Essay Sample on Marijuana in California

Introduction

Use and sale of marijuana have been a controversial debate in the United States for many decades. Cultivation, sale, and use of the crop were banned almost a century ago but recent developments have seen a number of states legalize the use of the drug following various scientific findings suggesting that the consumption of the drug has recreational, medicinal and economic benefits. As of 2017, recreational and medical marijuana for adults above the age of 21 had been legalized in 9 states and 29 states legally acknowledge the consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes only. California is among the few states that have legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. However, consumption of marijuana remains illegal under federal law (Goldschmidt and Richardson, 2000). The paper explores the two sides of the debate; the benefits and harmful effects of legalization of Marijuana on society with specific reference to the state of California.

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Harmful Effects of Marijuana

The use of marijuana can harm society. These effects can be felt at individual, community, and national levels. At the same time, farming of marijuana can have damaging consequences on the environment. Evidence suggests that the use of marijuana adversely affects the development of the fetus. These consequences tend to affect areas relating to weight and brain development of the fetus (Hasin et al, 2015). It does not only damage the brain of the fetus but also cause brain abnormalities of heavy smokers. Cannabis use distracts mental function of heavy smokers. It has a substance such as THC which damages brain nerve cells leading to loss of memory. Continues consumption of cannabis is likely to cause temporary sterility in those who heavily use it. It alters cell structure of male gametes thus deforming them into a form that cannot fertilize a woman. In addition, it is capable of changing menstrual cycle which is an important biological process required in women. It, therefore, interferes with the conception of women thus prevents population growth.

Marijuana is also one of the substances that cause anomalous cell division likely to lead to hereditary illnesses. It is reported that use of cannabis by pregnant women may cause premature birth in which they give birth to undersized children (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). Sometimes children born with mothers who use marijuana give birth to children who have reduced initiatives or children who cannot concentrate in pursuing their life goals. Therefore, they become reckless people in the society. There are other defects in the use of marijuana by pregnant women. It is likely to result in many birth defects such as mental deformation and a high likelihood of contracting leukemia in young children.

Consumption of marijuana is not only harmful to an individual consumer but also is negatively affect the whole community (Hasin et al, 2015). On daily basis marijuana cause several problems especially to youths and young adults. Users of cannabis usually develop problems associated with loss of memory, attention, and diminishing of a learning curve. The use of Marijuana also causes cancer. It has substances that are likely to cause cancer as compared to tobacco. Cannabis damage the lungs than Tobacco and therefore it leads to chronic diseases such as bronchitis and inflammation of respiratory tract. Therefore, legalizing marijuana use in California has a negative effect on individual and the general society.

Legalizing marijuana in California is also likely to increase addiction among very many young people in California. Although it is restricted to people under the age of 21 years, adolescents will easily get access to cannabis. It will make young perform poorly in their academics and also increase the number of children dropping out of schools. Legalizing marijuana also cause very many problems in the society or in California in general (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). It makes different banks to fear to trade with marijuana growers and other businesses selling marijuana. Legalizing it makes banks to trade in illegal businesses which are prohibited by Federal laws. It also forced pot enterprise to do business as cash only by not offering credits to customers (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). This increases the risk of robbery because it is easy to steal money than another kind of goods. In addition, legalization also increased the tax burden on different business organizations including those dealing in marijuana substances.

There are other adverse effects of marijuana use that are felt in California. It increases the number of people consuming marijuana. As a result, many children become addicted than ever before legalization. The consequences of addiction also increased significantly thus causing an increasing number of accidents when drivers are marijuana users.

Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana in California

Legalizing marijuana in California has great benefits to the individual and the society as a whole. It is a substance that can be used as medicine for treating chronic pains (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). Therefore, its legalization has a positive impact on the society. It treats nausea and vomiting which are common in the society. In California, it is sanctioned to provide treatment for Alzheimer disease, Parkinson's disease and a host of other prolonged health situations (Hasin et al, 2015). There are two cannabinoids extracted from marijuana plants essential for increasing appetite and also reducing muscle control problems. They include CBD and THC and they are important in treating different diseases.

Legalization of Marijuana in California can also create job opportunities to many people. This has happened in Colorado which was able to open 1800 job opportunities to people in 2015. California is not different to Colorado and therefore the same can happen in the same state. Because there is high demand for marijuana in every state for the medicinal and recreational purpose, many people are likely to open business enterprises. These business enterprises provide job opportunities to different people as they require managers, cashiers, and marketers.

