Flaws in America’s Drug Policy

Many critics who argue against the legalization of marijuana for medicinal and personal use often cite the fact that it is a “gateway drug”. Marijuana is dangerous because it can lead to the use of harder drugs like heroin and cocaine. A recent study was conducted to determine whether marijuana truly deserved its classification as a gateway drug. This study found that marijuana use is not a sole predictor of subsequent hard drug abuse. There are several factors, including socio-economic and education levels, that also play a large part in determining whether a person who smokes marijuana will move on to harder drugs. However, the researchers note that “Something like a marijuana gateway effect probably does exist, if only because marijuana purchases bring users into contact with a black market that also increases access to hard drugs” (Morral, McCaffrey, and Paddock 1503). Marijuana is definitely a factor that leads to harder drug use, and by legalizing it and making it readily available to consumers, the government will also increase the number of Americans who abuse hard drugs. Critics claim that this increased number of hard drug abusers would put a strain on the American health care system, which would be overloaded if America changed its drug laws to include medical rehabilitation options rather than legal penalties.

Though the classification of marijuana as a gateway drug has softened in recent years, there is no denying that marijuana is dangerous. Marijuana is a drug and carries the same dangers of addiction and abuse that any drug has. However, cigarettes and alcohol are also drugs that carry the same dangers. The fact that America’s most profitable cash crop, marijuana, is an illegal substance shows that the current laws are not working and need to be rethought. The fact that drugs like alcohol and tobacco, which kill millions of Americans, are legal shows a gaping hole in the logic of America’s drug policy creators. The policy needs to be consistent and either outlaw alcohol and tobacco or make marijuana legal. The former option would only lead to a rise in black market drug sales and put an increased strain on our prison system. Though marijuana is dangerous, legalizing it would boost the economy by creating tax revenue from a product that is currently being consumed in mass amounts regardless of its legal status. This increased tax revenue could help fund the creation of rehabilitation programs that could help reduce the strain on America’s health care system if our drug laws were changed to focus on rehabilitation rather than penalization.

Work Cited

Morral, Andrew R., Daniel F. McCaffrey, and Susan M. Paddock. "Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect." Addiction 97.12 (2002): 1493-1504. Academic Search Complete. Web.18 Nov. 2013.