From counterculture to the mainstream
- WULR Team
- Mar 11
- 4 min read
The harm in keeping marijuana and psychedelics illegal
Published March 11 2025
Analysis by Nathan May
Americans have been consuming legal and illegal drugs since before the nation was founded. Native Americans introduced tobacco to settlers, and later, California's mega plantations capitalized on federally illegal marijuana farms, generating millions. However, from the 1970s onward, there has been a “War on Drugs,” a government initiative that enforced stricter drug policies and control measures. This led to increased mandatory federal sentencing, harsher policing tactics, and a smear campaign on all drugs, including the use of marijuana and psychedelics, creating mass incarceration for nonviolent offenses, government infringing on individual choice, and risking lives with unregulated products. Curbing these offenses effectively can best be achieved through the legalization of marijuana and psychedelics. Legalization effectively ends racial and socio-economic persecution from possession charges, increases government regulation, and protects the health benefits that come with marijuana and psychedelics.
On January 19th, 2017, President Obama granted clemency to the second-most people in a single day by reducing or ending 330 non-violent drug offenders’ sentences. Obama, writing in the Harvard Law Review, cited his reasoning: “Because I could have been caught up in the system myself had I not gotten some breaks as a kid.”(4) He goes on to talk about how mandatory federal sentencing has been discriminatory toward lower-income convicts and heard personal stories from people like Ramona Brant, convicted for her involvement in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. Her boyfriend was the mastermind of the conspiracy and held a physical and emotional hold over her through physical abuse. The federal sentencing guidelines pre-determined she’d get a life sentence, without the consideration of her coercive boyfriend. Ramona is just one of many convicts sentenced as a result of the War on Drugs.
While it has locked up terrible drug dealers like Ramona’s boyfriend, unfortunately, Ramona and many like her get caught up in the system with effectively no way out except clemency. Most cases like Ramona’s use federal mandatory minimums for drug possession (2). This means that judges must sentence convicts to a certain number of years for certain offenses, regardless of the circumstances of the case. This leads to people being incarcerated for an inordinate amount of time for non-violent crimes. Along with this, Black people in Wisconsin are 4.3 times more likely than white people to be convicted on drug charges (3). While this trend has been declining, it is solely due to Milwaukee County decreasing convictions of black possession by 92% from 2010 (6). Without Milwaukee County, there has been a larger disparate group of convicts since 2010. Either way, discriminatory charging must be stopped. The easiest solution to this problem is to legalize marijuana and psychedelics. This will end all prosecution of possession and dealing charges and end all mandatory minimum sentencing, helping the people who use these drugs to stay out of the legal system.
Looking back in history, the largest illegal substance reports in American history happened during the 1920s (1). During the prohibition of alcohol, the government couldn't regulate the sale of alcohol on the black market. This meant no limits on proof, alcohol sale times, bar opening and closing times, or the drinking age which led to alcohol-consuming Americans becoming casual criminals, jamming the court systems so actual criminals went unpunished. But when alcohol was relegalized, the government could then regulate people’s consumption of it. In addition to safety, illegally selling marijuana and psychedelics could lead to disputes. Involved parties have no legal way to remedy their conflict and often resort to violence and extortion to resolve their conflict. Legalizing marijuana and psychedelics will let the government regulate age, potency, and place of sale. While legalization could lead to increased drug use. It will also increase users’ safety and security. With users being able to knowingly buy from safe, government-regulated, sources. As long as people are buying from regulated firms and not the street. This is what legalization would achieve as firms would sell marijuana and psychedelics.
Every day, some Americans consume the fourth and fifth most addictive substances in the world (2). Alcohol and nicotine have both been shown to be more addictive than marijuana and psychedelics. However, only marijuana and psychedelics are Schedule 1 drugs that hold vast mandatory minimums. Marijuana averages around 90 months and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), one of the most common types of psychedelics, has a 5-year minimum (2). In addition to harsh downsides, alcohol, and nicotine have no known health benefits. Alcohol and nicotine are linked to an increase in cancers in the liver and lungs. Conversely, marijuana and psychedelics have a myriad of benefits, for example, pain relief, treatment, and anxiety (4). Without these simple solutions to combat ailments, people looking for pain relief will be pushed towards more addictive and harmful substances like amphetamines.
Schedule 1 drugs are known to be the most harmful and dangerous substances in the world such as crack cocaine, fentanyl, meth, and heroin. These substances have destroyed lives and families with high levels of addiction and terrible health repercussions. Not only are those substances on the Schedule 1 list, but two others are: marijuana and psychedelics. These two drugs are not the life-destroyers that the federal government has portrayed them as. In this past election, three states have taken a step back and elected not to legalize marijuana. In addition, one state voted not to legalize psychedelics. While we have to respect the democratic process, these ballot outcomes are dangerous. When people see that legalization is failing, they’ll mistakenly believe that it’s because these substances are dangerous. The people must realize the harmful effects of their votes. The easiest way to change the status quo is for the federal government to de-schedule and legalize marijuana and psychedelics through executive and legislative action.
Meg Matthias “Prohibition.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 18 Nov. 2024.
“Quick facts on mandatory minimums” United States Sentencing Commission, 2014
Kevin, Marcilliat. “What’s the federal mandatory minimum for LSD trafficking?” Marcilliat & Mills, PLLC criminal defense attorneys, September 15th, 2017
Obama, Barack. “The President’s Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform.” Harvard Law Review, January 2017.
Sherer, Jessica. “The 5 Most Addictive Substances on Earth.” Addiction Center, July 18, 2024
Chislom, John, and Branden DuPont. “10 Years of Wisconsin Possession of Marijuana Convictions.” 10 Years of Wisconsin Possession of Marijuana Convictions, March 22, 2021
Rosenberg, Jaime. “The Therapeutic Potential of Marijuana and Psychedelics.” AJMC, November 13, 2017.
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