OH: Legalize cannabis at federal level
It has been more than three years since Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) signed the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act. Under these laws, any adult who is at least 21 years old and resides in New Jersey is allowed to use recreational cannabis. New Jersey is not the only state that has legalized cannabis, as 24 states are currently regulating the use and possession of recreational cannabis.
Despite this, many federal government properties, like Rutgers, prohibit students from using or possessing cannabis because it is still classified as a Schedule 1 drug. This means that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) views the drug as a highly dangerous and addictive substance or chemical that cannot be accepted for medical usage.
But over the last decade, more states began legalizing the use and possession of cannabis, even for recreational purposes. It is becoming clear that people nationwide are beginning to see the benefits of legalizing cannabis.
The federal government is very hesitant to make this change due to century-old cannabis propaganda and the myths about cannabis' effect on your body.
To explain why cannabis should be legal at the federal level, we must go over the extensive history of propaganda against cannabis. Most people believe that cannabis became illegal following former President Richard Nixon's war on drugs, but prejudice against drugs like cannabis goes further back than expected.
In the early 1910s, the U.S. saw a shocking surplus of Mexican immigrants, some of whom used cannabis as a means of intoxication. Lies were built against cannabis, describing it as a drug that incites violent urges and gives users superhuman strength.
More than 20 years later, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Under the act, users of cannabis were subjected to penalties, and the hemp industry was subjected to tighter regulations and an increase in taxes. These came from Harry Anslinger, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner during the 1930s.
Over time, the sentiment against cannabis became less strict, and people began to use the drug more recreationally. That was until the mid-1970s when Nixon signed the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and declared a "war on drugs."
Under the CSA, drugs became classified under five schedules based on medical application and potential abuse. To enforce the CSA, Nixon increased funding for current drug control agencies, proposed mandatory prison sentencing for drug-related distribution, possession or use and founded his own drug control agencies like the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention and the DEA.
But Nixon knew that cannabis was not exceptionally harmful, admitting in March 1973 that the drug was "not particularly dangerous."
John Ehrlichman, Nixon's domestic policy chief, publicly admitted that the war on drugs was mainly used to marginalize protestors of the Vietnam War and Black people.
"We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or Black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and Blacks with heroin and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did," Ehrlichman said.
During the 1970s, many myths about cannabis were fabricated that were later proven wrong through research — cannabis supposedly caused brain damage and was a gateway drug. Although research has proven that none of these points are true, many people still believe in these myths due to the demonization of cannabis.
That being said, cannabis does have its side effects. Some cannabis users may believe that the drug is not addictive or that cannabis has a wide range of medicinal and therapeutic uses. Both statements are now known to be false.
What I am here to prove is that no other substance has been scrutinized more unfairly than cannabis.
To label cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug while approving more dangerous drugs for medical use, like fentanyl and morphine, is completely preposterous. Cannabis is nowhere near as dangerous as any of the other Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 drugs. Still, due to the DEA's current classification of cannabis, many people are ill-informed about cannabis's actual side effects.
Jesse Oh is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communications and Information majoring in Economics and Journalism and Media Studies. Oh’s column, "What's Going On Outside of Rutgers?" runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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