Government Challenges to Marijuana Legalization in Various Countries

This essay delves into the multifaceted challenges faced by governments globally concerning marijuana legalization. It explores the obstacles in countries like China, Canada, the USA, and Australia, focusing on issues such as controlling black markets, addressing roadside safety concerns, preventing illegal access by minors, and regulating the production and distribution of marijuana, including concentrates and edibles. The analysis highlights the complexities of implementing and enforcing marijuana laws, whether for recreational or medicinal purposes, and underscores the need for comprehensive strategies to mitigate the challenges and ensure public safety. The paper also discusses the economic and social implications of legalization, including tax revenues, healthcare impacts, and the influence of political parties, offering a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Running head: GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Government Challenges To Marijuana Legalisation
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1GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Table Of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in China............................................................3
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in Canada..........................................................4
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in USA..............................................................5
i. Black market elimination:...............................................................................................5
ii. Roadside safety issues:....................................................................................................6
iii. Illegal access of marijuana among kids:......................................................................6
iv. Issues for green cultivation:.........................................................................................6
v. Controlling concentrates and edibles:.............................................................................6
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in Australia.......................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

2GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Introduction
Marijuana, also known as weed or Mary Jane, ganja or pot is dried greenish blend of
the unfertilised female inflorescence of Cannabis plant. Marijuana is consumed for both
medicinal purpose and amusement or relaxation. Many side effects can be observed like
laughter, and increased appetite changed the perception of time and sensory. Moreover, it
affects the entire nervous system (Zhang & Ho, 2015). The person who consumes it regularly
gets addicted to it, and it results in mental disorder, cardiovascular diseases, schizophrenia,
and many more lifestyle-related problems. Due to these ambiguous effects of marijuana in
human lives, there has been a severe long-term controversy among the people and the
government regarding the legalisation of marijuana in almost every nation (Silins et al.,
2014). This paper focuses on the challenges the governments of different countries are facing
regarding the legalisation of marijuana. Sometimes the government is facing challenges for
entirely banning cannabis and sometimes, the challenges come due to illegal consumption of
marijuana by people for partial legalisation. This paper elaborately discusses all sorts of
government challenges for marijuana.
Discussion
The governments of many countries are facing challenges for the partial or total ban
on marijuana from the people in those countries. There are arrests due to illegal possession
and consumption of marijuana. Moreover, the arrest rate is higher for males than females in
many countries.

3GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Figure 1: Male and Female Discrimination During Arrests
(Source: Devine et al., 2015)
This means that in spite of imposing strict laws, the government is unable to curb the
illegal consumption of marijuana and the number of arrests of people is rising day by day.
The following points elaborately describe the challenges faced by the governments of the
following countries-
i. China
ii. Canada
iii. USA
iv. Australia
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in China
The challenges faced by the Government of China includes all the obstacles the
government is facing for maintaining the illegal status marijuana in China.

4GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
The cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana is totally illegal in China. China
Government is very tough in enacting the anti-drug laws and several actors in China have
been arrested for using marijuana in recreation purpose (Lincoff, 2010). Inspite of all these
strict laws and punishments, China is secretly cultivating marijuana and it has become a
powerhouse for supplying marijuana. These activities are indulging hoarding and black
market production and sale of marijuana. This is a big challenge for the government to
control the illegal production of marijuana in China (Wong & Lin, 2016).
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in Canada
According to Hudak (2014), the prime minister of Canada is flinching to postpone the
legalisation of marijuana, the other provinces are continually forcing to impose legislation on
marijuana’s use. In this way, the challenges are coming for the Canada government regarding
the marijuana legalisation. The government wants to ban marijuana intake for recreation
purpose. It has been proposed that there will be the implementation of saliva testing device in
the roadside to check the presence of marijuana in the drivers’ bodies. However, the science
behind this saliva testing is not enough advanced to verify the presence of marijuana (Hudak,
2014). Thus, the question arises on the legalisation that if the safety checking devices are not
improved enough to control the road safety then why the federal government should hurry to
legalise marijuana (Garvey & Yeh, 2013).
The provinces namely, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan have made plans to
follow zero-tolerance laws for cannabis while driving. This is a challenge thrown to the
people who want to legalise marijuana in those territorries. It is also found that the teenagers
below nineteen years of age, are consuming marijuana illegally which leads school drop outs
every year. It is affecting the student lives. Thus, it is a big challenge for the government to
control the distribution of marijuana to only those who have legal authorisation to consume it
(Caulkins, Kilmer & Kleiman, 2016).

5GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in USA
According to Baude (2014), the first two states in US were Washington and Colorado
to fully leagalize marijuana in 2012 for recreational purposes. Colorado has restricted the use
of marijuana upto one ounce after seeing suicides of people due to consumption of edible
marijuana. This incident challenged the government to act more strictly againts the marijuana
consumption.
Figure 2: Marijuana legalisation by Age and Gender
(Source: Gallup, 2018)
District of Columbia has legalized medical cannabis. Currently, marijuana has been
legalizesd in more than nine states in USA (Reid, 2014). However, there are certain
challenges that are affecting the marijuana legalisation and partial legalisation which are as
follows –
i. Black market elimination:
Most of the countries are legalising marijuana under certain circumstances. Thus
the entire elimination of the black market is practically impossible. Besides, the
tax rates are more than thirty percent. Thus, many people are buying marijuana

6GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
from corner drug dealers. Therefore, the government should choose a different
approach to control it (The Cannabist, 2018).
ii. Roadside safety issues:
Some drivers drive recklessly after high consumption of marijuana. Thus,
legalisation is bringing traffic and highway safety challenges for the government
(The Cannabist, 2018).
iii. Illegal access of marijuana among kids:
The legalised states should take a tough look to those who are sharing marijuana
to minors. The government should make new crime to stop the unauthorised
sharing of marijuana. To combat this situation, the state government should call
public health advocates to track how many kids are being trapped by the
marijuana and how to control the kids from it (The Cannabist, 2018).
iv. Issues for green cultivation:
Some farmers want to hide the marijuana cultivation from public and force the
production within basements or warehouses which lead to huge electricity and
water waste. This also cause diseases and pests infestation. This results to sell
marijuana at higher cost. Thus, the government has to fight for the production
regulation so that the energy and water consumption should not get wasted (The
Cannabist, 2018). The government has to take measures to control the pests.
v. Controlling concentrates and edibles:
The legal marijuana market was surprised by the popularity of marijuana in the
concentrated and edible form. Thus, marijuana can be sold by incorporating it
with other food products like, sauce, cookies, and even in lubricants. This is a
severe challenge for the government to control marijuana access as these

7GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
marijuana infused cookies can impact harfully on scool-going kids. (The
Cannabist, 2018).
Figure 3: Rate of arrests by Chicago Police Department
(Source: Devine et al., 2015)

8GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Figure 4: Rates of Arrests for Cannabis (upper), Ratios of Arrest (middle), and Ratios of All-
Drug Arrest (lower) from 1988 to 2008
(Source: Chu, 2014)

9GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Figure 5: Number of States in US Legalizing Medical Marijuana Per Year
(Source: Clark, 2017)
 Legalisation Challenges for Marijuana in Australia
Australia uses marijuana for medicinal and recreational purpose. About 33.5% (5.8
million) of Australians aged 22 or over have consumed marijuana and one million consuming
it in the last year. Australia has one of the highest marijuana pervasiveness rates in the world,
and Australia's enzootic population has higher levels of marijuana use. However, recreational
use of marijuana is not legal in most of the parts of Australia. On 24th February 2016,
Australia legalised marijuana for medicinal purposes at federal level (Silins et al., 2014).
However, this is not the ultimate solution, the main problem lies in the dilemma that how
accurately the medicinal cannabis cam ne prescribed for a patient as there is no standard dose
od marijuana. It is totally based on trial and error. On the other hand, The green political

10GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
party in Autralia, Australian Greens is fighting against the government’s decision on partial
legalisation oif marijuana. The leader of this party, Richard Di Natale is firmly forcing to
make marihuana legal (Legal highs: arguments for and against legalising cannabis in
Australia, 2018). The government is not able to control the movements and activities of this
party and thus, the government is facing challenges. Besides, the price of the medicianl
marijuana is very high and there is scarcity in the supply of marijuana in the society. Thus,
the patient are deprived to get sufficiet amount of marijuana for their treatments. Moreover,
which ever amount is applicable, it is getting sold illegally for recreation purposes and the
patients are suffering as they are not getting sufficient marijuana for medication. In this
context, the Australian government is facing serious challenges and alternative solution
should be implemented (Hall & Weier, 2015).
Figure 6: The opinions of Australians about marijuana legalisation based on ages
(Source: Cannabis is NOT a Drug, 2018)

11GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the regulation of marijuana is a
very composite affair and the medical ground is not solid arguemnt to be taken in isolation.
The discussion of this paper evolves around the challenges regarding the legalisation of
marijuana in China, US, Australia, and Canada. After the analysis of the different challenges
of the government in different countries, it can be esily understoo that, whether the country is
legalising it completely or partially (for medicinal purpose or restricting for certan groups),
the black market business, illegal consumption, popularity of edible and concentrated
marijuana and other causes have put critical challenges for the government to control the use
of marijuana. However, even if the legalization is approved, then it will let people use
marijuana without the threat of being arrested. Although, legalization will bring the highest
cash producing crop under the law rules and increase in government revenue, the challenge
issues will still be there, causing a threat to the government.

12GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES TO MARIJUANA LEGALISATION
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Everyone Needs to Know®. Oxford University Press.
Cheok, C. C., Lee, J., & Kandasami, G. (2017). Marijuana Abuse in Singapore.
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