Cannabis In Canad Case Study

Illicit Substance Laws- Cannabis in Canada
Marijuana is a drug that seems to defy law enforcement and continues to be publicly supported and used. After many years there have been billions of dollars spent on enforcing marijuana laws without any noticeable effect. Leaving marijuana illegal creates an underground economy funding various criminal activities, thus further supporting crime. No matter how many people are arrested and incarcerated it seems as though there has been no effect on the use of marijuana. Canada’s drug policy has been ineffective for decades simply because it is flimsy, and opposed in great numbers. Furthermore as Canadians we must question why some laws remain in place and challenge their usefulness. It is important
Being such a serious decision it is important that people understand both the pros and cons of making such a decision and how it will affect society. In this article Kendall looks at people who have been addicted to marijuana and how it affected them, specifically one case where a high school student starts to smoke pot and his life is severely affected. According to the author his subject “Harry” had started smoking pot and quickly became addicted. Harry’s marks had dropped from high 80’s to barely passing, and he was kicked off the swimming team because he had missed too many practices (Kendall, 2001). Kendall puts forward the idea that today we live in a society that idealizes drug culture, and downplays the seriousness of marijuana use in contrast to the millions of users who abuse drugs like crack, cocaine, LSD, heroin and other hard drugs. To Kendall “The logic behind this thinking doesn’t make a great deal of sense… Sure, it might not be as bad for you as, say, heroin or crack cocaine- but that still doesn’t mean its good for you.” (Kendall,2001) The author also expands on my previous disagreement with Ken MacQueen, the writer of Maclean’s Magazine, “Why it’s time to legalize Marijuana”. According to Kendall (2001) “…most studies of long-term marijuana users show clearly that very few people start using harder drugs without first using marijuana. For instance, marijuana users have 104 times greater risk of going to cocaine than those who have never smoked pot to begin with.” Kendall also points out that marijuana use is addictive, and that it is something his subject “Harry” wished he had known before he smoked. According to Kendall (2001) “ …despite all the talk that it is not addictive-it is. In fact, in 1995 more than 165,000 people entering drug programs reported