The topic of marijuana legalization has remained controversial for the past few decades. In my view, there is still a lot to be researched before legalizing or decriminalizing this substance, and the process itself needs to be cautious and gradual. Marijuana use and trade are directly related to the criminal justice system; therefore, according to Hartley, Champion, Rabe and Champion (2017), these activities are considered damage to society. Although with decriminalization, there might be a significant decrease in use-related arrests, there is a strong possibility for drugged driving or fights to become more frequent. These will remain dangerous traffic and social offenses; thus, the number of crimes will stay the same, but they will fall under different articles.
Regarding the consequences of legalization, it is important to consider the conditions of the suggested law. If the substance is only allowed for recreational use, the trafficking would still remain illegal. It means that although the justice system will require more evidence or larger amounts of substance to consider the case criminal, they will obtain more opportunities to examine, track, and investigate the supply sources. Additionally, Hartley et al. (2017) mention the practice when “social change arises out of continual iterations of policy” (p. 8). If marijuana is fully legalized, there might be a rise in use among youth, which is dangerous from the physiological point of view, and there will be no legal justification to end it. As it can be seen, there are multiple issues presumably following marijuana legalization. The solutions are not applicable to other drugs like heroin or cocaine, since those are more dangerous in terms of their effects and should not be decriminalized within this law. I believe the justice system should be adequately prepared and reason out all the possible scenarios for social shifts and criminal consequences in case they make the pro-legalizing decision.
Reference
Hartley R. D., Champion D. J., Rabe G. A., & Champion D. J. (2017). Criminal Courts. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Web.