Legal Marijuana: A Cash Crop for the Criminal Justice Industrial Complex

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Abstract

The legalization of marijuana, in various forms from recreational use to medical purposes, has created a host of opportunities. This work examines two of those opportunities: organizational legitimization and profit-making through a critical criminological lens. From an examination of “Driving While Stoned” laws and new testing mechanisms to raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries and arrests of licensed caregivers, a set of victims and a set of profiteers emerge. Similar to drug laws of the past, the consequences of legalized marijuana are influenced by the possession of social, economic and political power.

Author

• Donna Selman, Eastern Michigan University