Should Marijuana Be Legalized Essay - 1985 Words

Abstract This project will observe the legalization of marijuana from 2013 to 2014 after the pot law of January 2011 when into effect in order to conclude if there any changes within marijuana arrest and crime rates. Denver marijuana arrestee record data will be used despite race, gender and ethnicity. They will observe marijuana arrestee record from 2013 to 2014 to analyze to see if there any benefit after the pot law of January 2011 when into effect. It is predict that legalization of marijuana will reduce crime. The implications of the results will permit us to find a solution to the marijuana crime that population confronts today. Introduction Should marijuana be legalized to reduce crime rates? Yes, marijuana should be legalized to reduce crime rates. The legalization of marijuana will have a significant impact on the reduction of crime. Making marijuana criminal to use is costing close to eight billion dollar a year in criminal justice resources. It provides net benefit greater that alternatives such as a legal regulated market for marijuana. The legalization of marijuana will decrease the cause of property crime and homicide, marijuana, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, and larcenies along with subsequent increase in hard drug arrest. Literature Review Shepard and Blackley analysis has assessed the impacts of marijuana arrests, conditions in local labor markets, and the effectiveness of local law enforcement upon rates of several non-drugShow MoreRelatedShould Marijuana Be Legalized?849 Words   |  4 Pageswhether marijuana should be legalized. Around 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use. In the state of Illinois, medicinal use of marijuana has been passed on April 17, 2013. Since January 2014, patients are able to obtain marijuana with a doctor s recommendation. The new debate is whether marijuana should be legalized for the general public as a recreational drug. Although some believe that marijuana is harmless, and that it has beneficial medicinal uses, marijuana shouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1715 Words   |  7 PagesMarijuana in Society Cannabis, formally known as marijuana is a drug obtained from the tops, stems and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis. The drug is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Only substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are used more (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). In the U. S. where some use it to feel â€Å"high† or get an escape from reality. The drug is referred to in many ways; weed, grass, pot, and or reefer are some common names used to describe the drug (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). Like mostRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1489 Words   |  6 Pagescannabis plant or marijuana is intended for use of a psychoactive drug or medicine. It is used for recreational or medical uses. In some religions, marijuana is predominantly used for spiritual purposes. Cannabis is indigenous to central and south Asia. Cannabis has been scientifically proven that you can not die from smoking marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized to help people with medical benefits, econo mic benefits, and criminal benefits. In eight states, marijuana was legalized for recreationalRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1245 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana is a highly debatable topic that is rapidly gaining attention in society today.   Legalizing marijuana can benefit the economy of this nation through the creation of jobs, increased tax revenue, and a decrease in taxpayer money spent on law enforcement.   Ã‚  Many people would outlaw alcohol, cigarettes, fast food, gambling, and tanning beds because of the harmful effects they have on members of a society, but this is the United States of America; the land of the free and we should give peopleRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1010 Words   |  5 PagesThe legalization of marijuana became a heated political subject in the last few years. Twenty-one states in America have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington are the only states where marijuana can be purchased recreationally. Marijuana is the high THC level part of the cannabis plant, which gives users the â€Å"high† feeling. There is ample evidence that supports the argument that marijuana is beneficial. The government should legalize marijuana recreationally for three main reasonsRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1350 Words   |  6 Pagespolitics in the past decade would have to be the legalization of marijuana. The sale and production of marijuana have been legalized for medicinal uses in over twenty states and has been legalized for recreational uses in seven states. Despite the ongoing support for marijuana, it has yet to be fully legalized in the federal level due to cultural bias against â€Å"pot† smoking and the focus over its negative effects. However, legalizing marijuana has been proven to decrease the rate of incrimination in AmericaRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1231 Words   |  5 Pagesshows the positive benefits of marijuana, it remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, numerous states have defied federal law and legalized marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use. Arizona has legalized marijuana for medical use, but it still remains illegal to use recreationally. This is absurd, as the evidence gathered over the last few decades strongly supports the notion that it is safer than alcohol, a widely available substance. Marijuana being listed as a Schedule I drugRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay1457 Words   |  6 PagesSHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED? Marijuana is a drug that has sparked much controversy over the past decade as to whether or not it should be legalized. People once thought of marijuana as a bad, mind-altering drug which changes a person’s personality which can lead to crime and violence through selling and buying it. In the past, the majority of citizens believed that marijuana is a harmful drug that should be kept off the market and out of the hands of the public. However, a recent study conductedRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1596 Words   |  7 Pages But what needs to be known before a user can safely and completely make the decision if trying Marijuana is a good idea? Many do not want the drug to be legalized because they claim that Cannabis is a â€Å"gateway drug†, meaning it will cause people to try harder drugs once their body builds up a resistance to Marijuana, because a stronger drug will be needed to reach a high state. This argument is often falsely related to the medical si de of the debate over legalization. It is claimed that this wouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?985 Words   |  4 PagesLegalize Marijuana Despite what people believe about marijuana, it hasn’t once proved to be the cause of any real issue. It makes you wonder what the reason as to why there is a war on drugs. Why is marijuana the main concern? Since the time that alcohol and tobacco became legal, people wonder why marijuana isn’t legal yet. The fact that marijuana is illegal is mainly caused by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war. Once the government starts anything, they stick to it. At

