Conflict in America Legalizing Marijuana Research Paper

Conflict in America Legalizing Marijuana - Research Paper Example During the previous government, this drug was illegal; however, when Obama’s government took power, it legalized marijuana and several states followed suit. This did not amuse the federal government, who were opposed to the move; it criticized the act and even went forth to pronounce legal action on those states and people found trading marijuana. Since this is an issue that may threaten national stability in the United States, it can be resolved by having the two bodies harmonize and come up with the best solution, rather than living with disputes. Keywords: Marijuana, State Laws, Federal Laws Every new government in the US comes with its own laws that favor it; the laws made reflect the promises of the new government and its political party. During the reign of President George W. Bush between the years 2001 to 2009, the government had enforced laws against marijuana. It took actions against those who dealt with the drug. However, when the government of President Obama took office, there was a different approach on marijuana; the government no longer took actions against those who were trading on the drug. According to Morgan (2011), the attorney general announced that the government was no longer going to deal with issues of marijuana peddling anymore. The announcement caused a lot of uproar from those who did not support the idea. The memorandum by the attorney general acknowledged the presence of conflict on marijuana between the federal and the state laws. As at present, the federal laws prohibit all deals on marijuana and according to the US drug enforcement administration, marijuana lacks a safe way of using it and has a high potential of becoming abused (Morgan, 2011). On the other hand, the state laws do not conform to the federal laws. An example of this is California, which became the first state to legalize marijuana, and 15 other states soon followed it. The many conflicts surrounding marijuana are not only found at federal and state domain s. This issue is also present in the medical domain; there are two contrasting arguments of medics concerning marijuana, with one group arguing that the use of marijuana has no effect to the body and the other arguing that it has effects. The American thoracic society reported that most marijuana users had no increased lung infections, while the British lung foundation had filed a report in 2002 citing the adverse effects of marijuana in the human body (Morgan, 2011). Conflict on marijuana is a major issue and of great concern. The greatest effect to Obama’s government is in the political arena. This is because most of those who are opposed to the move could use this chance to ambush an attack to the government, especially given that during the reign of the Republican Party, Marijuana was banned. Democrats’ risk losing their popularity among anti-marijuana citizens and organizations. Most international organizations and nations classify marijuana as a drug and in most countries, its use and trade is prohibited and punished by law. Permission by American government to its citizens to trade and use marijuana offers risks to the country; these include risks of losing reputation amongst international communities among others. In the New York Times, Savage (2012) informs that, â€Å"Several had cautioned that the issue had raised several legal and complex issues†. The complex issues were based on international antidrug