​Pot: why not?

To legalize or not to legalize recreational marijuana: lawmakers across the country have been contemplating this polarizing issue for years. While no national consensus has been reached, on November 8, voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and Arizona will be casting ballots to answer this question for themselves. Regrettably, missing from the list of states is North Carolina, and as voters in the state go to the polls this election, the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana should be an issue on everyone’s minds. The time to legalize marijuana in our state is now.

In our country, the criminalization of marijuana stems from racist, not scientific, origins. President Richard Nixon pushed for the criminalization of the drug, negatively associating smoking marijuana with people of color and hippies. Due to such efforts, marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, leading to criminal prosecutions, disproportionately targeting people of color. Despite the lack of difference in marijuana usage between white and black Americans, black Americans are almost four times more likely to be charged for possession. Overall, marijuana accounts for over 50 percent of drug-related arrests, with most marijuana-related arrests resulting from possession. Decriminalizing and eventually legalizing the drug would alleviate the current burden placed on taxpayers due to the costs associated with the enforcement of marijuana possession laws.

Any negative health effects of marijuana still remain unclear. Even though its effects on the developing brain remain heavily scrutinized, marijuana has proven medical benefits in cases of seizures, muscle spasms and cancer therapy. Any long-term effects on health remain to be demonstrated although the short-term effects are comparable or even less extreme than alcohol. While we are not condoning the use of marijuana, there is insufficient evidence to support its Schedule I classification among drugs such as heroin and ecstasy.

Currently, Washington D.C., Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and more than twenty other states allow marijuana for medicinal use. Recognizing the nebulous scientific data used to support the criminalization of marijuana, North Carolina should push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Examining the economic benefit, the government could regulate and tax marijuana much in the way it does tobacco and alcohol, generating large amounts of tax revenue for the state. Legalizing marijuana could help recuperate significant losses incurred by North Carolina, resulting from contentious legislation such as House Bill 2.

Of course, these efforts would have to be coupled with restrictions, much like those for alcohol and tobacco, preventing consumption by minors, posing legal repercussions for those who provide marijuana to anyone underage and restricting the maximum production of marijuana by licensed companies. We do not advocate for legalization without limitations. Rather, we believe other considerations should be made alongside any efforts to legalize marijuana. First, the state could utilize any legalization efforts as a springboard to launch further research into the effects of the drug, especially its long-term health effects, by providing grants to interested researchers. Second, amnesty considerations should be made for those currently incarcerated for possession or distribution.

North Carolinians should utilize this election to choose representatives who best advocate for a reevaluation of our current drug policy. While marijuana is nowhere to be found on our ballots this election cycle, we should seize any opportunity to voice our own thoughts on this matter and, when the time comes, vote to legalize.