Legalization of marijuana also increases government revenues. It triples the tax that Federal Government has been generating before legalization. This is due to the fact that tax rate imposes on the sale of marijuana is three time that of alcohol. Its tax rate is the highest on taxes imposed on all kinds of cigarettes (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). Federal tax on marijuana is at the rate of $23per pound and it is the same as federal tax imposed on tobacco which is anticipated to generate $500million per annum. In case it has 10% sales tax, then marijuana alone is able to provide a tax revenue of $5.3 billion after every financial year. It is therefore important to approximate in terms of the retail market. The price for a single gram is between $10 and $15 for the domestic price (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). The total amount of sales revenues for the sale of marijuana in California is about $4.5 billion annually. In order to control the price of marijuana, the Government imposes excise duty so that it does not become affordable thus reducing the amount of marijuana sold per year. Excise duty of $1 per gram is imposed on marijuana which produces government revenues between $430 and $510 million annually. There is also a higher tax of $50 per ounce which generates a sales revenue of the range between $770 -$900million.

The legalization of marijuana in California also increases the demand for other businesses. This has happened in Colorado where many people opened warehouses where marijuana growers kept their products. The demand for legal and accounting services also increases because there will be a need for the formation of companies that trade in marijuana products (Hasin et al, 2015). There is a need for the creation and development of a memorandum of association and demand for legal advice on how to form a company. This, therefore, increases the demand for other businesses associated with the marijuana industry.

Finally, it also eliminates incidences of a black market where people get marijuana products from other countries illegally (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). This has happened in Colorado where 90% of people doing business are licensed and regulated by the state. This can also happen in California because business women and men will receive license and permits for selling marijuana. There will be an act to regulate marijuana traders thus reducing black market.

Reduction of Potential Harm of Legalizing Marijuana

In order to reduce the potential harm of legalizing marijuana, it is important for the Federal Government to impose a heavy tax on it to increase its price. It is necessary to impose both sale tax and excise duty so that it becomes very expensive (Volkow and Weiss, 2014). Children under the age of 21 years will not have the potential to buy marijuana although it is readily available. Pregnant women will, therefore, have no capacity to use it more or miss it at all during pregnancy hence prevents the adverse effects of the development of unborn (Pacula and Caulkins, 2014). As a result, a child with normal brain, weight and that have no leukemia are born. Furthermore, it may lead to proper structuring of male gametes and support normal menstrual cycle of women thereby increasing human fertility.

It is also important for the state to introduce stringent laws that ensure that children under the age of 21 years are protected from the use of the use of marijuana. These regulations prevent marijuana traders from selling it to children in fear of prosecution. The law should also inhibit children under the age of 21 years from using marijuana. California state should also enact decriminalization laws that remove penalties for using marijuana for medical use only and punishes other users heavily (Pacula and Caulkins, 2014). This will prevent other users inhibited from using marijuana for other purposes. The state needs to empower health departments to control the use of cannabis as an unsafe food additive by ensuring that they limit the use of THC in foodstuffs. It is finally essential to minimize exposure to marijuana marketing. This will lower perception of marijuana users such as pregnant women and youths (Wallach and Hudak, 2015). The state should teach the public about the negative effects of marijuana by highlighting dangers of consuming marijuana.

Conclusion

Legalizing marijuana is dangerous to the state and individual. It has a harmful effect on the society although it has other positive implication to the state. Consumption of marijuana damages brain, cause infertility in both men and women, cause chronic disease such as cancer. It is therefore very important to control its use through enforcing certain regulations and policies that regulate its use. Policies such as the imposition of heavy tax and excise duty are essential in reducing the harmful effects of marijuana. Therefore, they should be adopted in California as they have been applied in Colorado.

References

Goldschmidt L, and Richardson G (2000). Effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on childbehavior problems at age 10. Neurotoxicol Teratol. ;22(3):325-336.

Hasin D, et al (2015). Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States Between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013. JAMA Psychiatry.;72(12):1235-1242. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1858.

Volkow N and Weiss S (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. N Engl J Med. 2014;370(23):2219-2227

Pacula R and Caulkins JP (2014). Developing public health regulations for marijuana: lessons from alcohol and tobacco. Am J Public Health.;104(6):1021-1028

Wallach P and Hudak J (2015). Legal Marijuana, Comparing Washington, and Colorado. Brookings Institution. Available at: www. brookings....