Controversy: The Legalization Of Marijuana

Legalizing marijuana is a concept that can potentially benefit the public as well as the local economies. There has been a nationwide debate on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The major consensus is that marijuana is not only bad for one’s health, but it is also dangerous to the community. These allegations are not true. Marijuana actually has health benefits that most people overlook. The following essay will address these health benefits in an attempt to present this concept in a way that the audience can better understand how legalizing marijuana can beneficial to an individual health, how it can give an increase to the economy.

This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.

The topic of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States has been a very controversial one. States such as Colorado and Washington have gone on the offensive and have legalized recreational marijuana and have enjoyed the high revenues brought in from cannabis sale. On the other hand other states have kept low profiles because they are wary of the possible negative outcomes of legalizing recreational marijuana and are using the states of Colorado and Washington as guinea pigs to see what their next course of action on this controversial topic should be. This is not only a highly debated topic among politicians, but also by the people. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center 52% of Americans

Eight states (plus Washington D.C.), have legalized recreational marijuana, and twenty-nine states (plus Washington D.C.), have legalized medical marijuana. The marijuana

The dispute over the legalization of cannabis sativa, more commonly known as marijuana, is one of the most controversial issues ever to take place in the United States. Its use as a medicine has existed for thousands of years in many countries across the globe. Legalization should be considered despite efforts made by groups who say marijuana is a harmful drug that will increase crime rates and lead users to other more dangerous substances. The legalization of marijuana can improve our society by helping with our economy, freeing legal resources, and benefiting the overall health of the nation though medical uses.

The legalization of marijuana has been in dispute since the idea has come into conception. Exists a myriad of stances: legalization strictly for medicinal purposes, decriminalization of possession(treatment instead of incarceration), a complete prohibition, and finally a stance of the legalization of marijuana strictly for the sake of industrial use.

Marijuana legalization has been a topic of interest for many years in this country. How to regulate it? Tax it? Where it can be used? By whom? How old? Who can sell it? Federally legal or locally legal? The penalties involving it? All of those are questions that have been debated about and fought over in courts of law. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been jailed for minor crimes involving Marijuana. It has many proven benefits both economically and medically. The times are changing and prohibition against marijuana is starting to fade away. Although still illegal federally, it is now fully legal in eight different states, and medically legal in thirty! This is great progress, but still isn’t enough. Marijuana will soon be legalized. There is plenty of benefits and I am fully for the legalization of marijuana nationwide.

In 2013 simple pot possession accounted for 67% of every drug crime that police managed to uncover. It’s just common sense that legalizing marijuana would lower the crime rate because there would not be people illegally, growing, selling and most importantly, smoking since 67% of all drug crimes were simply minor possession with intent to use.

The controversy of legalizing marijuana has been raging for quite a while in America. From some people pushing it for medical purposes to potheads just wanting to get high legally. Marijuana has been used for years as a popular drug for people who want to get a high. All this time it has been illegal and now it looks as if the drug may become legal. There has been heated debate by many sides giving there opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in

According to the U.S. drug enforcement administration, under Title 21 of the United States Code (USC) Controlled Substances Act, Section 812, marijuana is “classified as a 'Schedule One ' substance which has no medicinal value.”

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” This was said by one of the most famous scientists in the United States known as Carl Sagan. Marijuana has been one of the most debated topics in the media today, and numerous years before. Altogether, this debate has raised many questions, yet with very few answers of whether the legalization of marijuana should be passed, and expressed throughout the nation as a whole. The fight for legalizing marijuana has embraced itself to see success. The legalization of marijuana is essential in society today for three reasons: failed prohibition does not work, profitable agricultural uses, and its imperative role in medicine.

Just as there have been many cases of negative consequences for the legalization of marijuana…there have also been positive cases. Over the years, the marijuana industry has developed rapidly and generated thousands of new jobs. After the legalization of weed over 18,000 full-time jobs were created and added roughly 2.4 billion USD (US Dollars) to the state of Colorado’s economy. Colorado also accumulated over 10 million USD in taxes from retail sales in the first four months (“7 Ways Marijuana Legalization Has Already Benefited Colorado In Only 8

A number of movements to legalize marijuana have been gaining attention lately. Currently there are 14 states where marijuana is legal for medical use (medicalmarijuana). 41% of U.S. citizens believe marijuana should be legalized (drugpolicy) but others are still concerned about health damage. American society has lost the war against marijuana, and that's okay. We should stop wasting time and money trying to reverse history and instead legalize both medical and recreational use of this mild narcotic widely seen as no more harmful than alcohol.

The debate over whether or not marijuana should be legalized has been active throughout the United States for nearly a century with arguments from both sides, pro and con, posing quite valid points. Research has proven that cannabis, in various forms, has been used for hundreds of years for recreational, medicinal and industrial purposes. Contrary to common misconception, cannabis, or marijuana, is not smoked in all forms. Only the flowers, or buds, and leaves are harvested for recreational use. Some believe that the legalization of marijuana could save the economy and would lower crime rates in certain areas. Marijuana can also be prescribed medically in certain states across the U.S. and is a Schedule I controlled substance, but THC, the

The medical use of marijuana has been a discussion that has been in the news and all around us recently. This is currently a hot topic of interest. There is an enormous amount of evidence that marijuana could be effect against many things. For example evidence shows it could be used to help relieve pain during chemotherapy, but along with this there is also evidence that at times marijuana can cause harm to someone as well. As nurses we must see each side of the debate to make our care for our patients sounder. One quote that directly applies to this topic, which is very important, was written in the Journal of Clinical Nursing: