Legalization of Marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana

The debate over the legalization of Cannabis Sativa, more commonly known as marijuana, has been one of the most heated controversies ever to occur in the United States. While there are arguments for both sides, there is an overwhelming amount of positive effects that would come from the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized since there is very strong evidence backing its legalization and no justified reason for it being illegal. There have been numerous official reports and studies, every one of which states that marijuana poses no great risk to society and should not be criminalized.

There are a number of reasons in which the legalization of marijuana would benefit the United States. The most obvious reason is the tremendous amount of money the sale of marijuana would bring to the government. If marijuana was legalized it could be regulated by the federal government and turned into a profitable business. On the streets today, marijuana is a multi-billion dollar industry. The government would have a monopoly on the industry if it chose to legalize it and regulate it. The gross revenue would be amazing and the government could use that money to build more schools or pay off our debt. We would also save billions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on the “War on Drugs.” No longer would we have to spend taxpayer’s dollars on food, health care, housing, attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses that it costs to lock people up that just like to get high.

Marijuana is also useful for medicinal purposes. Marijuana has been found to increase the appetite on individuals and relieve nausea in cancer and AIDS patients. The

American Public Health Association has spoken out on the medicinal marijuana issue, concluding, "Greater harm is caused by the legal consequences of its prohibition than possible risks of medicinal use." (MLO 2003) People are being deprived of medicine because of the drug being illegal.

America is the “land of the free” and citizens should have the liberty to do as they please, which includes smoking marijuana. America also supports freedom of religion, and some religions instruct their followers to use marijuana. Some Hindus, Buddhists, Rastafarians, and other religions use marijuana as part of their spiritual ceremonies. If they wanted to practice their religion properly they would have to break the law in order to do so. With marijuana legal, there would be no conflict of interest between practicing religion and abiding by the law.

Marijuana should also be legalized because prohibition is just not working. Marijuana has been around for hundreds of years and there has not been any sign of it slowing down. One out of every five people have tried marijuana in the United States. (Paranoia/drugs 2003) Marijuana is actually easier for high school students to get because it is illegal and readily available. Anyone with money could buy marijuana compared to people over twenty-one needed to buy alcohol. Alcohol was once

prohibited but is now easily regulated by the government because it is legal. Regulation

makes it easier for the government to control exactly who has possession of marijuana.

There are many myths about marijuana that people think are true, but are mostly false. The government spread rumors about marijuana to try and scare people away from the drug. The “studies” that backed these myths have recently deemed unreliable and are not recognized as legit studies. Marijuana is believed to be more harmful than tobacco, which is completely false. Weed and cigarettes do have about the same number of carcinogens in them, but one must take into account how much tobacco a person smokes compared to marijuana. Cigarettes have a ninety percent addiction rate while marijuana is less addictive than caffeine. (Paranoia/drugs 2003) Marijuana could be even safer than tobacco if it was legalized. Pipes, bongs,