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Christopher Bates

English 225

Professor Sara Talpos

December 8th, 2011

An Assessment of the Benefits of Marijuana Legalization

Since 1970, the U.S. government has classified marijuana as a Schedule I

substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has a high potential

for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment, and there is a

lack of accepted safety for use of the drug (Drug Enforcement Administration,

2005). Accordingly, under federal law, it is illegal to cultivate, distribute, possess, or

use marijuana. Recently, however, several states have enacted legislation protecting

the rights of those with a physicians recommendation to use marijuana to relieve

the symptoms of certain medical conditions (Huffington Post, 2011). Additionally, a

growing body of research indicates that marijuana consumption is not harmful to

the user over the long-term, while other studies show that marijuana legalization

may have beneficial effects on the national economy. Furthermore, some research

suggests that the illegality of marijuana may actually create crime rather than

prevent it. For the aforementioned reasons, marijuana should be legalized at the

federal level for both medical and recreational users alike.

One of the most common claims regarding marijuana is that it can kill brain

cells, damage brain function, and causes learning and memory impairment (Levy,

2009). The basis of this claim lies in the results of a 1980 study published in

Biological Psychiatry , which found structural changes in several regions of the brain

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in rhesus monkeys exposed to high doses of marijuana smokemost notably the

hippocampus, which plays a significant role in memory and learning (Heath et al.,

1980). However, upon reviewing this study, Professors John Morgan and Lynn

Zimmer found that 200 times the psychoactive dose of THC in humans had to be

administered in order to achieve these results (Morgan & Zimmer, 1995).

Additionally, a more recent study of rhesus monkeys, in which the equivalent of 4-5

joints per day was administered through face-mask inhalation for an entire year,

found no change in hippocampal structure, cell size, cell number, or synaptic

configuration seven months after the regimen (Levy, 2009). Even more recently, a

2011 study at the Australian National University in Canberra found no differences in

cognitive function associated with marijuana consumption across several measures

of cognition (Tait, Mackinnon, & Christensen, 2011). Furthermore, an analysis of 

cannabis research at Cambridge University found minimal evidence of major

cannabis effects on brain structure, both in regional grey matter volumes and in the

integrity of white matter fibers (Martín-Santos et al., 2009). The same analysis

found no differences in spatial working memory between marijuana users and

controls. Taken together, this literature discredits the results of Heath et al.s

extreme study and suggests that marijuana has little, if any, long-term effects on

brain structure or cognition.

On November 6, 1996, California became the first state to enact legislation

legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes (NORML, 2011). Since then,

sixteen other states and the District of Columbia have passed similar legislation

protecting the rights of patients with certain medical conditions to utilize marijuana

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as an effective form of medication. Research has shown that cannabis has medical

benefits for various health afflictions. The Institute of Medicine has acknowledged

that cannabinoids can produce a significant analgesic effect for patients receiving

chemotherapy, nausea and vomiting associated with opioid use in postoperative

pain management, spinal cord injury, peripheral neuropathic pain, poststroke pain,

ADIS, cachexia, or any significant chronic pain problem (Watson, Benson, & Joy,

2000). The Institute has also indicated that cannabis is effective for treating wasting

syndrome and appetite loss in patients with cancer and AIDS, and reduces

intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma. Additionally, national

epidemiological surveys and studies show that marijuana is not addictive and even

high doses are not followed by adverse withdrawal symptoms (Morgan & Zimmer,

1995). Medical marijuanas effectiveness in treating a variety of medical ailments

and its lack of addictive potential give it an advantage over many prescription

medications, and it is only a matter of time until many more states recognize these

benefits and protect patients seeking relief by marijuana from legal persecution.

The positive effects of marijuana legalization extend beyond the user to

include the economics and society of the United States as a whole. In 2005, Milton

Friedman and more than 500 other economists, including some from Cornell,

Stanford, and Yale universities, signed an open letter to President Bush and

Congress endorsing marijuana legalization (Hardy, 2005). The letter cites a report 

from Harvard Universitys Professor Jeffrey Miron titled The Budgetary

Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. It found that total state and local

government expenditures were $5 billion on the enforcement of marijuana laws

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alone in 2000, and the federal government spent $2.39 billion for enforcement of 

marijuana prohibition in 2002 (Miron, 2002). If marijuana were to be legalized, it 

would be possible to tax its use. If marijuana were taxed at a similar rate as other

consumer goods, it would net at least $2.4 billion per year in tax revenues.

