Leadership ethics of legalizing marijuana ESSAY

Leadership ethics of legalizing marijuana

Marijuana, also known as “weed”, “grass”, “bud”, or “pot”, is the second most commonly used “recreational” drug in America, behind only alcohol, a legal substance. The drug comes from the leaves of the hemp plant, “cannabis sativa”. It has a high concentration of the drug’s active ingredient, Tetrahydrocannabinols, also known as THC. While many users smoke the leaves of the plant to get “high” (psychologically impaired), studies show that marijuana has many legitimate medical uses. These uses include alleviating nausea due to chemotherapy, improving the severe weight loss of AIDS patients, and treating pain which may not respond to mainstream opoids such as Morphine.

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Marijuana has been used throughout history for both medical and spiritual purposes. It has been used to relieve stress, reduce pain, and cure fatigue, however United States Federal Law classifies marijuana as a schedule I substance in the Controlled Substances Act. This act defines schedule I drugs as having three traits:

The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” (Controlled Substances Act 2002)

This act does also define Tetrahydrocannabinols as a schedule I drug, thus making the possession of marijuana illegal under federal law.

However, some state governments have gone against the federal precedent and legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. In 1996, California was the first such state, under Proposition 215. However, even within these states, some counties may choose to not support the legalization. This had led to the arrest of many patients who may have unknowingly travelled into the wrong county.

Outside the United States, the legislation regarding marijuana possession and use is much less restrictive. Parts of Canada and several countries in Europe have legalized the use and possession of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes. The figure below shows several legalization levels for nations around the world. As one can see on the map, a majority of European nations as well as most of South America have decriminalized marijuana use whereas most of the United States are red, meaning marijuana is confirmed illegal.

There are three possible options for legalization, each with its own benefits, drawbacks, and ethical issues for our leaders. The three options are complete prohibition (US Federal Law), legalization of medicinal marijuana (California Law), and the complete legalization.

This paper seeks to not only analyze the three options for legalization (or prohibition), but more so to evaluate the issue’s implications for the ethical decisions of leaders. The issue of marijuana becomes an ethical issue when you consider the fact that prohibition of the drug also prevents patients from getting the aid they need. Leaders of the United States and any other government dealing with this issue need to consider the ethical implications of their decisions.

As discussed in Defining Moments, these decisions can be considered “right vs. right” decisions or decisions where both options seem to be “right”. In the case of marijuana legalization, leaders and lawmakers are considering the ethical weight of allowing patients the medicine they need or completely preventing the abuse of an “illicit” drug. Both decisions seem “right” in their own ways but the options exclusive of each other. This forces leaders to evaluate their own morality and utilize their ethical decision making capabilities to make a decision that, based on all ethical factors, they can consider “right”.

Through the examination of ethical, legal, and economic factors, this paper will reveal that the legalization of marijuana is the most “forward thinking” and ethical option for dealing with marijuana. However, in order to enact this change, transformational leaders who recognize the benefits and drawbacks of all options must be a part of the decision making process. The paper strives to reveal significant insight to the following question. Why do leaders choose to support or oppose the legalization of marijuana? Considering pertinent evidence, what option for the legalization of marijuana is most ethical? And, what type of leadership is necessary to do t………………….