To Be Legalized, or Not to Be Legalized?

To Be Legalized, or Not To Be Legalized?

For one to argue if marijuana should or should not be legalized, they should first be able to see both sides of the argument equally. Having never smoked a cigarette or marijuana, I am not personally familiar with the addiction and effects of cigarettes and marijuana. Alcohol? Special occasions only, and it was never enough to make me slightly buzzed. If I were to take a side, morally I would say that marijuana should not be legalized. Why? While growing up, we as children were taught that drugs were bad. After reading Kim Edward Light's essay, which argued that marijuana should not be legalized, I was convinced to think the same way. Light states, "Marijuana use in the U.S. peaked one year after the eleventh state enacted its decriminalization laws" (282). By looking at the past statistics of the damage alcohol and cigarettes has done on the people in the U.S., Light believes marijuana should not be legalized. But now, I crumple up my original thesis paper, throw it away, and start anew. Why? Since my friends and I do not know much about drugs, I went into work and sought the knowledge of my co-workers, who are part of the "older crowd." After hearing their personal experiences and observations about alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, I was convinced that marijuana should be legalized.

In Light's essay, "Past Experience with Legalization," he