The spread of marijuana legalization, explained

12 Cards

EDITED BY German Lopez

2016-02-01 15:00:00 -0500

  1. Marijuana has been legalized in four states and Washington, DC
  2. Marijuana legalization is a response to the failures of the war on drugs
  3. A majority of Americans now support legal marijuana
  4. 16 states have decriminalized — but not legalized — marijuana
  5. Marijuana is legal for medical purposes in 23 states
  6. Marijuana is illegal under federal law even in states that legalize it
  7. Marijuana is a relatively safe drug — with some risks
  8. The research suggests marijuana legalization could lead to more use
  9. The case for marijuana legalization
  10. The case against marijuana legalization
  11. Uruguay is the first country to fully legalize marijuana
  12. Multiple states could legalize marijuana in the next few years

  1. Card 1 of 12

    Marijuana has been legalized in four states and Washington, DC

  2. Card 2 of 12

    Marijuana legalization is a response to the failures of the war on drugs

  3. Card 3 of 12

    A majority of Americans now support legal marijuana

  4. Card 4 of 12

    16 states have decriminalized — but not legalized — marijuana

  5. Card 5 of 12

    Marijuana is legal for medical purposes in 23 states

    Twenty-three states and Washington, DC, allow marijuana for medical purposes, although their approaches can significantly differ.

    Some, like California, allow medical marijuana dispensaries and home cultivation. Others, such as Alaska, only allow home cultivation. And a few, such as Delaware, allow dispensaries but not home cultivation.

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    There's a growing body of research supporting marijuana's use for medical purposes. Some studies and anecdotal evidence suggest marijuana can be used for various medical problems, including pain, nausea and loss of appetite, Parkinson's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis. But a review of the evidence published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found little evidence for marijuana's ability to treat health conditions outside chronic pain and muscle stiffness in multiple sclerosis.

    One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested the legalization of medical marijuana could even lead to fewer prescription painkiller deaths, since marijuana can relieve pain without the risks of overdose and dependency that come with opioid-based pharmaceuticals. In states that legalized marijuana for medical purposes, there were nearly 25 percent fewer deaths from prescription painkillers than expected, based on historical rates and trends in places that don't allow medicinal pot.

    Medical marijuana legalization also has enormous popular support: a 2010 Pew Research Center survey found that 73 percent of American voters back medical marijuana, including 80 percent of Democrats, 76 percent of independents, and 61 percent of Republicans.

    But the federal government doesn't recognize marijuana's medical potential, largely because the studies have been small so far, and there have been no large-scale clinical trials proving pot's medicinal value.

    Behind that judgment, though, lies a bit of a Catch-22: it's long been difficult to conduct thorough studies on the medical uses of marijuana because of the drug's prohibition and the need for approval from a federal government that hasn't been very interested in studying marijuana's potential benefits. So the federal government is demanding scientific research proving marijuana has medical value, but the federal government's restrictions make it difficult to conduct that research.

    For legalization advocates, getting the federal government to acknowledge marijuana's medical value could be a significant step forward. For one, it would push the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana from a schedule 1 to a schedule 2 substance, which could relax some of the restrictions on the substance. That alone would amount to a huge symbolic shift: after decades of scheduling marijuana in the strictest possible category, a downgrade could be taken as an acknowledgment by the federal government that its old policies have failed.

  6. Card 6 of 12

    Marijuana is illegal under federal law even in states that legalize it

  7. Card 7 of 12

    Marijuana is a relatively safe drug — with some risks

  8. Card 8 of 12

    The research suggests marijuana legalization could lead to more use

  9. Card 9 of 12

    The case for marijuana legalization

  10. Card 10 of 12

    The case against marijuana legalization

  11. Card 11 of 12

    Uruguay is the first country to fully legalize marijuana

  12. Card 12 of 12

    Multiple states could legalize marijuana in the next few years