Download Our Commitment to Legalizing Marijuana for Adults

Marijuana Legalization [WhiteHouse.Gov]
Marijuana is a topic of significant public discourse in the United States, and while many are familiar with the discussions,
it is not always easy to find the latest, research-based information on marijuana to answer to the common questions
about its health effects, or the differences between Federal and state laws concerning the drug. Confusing messages
being presented by popular culture, media, proponents of “medical” marijuana, and political campaigns to legalize all
marijuana use perpetuate the false notion that marijuana is harmless. This significantly diminishes efforts tkeep our
young people drug free and hampers the struggle of those recovering from addiction.
The Administration steadfastly opposes legalization of marijuana and other drugs because legalization would increase
the availability and use of illicit drugs, and pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans, particularly young
people.
State Laws
Since 1996, 20 states and Washington, DC have passed laws allowing smoked marijuana to be used for a variety of
medical conditions. It is important to recognize that these state marijuana laws do not change the fact that using
marijuana continues to be an offense under Federal law. Nor do these state laws change the criteria or process for FDA
approval of safe and effective medications.
Many of these state medical marijuana laws originated in order to create a legal defense to state criminal possession
laws or to remove state criminal penalties for purported medical use of marijuana. Since then, many have evolved into
state authorization for state-based production and distribution of marijuana for purported medical purposes. These
state laws vary greatly in their criteria and implementation, and many states are experiencing vigorous internal
debatesabout the safety, efficacy, and legality of their marijuana laws. Many local governments are even creating zoning
and enforcement ordinances that prevent marijuana dispensaries from operating in their communities.
States with medical marijuana laws often have some form of patient registry, which may provide some protection
against state arrest for possession up to a certain amount of marijuana for personal medical use. Medical marijuana
growers or dispensaries are authorized in some of these states and may be limited to a certain number of plants or
products per medical user. Regulation of marijuana for purported medical use may also exist at the county and city level,
in addition to state laws.
Q&A
Q. What is the Federal response to state marijuana initiatives?
In enacting the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled
substance. In 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington state also passed initiatives legalizing marijuana for adults 21
and older under state law. As with state medical marijuana laws, it is important to note that Congress has determined
that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime. The
Department of Justice (DOJ) is committed to enforcing the CSA consistent with these determinations. On August 29,
2013, DOJ issued guidance to Federal prosecutors concerning marijuana enforcement under the CSA. The Department’s
guidance is available on the DOJ web site, and provides further detail.
Q. What is the difference between decriminalization, legalization, and medical marijuana?
There is significant public discussion around marijuana, much of which includes the terms legalization, decriminalization,
and medical marijuana. Below are very general definitions for these terms:
Marijuana Legalization– Laws or policies which make the possession and use of marijuana legal under state law.
Marijuana Decriminalization– Laws or policies adopted in a number of state and local jurisdictions which reduce the
penalties for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana from criminal sanctions to fines or civil penalties.
Medical Marijuana– State laws which allow an individual to defend him or herself against criminal charges of marijuana
possession if the defendant can prove a medical need for marijuana under state law.
Q: Is marijuana addictive?
Yes. We know that marijuana use, particularly long-term, chronic use or use starting at a young age, can lead to
dependence and addiction. Long-term marijuana use can lead to compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite the known
harmful effects upon functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities.
Research finds that approximately 9 percent (1 in 11) of marijuana users become dependent. Research also indicates
that the earlier young people start using marijuana, the more likely they are to become dependent on marijuana or
other drugs later in life.
In 2011, approximately 4.2 million people met the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnostic criteria for marijuana abuse or dependence. This is more than pain relievers,
cocaine, tranquilizers, hallucinogens, and heroin combined. In 2011, approximately 872,000 Americans 12 or older
reported receiving treatment for marijuana use, more than any other illicit drug.
The research is clear. Marijuana users can become addicted to the drug. It can lead to abuse and dependence, and
other serious consequences.
Q. Isn’t marijuana generally harmless?
No. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted
medical use in treatment in the United States. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol,
more commonly called THC. THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, starting off a series
of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain
areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are
found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentrating, sensory and time perception, and
coordinated movement.
Marijuana’s “high” can affect these functions in a variety of ways, causing distorted perceptions, impairing coordination,
causing difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and creating problems with learning and memory. Research has
demonstrated that among chronic heavy users these effects on memory can last at least seven daysafter discontinuing
use of the drug.
These aren’t the only problems connected to marijuana use. Research tells us that chronic marijuana use mayincrease
the risk of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals, and high doses of the drug can produce acute psychotic reactions.
