Decriminalization or to not decriminalize. That is the big question. Will the decriminalization of marijuana be the next revolution of America?

Marijuana prohibition has been in effect since 1937, with trends that closely resemble those of alcohol prohibition-meaning an increase in crime, distrust, and dissension. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to stop Americans from using it, then it has failed, just like the other prohibition failed to make America a "dry" country. It is important to go back and look at the factors leading to marijuana prohibition-especially the stages of exaggeration, silence, and the imposition of severe penalties-before looking at the effects of prohibition during the last half-century.

Let me first point out that I am an advocate of marijuana, and will not argue that marijuana is not harmless. Research shows that marijuana damages short term memory, distorts perceptions, impairs judgment and complex motor skills, alters heart rates, and has the potential to trigger severe anxiety, paranoia, and lethargy (www.ndsn.com). Yet I also feel its effects are in many ways less harmful than those of alcohol and tobacco-for instance, alcohol's potential

When comparing tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, there is strong evidence that marijuana has the least addictive power (www.peretto.com). However, this does not hide the fact that all three can have a strong impact on an individual. As with all drugs, they are capable of disrupting home life, affecting job performance, and causing withdrawal from society. In my opinion, all drugs share this power on equal terms because of the emotional problems of the people who use them; no single drug has more potential for harm than any other in terms of social impacts.

Accusations of marijuana's addictive powers are also under attack from well-designed research studies. During the Nixon administration (1972), the federal government reviewed existing studies and concluded that marijuana did not possess physically addictive traits. The great majority of articles published in medical journals since that time have agreed. For example, Dr. Jack Henningfield of the Addiction Research Center (part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse) and Dr. Neal Benowits of the University of California ranked heroin, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, and marijuana in terms of their power to induce psychological dependence. Nicotine was first, marijuana last. Marijuana also ranked last in terms of producing a physical tolerance to the drug, and was deemed least likely to produce signs of withdrawal upon quitting (Theis, C.F, 1993, p.92).

Penalties for marijuana use fluctuated with popular belief regarding its level of danger. If people believed the effects were particularly bad, the penalties were stiff, but during some decades public attitudes were more lenient, therefore penalties were reduced. Drug use declined, fear increased, and so did penalties throughout the 1950s. One of the first federal mandatory prison sentences was established at that time: 10 years minimum for marijuana possession, and a mandatory death sentence for selling marijuana to a minor (Theis, C.F. ,1993 p.46). During the 1960s and 70s, penalties declined as use increased, with eleven states decriminalizing possession for personal use (Thies and Register, 1993, p.389). Then, in the 1980s, drug use declined and penalties rose. The "three strike" program was established, under which a mandatory life sentence without parole must be given for third-time offenders. Judges no longer have the power to use their own discretion in sentencing, but are required to base their punishment on the "most serious readily provable charge", including a mandatory death sentence for anyone found guilty of managing a major marijuana plantation of 60,000 plants.

Mark Young is a victim of a US District Attorney's overzealous efforts to enforce federal marijuana laws. Young, a resident of Illinois, went on a fishing trip in Florida with some old friends, bringing along some marijuana for everyone to enjoy privately. His Florida friends asked Young to introduce them to the grower, which he did, then was cut out of the deal from that point onward. He was later arrested and charged with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. He had two strikes against him-minor possession charges that were twenty years old-so he faced a life sentence with no possibility of parole, even though he did not benefit at all from the transaction. The District Attorney offered Young a reduced charge if he testified against his friends and others whom he had no prior knowledge of. He refused, and the DA won his case without having to inform the jury about Young's two-strike status. The judge had no choice but to pass down a sentence of life without parole. In a prison interview, Young was quoted as saying, "They've only proved

Some common words found in the essay are:
Theis CF, Research Committee, Thies Register, Drug Abuse, Services Administration, America Marijuana, District Attorney, Tax Act, District Attorney's, Agency DEA, marijuana prohibition, drug abuse, cf 1993, commission marihuana drug, federal government, marihuana drug, grinspoon 1971, commission marihuana, national commission, money spent, national commission marihuana, theis cf 1993, marihuana drug abuse, marijuana users, mandatory death sentence,
Approximate Word count = 2460
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)