Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2009
ISSN
1068-7955
Publisher
University of Virginia School of Law
Language
en-US
Abstract
This article presents a critique of marijuana prohibition and suggests some alternative regulatory approaches that would be more productive and consonant with justice. Part I relies on a forty-year empirical record to demonstrate that (1) reliance on a law enforcement approach has aggravated rather than mitigated the risks involved with marijuana use, and (2) criminalization, which results in the arrest of more than 700, 000 Americans annually for possession of any amount of marijuana, is an inhumane and destructive response to an act that almost 100 million Americans have committed. Part II assesses the relative merits of several alternative reform policies, including both decriminalization and legalization under a regulatory scheme.
Recommended Citation
Eric D. Blumenson & Eva S. Nilsen,
No Rational Basis: The Pragmatic Case for Marijuana Law Reform
,
in
17
Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law
43
(2009).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3938
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, Legal Remedies Commons
