Criminal Laws
Depending on the many fluctuations that have been experienced in the society, the overall criminal laws have similarly fluctuated. More so, since the views and perceptions of situations in society keep on changing. In most cases, these criminal laws vary across time due to the change of thinking and the understanding of certain behaviors in society (Bradford & David Bradford, 2017). The named fluctuations are evident in the enacted laws and the amendment of the already existing laws. An excellent example is the enacted laws associated with the use of certain drugs, specifically marijuana, in the US. Over the years, the use of marijuana and the forms to be used have been debated regarding what is legal and illegal. This paper will focus on analyzing how statutory classifications of crime vary across time and place.
Over time, marijuana has been legalized in the US, mainly for medicinal purposes (Desai et al., 2017). Previously, various acts had been enacted that defined the use of marijuana as a criminal offense, and the accused were charged under the Marijuana Tax Act. In this case, most of the patients suffering from illnesses and conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis use it for pain relief. Since the use of marijuana was associated with specific populations in society, public support advocated for the legalization of marijuana not only for medicinal purposes but also for recreational purposes. The main factor that propelled the development of the legalization of the therapeutic use of marijuana was policy diffusion, evidenced by tests to understand the dynamics surrounding the use of cannabis (Kilmer & MacCoun, 2017). Besides, the political culture also played a role in the development since the original thinking of people in society gradually changed over time.
By the year 2010, over fourteen states in the US had enacted laws that legalized marijuana for medicinal uses, and over eight states had also authorized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. The efforts that led to the legalization of marijuana for various applications led to multiple challenges and benefits. An excellent example is the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes that resulted in helping relieve pain to patients and fill in gaps in the field of medicine (Kilmer & MacCoun, 2017). Another experienced benefit is the creation of business niches in the market since, after the legalization of marijuana, people can now farm the plant and own stores and bakeries specifically for the selling of cannabis products. However, amid the benefits came challenges that are entirely dependent on the form and quantity of marijuana taken. In most cases, the difficulties are experienced as side effects such as addiction, crimes, and violence (Evans, 2019). Therefore, once the use of marijuana is regulated for all the purposes, then the named challenges can be reduced.
References
Bradford, A. C., & David Bradford, W. (2017). Factors driving the diffusion of medical marijuana legalisation in the United States. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 24(1), 75-84.
Desai, R., Patel, U., Sharma, S., Amin, P., Bhuva, R., Patel, M. S., … & Batra, N. (2017). Recreational marijuana use and acute myocardial infarction: insights from nationwide inpatient sample in the United States. Cureus, 9(11).
Evans, D. G. (2019). Marijuana Legalization Will Cause Many Problems for Missouri Law Enforcement and Schools. Missouri medicine, 116(3), 164.
Kilmer, B., & MacCoun, R. J. (2017). How medical marijuana smoothed the transition to marijuana legalization in the United States. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 13, 181-202.