Week 7 Course Project Milestone: Final Paper for Wendy Lewis only

The course project chosen and described in this proposal is the marijuana legalization debate in the USA. For several years, the debate on marijuana consumption has been based on its categorization as a drug capable of abuse and destruction to not only the physical health, but also, mental and social health of the consumers. However, over time, perceptions on marijuana have evolved significantly such that there have been laws that have legalized its consumption in various states in the USA (Amy et al., 2017).

Before beginning to understand marijuana legalization, an understanding of the categorization of marijuana is important as this has implications on what category of marijuana is considered safe and hence socially acceptable. The first category is CBD (cannabidiol) which is a non-psychoactive substance in marijuana which is considered useful owing to its medical benefits. The other categorization is medical marijuana refers to marijuana that has been prescribed by a trained and certified physician to help patients to manage symptoms of certain conditions, for instance patients with intractable seizure. On the other hand, recreational pot is marijuana that is often consumed with no backing of medical justification and contains significant quantities of THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana (Amy et al., 2017).

In the present dispensation, states that have legalized marijuana have done so in an attempt to decriminalize marijuana. This was experienced in the 1990s when five states passed medical marijuana laws that essentially eased the law to have lenient penalties extended to those possessing small quantities of marijuana. However, trafficking of marijuana as well as possession of large quantities of marijuana illegal (Amy et al., 2017).

Since the 1990s, the consumption of marijuana, especially recreational pot, has become more mainstream. Today, many people view its consumption as less harmful unlike in the past years such as the 1970s. For many states that have so far passed marijuana legalization laws, their war on drugs has had an element of decriminalization of marijuana. It should be understood that these states do not essentially legalize marijuana but decriminalize it. This means that those found guilty of trafficking marijuana can still be prosecuted and fined or jailed, depending on the specific stipulations of the marijuana legislations in these states. Finally, the legalization of marijuana continues to be a hot debate as perceptions continue to evolve and become more liberal (Amy et al., 2017).

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