Researchers have also found that adolescents’ long-term use of marijuana may be linked with lower IQ (as much as an 8
point drop) later in life.
We also know that marijuana affects heart and respiratory functions. In fact, one study found that marijuana users have
a nearly five-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug. A study of 452 marijuana
smokers (but who did not smoke tobacco) and 450 non-smokers (of either marijuana or tobacco) found that people who
smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems, including respiratory illnesses, than
nonsmokers.
All that stated, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that low levels
of marijuana use (with no tobacco use) produced no detrimental effect in lung function among study participants. In
fact, exposure led to a mild, but not clinically significant, beneficial effect—albeit among those who smoked only one
joint per day. While these findings have received wide attention from the media and from advocates of marijuana
legalization, it is important to consider them in the context of the extensive body of research indicating that smoking
marijuana is harmful to health. Additionally, while the study did not include a sufficient number of heavy users of
marijuana to confirm a detrimental effect of such use on pulmonary function, the findings suggest this possibility.
The harms of marijuana use can also manifest in users’ quality of life. In one study, heavy marijuana users reported that
the drug impaired several important measures of health and quality of life, including physical and mental health,
cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. In 2011 alone, more than 18 million
Americansage 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month. Approximately 4.2 million people met the
diagnostic criteria for abuse of or dependence on this drug. This is more than pain relievers, cocaine, tranquilizers,
hallucinogens, and heroin combined.
There are very real consequences associated with marijuana use. In 2010, marijuana was involved in more than461,000
emergency department visits nationwide. This is nearly 39 percent of all emergency department visits involving illicit
drugs, and highlights the very real dangers than can accompany use of the drug.
And in 2011, approximately 872,000 Americans 12 or older reported receiving treatment for marijuana use, more than
any other illicit drug. Despite some viewpoints that marijuana is harmless, these figures present a sobering picture of
this drug’s very real and serious harms.
Marijuana places a significant strain on our health care system, and poses considerable danger to the health and safety
of the users themselves, their families, and our communities. Marijuana presents a major challenge for health care
providers, public safety professionals, and leaders in communities and all levels of government seeking to reduce the
drug use and its consequences throughout the country.
Q. Why is the Federal Government opposed to medical marijuana?
It is the Federal government’s position that marijuana be subjected to the same rigorous clinical trials and scientific
scrutiny that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applies to all other new medications, a comprehensive process
designed to ensure the highest standards of safety and efficacy.
It is this rigorous FDA approval process, not popular vote, that should determine what is, and what is not medicine. The
raw marijuana plant, which contains nearly 500 different chemical compounds, has not met the safety and efficacy
standards of this process. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), smoking marijuana is an unsafe delivery
system that produces harmful effects.
The FDA has, however, recognized and approved the medicinal use of isolated components of the marijuana plant and
related synthetic compounds. Dronabinol is one such synthetically produced compound, used in the FDA-approved
medicine Marinol, which is already legally available for prescription by physicians whose patients suffer from nausea and
vomiting related to cancer chemotherapy and wasting (severe weight loss) associated with AIDS. Another FDA-approved
medicine, Cesamet, contains the active ingredient Nabilone, which has a chemical structure similar to THC, the active
ingredient of marijuana. And Sativex, an oromucosal spray approved in Canada, the UK, and other parts of Europe for
the treatment of multiple sclerosis spasticity and cancer pain, is currently in late-stage clinical trials with the FDA. It
combines THC and another active ingredient in marijuana, cannabidiol (CBD), and provides therapeutic benefits without
the “high” from the drug.
A number of States have passed voter referenda or legislative actions allowing marijuana to be made available for a
variety of medical conditions upon a licensed prescriber’s recommendation, despite such measures’ inconsistency with
the scientific thoroughness of the FDA approval process. But these state actions are not, and never should be, the
primary test for declaring a substance a recognized medication. Physicians routinely prescribe medications with
standardized modes of administration that have been shown to be safe and effective at treating the conditions that
marijuana proponents claim are relieved by smoking marijuana. Biomedical research and medical judgment should
continue to determine the safety and effectiveness of prescribed medications.
Q. Wouldn’t legalizing marijuana remove a major source of funding for Mexican drug trafficking organizations?
No, violent Mexican criminal organizations derive revenue from more than just marijuana sales. They also produce and
traffic methamphetamine and heroin, continue to move significant amounts of cocaine, and conduct an array of criminal
activities including kidnapping, extortion, and human trafficking. Because of the variety and scope of the cartels’
business, and its illicit and purposefully obscured nature, determining the precise percentage of revenues from
marijuana is problematic, but we can be confident that even the complete elimination of one of their illicit “product
lines” will not result in disbanding of their criminal organizations.
