Legalization
Legalization of marijuana has been a controversial issue in the U.S. for
the past several years. The people vs. the federal government is just one of
the main debates over legalization.
In the past marijuana was required to be grown on most plantations in
the southern region. It could be purchased in one ounce packages for only
twenty five cents. Further down the time line we find that marijuana is
increasingly being used in the inner cities and suburban areas. Marijuana was
considers legal in the late 1800's but a bill was passed and marijuana was
quickly considered to be illegal. The federal legislation prohibiting marijuana
passed at the end of 1937 congressional session was virtually scare enacted.
people feared the effects of it and wanted to stop the growth and importation
of it. Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which 'requires all persons
who import, manufacture, produce, compound, sell, deal in, and dispense pay
a graduated occupational tax.'
This tax was an attempt to make it harder for
dealers of marijuana to make money off the export and import of marijuana.
Attempts that he government has made to pass bills that decriminalize
marijuana were shot down by legislature and the federal government. A
survey taken says that although illegality should be maintained, the penalties
for it should be lessened. There is a theory that marijuana stimulates
violence, yet it has not been proven as a fact. In several states, such as New
Jersey, the marijuana regulations and penalties have been lessened. Governor
Cahill, from New Jersey, recommended that criminal penalties for a small
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possession of marijuana should be reduced by making it a disorderly person
offense.
Several states have lessened their penalties for possession, but none
have legalized it. Dr. Tod Mikuriya, from the Indian Hemp...