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Legalization of Marijuana
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Current state experiment that might one day be taken up by the federal government
Legalization of Marijuana
The federal government prohibits the possession, sale and use of marijuana. Despite this federal prohibition, Colorado and Washington states have enacted laws that legalize recreational marijuana. This legalization has made cannabis to become a cottage industry with sampler tours and shops where customers can purchase candy or brownies (In Merino, 2016). In such states the federal government cannot effectively police whether people are smoking marijuana since it does not have enough resources without the help of that state. This means that the only thing the Congress can effectively achieve is enactment of waivers at the federal levels well as allowing states that have regulatory regimes and safeguards that are strictly sufficient to act outside the federal law without the fear of being prosecuted.
There are high chances that the federal government might take up the state experiments of legalization of marijuana. First, the opinion of the public is shifting to the favor of legalization of marijuana at a very high pace due to the open possibility that taxed and regulated marijuana market could provide better outcome and protect the public than the criminalization approach. Secondly, apart from the two states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, other states most likely Oregon and Alaska are likely to follow suit through popular vote. Thirdly, more than other 20 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana. An additional 17 states have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use (In Caulkins, In Kilmer & In Kleiman, 2016). The public support for the legalization of marijuana has escalated at very high rates. In fact it has been the second most supported political issue after gay and lesbian marriages. This simply shows that with time, the federal government will take up this experiment and legalize marijuana.
References
In Caulkins, J. P., In Kilmer, B., & In Kleiman, M. (2016). Marijuana legalization: What everyone needs to know.
In Merino, N. (2016). The legalization of marijuana.
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