Racism and Ethnicity Issues in Morrison, O´Connor, and...

The central problem in Flannery O’Connor’s story, â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge†, Maxine Hong Kingston’s â€Å"The Woman Warrior†, and Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif†, revolve on the issue of race. Morrison and O’Connor focus on the theme of race specifically between blacks and whites in America. It could be said that Kingston’s â€Å"The Woman Warrior† concentrates on the racial difference between Asian and Caucasian but race is not made to be a big issue in this novel, since almost all of the characters is ethnically Chinese. Instead, the relationships are more marked by nationality. The characters in Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of stories â€Å"Interpreter of Maladies†, are of Indian origin and deal with the problem of ethnicity. In â€Å"Everything†¦show more content†¦All the African American characters, meanwhile, take advantage of the growing equality as an equal class of citizens. It is not surprising, therefore, that the black man Julies tries to befriend is the best-dressed person on the bus or that the large black woman with the hat strikes Julian’s mother for having offered Carver a penny. In Toni Morrison’s â€Å"Recitatif†, the underlying theme deals with racism. An interesting twist is the mystery of the girls’ race. Morrison has described the story as an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for which racial identity is crucial†. Leaving clues, but never stating whether Twyla or Roberta was black or white, Morrison makes it clear that the girls come from different ethnic backgrounds. At one point in the essay Twyla comments, â€Å"That we looked like salt and pepper†. Though the characters are clearly separated by class, neither is affirmed as African American or Caucasian. Morrison never states the race of the girls for a purpose: to make the reader form his/her own opinion. There are many instances that Morrison uses things that are stereotypically â€Å"black† or Antoniou 4 â€Å"white†. Morrison thrives off the stereotypes people have set for blacks and whites. For example, Twyla’s mother told her that â€Å"those† people smelled funny because they didn’t wash their hair. This might suggest that Roberta was black because she believes that

