End of Marijuana Prohibition?

It has been 41 years since the late President Richard Nixon created the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which assigned tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to the list of Schedule 1 drugs. This prestigious tier describes its list as "no currently accepted medical use...high potential for abuse...most dangerous...and potentially severe psychological or physical dependence." Since 1996, however; it has gained tremendous momentum nationally starting with the Compassionate Use Act when California voters decriminalized it for medical use. Now, the United States government is considering lifting its ban interestingly enough during a time of international conflict. Note the reverse act as compared to Nixon and the Viet Nam War.

Dating back almost to the era of World War I, alcohol prohibition underscored that outlawing a substance made it a prime candidate for business in the black market - chances of arrest raised prices. This "War on Drugs" created a profitable venture for crime syndicates both in and outside of the United States. Latin and South American imports are cheap to manufacture, could be competitively sold in the United States, and are typically higher quality than its U.S. competitors ensuring both short and long-term commercial viability. Lifting a ban on any substance narrows the market for these organizations and reduces the use of the substance among the population.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, nearly half of inmates are incarcerated due to drug-related offenses and I would personally go out on a limb and issue the estimate that a majority of these cases are related to marijuana sales and consumption. The direction of treatment the U.S. government has taken with drug offenses has been more of a legal resource than one of health care and rehabilitation. Legal prosecution vice rehabilitation programs have simply expanded on the problem and not so much the resolution.