The existing black market for marijuana will not simply disappear if the drug is legalized and taxed. Researchers from
the RAND Corporation have noted a significant profit motive for existing black market providers to stay in the market,
as “as they can still cover their costs of production and make a nice profit.”
With this in mind, it is crucial to reduce demand for marijuana in the United States and work with the Government and
people of Mexico to continue our shared commitment to defeat violent drug cartels.
Q: Couldn’t legalizing and taxing marijuana generate significant revenue?
A: While taxing marijuana could generate some revenues for state and local governments, research suggests that the
economic costs associated with use of the drug could far outweigh any benefit gained from an increase in tax revenue.
In the United States in 2007, illegal drugs cost $193 billion ($209 billion in 2011 dollars) in health care, lost productivity,
crime, and other expenditures. Optimistic evaluations of the potential financial savings from legalization and taxation
are often flawed, and fail to account for the considerable economic and social costs of drug use and its consequences.
This issue is particularly relevant in the marijuana debate. For example, the California Board of Equalization estimated
that $1.4 billion of potential revenue could arise from legalization. This assessment, according to the RAND Corporation
is “based on a series of assumptions that are in some instances subject to tremendous uncertainty and in other cases
not valid.”
Another recent report from RAND examines this issue in greater detail. The report concludes that legalization and
taxation of marijuana would lead to a decrease in the retail price of the drug, likely by more than 80 percent. While this
conclusion is subject to a number of uncertainties, including the effect of legalization on production costs and price and
the Federal government’s response to the state’s legalization of a substance that would remain illegal under Federal law,
it is fair to say that the price of marijuana would drop significantly. And because drug use is sensitive to price, especially
among young people, higher prices help keep use rates relatively low.
The existing black market for marijuana will not simply disappear if the drug is legalized and taxed. RAND also noted
that “there is a tremendous profit motive for the existing black market providers to stay in the market, as they can still
cover their costs of production and make a nice profit.” Legalizing marijuana would also place a dual burden on the
government of regulating a new legal market while continuing to pay for the negative side effects associated with an
underground market, whose providers have little economic incentive to disappear.
Legalization means price comes down; the number of users goes up; the underground market adapts; and the revenue
gained through a regulated market most likely will not keep pace with the financial and social cost of making this drug
more accessible.
Consider the economic realities of other substances. The tax revenue collected from alcohol pales in comparison to the
costs associated with it. Federal excise taxes collected on alcohol in 2009 totaled around $9.4 billion; state and local
revenues from alcohol taxes totaled approximately $5.9 billion. Taken together ($15.3 billion), this is just over six
percent of the nearly $237.8 billion adjusted for 2009 inflation) in alcohol-related costs from health care, treatment
services, lost productivity, and criminal justice.
While many levels of government and communities across the country are facing serious budget challenges, we must
find innovative solutions to get us on a path to financial stability – it is clear that the social costs of legalizing marijuana
would outweigh any possible tax that could be levied.
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. What is the federal government’s stance on marijuana legalization?
2. What views, statistics, and facts does the White House use to support its stance on marijuana legalization?
3. What is the difference between legalization and decriminalization?
4. Why does medical marijuana remain controversial to the federal government?
5. How does the White House refute the idea that legalizing marijuana would help with Mexican drug trafficking or generate
revenue for the government?
Drug Policy Alliance: Marijuana Legalization and Regulation
The Basics
Voters in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., all voted to legalize marijuana for adults in the 2014 election. They
joined Colorado and Washington, which legalized marijuana in 2012.
Marijuana should be removed from the criminal justice system and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol and
tobacco. There are five jurisdictions in the Unites State that have rejected the failed prohibition of marijuana and
changed their laws to legalize small amount of marijuana: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C.
Four states will license and regulate production and sale of marijuana. Marijuana legalization won on the ballot in
Colorado and Washington in the 2012 election, and in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., in the 2014 election.
Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring the nation's largest cash crop under the rule of law, creating jobs and
economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illicit market. Scarce law enforcement resources that could
be better used to protect public safety would be preserved while reducing corrections and court costs. State and local
governments would acquire significant new sources of tax revenue from regulating marijuana sales.
The criminalization of marijuana use disproportionately harms young people and people of color, sponsors massive
levels of violence and corruption, and fails to curb youth access.
Our Commitment to Legalizing Marijuana for Adults
The Drug Policy Alliance is a leader in the movement to legalize and regulate marijuana. DPA played a pivotal role in
funding and managing ballot initiative and legislative campaigns in many of the states that adopted medical marijuana
laws from 1996 to 2014. Those campaigns included drafting and passing New Mexico’s 2007 law that made it the first
state to license and regulate the production and distribution of marijuana through a state agency. This model served as
the foundation for all medical marijuana laws that followed, as well as the successful legalization initiatives in
Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska.