Causes of Criminal Behavior Free Essays

In today’s time, deviance and crime plaque American society. There are vast degrees of deviance, from a simple shoplifter, to a car thief, to a killing machine with no conscience, otherwise known as a serial killer. How is this killing machine created? Where and how does this type of criminal behavior begin? The answers to these questions must be addressed in order to stop the formation of deviance. We will write a custom essay sample on Causes of Criminal Behavior or any similar topic only for you Order Now While searching for these answers, the nature vs. nurture is brought up. Scientist and psychologists have debated over whether a child’s upbringing forms their behavior or whether they are born with a personality disorder, or could it be their body type and brain set up? (Jones 1) Society may never truly know all the causes of this behavior but for now, they wrong upbringing can, without a doubt, increase the chances of violent behavior. It has been said for years that ones parents are the base to make someone the person they become as an adult. Parents are a young child’s role model, but as we grow older we start to have other influences in our lives. People such as our friends, teachers, and other family members are considered to be part of our outside environment. In today’s time we are seeing less nuclear families and more single parent households. (Waggoner 30) Kimberly J. Waggoner did a study called, â€Å"The Project of Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods† which followed 80 young kids, till the age of 30, to see what kind of an impact their childhood had on them as an adult. She found that without two reliable role models, it can make a difference in that child’s behavior. Waggoner 30) She makes a great point that, â€Å"Grandmothers often play an important role in preventing children from developing antisocial behavior, especially those children born to teen mothers. In essence, children with access to extended family and other role models can thrive in a single- parent home. † She also goes on to say, â€Å"Yet, some studies have found that boys raised by their birth mother and a stepfat her are no better off than boys raised by mom alone. † (Waggoner 30) The cause of this could be that the boys look at their stepfather as competitors, rather than role models, who normally help children develop their self-esteem. Boys need to have that male role model in their lives. Without a solid home environment, it could lead a child towards the first step to criminal behavior, which is delinquent behavior. It starts as young as preschool. The child shows aggressive behavior toward their peers, and is than deemed as an outcast. Most times, this creates poor peer relations and causes those children to b e with others who share similar behaviors; usually these relationships continue into adolescents and maybe even adulthood. Waggoner 28) A child’s environment and upbringing has a tremendous effect on who they become as an adult. â€Å"As an adult, we can choose the environment in which to live, and this will either positively or negatively reinforce our personality traits†¦ However, children are limited to the extent of choosing their environment, which accounts for the greater influence of environmental factors in childhood behavior,† says Caitlin Jones, a professor at the Rochester Ins titute of Technology. Jones 4) Even though all these things can cause criminal behavior, they are not the only causes. Parents could be great and do almost everything right and still have a criminal child on their hands. It is a great question they may never be answered, what makes some people commit vindictive criminal acts, while others could not even kill a fly? We may never truly know the answer but, there are plenty of theories on the brain of a criminal. An Italian psychiatrist by the name of Cesare Lombroso has done countless studies of the skulls of criminals and found, â€Å"†¦ each type of crime is committed by men with a particular physiognomic characteristics, such as a lack of a bred or an abundance of hair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rafter 69) In 1876 during an in depth study, Lombroso discovered most skulls of criminals were unusually small or malformed. Some of the skulls had a median occipital fossetta, and others had â€Å"monkeylike anomalies†. (Rafter 70) Criminals are said to look like everyone else, but there are little differences that to the normal person, go unnoticed. So they really do not look a whole lot different than the rest of us, yet they are still thought to be â€Å"backward intellectually compared to an honest man. †(Rafter 69) Another theory behind the criminal mind was brought up in the late 18th century by a German physician named Johann Gasper Spurzheim, and he came to what he thought, was an inescapable conclusion, â€Å"†¦ on the basis of numerous examples I have identified the primary cause of homicide, overdevelopment of the organ of Destructiveness, which is the seat of both negative and useful forms of destruction†¦It is commonly larger in men than women. (Rafter 78) Crimes are committed everyday; there are so many theories on the causes of crime one could talk about them for days. I believe both Lombroso and Spurzheim had great points; criminals are considered to be backward, which causes them to be vain, vindictive, remorseless, and undeterrable. Than, Spurzheim, believing in his organ of Destructiveness. Th ere is just one thing wrong with both of these theories; they leave out the women criminals. Men may be considered to be more physically violent than women but, they are just as capable as men at committing a violent act. Take the case of Andre Yates: in 2001, she systematically drowned her five children in a bath tub. Andre married a man by the name of Rusty Yates in 1993, and than she became pregnant six times in seven years, one ended in a miscarriage. Rusty insisted that Yates home school and take full care of the children herself. This placed heavy burdens on her and isolated her from social support. In early 2001, Andre lost her father and was prescribed antipsychotic drugs, she had her last child and went into postpartum psychosis. After drowning the children, Yates confessed she was not a good mother and was possessed by Satan. (Rafter 6) All the burdens of schooling, caring and cleaning up after five children can drive some mothers crazy. She could not handle all that stress than, after the trauma of losing her father, and having another baby, Andre Yates finally snapped. She is now incarcerated in a mental hospital. Cesare Lombroso also studied women criminals. He compared female offenders to their male counterparts and found â€Å"the few violent women exceed men in their ferocity and cruelty. (Rafter 71) Of course, there are far more crimes that are committed by men than women, yet women should not be eliminated from the world of crime. A criminal is a criminal, regardless of gender. Why do some offenders only commit one crime and others make a career out of it? A range of thoughts and theories exist. Some of those include: Kimberly Waggoner and all her ideas of childhood causes, outside environment, and our upbringing, Caitlin Jones and being able to choose our own environment as an adult to stop potential criminals. Also important are those of Nicole Rafter and the criminal brain, along with Lombroso, on women criminals and their male counterparts. Criminal behavior has been the subject for debate for centuries and will continue to be for centuries to come because, â€Å"Criminals are remorseless, incapable of resisting impulse to harm others, and morally savage, but in other aspects normal. † (Rafter 20) Hopefully, with all the knowledge we have and the studies yet to come, it will help to end the frustration that criminal justice psychiatrist experience while trying to fight crime, instead they will be able to understand, control and prevent crime. How to cite Causes of Criminal Behavior, Papers