Two Sources on Marijuana Issues in the United States
Source #1
The use, sale and possession of cannabis (marijuana) in the United States is illegal under federal law.
However, some states have created exemptions for medical cannabis use, as well as decriminalized nonmedical cannabis use. In two states, Colorado and Washington, the sale and possession of marijuana is
legal for both medical and non-medical use. This law however is up in the air for the time being as the
states have one year to write laws on distribution and regulation of marijuana.
President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have maintained that the current
administration will not raid medical marijuana dispensaries that cooperate with state and local laws,
although the President is not in favor of full legalization on a national level. In July 2009, Gil Kerlikowske,
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, further clarified the federal government's position
when he stated that "marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit" and that "legalization is not in
the president's vocabulary, and it's not in mine." However, a January 2010 settlement between the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration and the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) provides
an example confirming the administration policy as communicated by Attorney General Holder, as
WAMM reached an agreement to re-open after being shut down by the federal government in 2002.
In October 2011, Gallup poll showed 50 percent support for legalizing marijuana and 46 percent said
marijuana should remain illegal. The highest support for legalization came from liberals and adults under
age 30, with more than 60 percent and the lowest support came from Americans over age 65 with 31
percent. On November 6, 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington approved measures that legalize nonmedical use of cannabis—the first states in the nation to do so.
Source #2
California first prohibited marijuana or "Indian hemp," in 1913, at a time when its use was virtually
unknown. The law was pushed through by the State Board of Pharmacy on the theory that even though
cannabis was not a problem, a law was needed to prevent East Indian "Hindoo" immigrants from
spreading its use.
Only after being prohibited did marijuana become widely popular, eventually spreading to millions of
Californians. Felony penalties for possession failed to deter an escalation of marijuana use in the 1960s.
By 1975, enforcement costs had become so high that the legislature decriminalized possession from a
felony to misdemeanor under the Moscone Act. Decriminalization saved the state an estimated $100
million each year in enforcement costs.
Despite dire predictions by opponents, decriminalization had no perceptible effect on marijuana use,
either in California or in other states that tried it. Nonetheless, production and distribution remained
illegal, causing continued prohibition-related problems. In order to combat widespread outdoor
cultivation, the state launched the CAMP helicopter eradication program, pushing growers onto
public lands and wilderness and into energy-guzzling grow-houses.
In 1996, California voters legalized the medical use of marijuana by Proposition 215 (though
neglecting to establish a legally regulated supply system). Since 1996, California has developed a
growing network of legal medical cannabis suppliers, who generate an estimated $800 million to $2
billion in revenues annually, enough to generate some $100 million in sales taxes. Contrary to the
predictions of opponents, marijuana use by youths declined substantially after Proposition 215 –
calling into question the supposed link between liberal marijuana laws and abuse.