US policy on drugs was a driven by the drug war , the US prison population is six to ten times as high as most Western European nations. The United States is a close second only to Russia in its rate of incarceration per 100,000 people. In 2010, more than 746,000 people were arrested in the USA for marijuana related offenses alone. People are realizing across the world that marijuana legalization is vital for medicine. November 6th 2012 marijuana was legalized for recreational use in Colorado and Washington state. People over the age of 21 can possess up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use. At least these people can now carry weed without worrying about the police arresting them. The drug policy alliances is currently working …show more content…
Some infractions are taken more seriously in some countries than others in regard to the cultivation, use, possession or transfer of cannabis for recreational use. A few jurisdictions have lessened penalties for possession of small quantities of cannabis, making it punishable by confiscation and a fine, rather than imprisonment. Some jurisdictions/drug courts use mandatory treatment programs for young or frequent users, with freedom from narcotic drugs as the goal and a few jurisdictions permit cannabis use for medicinal purposes. Routine drug tests to detect cannabis are most common in the United States, and have resulted in jail sentences and loss of employment even for medical use. In most European countries, privacy and labor laws prevent such testing for job applicants. Simple possession can carry long jail sentences in some countries, particularly in parts of East Asia and Southeast Asia, where the sale of cannabis may lead to life imprisonment or execution.Cannabis has been in use for thousands of years. In India and Nepal, Cannabis has long been used in religious