History, Rules, and Regulations
As surprising as it is, the use of Marijuana, well Hemp plants, dates all the way back to the 17th century. In colonial times the plant was used in order to produce rope and cloth. It was also used as a medicinal products and sold in pharmacies in the 19th century. It was not until the early 1930's that marijuana became outlawed in many states due to the negative influence of recreational use by Mexican immigrants in the early 1900's.
It was not until the 1950's that federal laws were established and required mandatory sentences for drug crimes, however the drug become very popular within the culture of society in the 1960's. This mindset again changed again in the late 1980's during the "war on drugs." During the Reagan and Bush administrations, there was a huge push to eradicate the use of illegal drugs, including marijuana. But the legalization of medical Marijuana in the state of California in 1996 caused a major change nationwide.
Following the state of California, several other states chose to move forward and legalize medical marijuana in the 1990's. The use of marijuana returned to become a mainstream trend again in the United States and many states continued the process of legalizing medical marijuana use in the early 2000's. As it became more popular, so did the decriminalization of the drug.
Currently there are ten states and Washington D.C who have completely legalized the use of marijuana. Nine states have legalized medical marijuana use and decriminalized the drug. Thirteen states who have legalized medical marijuana use. Three states who have simply decriminalized marijuana. Leaving fifteen states in which marijuana is completely illegal. The regulations and laws concerning marijuana have changed throughout the years and will continue to do so into the future of the United States and around the world.
The Study
The study by Jacob Jones , K. Nicole Jones, Jenny Peil is a very intriguing one. In the study they focus on college students in the State of Colorado and the marijuana use among those who participated in the survey sent out several times over a duration of several years before and after the legalization of recreational marijuana use in the state. The study specifically looked at GPA, correlation with alcohol use, and use of marijuana in general. They discovered that there was not an increase in marijuana use when comparing before and after it was legalized. The only correlation that was very clear in the study was the use of marijuana and alcohol together. The researchers believed that this is simply because “marijuana is now readily available in stores, social events where alcohol is consumed are no longer the main access point for marijuana, thus possibly making alcohol use less related to marijuana” (Jones, Discussion). It was interesting to discover that regardless of it being legalized, students are going to find ways to use the drug, however, by legalizing the drug for recreational use it gave states a large source of tax revenue that can be put into educational systems to benefit the students in those states.
Other COuntries
The government of Australia has shown an interest in the legalization of Marijuana. In the article " Marijuana legalization in the United States: An Australian perspective," the authors o, Peter Homel and Rick Brown, discuss many portions of marijuana in the United States, including it’s legislation, the effects on the drug itself, and how they would use the United States as a base if they chose to establish recreational use of marijuana in Australia. It is very interesting to see another country use the United States establishment of the psychoactive drug in recreational use, in order to create their own laws and regulations in regards to Marijuana. There are a few specific pieces that they choose to expand on, including the large revenue that the tax placed on recreational and medical marijuana brings into individual states. They use the state of Colorado as an example in stating that " in its first year of operation, Colorado’s recreational marijuana taxation regime collected over US $70 million," this revenue has a large impact on creating larger budgets for the school systems. Another key point they discussed was the fact that they would want more participation from federal government in regards to regulations of marijuana use.
Laws on Marijuana -Links
Colorado
For more information in regards to Marijuana laws and regulations in the state of Colorado, please follow the link below!
Nevada
For more information in regards to Marijuana laws and regulations in the state of Nevada, please follow the link below!
California
For more information in regards to Marijuana laws and regulations in the state of California, please follow the link below!
Sources
Hanson, K., & Garcia, A. (2019, March 5). State Medical Marijuana Laws. Retrieved May 9, 2019, from http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx#Table2
Homel, P., & Brown, R. (2017). Marijuana legalisation in the united states: An australian perspective. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, (535), 1-20.
Jones, Jacob, Jones, K, & Peil, Jenny. (2018). The impact of the legalization of recreational marijuana on college students. Addictive Behaviors, 77, 255.
LibGuides: Survey of Marijuana Law in the United States: History of Marijuana Regulation in the United States. (2019, May 9). Retrieved from https://libguides.law.uga.edu/c.php?g=522835&p=3575350
Marijuana laws in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved May 9, 2019, from https://ballotpedia.org/Marijuana_laws_in_the_United_States