For the past few years, Marijuana legalization has been a great debate on a national scale with people pointing out the flaws that come with recreational use and others insisting that the information regarding marijuana’s risks are incorrect and have been distorted.In reality, it’s not only the position one takes that really matters, it seems to be a matter of who has raised the most money for their campaign. Evidently, the people in favor of legalization have an advantage because they are “financed largely by national organizations” as stated by Kirk Johnson in the article “For Marijuana, a Second Wave of Votes to Legalize”. He discusses the problems that come with such an issue and how money is easily effecting it.It seems to be turning …show more content…
Or are they using their resources to convince us of such?With their massive industries and law firms to back them up, it has to finally come down to it,should marijuana be legalized?Are the major companies and well known people donating just for recognition or for the actual cause …show more content…
In the earlier 1900’s, alcohol was also being banned and made illegal but as this changed, made people restless and actually forced people to break the law as they continued under the radar, which is what is happening currently in the U.S. In addition, regardless of what they may say about the risks of Marijuana, it can still affect the brain and one’s behavior which could easily impair one’s ability to drive and even become one of the reasons for increased car accidents just like driving under the influence has impacted so many people’s lives already.Although it can mean that less people would be sent to prison, it is still a drug that can be easily abused or overused.Just as alcohol can easily be abused and make force someone to make irrational decisions, it is possible for this drug,with the possibility of being legalized, to take over the live’s of our youth who now believe it is okay because their parents had tried it a long time ago and lead them to believe that legalization in entire states , means that it isn't such a bad thing after all.Being in defense of marijuana virtually means that one expects it to be used wisely and responsibly, but that alone cannot stop future
In fact, the next issue that needs to be combated to get a two-thirds majority vote in the senate is related to pre-conceived notions, but in the form of interest groups. Surprisingly, most of the time when a politician is running against the legalization of marijuana, they are just running in the interest of big companies that are involved in either the alcohol or pharmaceutical industries. This can be seen through Andrew Cuomo (New York Governor) in which, “His election campaigns have drawn more than $900,000 from alcohol linked donors” (follow the money). The root cause of Cuomo’s and many other politician’s reasons for running against Marijuana is the fact that these big business’s pay them big money because they will lose millions of dollars with the passing of legalization for many reasons
There currently exists a great debate concerning Legalization of marijuana. Many people are against the idea, but there are a number of people who fight for the idea to legalize Marijuana. The people that try to Legalize Marijuana use two major arguments in their effort to have marijuana legalized. First, which is by far the biggest argument is that marijuana has a significant medical use. The second is that marijuana does not cause harm to those that smoke it. Both of these arguments can be easily discounted by the numerous studies that have been done on the effects of marijuana both medicinal and recreational. Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled by the well financed and organized pro-drug
A great many of today's citizens erroneously believe that the criminalization of marijuana came into effect as a result of research conducted with due diligence by trained scientists and physicians. The true reasons behind the criminalization of marijuana had little to do with the supposed harmful effects from its use as a recreational drug and much more to do with the financial bottom line of the entrenched industrial complex of this country. The leading advocates of the campaign to ban the use of marijuana were influential businessmen which held huge stakes in paper, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries. Their interest in promoting the criminalization of marijuana did not stem from an overwhelming concern for public health, but
When is comes to marijuana many U.S citizens have mixed emotions on this topic. The people who are all for it, argue that it would have a great impact on health such as medical marijuana and a tremendous boost in our economy. The opposing side thinks that marijuana can lead into health issues as well as many teens being omitted to the E.R for the marijuana use. Which levaes you with something to think about, Should Marijuana be legalized on a Federal level?
