Criminal Justice: Prohibition and Marijuana Legalization

INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER EACH CASE SEPARATELY WITH AT LEAST ONE REFERENCES AND USE THE POWER-POINT AS REFERENCE.
1. consistently advances the discussion of Communicates professionally, consistent with expectations for criminal justice professionals.
2. Uses lesson content to support positions, conclusions, or perspectives. Asks questions, assesses further considerations, provides a different point of view, etc.
3.Applies critical thinking or problem solving

case 1:
While the 18th amendment for Prohibition did steadily decrease the consumption of alcohol (Power Point slide 4), which at the time was seen as a good thing, there were many parts of this legislature that made the society a more dangerous place in general.

During Prohibition, organized crime heightened as those who were in the business of alcohol were now participating in illegal activities. This, which is also the case now with marijuana, led to discipline-related violence to keep the employees of the industry “in-check” (Power Point slide 4). The laws surrounding the control of alcohol, as they are today with marijuana, led, and are leading, to civil discourse and increases in violence related to the industries at hand.

While the increase in violence is obviously a con of these legislation’s, others argue that having these laws in place also save lives. For example, during Prohibition, many people who did not want to follow the law found any and all sources of spirits they could, and consumed many toxic forms that lead to blindness, paralysis, and death in some cases (Power Point slide 4). The same can be said for marijuana. Though maybe not the exact same outcomes, marijuana can be laced with different drugs that cause individuals to be put in a state of not being able to control their minds or bodies, and can put them in situations that lead to many possibilities up to and including death.

These laws may seem to have caused many issues in regards to organized crime and civil discourse, however if individuals were to follow these laws, they may be much safer in the end.

case 2:
I am excited about this question when I was reading in the book and this topic came up I had already thought of similarities. According to the Uniform Crime Reports, and the FBI 5.3% of arrests account for are marijuana violations (Enforcement. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/enforce.cfm (Links to an external site.)). Like some states laws regarding marijuana, from 1920-1933 alcohol was illegal to sell, make, and possess. One unexpected result of prohibition was that people began consuming a higher volume of a more dangerous beverage, because beer needed to be refrigerated, and it was bulky to hide, whereas distilled sprits were fine not cold, and they were cheaper with a higher potency. This example relates completely to what is going on today with marijuana. “Another impact of prohibition was that more people, desperate to get their hands on an alcoholic drink, ended up consuming toxic forms of alcohol…” (pg. 51). Since marijuana is not completely legal in some states people are getting fake, synthetic marijuana. Because the chemicals used in them have no medical benefit and a high potential for abuse, people who have used them have been taken to emergency rooms showing signs of rapid heart rate, vomiting, violent behavior, suicidal thoughts, raised blood pressure and reduced blood supply to the heart, kidney damage and seizures (National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Synthetic Cannabinoids (K2/Spice). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/synthetic-cannabinoids-k2spice (Links to an external site.)).

Also, prohibition increased the amount of alcohol consumption (pg. 52). People want what they cant have, so making something illegal only intensifies people’s desire for it. Making something illegal only encourages disrespect for the law, especially if it is something as harmless as marijuana. I looked up drug related arrests in Florida, where marijuana is not legal, and Washington state, where it is okay to buy marijuana. In Florida, drug arrests were 14,988, and in Washington they were 11,026 (Table 69. (2016, July 28). Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/tables/table-69 (Links to an external site.)). More people were arrested for drug charges in states where marijuana is illegal.

Organized crime is an obvious one. We have people trafficking in large quantities of marijuana and other drugs including Heroin. Like the Prohibition, organized crime came to the surface because there was such a high source of revenue for the gangsters (pg. 52). Decades later, after the repayment of the 18th amendment, we still have organized crime and gangsters providing us with illegal substances. People are killing to get their drugs, just like gangsters in the prohibition days were killing to get their alcohol. Once prohibition was retracted, alcohol consumption declined (pg. 52), just like in the states were marijuana is legal, crime rates for drug offenders is down. The pros and cons of this argument, just like prohibition, are present. The statistics provide evidence that prohibition did not have a positive impact on society, or the law. Just like today with marijuana being illegal still in some states. Another fact is that marijuana is absolutely less dangerous than alcohol. In many ways.
case 3:
When discussing the debate on whether using marijuana should be legal or not you can notice many similarities to the prohibition. When alcohol was banned there was a large population of people that were very upset with this. On the marijuana side there is a large population of people that believe that it should be legal to smoke and buy marijuana.

When focusing on the marijuana debate, there are many different reasons on both sides of the spectrum that are in support of legal marijuana and against. One of the arguments for legal marijuana is that the plant does a lot less damage to your body then alcohol can. There have been studies performed that have found that cannabis can kill cancer cells. Too much alcohol can cause illnesses such as liver cancer. One reason that I have heard why people in Florida ( majority of which were elderly) do not want marijuana legalized is because they do not want there to be another substance in which someone can consume and then get behind the wheel of a vehicle and possibly kill people. This argument is valid for both alcohol and marijuana. Some people fear that the legalization of marijuana would lead to the deterioration of social life. If people are spending a lot of money on marijuana then they might find themselves in poverty. This is similar to the prohibition. One of the reasons for the legislation of the 18th amendment was that they believed banning alcohol would bring an end to poverty, crime, and violence. It had the opposite affect.

Any illegal substance that is banned will find its way back into the public’s hand regardless. The key arguments for legal marijuana are that it does not cause any major health effects, has the potential to benefit the economy, and can reduce the amount of money taxpayers spend on institutionalizing people who are guilty of marijuana offenses. The key arguments against the legalization of marijuana are that it is another substance that people could potentially abuse and that it could lead to a higher poverty rate if low income people are spending a large amount of their money on it.