Changes

As of early 2019, only two countries have legalized recreational use of marijuana, as in 2013 socialist [[Uruguay]] legalized the drug, and [[Canada]], under Trudeau's Liberal Party, legalized marijuana in October 2018. In the United States, nine states have "legalized" the recreational use of marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Vermont and Washington, along with Washington D.C., but not all allow sales of marijuana.  All but three conservative states have either decriminalized marijuana or allowed limited medical usage for specific medical conditions. However, due to the Supremacy Clause, federal law, under which marijuana is illegal, overrules those states which have legalized or decriminalized, so their "legalization" is only de facto effective to the degree to which the federal government refrains from enforcing federal law.

As of early 2019, only two countries have legalized recreational use of marijuana, as in 2013 socialist [[Uruguay]] legalized the drug, and [[Canada]], under Trudeau's Liberal Party, legalized marijuana in October 2018. In the United States, nine states have "legalized" the recreational use of marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada, Vermont and Washington, along with Washington D.C., but not all allow sales of marijuana.  All but three conservative states have either decriminalized marijuana or allowed limited medical usage for specific medical conditions. However, due to the Supremacy Clause, federal law, under which marijuana is illegal, overrules those states which have legalized or decriminalized, so their "legalization" is only de facto effective to the degree to which the federal government refrains from enforcing federal law.

==Legal History==

==Legal history==

===United States===

===United States===

Marijuana was first restricted in the United States on the federal level in 1937, with [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s signing of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.<ref name="Kidd1970">{{cite book|author=Jeannette Kidd|title=Marihuana Tax Act of 1937: Its Causes and Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DStZAAAAMAAJ|year=1970|publisher=University of Wisconsin--Madison|page=57}}</ref> On May 19, 1969, the Supreme Court declared the Marihuana Tax Act unconstitutional due to illegal self-incrimination, a violation of the Fifth Amendment, in the case of Leary v. United States.<ref>https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/395/6/#tab-opinion-1948101</ref>  As a result, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Controlled Substances Act on October 27, 1970, renewing the ban on marijuana.<ref>https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/21usc/811.htm</ref>  From 1973 to 1978, several US states "decriminalized" marijuana, meaning that they would not enforce state laws against minor marijuana use and possession. This began with Oregon, and was joined with Alaska, California, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Nebraska.<ref name="Dufton2017">{{cite book|author=Emily Dufton|title=Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qo6YDgAAQBAJ|date=5 December 2017|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-465-09617-6}}</ref> In 1996 in California, a voter referendum legalized the use of marijuana for medical usages, allowing it to be used for any condition for which a patient presented a doctor's recommendation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Balzar|first1=John|title=Voters Approve Measure to Use Pot as Medicine|url=http://articles.latimes.com/print/1996-11-06/news/mn-62740_1_voters-approve-measure|accessdate=February 9, 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 6, 1996}}</ref>  [[Arizona]] also passed a medical cannabis ballot measure, but it was rendered ineffective on a technicality.<ref>{{citation|title=State-By-State Medical Marijuana Laws|url=https://www.mpp.org/issues/medical-marijuana/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws-report/|publisher=Marijuana Policy Project|date=December 2016}}</ref> Other states followed, and in 2014 Utah became the first state to legalize only some derivatives of marijuana, not the full drug itself.<ref>{{cite news|title=First-of-its-kind medical marijuana law signed in Utah|url=https://www.rt.com/usa/utah-charlees-law-marijuana-409/|accessdate=February 10, 2018|work=RT|date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2012, Washington and Colorado "legalized" recreational marijuana by voter initiative;<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/07/psychological-impact-legalizing-marijuana.html</ref> by early 2018 the number of recreational legal states reached nine with the addition of Vermont.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vermont-marijuana/vermont-senate-passes-bill-to-legalize-marijuana-use-idUSKBN1EZ2KS</ref>