DPA works closely with local and national allies, including organized labor, civil rights groups, parents, and law
enforcement to draft initiatives, build coalitions and raise funds to advance marijuana law reform. DPA was involved
financially and conceptually in each of the campaigns to legalize and regulate marijuana on the state level, starting with
Prop 19 in California in 2010, which paved the way for the 2012 victories in Washington and Colorado and the 2014
victories in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. DPA plans to play a similar role as this movement advances in 2016
and beyond.
DPA also works for reform on the federal level to end federal marijuana prohibition and to protect state level reforms.
Internationally, in the last several years DPA advised governments at the highest level in Mexico, Guatemala and
Colombia on reforming their drug policies, and advised Uruguay in its effort to establish the world’s first national system
to legally regulate marijuana.
Marijuana Product Standardization and Testing
Marijuana product testing is becoming a standard requirement for legalized marijuana markets. This allows consumers
to become better informed about the cannabinoid profile and potency of marijuana they consume. While universally
accepted standards have not been established for testing, consumers should consider requesting information on any
pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, or any other residual solvents that could remain on flowers after the cultivation
process.
Testing for mold, fungus, bacteria, and other microbial organisms should be required to ensure safety and quality, as the
effects of consuming some of these chemicals, especially in the immunocompromised, could be significant. Flowers and
other cannabis products sold to consumers should include cannabinoid profiles, including the content of THC, CBD and
other major cannabinoids, and the number and concentration of doses in a product. This is especially important for
edible products, which can contain widely varying doses of cannabis. Consumers should be sure to inquire about the
potency and dosage of an edible product, especially if they are a novice consumer or if the package is not clearly labeled.
Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. What is the Drug Policy Alliances’ stance on marijuana legalization?
2. What views, statistics, or facts does the Drug Policy Alliance use to support its stance?
3. How is the Drug Policy Alliance’s view different from that of the White House?
4. Whose statement was more effective, in terms of use of facts and communication, and why?
5. Which side do you agree with more: the White House or the Drug Policy Alliance? Why?
DIRECTIONS: Read the articles that follow to prepare for a debate on marijuana legalization.
Swing State Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana, Poll Says [TIME]
Support found in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida
A majority of voters in three key swing states support legalizing marijuana, according to a new poll.
The Quinnipiac survey out Monday shows that 55% of voters in Florida, 52% in Ohio and 51% in Pennsylvania support
allowing adults to “legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use.” Legalizing medical marijuana is even
more acceptable to swing state voters, with 84% of Floridians, 84% of Ohioans, and 88% of Pennsylvanians supporting
medical pot.
Florida and Pennsylvania have pending bills to legalize marijuana this year, and it legalization could become a wedge
issue in he 2016 presidential race.
The poll included more than 1,000 voters in each state.
Marijuana Legislation Gets a Boost on Capitol Hill
[LA Times; Mar. 10, 2015]
Marijuana legalization got a boost on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a trio of rising stars in the Senate launched an effort to
rewrite federal drug laws.
The push to decriminalize at least the medical use of marijuana came from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and
Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Their move comes as another sign of how rapidly the politics of marijuana are shifting on Capitol Hill. Long an issue
avoided by lawmakers with big political ambitions, marijuana legalization now presents opportunities to make inroads
with new voters.
More than half of the American electorate now live in places where medical marijuana is legal, and millions of those
voters are in states where recreational use is also permitted.
Under the proposal by the three senators, the federal prohibition on medical marijuana would be lifted. States that
allow it would no longer be operating in defiance of federal law.
“We as a society are changing our opinions on restricting people’s choices as far as medical treatments,” Paul said. “We
don’t want doctors to be punished for simply trying to help people.”
Though the Obama administration has ordered federal agencies to stop raiding legitimate medical cannabis enterprises - and Congress last year cut off funds for any such busts -- federal law continues to inhibit the medical marijuana
industry.
The senators' legislation aims to end the uncertainty around marijuana law, enabling legitimate pot businesses to access
loans from banks, researchers to explore cannabis as a pharmaceutical, and physicians to use the drug as part of their
treatment regimen.
“My guess is even more tax money will be paid if [marijuana businesses] are allowed to put money in banks and not
brown bags,” Paul said.
The proposal embraces policy ideas from advocacy groups that have long been on the sidelines of Congress, including
the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Policy Project.
