The Pros and Cons of Legalizing Cannabis at the Federal Level

At the beginning of 2021, 15 states and the District of Columbia allow adults aged 21 and over to purchase small amounts of cannabis and use it at their discretion. Another 27 states allow medical patients with qualifying health conditions to use cannabis as treatment. That leaves only eight states where cannabis is prohibited entirely — and of those, two have almost entirely decriminalized the drug, so users don’t face serious penalties for possession or consumption.

Despite all this, the Federal Government has hardly shifted its legislation of cannabis since the middle of the 20th century, when it ruled that marijuana was dangerous, not medically useful and definitely worthy of the harshest criminal punishments. Many Americans believe it is high time that the Feds rethink their cannabis policy — and here are the pros and cons of those arguments:

Pros

Prohibition of cannabis is a restriction of personal freedom. Many Americans believe that the government should not be responsible for telling citizens what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. The U.S. Constitution guarantees the “right of the people to be secure in their persons,” which to many people indicates that laws restricting access to certain drugs are unconstitutional. This argument is most commonly made by those on the far right, many of whom identify as Libertarian, but progressive groups like the ACLU have also claimed that the War on Drugs is constitutionally shaky, at best.

Research shows cannabis to be safe and even medically beneficial. In the 1890s, the British Government conducted a report on hash consumption on the Indian subcontinent, and they found no indication that the drug was medically or socially detrimental. In the 1940s, after the U.S. passed its first sweeping anti-marijuana legislation, the LaGuardia Report conveyed similar findings: that cannabis use does not result in addiction, delinquency or any catastrophic effects whatsoever. While more modern clinical research has confirmed essentially the same thing, it is interesting to note that we were aware of cannabis’s safety during the height of pot-related panic.

What’s more, research continuously confirms that cannabis has myriad medical applications, from improving outcomes for cancer patients to helping with PTSD treatment and reducing frequency of seizures in epilepsy sufferers. Should cannabis become more accessible via federal legalization, researchers could better identify why cannabis provides medical relief and develop more reliable therapies for the future.

The illegal cannabis market fuels violent crime. There is an undeniable association between violent crime and cannabis — but only because the black market for cannabis continues to thrive. When cultivating and selling is illegal, the trade will attract individuals who are less scrupulous about following the law or keeping people safe. Any illegal market is rife with violence, so by legalizing the market for cannabis, the federal government can radically reduce cannabis-associated violent crime.

Cannabis could be a significant market and taxable resource. In addition to lowering violent crime rates, legalizing the cannabis market creates jobs and creates tax opportunities for cities and states. Most states that have approved recreational cannabis sales have seen a remarkable rise in tax revenues; after just four years of legal cannabis access, California has benefited from roughly $2 billion in revenues, which have gone to help environmental initiatives, public health programs and more. Plus, dispensaries in cities like San Jose have boosted local economies. Federal legalization could bring such boons to struggling towns and cities across the country.

Fighting cannabis crime is expensive and unrewarding. The government needs to allocate funds to enforce laws. This money goes to paying federal agents to investigate potential crimes, arrest perpetrators, organize trials and manage convicted offenders in prison; the required funding for cannabis law enforcement often totals hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Yet, cannabis law enforcement does little to mitigate the black market. Proponents of legalization suggest that funding would be much better spent on programs like education or healthcare, which provide more obvious good than the arrest of cannabis sellers or users.

Cons

Some Americans have moral objections to drug use. Recreational drug use isn’t for everyone. Many Americans morally object to the consumption of intoxicating substances, like weed. However, instead of merely abstaining from these substances themselves, they believe that no one should have safe, legal access. By making cannabis illegal, moral objectors hope that interest in cannabis consumption will decrease and that more people will be compelled to adhere to a more virtuous lifestyle.

There are more advantages to legalizing cannabis than there are disadvantages — but those who are against cannabis legalization tend to believe that the con is a significant one that should not be overlooked. Hopefully, this list will help readers develop an informed opinion on the issue of federal cannabis legislation.