The Marijuana Policy in California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Marijuana Policy in California - Essay Example According to the California Health & Safety Code 11018, the definition of marijuana is all the parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether it is grown or not; its seeds, the resin gotten from the plant, and any compound derived or manufactured from the plant. However, it does not include the plant’s mature stalks or any substance manufactured or derived from the stalk. Concentrated cannabis is used to mean the separated resin extracted from marijuana, irrespective of whether it is in purified or crude form. In spite of the fact that the laws for simple possession and the medical marijuana laws in California are among the country’s most progressive, adults who are seemingly responsible are still being arrested or harassed for its possession at an alarming rate. This is for a drug that has been scientifically proved to be safer than both tobacco and alcohol. According to Weintraub & Wood (44), the arrest rates in California for crimes related to marijuana in 2003 stood at 173 for every 100,000 people, and by 2007, the rate had risen to 203 per 100,000. In 2010, preposition 19 received a narrow defeat of 16% to 54%. It was a vote whose aim was to bring to an end the draconian policy of the arrest and prosecution of adults who were caught using marijuana, a substance proven to have less unpleasant effects than alcohol and cigarettes. This was to be achieved through the removal of criminal penalties for offenses related to marijuana as well as allowing local authorities to tax and reg ulate its growth and distribution. Despite its loss, it had the highest percentage of any marijuana legalization initiative that has ever been voted for (Weintraub & Wood 44). California State is ranked number 46 in the country in terms of the total severity of the maximum jail sentences that its residents receive for being in possession of marijuana, this being on a basis of penalties issued for first offenders. When looking at the penalties issued for just less than 1 once of the drug, the state is ranked number 12 together with 10 other states, since due to similarities in the states there are only 12 rankings within this category (McCollum 37).In 2007, arrested related to the possession of marijuana accounted for about 80% of all arrests related to the drug in California. Additionally, arrests related to the drug also accounted for 25% of all arrests related to drugs in the same year (McCollum 37). In recent years, the cultivation of marijuana has been on the increase dramatical ly. DCESP (Domestic Cannabis Eradication suppression Program), a program sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, collects data that does not include all the marijuana plants seized within the state; but these data give an accurate indication of the actual cultivation rates of the drug. As much as getting estimates of how much from the total amounts of the drug cultivated is seized by the authorities, such as the local, state and federal ones is difficult, the overall trend is clear. The total seizures of the pant in California have increased for a period