Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

1256 Words6 Pages

The Federal Statute governing marijuana as a Schedule 1 Drugs/Substance is flawed. Marijuana is labeled as a schedule one drug or substance. As a result of this classification, marijuana cannot be legal at the state or federal level. One part of the definition of a schedule one drug is: “no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse”, according to dea.gov. However, the United States is currently using marijuana as an accepted medical treatment. According to the classification of marijuana, it cannot be legal at the state or federal level. However, in the state of Colorado in 2012, recreational marijuana was made legal for adults over the age of 21 years old, at the state level. The individual does not have to be a resident of the state to possess marijuana …show more content…

According to legalize2012.com the definition of a ballot initiative is “a citizen-initiated proposal for a new law” (legalize2012). While the General Assembly is in charge of creating most of the laws in Colorado, “the citizens still have some power to bring new laws directly to a vote of the people through the ballot initiative” (legalize2012). The reason why this process was created was so that the public or citizens could handle issues that were thought to be too controversial or simply not a big enough deal for the General assembly to handle. To begin the ballot initiative process there has to be enough citizens to make awareness and be willing to agree. The first step is citizens getting together and writing the new law that they wish to be created and or changed. Secondly, the citizens try to get enough people to sign their petitions. “If enough signatures are collected (about 86,000 signatures of Colo. registered voters are required), then the law goes on the ballot to be voted on by the people”