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Cannabis Decriminalization vs. Legalization

November 12, 2020 by Tommy O'Connor 5 Comments

red leaf

On November 3rd, South Dakota became the 15th state to legalize cannabis for recreational use. South Dakota made history by going from the complete prohibition to the total legalization of cannabis. 

Currently, 15 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized cannabis and an additional 16 states have decriminalized it. But, what is the difference between legalization and decriminalization? Is one preferable to the other? Is decriminalization dangerous? Let’s look at what constitutes each and find out.

Decriminalization

Understanding the difference between cannabis decriminalization and legalization is crucial as President elect Joe Biden and Vice President elect, Kamala Harris, stated their support for decriminalization according to New Soothing SkincareMarijuana Moment. 

Decriminalization usually precedes legalization. A state often decriminalizes cannabis for the intent of keeping it illegal while eliminating jail time as a penalty. Instead, the penalty for possession is often a fine. This is confusing as possession and use of cannabis is still prohibited by law. However, perpetrators are virtually protected from criminal prosecution under decriminalization. 

If caught with a small amount of cannabis, decriminalized states treat this as a minor traffic violation. 

Conversely, selling or possessing large quantities of cannabis is still against the law and therefore liable to prosecution. The latter is considered possession with intent to distribute — a completely different offense than possession in small quantities. 

A study on public health concerns surrounding legalization suggested that many supported it in an effort to reduce prison populations and crime rates. However, this same study also shows that legalization correlated with an increase in homicide rates and hate crimes. Subsequently, cannabis’ legalization caused an increase in demand, leading to increased availability and lower costs. Decriminalization may be a good alternative to legalization by decreasing prison populations while possibly avoiding some of the negative correlations mentioned. 

However, while most  don’t consider cannabis decriminalization dangerous, there’s concern over underage usage. 

A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that cannabis arrests involving underage youth decreased in legal states. But these arrest rates still contribute to a large amount of cannabis arrests.

In legal states, arrests among adults decreased more than those among youths. Implying that decriminalization might lower youth arrests more than legalization, the study states, “Decriminalizing marijuana and reducing penalties for underage youth would help reduce marijuana arrests.” 

 

Legalization 

Legalization changes the status of cannabis from illegal to legal. However, this process varies from state to state. In 15 states, cannabis is legal for medicinal and recreational use for adults age 21 and older.

In another 20 states, cannabis is completely legal for medical use. 13 of these 20 states have decriminalized cannabis. Again, this can be a bit confusing. According to the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), medical cannabis is legal in these states, and for the sake of understanding, possessing small amounts of it for recreational use is a fineable offense. 

Cannabis is legal for medicinal purposes in additional 13 states, but there is a limit on the amount of THC that can be used. Two of these 13 states — North Carolina and Virginia — have decriminalized cannabis. 

This leaves only two states, Idaho and Nebraska, where no legalization legislation has passed. However, Nebraska has decriminalized cannabis. Thus, Idaho is the only state which completely prohibits any possession or use of cannabis. 

The Legality of THC

The cannabis leaf with the chemical formula for THC.
THC has become a legal tipping point for some states. Source: Aleksandr Kravtsov/Getty Images

Just as we have seen states overturn federal law prohibiting the use of CBD, we see the same with THC. It should be noted that hemp is completely legal to use and grow in the U.S. Although CBD and THC are derivatives of hemp, the laws on how much THC concentration is legal remain murky.

According to Vape Fuse, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that products with a concentration of under .3% THC are legal for “educational and academic purposes.”

In essence, the entire process of legalization begins with decriminalization and progresses towards legalization in an effort to circumvent federal policy. THC and high THC concentration products are simply going through this journey more slowly than CBD products. 

Ultimately, it is likely THC will follow the same path to legalization that CBD has.

 

 

By Thomas O’Connor

 

Kamala Harris and Jerry Nadler Introduce Federal Decriminalization Bill

Filed Under: Current Tagged With: cannabis, cannabis legalization, decriminalization, legalization, vote

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike says

    May 26, 2023 at 9:39 pm

    What about ANOTHER BOGO which could b HUGE 🙂

    This time it would be

    BUY ONE GET CONGRESS OFF OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS

    or

    BUY ONE GET CONGRESS “CHEMICAL FREE” 🙂

    PLEASE imagine, if, for example,

    EVERY PERSON in California STARTED to PARTICIPATE

    and the MILLIONS OF CANNABIS,HEMP, and WEED products

    that would be SENT to EVERY POLITICIANS’ LOCAL OFFICE in the State 🙂

    PLEASE imagine if the

    BUY ONE GET CONGRESS OFF OF DRUGS

    could be done ACROSS THE USA and

    all the FEDS and the state politicians

    WOULD BE FORCED TO GET THESE PRODUCTS to

    military vets,
    synthetic drug addicts and
    Autism patients

    because they CANNOT BE THROWN OUT 🙂

    BUY ONE GET CONGRESS OFF OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS

    could be a sale that gets so much PR that

    the FEDS cannot continue to hide behind their ridiculous

    SCHEDULE maneuvering because

    We the Patients know that

    “Drug Schedule” MEANS “DRUG ADDICTION” 🙂

    IF the politicians continue to BE ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL

