To what extent do you think the failure of
Prohibition has influenced many states' decisions to begin legalizing the use
of marijuana today? What do you think of the states’ control over these
decisions even as the Federal government continues to ban marijuana use.
I think the failure of the Prohibition of the 1920 had showed to all Americans that if you prohibit something like alcohol, which is very addicting, people would start to rebel and drink even more of it. It is like if you tell a child to stop eating chocolate, the only thing he would think about and crave would be chocolate. As a result now many people believe that this problem applies to any thing including marijuana. They believe that if America would legalise people to smoke marijuana than less people would smoke it as what happened with legalising alcohol.
ReplyDeleteProhibition was completely ineffective and even backfired against the government. Crime rates rose drastically, and people who didn't drink before, started. It was an example of the people's rebellious nature and the way that they react to laws they do not agree with. The United States learned from the past and will not repeat the same mistake again. Many people are using marijuana right now in places which it is illegal. By legalizing it, states are not only giving people a voice through democracy, but they also hoping that the use of marijuana could decrease.
ReplyDeleteThe inception of Prohibition in the 1920s began a period in United States history of resistance. Alcohol became the forbidden fruit of the time, to the point where drinking was expected in everyday life. Alcohol was alluring, not only for the physical buzz that it gave people, but also because of the rebellious feeling that it would give people. During the time people drank exorbitant amounts and in fact drank more than they probably would have had alcohol been legal. Today the United States does not want to repeat their past mistakes with marijuana, by forbidding a product that the people want. In order to take away the temptation of smoking, many believe marijuana should be made legal so that less people abuse it.
ReplyDeleteProhibition did not work out well at all since the death rate increased. The desire to consume alcohol in the society did not decrease, so people started looking for ways to find it. People started producing their own alcohol which was horrible and was the cause of many deaths. Secondly, it created further problems for government, because there were many criminals illegally producing alcohol such as Al Capone. In present days, America wont repeat similar mistake in this case with marijuana. The federal government wouldn't take a decision by itself making citizens of US hate it, so it passed the decision further to state governments. I completely agree that states should decide, not caring about federal governments opinion. Since there are lots of people who support marijuana and who are against it, it should be based on voting in states.
ReplyDeleteProhibition was completely ineffective because many of the people who were never involved with alcohol and didn't support the market began supporting the market. Just because it became illegal more people began to do it. Personally I think that this is a very natural things for humans to do. If marijuana is illegal people may begin using it more, and this will be more of a problem than just making it legal. It is not a very dangerous drug and if it is not abused it causes barely any harm. The best thing to do would probably having the states have boundaries over the use or some regulations but other than that it should be legal to avoid rebellion and uproar the same way it happened in 1920
ReplyDeleteThe failure of prohibition has influenced today's policy strategy in that many states believe that they can make a change as opposed to a nation as a whole. The ideology behind these states' decision is that they want to remove the "taboo" that is associated with marijuana and reduce use in such a way that those who may have been users of the drug will reconsider their decision as a result of the legality. Only time will tell as to how correct these states are but it is certain that their decision is a direct statement against the failed prohibition.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the 1920's Prohibition was a big lesson for most U.S. states. Authorities began to realize that, by banning a certain substance weather that substance is alcohol or marihuana, they will only creat am opposite effect from the one they wanted to create. I support the legalization of marihuana simply because people who want to use it will find a way to get (even if it is illegal), at least now that is legalized they know that they are buying safe products, meaning that they are not mixes of something else.
ReplyDeleteThe failure of prohibition had a big affect upon policies of legalizing marijuana. For example, when alcohol was banned, the drinking rate increased much more. That is why, when people know that something is illegal, they get the adrenaline of doing it, therefore even people that didnt use alcohol before, started consuming it when it got illegal. This is somehow affective in the decision of the legalization of marijuana today, because if they legalize it, probably less people would start doing it.
ReplyDeleteGiovanna Carvalho
When Prohibition occurred it caused an outrage Nationwide. One of the Biggest crooks of US History rose because of prohibition, Al Capone. Yet Prohibition, is something completely diverse then the legalization of Marijuana. Because marijuana has always been illegal, and alcohol has always been legal(+21). Also Alcohol is something the majority of the population consumes, where as weed is a small percentage.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, people who want to smoke Marijuana will smoke it whether it is legal or not.
Thus it reduces the drug crime rate of the state, and satisfies (some) citizens.
Prohibition in the US was a complete failure, in fact it caused many lapses in the government at the time. A sudden halt of all alcohol being legally distributed caused many business failures and job losses. Also, citizens began to make their own alcohol which resulted in many deaths. Another thing is that the crime rate increased because gangs started to distribute their own alcohol underground. The US gov’t does not want to repeat what happened during the prohibition by completely outlawing marijuana. Marijuana use is an extremely controversial topic and that is one of many reasons why it is more useful to be decided by state governments rather than national. Also, if the US gov’t completely outlaws marijuana there would be more criminal activity and more upset civilians, something very similar to the prohibition would most likely occur.
ReplyDelete