Legalize Marijuana

The question of whether to legalize drugs or not is very controversial. Drugs affect so many areas of society. For several decades drugs have been one of the major problems of society. There are two views on the legalization of drugs: some people think that they should be legalized, the other group of people think that they must not be legalized. I support those who refuse legalization of hard drugs. Well, and what about marijuana?

Whether you call it hemp, Mary Jane, hash, pot, juane, giggle-smoke, kef, weed, grass, ganja, shit, marijuana, it is still Cannabis Sativa, or Cannabis for a short form (www.encyclopedia.com). It is classified as a soft drug and it is still illegal in our country. Marijuana has been used throughout the world for centuries by almost every culture. The active ingredient in marijuana is called THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. It is smoked in a pipe or rolled in a cigarette or it is eaten (www.nida.nih.gov). I don't have a straight opinion whether marijuana should be legalized or not. However, although legalization of this drug has many disadvantages, I think that marijuana should be legalized for several reasons: it would cause the fall of the black market, the government might control it and the most important reason to legalize marijuana is because of its medical effects.

Some people feel that legalizing of marijuana would increase the number of users due to its availability. Marijuana would become cheaper and more available to people who previously had not tried it because of the legal risk. Some of them also assert, that the temptation to use marijuana would increase when advertisements for it would displayed on television. I disagree with these opinions, because I think that people, who want to smoke marijuana, smoke it - if it is legal or illegal. I know plenty of people who have never smoked cigarettes, although smoking tobacco is legal and there exist plenty of advertisements for many kinds of cigarettes. By a large, these people don't want to smoke and I think that anything would not persuade them. I think that it would be great to sell marijuana at apothecary's, because the black market would disappear and thousands of dealers would be put out of business. Another argument for legalization of marijuana and selling it at apothecary's is, that the government could regulate its use and could receive the profits of the drug business. Legalization of marijuana would benefit the federal budget. The federal revenues would increase, because marijuana cigarettes (shortly joints) would be taxed at the point of sale. In return, the companies that make the cigarettes would also pay