuana use in

Portugal was never the issue, it was the hard drugs such as meth, cocaine, and heroin.

Japan:

In contrast to Portugals lenient marijuana policy, Japan has one of the harshest policies

for marijuana use and sale. Any drug related crimes in Japan is taken very seriously. Their policy

(The Cannabis Control Act) criminalizes any use, sale, or growing of marijuana with heavy fines

or imprisonment. Any of these

 Caneira 24

- Summarize country location have anything to do with laws?

- Religion exceptions? Medical? What is stopping places from legalizing?

- What has happened, the significance or impact of the issue on todays society, the role of

cultural influences, solutions

Summarize country location have anything to do with laws?

Religion exceptions? Medical? What is stopping places from legalizing?

What has happened, the significance or impact of the issue on todays society, the role of cultural

influences, solutions

USA making huge pushes towards legalization

 Caneira 25

International Organizations

There are many organizations that fight against the unreasonable prosecution of drugs,

including marijuana. Some organizations work on a national level dealing with legislation on a

smaller scale and some work on the international level trying the equalize rights globally. These

organizations are influential in changing policy regarding marijuana use. Most of these

organizations are about getting information out to the public in order to change their opinion.

The most prominent organization in the fight for legalization of marijuana is NORML,

which stands for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The organization

was started in 1970 and was created to represent the millions of Americans who smoke

marijuana legally. NORML is an American company but has, in the few past years, began

opening chapters internationally in places such as Canada, Spain, Norway and South Africa. As

an organization, their goal is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use

of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to

high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable (NORML).

NORML works by spreading activism based media, and has been successful in spreading

their message multiple times. In 2009, NORML started a petition to encourage President Barack

Obama to begin treating drug abuse as a health issue rather than a criminal offence. Though not

working instantly, consistent bombardment from different organizations eventually led to Obama

changing the war on drugs to more rehabilitation based. Again in 2009, NORML began urging

members to boycott Kelloggs. It started after Kelloggs company dropped their contract with

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps when he was picture came out of Michael with a bong in the

background. After this boycott consumer rating went down substantially but this did not affect

Kelloggs sales nor did it push Kelloggs to renew a contract with Michael Phelps. NORML has
 Caneira 26

not been very successful in changing legislation but has accomplished plenty in spreading

knowledge and information about the changes that need to be made

The DPA, Drug Policy Alliance, is one of the most influential organizations that

promotes drug policys which take into account science, health, and human rights. This

organization is based in the USA and only focuses on American legislation cause dealing with

things on an international level, especially drug related policies, can be a challenge when

working with different types of politics and governments. This organization does not only focus

on the legalization of marijuana, but with the recent changes being made to marijuana policy the

DPA has been a powerful player in marijuana reform. They fight for different options rather than

incarceration for penalized dug users such as smaller fines and or rehabilitation centres. Their

results show how successful they have been, hundreds of thousands or drugs users have been

offered rehabilitation rather than incarceration, and the state of California with their new laws

have saved more than $2.5 billion dollars in spendings on law enforcement and jail expenses.

Both of these organizations take action by spreading awareness the petitions,

commercials, websites, etc. Not much can be done on the legal level but by offering ethical

options for governments and encouraging marijuana users and non-users to vote on legislation

that promotes legalization.

 Caneira 27

Canadian Connection
 Caneira 28

Solutions

Prosecuting marijuana has obviously had some negative affects on society. It is a waste

of resources that is detrimental to law enforcement, medical system, and overall community

safety. Legalizing or decriminalizing the use, sale and growing of marijuana is the most

reasonable solution with the least amount of negative repercussions. There are so many possible

benefits: laced weed would not be as prevalent if everything is regulated by the government, the

medical field can use it to their benefit, and it would create a safer environment in all

communities by taking a large profit away from drug dealers and cartels as well as free up police

resources to fight violent or more serious crimes.

Steps need to be taken in order to educate the public on the benefits of legalization. This

will give the government a reason to consider new policy and allow them to put new legislation

foreword. Education, in this case, is necessary for it is the catalyst for changing social stigma and

opinion. Much of the public does not vote on matters like this because they any drugs as bad that

will destroy a community. This idea is also true for government when discussing what if

scenarios surrounding the topic of marijuana and other drugs. In countries where legalization or

decriminalization has happened, most situations have been a success. So why havent countries

followed successful countries? This is because most government systems believe that "if we

don't have it now, we don't need it, and change is bad" (Price). Traditionally drugs are seen as

evil and marijuana has always been categorized alongside dangerous drugs. Anything that alters

behavior and initiates impulsive behaviour, in history, has caused a lot of harm. Fear is the

reason legislation is not changing.