However, if it was given a sin tax similar to that of alcohol and tobacco, it could net 

between $6.2 and $9.5 billion in tax revenue annually (Miron, 2002). Based on the

results of this report, revenue from taxing legal marijuana would total more than

what is spent on enforcing its prohibition. According to Forbes, marijuana

legalization could also benefit large agricultural groups such as Archer Daniels

Midland and ConAgra Foods (Hardy, 2005). This could mean that the federal

government would no longer have to subsidize the farming industry, which means

even further savings. Additionally, marijuana prohibition indirectly harms the

economy by adding a black spot to the resumes of those convicted of marijuana

offenses, which takes away their potential to contribute to society (by affecting their

educational and employment status) even though they are guilty of a crime with

no victims. Furthermore, an analysis of literature in 2007 by the Journal of Drug

Issues found that enforcement of marijuana laws increase, rather than decrease,

crime for several reasons: distribution networks are disrupted, leading to disputes

over market share within illegal drug markets and increased violence; sellers, who

face a greater risk of arrest and disruption of supplies, may switch to other forms of 

crime for income; resources used for marijuana enforcement cannot be used against 

other types of crime; and the incarceration of marijuana users and sellers uses

prison cells in a prison system already at full capacity, leading to shorter sentences

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and less frequent imprisonment for other criminals (Shepard & Blackley, 2007).

Given this information, it is evident that marijuana prohibition is harmful, rather

than beneficial, to American society and its economy.

Tobacco and alcohol are both legal in all 50 states. However, extensive research has

shown dramatic negative health consequences from use of these two legal

substances. Tobacco use causes several types of cancer as well as coronary heart 

disease and emphysema, and is highly addictive (Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2011). Long-term alcohol consumption has been shown to cause

cirrhosis, several heart diseases, and various psychological effects such as tremors,

seizures, dementia, and delayed cognitive development (Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, 2011). According to the CDC, tobacco use accounts for an estimated

443,000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths, each year in the United States

and alcohol poisoning causes approximately 79,000 deaths in the U.S. In

comparison, not a single death has ever been attributable to marijuana intoxication

(Cloud, 2002). Drunk driving claimed the lives of 10,839 people in 2009 and the

annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion (Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Research at the University of Iowa has

shown that subjects driving under the influence of marijuana perform better on

driving simulators than those driving while under the influence of alcohol (Turner,

2007). Additionally, in a NHTSA study, the only statistically significant outcome

associated with marijuana on driving simulators was speed reduction (Morgan &

Zimmer, 1995). Interestingly, researchers from the National Household Survey on

Drug Use and Health and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found

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that fatal car wrecks dropped by 9% in states that legalized medical use even when

controlling for other factors (Szalavitz, 2011). These studies provide compelling

evidence that marijuana use is safer than use of tobacco or alcohol, and national

laws should reflect these indications.

The detriments of marijuana consist only of the problems caused by

prohibitionnot the drug itself. Research has shown that marijuana use does not 

lead to long-term structural changes in the brain or cognition loss. Several studies

have proven the medical benefits of marijuana use. It is evident that marijuana

prohibition is costly to society in multiple ways. It is expensive to enforce, while

taxation would increase government revenues. It also increases other forms of 

crime, adding further to the expenditures of law enforcement. Research also seems

to indicate that marijuana is even less harmful than tobacco or alcohol use, and

driving with under the influence of marijuana may even be safer than driving sober

and is certainly safer than driving while under the influence of alcohol. Lastly, it 

reduces the potential of individuals to contribute to society when they are convicted

of marijuana offenses. Legislators must take these findings into consideration and

realize that, in American society, marijuana prohibition has no place.

Works Cited

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"Alcohol and Public Health." Cent ers for Disease C ontrol and Pr evention. 28 Oct. 2011.

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Cloud, John. "Is Pot Good For You?" TIME  M agazine. 4 Nov. 2002. 8 Dec. 2011.

<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003570,00.html>.

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Martín-Santos, R., et al. "Neuroimaging in Cannabis Use: A Systematic Review of the

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