Should Smoking Pot Be a Right
On Thursday, Jeff Sessions overturned Obama Era legislation that discourages federal level prosecution of companies and individuals in states where marijuana is legalized. This produced an uproar from not only avid pot smokers but representatives in states where marijuana is legal at state level. Many representatives as well as Trump and Sessions supporters alike felt they had gone back on things they promised on the campaign trail. Trump had stated earlier that he would leave it up to the states.
Ultimately the question is, should marijuana use be a right that states can provide? Many states are moving in the direction of recreational marijuana and even more are moving towards medical marijuana. Some point to the economic opportunity that came to Colorado after legalization as a reason it should be legalized at a federal level.
One of the more interesting points, brought up by those outraged by Jeff Session’s actions (to bring back a higher chance of federal prosecution for those distributing marijuana in states where it is legal) is that it may escalate the opiate epidemic. At first, this sounds like a ridiculous notion, but there may be some truth to it. Professors at North Texas State University, University of Florida and Emory University worked together to study the effects of Marijuana legalization on opiate overdoses deaths.
“They found a 6 percent drop overall in the number of opioid overdose deaths in the two years following legalization. Not only that, but the lower number of such deaths in 2014 and 2015 reversed an upward trend that had progressed every year since 2000.”
If the data they found is accurate, it would make a strong endorsement for medical marijuana legalization in any state struggling with opiates that is considering legalizing medicinal marijuana. But should individual states be allowed to make the call when the decision clearly influences the surrounding states as well?
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Source:
- https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/302885
