Legalization of Marijuana

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Legalization of marijuana has become an increasingly popular topic for debate in society with “sentiment in favor of legalization [increasing] by 20 [percentage] points in just over a decade,” bringing support for legalization to 52% (Dionne and Galston). The most common arguments for reforming current legislation are the following: enforcement wastes public resources, taxation can provide a new source of revenue, and enforcement of current laws is discriminatory (Dionne and Galston). It is necessary to look at the impact on the primary stakeholders by analyzing the various harms and benefits through application of the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology, in order to determine the solution that will result in the best possible outcome. In determining the ethicality of legalizing marijuana, it is necessary to understand the background of the issue, and to identify the most important stakeholders. In the 1930s, many states began outlawing the substance; ironically California was the first of these states (Rendon). In 1937, the federal government outlawed the substance, which pushed the growth and sale underground (Rendon). In 1970, President Nixon declared the substance a Schedule I Substance, which indicates that the substance has “a high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use” (Controlled Substances Act). The federal government has specified that for marijuana to have an accepted medical use, it must “be subjected to the same rigorous clinical trials and scientific scrutiny that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applies to all other new medications” ("Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Marijuana"). There are numerous stakeholders in an ethical dilemma of this magnitude, which... ... middle of paper ... ...ed that legalization does not result in the best possible outcome; instead the best solution would be decriminalization of marijuana and legalization of medical marijuana. This solution is not only more feasible than complete legalization but also can be argued to be the more ethical solution. This is because it encompasses most of the advantages to legalization while reducing many of the risks substantially. The changes we will see in the future regarding this issue will “be shaped by whether the various experiments with legalization, decriminalization, and medical marijuana are deemed successes or failures” (Dionne and Galston). The nature of ethics clearly shows that there is never a definite course of action that should be taken, but through deliberation and analysis using the ethical theories, one is able to produce the best solution given the circumstances.

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