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As you will read in this paper, I am a firm believer in legalizing marijuana, I don’t understand why it is still illegal and I e more benefits in legalizing marijuana then keeping it illegal. Not only that but the punishments that they give individuals doesn’t seem to be Just, but they appear rather as a way to make a statement. This paper is going to take a look at the policy for marijuana for both the state and federal government. It will also take a look at the similarities and differences between the two.
Finally, the paper will address all aspects of policy development and implementation. The policy for the federal government as it pertains to marijuana is as follows: Under federal law, marijuana is treated like every other controlled substance, such individuals who commit crimes should all be treated the same, I don’t feel that someone who carries five grams of marijuana should get the same sentence as someone who carries five grams of heroin.
Heroin is a deadly drug that can not only get someone addicted but can kill them as well, while marijuana is a recreational drug that is used, majority of the time, as a soothing high as opposed to a violent one. It is hard to agree with the fact that those criminals should get the same amount of time. Individuals who are on the corner selling heroin and crack are the criminals who are basically attempting murder, because when it comes to drugs like heroin, once you’re hooked, you’ll wither wind up in Jail or dead.
The policy for the state government as it pertains to marijuana is as follows: “Despite possession being decentralized in some states, it is still considered a misdemeanors in others” (“Federal Marijuana Law”, n. D. ). K so here’s my take on this. I don’t believe that individuals should be penalized for doing something that nearly half of all Americans do all the time. During a part of my life, I used marijuana occasionally and I never found that there was anything wrong with it. It is not addictive, you can’t overdose from it, and most important, you can’t die from it.
I have faith in our system that in the near future marijuana will be legalized because it has more benefits being legal as opposed to being illegal. Now the similarities between the two are a few. For both state and federal government marijuana is illegal and you can be punished for it. Obviously where ever you are at, if you get caught with marijuana there is going to be a penalty of some sort. The differences are a little more. While both the state and the federal government see marijuana as being illegal, the sentencing or even Jail time is very different.
As stated previously, the federal government treats marijuana cases as cases that involve any controlled substance. The state government on the other hand, varies in their punishment of being caught with marijuana. There are some states that will give you a fine if you are caught with marijuana, you can be charged with a misdemeanors or even in some instances, and you can be charged with a felony. In those states, it is all a matter of how much you get caught with and the discretion of he police officer who catches you.
It really doesn’t make sense that our government continues to keep marijuana illegal when they can’t even think of the same standing punishment for getting caught with marijuana. The good thing about the federal level is that the punishment is the same as opposed to the states where punishments vary by the amount of marijuana that you will be caught with. When looking into how to develop policies there is a process to follow. Now while I have looked at other information I feel that this 12 step process is the best found.
Define Issue/ Problem, Gather Necessary Information on the Issue, Secure Recommendations from Superintendent, Discuss/Debate at the Board Level, Draft Policy, First Reading, Make Revisions, Second Reading, Adopt Policy, Distribute to the Public, Oversee Policy Implementation, Policy Evaluation and Revision/ Modification” (“Policy Development Steps”, n. D. ). The reason I see this as being the proper way is to develop a policy. Implementation is defined as “the act of putting something into action and to carry out something” (“Implementation”, 2011). Basically implementing something is to put something into action.
The reason that policy development and implementation go hand in hand is because one can’t be complete without the other. Without a policy, what are you supposed to implement and without implementation then what are you supposed to do with a policy. The two do sort of go hand in hand because one can’t function without the other. Marijuana has been a long standing issue that has affected both the state and the federal government for decades. Looking at the way that federal and state governments handle marijuana cases can extremely confuse individuals who are on the other side of the law.
In my opinion, I believe that every state should have a set policy that they are going to follow when dealing with those specific cases. K if you are going to keep marijuana illegal then at least have the same set of rules that apply for every state with every amount. If you are going to give tickets, then give tickets everywhere. If you are going to incarcerate someone, then incarcerate them everywhere. What it looks like is that our criminal Justice system really doesn’t have any idea as to what they are doing. That is why so many individuals don’t believe in our Justice system.
They feel that it either has failed them or that they Just don’t care what is going on. Policies are put into place for a reason, but similar policies should be implemented so that they are the same everywhere. I think that then and only then will some faith be restored into the criminal Justice system. References Federal Marijuana Law. (n. D. ). Retrieved from http://safeness’s. Org/article. PH? Id=2638 Implementation. (2011). Retrieved from http://dictionary. Reference. Com/browse/ implementation Policy Development Steps. (n. D. ). Retrieved from http://www. NASA. Org/spot/toolkit/ Pollsters. HTML