Legalization of Cannabis in the US: Less Criminality

Marijuana is becoming socially acceptable. As of the beginning of this year, it can be purchased legally in Colorado. Legalization has not only generated a flourishing industry, but could also have a lasting effect on the fight against the drug-trafficking mafia.

Could I interest you in a few grams of sweet Bubba Kush, or would you prefer a fresh Durban poison? Maybe, with a bit of peach drink from Denver’s Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, which also contains the chemical responsible for marijuana’s psychological effects, Tetrahydrocannabinol? All people in Colorado can now decide freely with what substances they intoxicate themselves. It is official: As of the beginning of the year, one can legally buy marijuana and cannabis products, and, as it is common in the United States, a flourishing industry has developed almost instantly.

The new business hopes to achieve the status of a billion-dollar industry, especially as pot no longer gets consumed in gloomy smoking areas. Marijuana-related products are now considered lifestyle products for the fashionable and successful “Apple” generation. In coffee shops, customers read “Connoisseur Magazine,” discussing different sorts of cannabis, just like one would during a wine tasting.

Unsurprisingly, marijuana is becoming socially acceptable. Nowadays, are an increasing number of beta blockers, tranquilizers, mood enhancers, antidepressants, and other substances that affect the mind not contributing to the smooth functioning of a stressed individual in an increasingly complex world?

In the United States, in particular, resorting to drugs when things are not going as planned, domestically or professionally, is not perceived as wrong. Regarding the strength and addiction potential of little helpers, the prohibition of a drug like marijuana can be considered obsolete.

Legalization in Colorado is based on a referendum vote. The citizens of Washington also spoke in favor of legalization. Currently, the consumption of marijuana for therapeutic reasons is permitted in 20 U.S. states. As opposed to Germany, for instance, according to a number of surveys, a majority of U.S. citizens are in favor of legalizing cannabis across the country. The atmosphere reminds one of Prohibition in the 1920s. In the spirit of the 1920s, the legalization of pot was celebrated in Colorado in feather boas, Charleston outfits and knickerbockers.

However, it is not all about the right to free intoxication. The reversal of the prohibition of beer and whiskey in the 1930s had a lasting effect on criminality. Following the end of Prohibition, a massive mafia that was active in smuggling alcohol lost business instantly, and the terror of Al Capone disappeared almost overnight. At the moment, 100,000 small dealers and consumers could be released from prison, if the ban on marijuana is overturned.

Uruguay: The State Becomes the Dealer

The drive to decriminalize marijuana has been supported for similar reasons in the drug- submerged, southern part of the American continent, and not only by cocaine addicts and potheads. A number of former and actual presidents actively supported such liberalization.

The president of Uruguay was the first to quickly walk the talk. Jose Mujica is an unusual former guerrilla member, who likes to break conventions. He lives on an austere farm, does not accept a large part of his salary, drives a Beetle, and flies economy class. Uruguay is the world’s first nation where the sale and consumption of marijuana will not only be liberalized, starting in the middle of 2014, but where pot will also be under state control — the state will be the dealer.

This could also be economically beneficial for Uruguay. Pharmaceutical industries have shown interest, especially as the use of cannabis products for therapeutic reasons gains ground on a global scale. This move enabled Mujica’s Uruguay to be appointed “country of the year” by The Economist, a mainstream economics journal that is far from being considered a hippie journal.

Mujica’s decision followed an opinion, which is not only part of South America’s political consensus: The war on drugs, infamously declared by President Nixon four decades ago, has failed. Entire armies have been mobilized to destroy marijuana and cocaine, thousands of people have been killed, and whole regions were contaminated by poison. Yet, the drug industry is steadily expanding; a lot of profit can be made, in spite of it being illegal.

Those in favor of legalization argue that, if cannabis were not prohibited, the cartels would collapse; yet, the ban would have to be lifted nationwide. The billions of dollars used to fight the war on drugs could be better used in terms of prevention and increasing awareness about how to consume drugs responsibly. As we can all agree, a society without drugs has never existed in world history.