    by taking away OUR PLANT then

    We the Patients can WIN with TITRATION MARKETING and

    BOGO SALES which HELP POLITICIANS’ and POLITICIANS’ FAMILIES health 🙂

    If the MSOs refuse to help and are loyal to the politicians

    then we BOYCOTT the MSOs OUT OF BUSINESS 🙂

  2. Mike says

    May 26, 2023 at 9:42 pm

    Shall we look through the lens of We the Patients

    at the Presidential candidates 🙂

    Even perhaps the Democrats

    (they were WARNED)

    all realize that Biden and Harris ARE,

    As ADVERTISED and As CAUTIONED,

    DRUG WARRIORS

    so if 70% of the USA would like ACTUAL legalization

    and NOT more REGULATED Prohibition

    then Biden has ZERO CHANCE 🙁

    DeSantis also has ZERO CHANCE because

    PLEASE LOOK at his DREADFUL FL cannabis program

    where possessing MORE THAN 20 grams is a

    FELONY – A FELONY – A FELONY

    which means quite definitively that Ron is NOT a CONSTITUTIONALIST 🙁

    It doesn’t take long to see his

    Harvard Eugenics University/Pilgrim society/City of London

    AND

    “Yalies” Skull & Bones CIA background and

    having MORE THAN 20 grams of reefer is a FELONY in FL –
    A FELONY for 3/4 of an ounce;

    all the while, the “informal” market participants in FL are succeeding

    and more chemical farming MONOCROPPING of citrus and other CASH CROPS

    dumps chemicals into the ocean which causes RED TIDE =

    A FAILING GRADE for the FL Governor for

    Growing food as medicine and Growing plants as medicine

    WITHOUT SATANIC CHEMICALS 🙁

    The Democrats are CLEARLY AGAINST cannabis –

    PLEASE VIEW how they let their colleague FETTERMAN

    twist in the wind instead of giving him WHOLE PLANT BOTANICAL medicines

    to resolve his stroke and depression –

    so NONE of them

    (probably not even RFK jr.)

    and NONE of the republicans 🙁

    It is a almost unbelievable situation We the Patients are in that Trump is

    the ONLY candidate NOT against reefer

    and he spoke recently that he is against GMO CANNABIS which is

    SWEET music because it is ANTI GMO which is awesome

    and it doesn’t mimic the NY Times and Psychology Today

    REEFER MADNESS formatting and

    specifically singles out the GMO seeds but

    NOT the Constitutional seeds 🙂

    However, IF there are candidates that want to WIN,

    then those candidates merely have to be

    FULL THROTTLE moving forward with the HEMP ECONOMY and

    We the Patients know that we’ll get medicinal THC back in the process because

    there will be plants growing from sea to shiny sea 🙂

    Please don’t vote for DRUG WARRIORS this time regardless of party

    and please vote for the candidates who will give us OUR PLANT back

    and the Hemp Economy

    (which resolves hopefully all or nearly all of the Baby Boomer’s/Our evil exploitation of human and natural resources = Hemp brings REDEMPTION) 🙂

    Electric cars and synthetic drugs, no thank you 🙂
    Hemp cars and Whole plant botanical medicines, yes please 🙂

  3. Mike says

    May 26, 2023 at 9:44 pm

    “Chemical free” Cannabis, Hemp, and Weed = Titration Marketing will WIN 🙂
    Cannabis is medicine for ALL POOR people of ALL SKIN PIGMENTATIONS 🙂
    NO LEGAL WEED IN USA; ONLY regulated weed 🙁

  4. Mike says

    May 28, 2023 at 8:45 pm

    The Democrats are TOTALLY SCREWED because everyone can see FETTERMAN: poor guy PUT IN THE HOURS to talk to PATIENTS in PA, they get the cannabis program, and NOW FETTERMAN is MASSIVELY IN NEED of Cannabis/Hemp Wellness products to recover from his STROKE and DEPRESSION and NO ONE IN HIS PARTY is CARING FOR HIM, and NONE of the Patients in PA are helping him and NO ONE in Congress to get FETTERMAN any WHOLE PLANT botanical medicines inclusive but not limited to cannabis/hemp = EVERYONE CAN FETTERMAN and We the Patients CAN SEE that THE FEDS DO NOT WANT TO HELP CANNABIS PATIENTS – JUST PLEASE LOOK AT how FETTERMAN is being left by everyone to twist in the wind = the FEDS do not care about cannabis and We the Patients 🙁

  5. Mike says

    June 3, 2023 at 10:50 pm

    Why won’t Cannabis Patients help Fetterman :’-(

    It shows that the DEMS do not care about cannabis as a medicine :’-(

    Other members of the FEDS don’t seem to care about helping Fetterman with botanical medicines either 🙁

    NONE of the FEDS or presidential candidates CARE ABOUT CANNABIS and Fetterman NOT BEING CARE FOR is the evidence and it is horrible 🙁

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