 Caneira 29

Works Cited

Abuse, National Institute on Drug. "Most Commonly Used Addictive Drugs." NIDA.

Media Guide, Oct. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Anderson, L. "CSA Schedules." Drugs.com. Drugs.com, 4 May 2014. Web. 10 Apr.

2017.

Authors, Harvard. "The Institute of Politics at Harvard University." Political Issue:

Marijuana. Harvard IOP, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

Authors, Narconon. "Marijuana History." Narconon International. Narconon, 2016. Web.

10 Apr. 2017.

Blaszczak-Boxe, Agata. "Are Religious People Less Likely to Support Marijuana

Legalization?" LiveScience. Purch, 29 Sept. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Blaszczak-Boxe, Agata. "Marijuana's History: How One Plant Spread Through the

World."LiveScience. Purch, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Branson, Richard. "War on Drugs a Trillion-dollar Failure." CNN. Cable News Network,

7 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

Burnett, Malik, Dr., and Amanda Reiman. "How Did Marijuana Become Illegal in the

First Place?" Drug Policy Alliance. Drug Policy Alliance, 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

CBC, Authors. "Where Canadian Political Parties Stand on Marijuana." CBCnews.

CBC/Radio Canada, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Division, Statics. "UNdata | Record View | Population by Religion, Sex and Urban/rural

Residence." United Nations. United Nations, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.
 Caneira 30

Geiger, Abigail. "Support for Marijuana Legalization Continues to Rise." Pew Research

Center. Fact Tank, 12 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Guide, Cannabis Campaigner's. "THE MANY USES OF CANNABIS." THE MANY

USES OF CANNABIS. N.p., 13 Oct. 2007. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Guither, Pete. "Drug WarRant." Drug WarRant. WordPress & Atahualpa, n.d. Web. 05

Apr. 2017.

Gwynne, Kristen. "Five Reasons Cops Want to Legalize Marijuana." Rolling Stone.

Rolling Stone, 27 June 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Ingraham, Chris. "Portugal Decriminalised Drugs 14 Years Ago." The Independent.

Independent Digital News and Media, 06 June 2015. Web. 15 May 2017.

Jardim, Nuno. "Number of Homeless People up 20 to 30% since 2008." The Portugal

News. The Portugal News, 27 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 May 2017.

Kapralos, Alexia. "How Will Legalization of Marijuana Impact Other Areas of the Legal

System?" Canadian Lawyer Home. Alexia Kapralos, 30 Dec. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Lopez, German. "It's Official: Election Day 2016 Was Marijuana Legalization's Biggest

Day Ever." Vox. Vox, 14 Sept. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

Loria, Jennifer Welsh and Kevin. "23 Health Benefits Of Marijuana." Business Insider.

Business Insider, 20 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Meierab, Madeline H. "Madeline H. Meier." Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences. National Acad Sciences, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Mulgrew, Ian. "The Cost of Justice Project: Legal System Problems Cost Canadians
 Caneira 31

Billions." Ernst v. EnCana Corporation. WordPress, 30 May 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

NORML, Board of Directors. "Working to Reform Marijuana Laws." The National

Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. NORML Foundation, 29 June 2013. Web. 14

May 2017.

Oakford, Samuel. "Portugal's Example: What Happened After It Decriminalized All

Drugs, From Weed to Heroin." VICE News. VICE, 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 May 2017.

Price, Chris. "Why Haven't More European Countries Legalized Marijuana?" Quora.

ClearBit, 5 Feb. 2017. Web. 15 May 2017.

Spraggon, Ben and Simon, Elvery. "Budget Sliced and Diced: Where Every Dollar

Comes From, and How It's Spent." ABC News. N.p., 03 May 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Staff, Live Science. "Illegal Drugs Cause 250,000 Global Deaths Yearly, Report

Finds."LiveScience. Purch, 05 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Stanford. "The United States War on Drugs." The United States War on Drugs. Stanford

University, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

Koyodo, A. P. "Cabinet Approves Record 96.7 Trillion Budget for Fiscal 2016." The

Japan Times. N.p., 24 Dec. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.

Kunnen, Suzanne. "World Drug Report." World Drug Report 2016. United Nations,

2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Nsubuga, Jimmy. "These Are the Countries Where You Can Smoke Cannabis Legally."

Metro. N.p., 06 May 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

 Caneira 32

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208.html

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/307/1/129?sid=b91c50eb-5281-4d28-878a-

43da4a2267ec

http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/medical-marijuana-and-the-mind