Marijuana was first restricted in the United States on the federal level in 1937, with [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s signing of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.<ref name="Kidd1970">{{cite book|author=Jeannette Kidd|title=Marihuana Tax Act of 1937: Its Causes and Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DStZAAAAMAAJ|year=1970|publisher=University of Wisconsin--Madison|page=57}}</ref> On May 19, 1969, the Supreme Court declared the Marihuana Tax Act unconstitutional due to illegal self-incrimination, a violation of the Fifth Amendment, in the case of Leary v. United States.<ref>https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/395/6/#tab-opinion-1948101</ref>  As a result, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Controlled Substances Act on October 27, 1970, renewing the ban on marijuana.<ref>https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/21usc/811.htm</ref>  From 1973 to 1978, several US states "decriminalized" marijuana, meaning that they would not enforce state laws against minor marijuana use and possession. This began with Oregon, and was joined with Alaska, California, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Nebraska.<ref name="Dufton2017">{{cite book|author=Emily Dufton|title=Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qo6YDgAAQBAJ|date=5 December 2017|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-465-09617-6}}</ref> In 1996 in California, a voter referendum legalized the use of marijuana for medical usages, allowing it to be used for any condition for which a patient presented a doctor's recommendation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Balzar|first1=John|title=Voters Approve Measure to Use Pot as Medicine|url=http://articles.latimes.com/print/1996-11-06/news/mn-62740_1_voters-approve-measure|accessdate=February 9, 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 6, 1996}}</ref>  [[Arizona]] also passed a medical cannabis ballot measure, but it was rendered ineffective on a technicality.<ref>{{citation|title=State-By-State Medical Marijuana Laws|url=https://www.mpp.org/issues/medical-marijuana/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws-report/|publisher=Marijuana Policy Project|date=December 2016}}</ref> Other states followed, and in 2014 Utah became the first state to legalize only some derivatives of marijuana, not the full drug itself.<ref>{{cite news|title=First-of-its-kind medical marijuana law signed in Utah|url=https://www.rt.com/usa/utah-charlees-law-marijuana-409/|accessdate=February 10, 2018|work=RT|date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> In 2012, Washington and Colorado "legalized" recreational marijuana by voter initiative;<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/07/psychological-impact-legalizing-marijuana.html</ref> by early 2018 the number of recreational legal states reached nine with the addition of Vermont.<ref>https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vermont-marijuana/vermont-senate-passes-bill-to-legalize-marijuana-use-idUSKBN1EZ2KS</ref>

===Crime===

===Crime===

The [[liberal media]] typically downplay or completely ignore the role of marijuana in [[Young mass murderers|mass killings]], horrific accidents, and other types of harm to innocent people victimized by users of the drug.  For example, authorities conceal from the public how much marijuana was in the system of "College Weed Dealer" [[Young Mass Murderers|Dzhokhar Tsarnaev]] when he went on his killing rampage.<ref>http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-dealing-drugs/64529/</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://canadafreepress.com/article/can-marijuana-fuel-jihad|title=Can Marijuana Fuel Jihad?|last=Kincaid|first=Cliff|date=|newspaper=Canada Free Press|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|work=|language=en|via=}}</ref>  ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, which has often featured musicians who abuse drugs, put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its July 13, 2013 cover. The magazine's article described him as "a dedicated pot smoker" and local dealer who "always had big Tupperware containers of weed in his fridge." <ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717|title=Jahar: The Making of a Monster|last=Reitman|first=Janet|date=July 17, 2013|newspaper=Rolling Stone|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|work=|via=}}</ref>

The [[liberal media]] typically downplay or completely ignore the role of marijuana in [[Young mass murderers|mass killings]], horrific accidents, and other types of harm to innocent people victimized by users of the drug.  For example, authorities conceal from the public how much marijuana was in the system of "College Weed Dealer" [[Young mass murderers|Dzhokhar Tsarnaev]] when he went on his killing rampage.<ref>http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-dealing-drugs/64529/</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://canadafreepress.com/article/can-marijuana-fuel-jihad|title=Can Marijuana Fuel Jihad?|last=Kincaid|first=Cliff|date=|newspaper=Canada Free Press|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|work=|language=en|via=}}</ref>  ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, which has often featured musicians who abuse drugs, put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on its July 13, 2013 cover. The magazine's article described him as "a dedicated pot smoker" and local dealer who "always had big Tupperware containers of weed in his fridge." <ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717|title=Jahar: The Making of a Monster|last=Reitman|first=Janet|date=July 17, 2013|newspaper=Rolling Stone|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|work=|via=}}</ref>

