The Marijuana Matrix
Posted on February 24th, 2009 at 5:14pm by bosco Tags: decriminalization, drug war, harm principle, legalization, marijuana, medical marijuana, medicinal marijuana, prohibition 2 Comments »It seems a lot of people I speak to don’t fully understand the difference between legislation for medical marijuana, decriminalization and legalization. This is intended as a visual aid for people in this situation:
| Prohibition | Medical Use | Decriminalization | Legalization | |
| What is it? | Possession, use, distribution and cultivation of marijuana is illegal | Possession, use and cultivation is legal if you have a card saying you’re part of that state medical marijuana program. Laws vary by state, but you typically need a doctor’s note to apply. | Possession and use of certain amounts of marijuana is no longer a criminal offense, meaning you will receive a ticket for it just like you would receive for traffic violations. Laws vary by state, but typically your marijuana will also be confiscated. | Possession, use, distribution and cultivation are legal. |
| What states are they doing it in? | Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming | Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington | Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin | Nowhere |
| What are the common arguments for? | Allowing people to use marijuana in any form and for any reason is a threat to public safety. | Marijuana may provide relief to patients suffering from HIV/AIDs, wasting syndrome, MS and cancer. | Too much money is spent imprisoning people for possessing marijuana. It is relatively harmless and should be treated as a minor offense. | People have the right to do whatever they want as long as they do not harm others. |
| What are the common arguments against? | People have the right to do whatever they want as long as they do not harm others. | Allowing patients to use marijuana sends the wrong message to kids. The plant is dangerous and should not be used by anyone. | Marijuana use is a serious problem which severely impacts public safety. Marijuana users deserve to be put in prison. | OMG! If it were legal everyone would be like dying all the time from using it! OK, I made that up, use your imagination, everything has been tried in this spot. |
| <— Oppression Freedom —> | ||||
