1

Annotated Bibliography: Marijuana Legalization

Introduction: Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States and public

policies regarding legalization continues to remain a controversial issue. Progress in the marijuana

field in the last two decades has led to the discovery of various physical and psychological benefits

such as healing migraines and facilitating nausea caused by chemotherapy. Marijuana’s growing

reputation of being a safe and harmless drug has led to increased support amongst Americans as a

lucrative business providing economic value and medical benefits, instead of a drug that one

should be punished for. Although recreational and medicinal marijuana use has been legalized in

21 states in the US, the DEA classified, Schedule I drug continues to remain illegal at a federal

level, which raises concerns to the social and economic implications that may arise from marijuana

legalization. For example, how would the American youth be affected? Various factors are

involved and there should be more to consider than just the benefits of marijuana.

Arria, Amelia M et al. “The Academic Consequences of Marijuana Use During

College” Psychology of addictive behaviors: journal of the Society of Psychologists in

Addictive Behaviors vol. 29,3 (2015): 564-75.

This article is written by a group of Public Health professors at the University of Maryland

and it discusses the indirect and direct effects of marijuana use on the academic

performance of college students. The results of the article were evaluated by taking a

variety of risks and protective factors such as demographics, psychological functioning,

college engagement and drug usage into account. The article shows the correlation between

marijuana use and poor academic achievement and overall academic satisfaction. This
 2

article will be used to demonstrate and support the fact that marijuana use can hinder

academic achievement among college students.

Boffey, Philip M. “What Science Says About Marijuana.” The New York Times, The New York

Times, 30 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/opinion/what-science-says-about-

marijuana.html.

Philip M. Boffey is the former deputy editor of The New York Times and editorial page

writer, focusing mainly on the impacts of science and health. Boffey’s article on marijuana

begins by comparing the health effects other hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine would

implicate on an individual. The article includes the effects of marijuana use on youths and

is supported by a case study in which daily marijuana usage with high frequencies and

amounts would drop a persons’ IQ. The reduction in IQ can bring on adverse effects such

as cognitive degeneration and developmental decline. This article will be well suited to my

research paper as it provides relevant insight on the harms of marijuana and the effects of

its consumption.

Caulkins, Jonathan P., et al. Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford

University Press, 2016.

This book, written by three American drug policy researchers and public policy professors,

provides quality information regarding the latest issues on marijuana policies

internationally. It provides a neutral yet detailed explanation on what marijuana is, the

risks and the benefits of using marijuana and its usage demographics without bias. This

book is relevant to my research as it shows the potential advantages and disadvantages

from legalization and details any gray area option between prohibition and commercialized

production. It also takes the probable impacts of marijuana legalization such as social and
 3

economic effects into consideration. The book includes analyses and graphs based on

surveys taken to illustrate and support its claims. There are ample footnotes provided with

additional details and citations to further support the author’s claims.

Dierker, Lisa et al. “Depression and marijuana use disorder symptoms among current marijuana

users” Addictive behaviors vol. 76 (2017): 161-168.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.08.013.

This article was written by a professor of psychology at the Wesleyan University and

compares marijuana use with depression. The study evaluates whether marijuana usage

frequency is associated with marijuana dependency or usage disorder symptoms. The

article uses data from the six annual surveys of the National Survey of Drug Use and Health

to draw its conclusion which shows that marijuana users with depression were more likely

to experience marijuana use disorder symptoms. This article is relevant to the issue of

legalization and mental illnesses and proved that excessive marijuana use may actually

promote depression, contrary to what marijuana supporters may claim.

Gundy, Karen Van, and Michael S. Staunton. Marijuana: Examining the Facts. ABC-CLIO,

LLC, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central,

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csun/detail.action?docID=4922909.

This book is written by Karen Van Gundy and Michael Staunton, sociologist and doctoral

student in sociology respectively at the University of New Hampshire sheds light on the

scope and impact of marijuana use and abuse in the United States. The authors begin by

organizing their content around the main topics of marijuana such as its risks and benefits,

consequences criminalization and public policies. The book examines usage and substance

abuse trends among multiple demographics and subpopulations and debunks the claims
 4

about medical risks that are associated with marijuana. The book is relevant towards my

research paper as it inspects causes and consequences of marijuana use from a social and

interpersonal perspective and also includes a section whereby the past and the future of

legalization is discussed.