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Marijuana

Physiological and Psychological Aspects of Addiction

In recent years, there has been more and more discussion of marijuana, drug abuse, legalization, decriminalization, and addiction than at any time in the past. These discussions are no longer confined to college campuses, as was the case in the 1960s; now serious consideration is being given to these problems by legislators, judges, lawyers, and members of the medical profession. There are some who believe that legislators, judges, lawyers, and members of the medical profession. There are some who believe that legalization of marijuana use and possession and the decriminalization of other drugs are just around the corner, although others warn that such action ought not to be taken without further study and research in the area of drugs and addiction.

In the present paper, we shall be considering the nature of addiction with an eye toward making some reasonable recommendations concerning the legalization or the liberalization of laws on the use and possession of marijuana, for other the primary argument in favor of maintaining anti-marijuana laws is that addictive drugs should be legally controlled. There is an obvious contradiction here, because, as Howard S. Becker has pointed out:

Marijuana does not produce addiction, as do alcohol and the opiate drugs; there is no withdrawal sickness and no ineradicable craving for the drug.

It will be our argument, then, that legalization of marijuana seems to be feasible and reasonable, at least when one discusses it in terms of addiction, for it is less addictive than alcohol and tobacco, both “legal” drugs.

In order to proceed, however, it will be necessary first to turn to a consideration of the phenomenon of addiction.

It is interesting to note that, even after all the studies which have been done in this regard, scientists and medical researchers have yet to agree on a clear-cut definition of addiction. Perha...

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Marijuana. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:16, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684837.html