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Legalizing Marijuana Political Ideology

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Social control theory maintains that shared social norms, values, beliefs, and commitments encourage conformity (Siegel, 2012). This theory relates to the significance of political ideologies in relation to the legalization of marijuana because the Democratic Party and the Republican Party share different values and beliefs in regards to legalizing marijuana. Depending on what values and beliefs an individual or group of people share in regards to legalizing marijuana has the potential to determine which political party and ideology they support.
Methodology
The preceding review of the literature informs the following research hypothesis of the present study: The more liberal a state is the more likely the state is to vote to legalize medical …show more content…

This review will discuss the literature on the effect of political ideology on public policy. It will then discuss research on the change in attitudes and policy on marijuana and then research on the politics of changes in marijuana policy. As of March 2017, 28 states have legalized medical marijuana and 8 states and the District of Colombia have legalized marijuana for recreational use. According to the Pew Research Center, the most common reasons for supporting legalizing marijuana are its medicinal benefits (41%) and the belief that marijuana is no worse than other drugs, specifically alcohol (36%) (Smith, 2014). In the most recent election year, four states including California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Maine, passed ballot initiatives legalizing marijuana for recreational use. This is significant because now one in five Americans live in a state where the recreational use of marijuana has been legalized (Robinson, …show more content…

The use of marijuana is most common among young people (“Marijuana,” 2017). The mental and physical effects of marijuana contribute to the controversy over legalizing marijuana. Marijuana has proven to have both short-term and long-term effects on the human brain. When an individual smokes marijuana, the chemical compound in cannabis called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. However, if an individual eats marijuana in the form of an edible the THC is absorbed more slowly. The THC reacts with specific brain cell receptors and stimulates the parts of the brain that contains high numbers of these receptors. This reaction causes the “high” associated with marijuana and the effects can include “altered senses, altered sense of time, changes in mood, impaired body movement, difficulty with thinking and problem-solving, and impaired memory” (“Marijuana,” 2017). Some of the debated long-term effects include stunted brain development, and a decline in thinking, memory, and learning

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