Legalization of Marijuana

Many advocates say “ Marijuana is a common drug used by many people.”(Sandra) A lot of people think marijuana has numerous amounts of negative effects on the body. Marijuana helps the body in many different ways. It relaxes and relives stress from many people. It has been proven that marijuana does not kill brain cells, like most people seem to think it does. Marijuana also helps the creativity of people. It gives people new

The well known debate over the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in The United States has been ongoing since 1935. Recently Colorado and Washington have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational use. By doing so, the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana has become more of an issue than it already was and now brings other states to question whether or not they should legalize marijuana (Breecher). Which brings about the question is the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Texas a good idea? I believe that legalizing marijuana would be a good idea. Just like the use of alcohol people should be able to choose if they want to use marijuana. Advocates of legalizing the recreational use of marijuana would agree, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana could yield substantial tax revenue, save the government money by decreasing the number of arrests and incarcerations, and quite possibly create a safer driving environment.

The topic of marijuana has been a big topic for the past few years. The United States considers marijuana as a drug, in some other countries they say it is a natural herb that is grown from the ground. The issue at hand is “should marijuana be legalized?” the congress of the US stay in a constant debate on this subject. Why is the subject of marijuana such in high demand, if the US already considers it a drug? There are many facts that need to be looked at before a final decision can ever be made. In contrast since the past two weeks the state of Colorado became the second state in the US to legalize marijuana. Obviously it is possible for marijuana to be accepted into society, obviously there are as much pros as

Legalizing Marijuana Abraham Lincoln once stated that, "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man 's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes… A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." In today 's society, this statement still applies in reference to the illegal use of marijuana. Marijuana prohibition causes far more harm than marijuana itself. Keeping marijuana illegal is expensive and causes crime. Out of four possible connections between drugs and crime, at least three would not exist if drug prohibition laws were repealed. First, crimes which occur billions of times a year are producing, selling, buying, and

On January 1st the states of Colorado and Washington officially began the regulation of legal marijuana sales. Thousands of people from all over the country including tourists from Wisconsin, Ohio, Chicago, and even Georgia lined up out front of dispensaries to make a purchase. Recreational marijuana is being regulated and monitored like alcohol; you must be at least 21 years old to make a purchase. The drug, which is controversial in many states’ legislations, is currently legal for medical use in 20 states, but Colorado and Washington were the first to approve of recreational use (Healy). The geographical concepts involved in the legalization of marijuana include migration, movement and flow, and private/public space.

The United States of America stands as one of the leading territories in the consumption of forbidden

Marijuana is the most common drug in America and all over the world. It is legalized in some countries, but most countries prohibit its use. It has proven medical abilities and was used for this purpose for a while before being federally criminalized. The United States has been debating on the legalization of marijuana with some states supporting the move and others against it. ("10 Facts About Marijuana") Despite all these debates, the legalization of marijuana is the better option of the two. Legalizing marijuana will result in medical, economic and social benefits all over America.

Marijuana is illegal in 48 of the 50 states, but the drug will most likely be legal in the near future. The heated debate on whether the “illicit drug” should be legalized in all 50 states keeps resurfacing. The most popular recreational drug in the United States today is marijuana. The formal name for marijuana is Cannabis but it also goes by a number of other street names including bud, grass, weed, reefer, ganja, hemp, and herb. “In 2011, more than 18 million Americans aged 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month” That is a very large amount of people that have used the drug even before it was legalized in two states. The government has thrown unproven facts about the harmful effects of marijuana to the people to scare them. The United States government has stated that Cannabis does cause lung cancer and includes many carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer. Scientists and researchers have proven the exact opposite considering the drug is now used in many cancer treatments. With this being said, marijuana is not a perfect medicine either. Some of the harmful effects include posing a major irritant to the lungs and increased chance of a heart attack. There are always alternatives to work around these harmful effects. For example, marijuana can be eaten which would cause no irritation to the lungs in any way. As far as the increase chance of heart attack goes, any exercise raises the heart rate just as marijuana does. This means that you

Marijuana use should be legalized throughout the United States. Marijuana legalization is becoming a highly popular argument among the country.

When most people are asked about their opinion of marijuana, not very many actually have a problem with the drug itself. The driving force behind their decision to be against marijuana is based mostly on the fact that it is illegal. TIME magazine held a poll on their website in which they asked their readers if marijuana should be legalized. Given that TIME’s website is not likely to be a full representation of ALL their readers, nor the rest of the people in the United States, an astonishing 80% of the poll agreed that the legalization of marijuana should be put into effect (St. Pierre 1). One philosopher who would probably side with this 80%

People have been smoking marijuana for thousands of years while also using hemp for everything from fabric to make clothes and other items. Unfortunately, Harry J. Anslinger with a bit of power and enough determination decided pot was evil and addictive. The struggle continues to this day to overcome the lies about marijuana (“Marijuana (Weed) History and Facts”). There are many benefits to legalizing marijuana and the government should take advantage of it.

On December 5, 1933, after thirteen years of a costly, ineffective, and harsh law, the inevitable happened: the 18th Amendment was finally repealed and alcohol was legal once again. The 18th Amendment was responsible for the rise of organized crime in America, it was responsible for nationwide corruption in all levels of the government, and because the law was a sinkhole of unnecessary government and tax funds, it exacerbated the pace of the Great Depression. Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel are prime examples of ambitious gangsters that took advantage of prohibition. They monopolized the lucrative illegal business of selling alcohol, and with their tremendous profits they managed to bribe and control

Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.

Prohibition hasn 't stopped the use and domestic production of marijuana so it 's time everyone faced the facts. Marijuana should be legal because punishment such as prohibition or incarceration does not help the country in any way shape or form but in return causes a lot of problems. There is no true good evidence that prohibition or even incarceration decreases the use of drugs or drug dealing. Actually there are many theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase drug use i.e. the "forbidden fruit" effect, and easier accessibility for the youth. Prohibition and incarceration has failed to control the use and domestic production of marijuana. The government has tried to use criminal penalties to prevent marijuana use for more than 75 years and yet marijuana is now being used by over 25 million people every year. Marijuana is currently the largest cash crop in the United States, and marijuana is grown all over the world whether it is grown legal or illegal. Claims that marijuana prohibition is a successful policy are outrageous and very much so unsupported by the facts. Arrests for marijuana possession mostly affect blacks and Hispanics and reinforce many people’s perception that law enforcement is biased and prejudiced against minorities. Blacks account for approximately 13% of the population of the United States and about 13.5%

With the recent uproar of various states legalizing marijuana it seems as if marijuana laws have gotten more complex than ever before. Prove of this is found when observing the legalization status of different states. States like Colorado and Washington have legalized both recreational and medicinal use. Whereas states like New Mexico and Arizona have only legalized Medicinal use. These complexities has confused many supporters of marijuana in terms of understanding the process of full legalization. One common misterpetation is that the government won't allow the states to experiment with marijuana. However according to Adam Davidson in his article titled “Learning From History in Changing Times” He mentions that “All three branches of the federal government have signaled approval of the states' experimentation with marijuana legalization”.(Pg 2119) This means that if one is to hope for legalization anytime soon one must first realize that the states do have a say in its process and thus our voice and our vote really do matter in regards to the legalization of Marijuana.