America has become an extremely divided nation when it comes to views on many different intense topics. From abortion to immigration, everyone seems to have strong opinions to voice these days on many sensitive issues. Among these disputes is whether marijuana use should be legalized. Many individuals stand strong against the use of marijuana in any capacity, believing that it is a dangerous drug, while others dispute claims that marijuana is harmful and argue that the drug can even be beneficial. There is overwhelming evidence to prove that marijuana can be beneficial in many health conditions, that it is much safer than alcohol use, and that it brings much needed revenue to the state of Colorado where it
The word "marijuana" has been a concerned topic in almost every American home today. Marijuana, whose botanical name is cannabis, has been used by humans for thousands of years. It was classified as an illegal drug by many countries in the 20th century. Over the past two decades, there has been a growing movement to legalize marijuana, primarily for medical purposes. Opposing views on the subject of decriminalizing the plant has caused much controversy over the past twenty years and still remains an important issue. The legalization of marijuana in the United States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and help reduce some of the national debt through its
Support for legitimizing Marijuana is not new. In any case, demographic changes may support improving marijuana laws. With it’s across the board use among undergrads starting in the 1960's, cannabis is no more a medication connected with edges of society. Today, the National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the most noticeable association campaigning for its authorization, asserts that about 100 million Americans have utilized marijuana. A World Health Organization study reports that more than 40 percent of Americans have attempted it. Defenders of authorizing marijuana can indicate the present lip service among legislators: potentially three Presidents, a Supreme Court Justice, California's Governor, and various conspicuous
Since the very first day marijuana began dominating our country over 30 years ago, federal control of the drug has been the topic of an continuing arguments. Marijuana is a crushed up blend of dried out herbs, seeds and stems of the plant cannabis. Most people inhale it in the shape of cigarettes for pleasure and relief. Should marijuana be made legal? Advocates of the drug argue that there are multiple medical advantages and that tobacco and alcohol are far more harmful for us than the drug itself. This causes us to believe that banning this drug interferes with our rights to freedom. Within the past 10 years, a very high number of operations to allow the use of marijuana have been significantly strengthening in size. Based purely off of the 2011 Gallup survey, 50% of Americans argue that marijuana should not be banned. This high number marks a 4% increase in comparison to the year before. In 2000, this number was only 30%, increasing to 40% in 2009, before reaching 50% in 2011. What this proves, is that aside from our federal attempts to eradicate the use of it, marijuana is seemingly more attractive in society. Not only does it provide medical advantages to the deathly ill, it could also be the root of tax earnings and could be the reason that taxpayers save millions, if not billions of money that is used in the budget for prosecuting these people. It seems as though we are blowing huge amounts of government funding to imprison the citizens participating in nonviolent
In the article For Marijuana, a Second Wave of Votes to Legalize written by Kirk Johnson, it is informing the readers about the contentious issue of whether or not the United States should legalize the use of marijuana to the citizens of each state. Colorado and Washington were the first two states to legalize sales of recreational marijuana to adults, which led to other states like Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C, to follow in their stride of the legalization of marijuana. Although many national groups have organized campaigns to invest millions of dollars for advertising pro-legalization, others have formed campaigns for anti-legalization. Marijuana should not be legalized in the United States unless the people are aware of certain restrictions
As stated earlier, raising tax revenues should be an immense incentive to legalize marijuana. Studies show that “revenue from taxation of marijuana sales could reach up to $8.7 billion per year if taxed like alcohol or tobacco—on top of billions in saved law enforcement resources.” At the moment, marijuana is currently an non taxable drug because it is not a legal federal drug. Although states such as California have legalized marijuana, the drug remains untaxed therefore neglecting millions, maybe even billions, of untapped revenue. Opponents of this view tend to be conservatives and are scared of the unknown. These people argue that the full consequences of marijuana legalization cannot be fully realized therefore we should wait till the consequences can be fully realized. However, states where marijuana can be taxed prove to be great role models and show that marijuana legalization is not as scary as conservatives make it out to be. For example, in Colorado and Washington, marijuana tax collections have transcended previous approximations. Although revenue income seemed nonexistent at first, it was expected as residents had to adjust to the new policies implemented by their state. Tax reports provided by colorado show that in 2014, tax revenues
The legalization of marijuana has upset many citizens, as is defies societal norms in the eyes of numerous people. In addition, this industry has led to a massive gray area in terms of the legal aspects, and it has also become a source of tax revenue, one that has become extremely lucrative in a short period of time. It has gone
Many people who are supporters of marijuana believe that there is a bountiful of money in the industry. For example, in Colorado this past year, marijuana was a $700 million dollar industry and that doesn’t include the licensee fees and all the other little rules that go into the marijuana business. This number is projected to be at 1 billion by the year 2016. $386 million was sold as medical marijuana and $313 million was sold as recreational marijuana all followed up by 63 million in tax. These numbers were from data from one state, imagine the amount of money and the industry that could be possible from making it completely legal. (High
The United States has been involved in a failing battle versus marijuana since the execution of the Uniform Narcotic Act in the 1930's. Americans are not only squandering almost eight billion a year, Americans are losing probable income. Americans could be in a position to gain a profit of a significant amount of revenues if marijuana were to be legal and structured by the Department of Agriculture (Norml, 2014). Revenue from the tax system of marijuana purchases would extend from about two and a half billion for each year if marijuana were taxed like conventional inventory products to six billion if it were taxed like tobacco or alcohol.
One can draw parallels between the prohibition of alcohol and the criminalization of marijuana to see the logic behind this premise. Prohibition was championed by groups such as the Anti-Saloon League who felt that alcohol was a blight on society and spoke out against its ‘evil’ effects. Prohibition was intended to curtail crime, yet crime increased in association with the manufacture, transport and sale of illegal alcohol and led to the birth of organized crime syndicates here in America. Prohibition did not thwart the public’s use of alcohol; it only managed to drive its consumers underground. These scenarios are all similar to what we see today in connection with the criminalization of marijuana.
The legal aspects or laws associated with the use and possession of marijuana is very controversial but not legalizing this drug holds good position on moral grounds. Some people view punishments as inappropriate and legalizing marijuana would send the wrong message to the public. On the other hand, many people prefer to maintain the status of decreasing the harm in society in an attempt to create a drug free America. Before the 1900s, marijuana was