A linchpin of the plan is reclassification of marijuana, which the federal government currently places in the most
dangerous category of narcotics, treating it as more harmful than cocaine. Pot would be moved into a less restrictive
category, creating a pathway for medical research that has long been obstructed by the war on drugs.
“This bill we are introducing seeks to right decades of wrong and end unnecessary marijuana laws,” Booker said. “Our
federal government has long overstepped the boundaries of common sense, fiscal prudence and compassion with its
marijuana laws. These laws must change.”
Despite the shifts in many states, the measure could still prove a tough sell in Congress, which has been slow to embrace
state legalization laws. The federal budget bill approved late last year, for example, sought to block Washington, D.C.,
from going forward with a voter-approved measure legalizing recreational pot. City leaders have ignored the directive
and moved forward with legalization.
Opponents of legalization warned that the new proposal goes too far. “This bill is like using a sledgehammer to crack a
nut,” said Kevin Sabet, president of the advocacy group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. “Yes, we should work with
scientists to incentivize research to help groups like cancer patients, but we should not open the floodgates to Big
Marijuana so that businesses can sell pot for profit to people with a headache,” he said.
The senators pushing the measure vowed they would aggressively lobby their colleagues.
“It is outrageous that any parent should be worried about social services knocking on their door because they are giving
their children the medicine the doctor says they need,” Gillibrand said, while standing alongside families who rely on
marijuana to treat debilitating child illnesses.
”I dare any senator to meet these patients here and say they don’t deserve the medicine their doctors prescribed.”
Americans Aren’t Sold Yet on Colorado’s Legal Weed Sales
[Huffington Post, 2014]
Americans are increasingly supportive of legalizing marijuana in general, but they're not yet ready to see Colorado's new
marijuana marketplace replicated nationwide, according to recent polling from CNN/ORC.
A 55 percent majority of Americans said the use of marijuana should be legal, up from just 16 percent 25 years ago.
Most don't consider smoking marijuana to be morally wrong. Nearly three-quarters said marijuana was less dangerous
than alcohol, and 64 percent that it was less dangerous than tobacco products.
Just 33 percent of Americans, however, consider Colorado's law to be a good idea, while 29 percent called it a bad idea
and the largest group, 37 percent, said they're waiting to see what happens. Results are divided largely along age lines,
with adults under 34 the most likely to support the law, and those 65 and over the least likely.
Even if the public as a whole isn't completely sold on retail marijuana, most don't want to see harsh punishments either.
Seventy percent said the federal government should not arrest users and sellers of marijuana in Colorado, and 79
percent said arrests for illegal marijuana possession should lead to a fine, not jail time.
The CNN/ORC poll surveyed 1,010 adults between Jan. 3 and Jan. 5, using live phone interviews.
Americans Support Legal Pot Smoking, As Long As It’s Not In Public Places [Huffington Post, 2014]
Americans are largely in support of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll shows. But the
poll shows Americans are even more likely to support legalizing marijuana use by individuals in their own homes, while
few want it to be legal to light up in public.
According to the new poll, 49 percent of Americans think marijuana should be legalized, while 38 percent said it should
not be. Even more -- 55 percent -- said they would support their state "passing a law making recreational marijuana use
legal but taxing marijuana sales, limiting the sale of marijuana only to people 21 years old or older, and making it illegal
to take marijuana out of state," similar to the laws that have been passed in Colorado and Washington.
Sixty-two percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents, but only 37 percent of Republicans, said they would
support a marijuana legalization law like the ones in Colorado and Washington.
Americans are even more likely to support making it legal for a person to use marijuana in their own home. Sixty-six
percent of Americans said that it should be legal to smoke pot in a private residence, including 72 percent of Democrats
and 70 percent of independents. Even Republicans tended to say that smoking marijuana in a private residence should
be legal, by a margin of 50 percent to 39 percent.
But even among those who are generally supportive of legal weed, there are limits. Only 15 percent of respondents said
it should be legal to smoke marijuana on a public sidewalk, while 18 percent said it should be legal to light up in a public
park. Twenty-five percent said they supported legal marijuana consumption in bars. Majorities of Democrats,
Republicans and independents all agreed that smoking marijuana should be illegal on public sidewalks, in parks and in
bars.
Most respondents (57 percent) also said they would support allowing marijuana use in private marijuana clubs. Sixty-five
percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents, but only 37 percent of Republicans, agreed.
The HuffPost/YouGov poll was conducted July 28-30 among 1,000 U.S. adults using a sample selected from YouGov's optin online panel to match the demographics and other characteristics of the adult U.S. population. Factors considered
include age, race, gender, education, employment, income, marital status, number of children, voter registration, time
and location of Internet access, interest in politics, religion and church attendance.