The current trend of marijuana becoming legal on the state level has lead to increased supply in the United States, which in turn has lead to Mexican drug cartels choosing to switch to heroin and methamphetamine, both far deadlier drugs, due to marijuana commanding a lesser profit margin.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/02/20/mexican-cartels-switch-gears-after-u-s-states-relax-u-s-states-legalize-marijuana-mexicos-cartels-sw/343389002/</ref><ref>https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Heroin#section=Human-Toxicity-Values</ref><ref>https://inhomelandsecurity.com/mexican-cartels-marijuana-profit</ref><ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3145326/</ref>

The current trend of marijuana becoming legal on the state level has lead to increased supply in the United States, which in turn has lead to Mexican drug cartels choosing to switch to heroin and methamphetamine, both far deadlier drugs, due to marijuana commanding a lesser profit margin.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/02/20/mexican-cartels-switch-gears-after-u-s-states-relax-u-s-states-legalize-marijuana-mexicos-cartels-sw/343389002/</ref><ref>https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Heroin#section=Human-Toxicity-Values</ref><ref>https://inhomelandsecurity.com/mexican-cartels-marijuana-profit</ref><ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3145326/</ref>

== Atheism, marijuana usage and amotivational syndrome ==

== Atheism, marijuana usage and amotivational syndrome ==

*[[Atheism and amotivational syndrome]] (Marijuana usage is associated with amotivational syndrome)

*[[Atheism and amotivational syndrome]] (Marijuana usage is associated with amotivational syndrome)

==Tax Revenue==

==Tax revenue==

Marijuana advocates, ignoring the adverse health, cultural, and societal effects of legalized marijuana, point to increased tax revenue in states where it is legal and heavily taxed.<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewdepietro/2018/05/04/how-much-money-states-make-cannabis-sales/#19f8144af181</ref>  Colorado alone has made over $1 billion in tax revenue over the course of its five years of legalization, roughly the same amount that the seven states where marijuana is both legal and taxed made in 2018.<ref>https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/colorado-made-1b-in-marijuana-tax-revenue-what-could-this-mean-for-federal-legalization</ref><ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/03/26/which-states-made-the-most-tax-revenue-from-marijuana-in-2018-infographic/#6f3f0bc17085</ref>

Marijuana advocates, ignoring the adverse health, cultural, and societal effects of legalized marijuana, point to increased tax revenue in states where it is legal and heavily taxed.<ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewdepietro/2018/05/04/how-much-money-states-make-cannabis-sales/#19f8144af181</ref>  Colorado alone has made over $1 billion in tax revenue over the course of its five years of legalization, roughly the same amount that the seven states where marijuana is both legal and taxed made in 2018.<ref>https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/colorado-made-1b-in-marijuana-tax-revenue-what-could-this-mean-for-federal-legalization</ref><ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/03/26/which-states-made-the-most-tax-revenue-from-marijuana-in-2018-infographic/#6f3f0bc17085</ref>

==Interesting Facts==

==Trivia==

*[[Carl Sagan]] used recreational marijuana to help "open his mind".<ref>[http://boingboing.net/2009/10/07/carl-sagan-spaced-ou.html Boing Boing: Carl Sagan Spaced Out]</ref>

*[[Carl Sagan]] used recreational marijuana to help "open his mind".<ref>[http://boingboing.net/2009/10/07/carl-sagan-spaced-ou.html Boing Boing: Carl Sagan Spaced Out]</ref>

*Cannabis was first cultivated in China around 4000 B.C.<ref name="interestingfacts.org"/>

*Cannabis was first cultivated in China around 4000 B.C.<ref name="interestingfacts.org"/>