Legalizing Marijuana

There are many controversial topics being discussed in the United States today. Some will have more of an impact than others. Some you may have never even heard of. One of the major and most controversial topics in my opinion is whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the US. There are many factors that play a role in deciding if marijuana would be beneficial to our country. In this essay we will dig into the positives and negatives of legalizing marijuana and you can decide for yourself if legalizing marijuana is a good idea or not.

The cannabis plant (marijuana) has been used medicinally by a variety of cultures around the world. It was used as medicine in the United States until when a new tax fee led to its discontinued use. Congress has voted on several bills to legalize the medical use of marijuana; however none of those bills were passed. In June 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that federal laws against marijuana, including its medical use, are valid. The government has authorized few research studies into the health effects of medical marijuana.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved

SUMMARY: In his article, "Understanding the Impact of Legalized Recreational Marijuana On State Tax Revenue," author Tony Nitti implies that the tax revenue from marijuana sales may not be as hefty as they were expected to be. Nitti develops this implication by calculating the amount of tax dollars necessary to pay for the changes that must be made to support legalized marijuana. The author's purpose is to cause the reader to question what they are being told in order to have a more informed vote.

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

Marijuana is illegal in most cities in our country because of the effect it has on the human body. When marijuana is inhaled, THC is released into our bloodstream, brain, and organs. THC levels affect parts in the brain that focus on pleasure, memory, thinking, and coordination. Due to this, marijuana can cause long term damage to one’s brain. Or at least that’s what they want us to believe. There are no real cases where someone has suffered severe

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

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 issue of legalizing marijuana, also known as Cannabis Sativa, has been controversial for a long time, and has become even more so in recent years. Cannabis Sativa is a plant that has been used for a variety of purposes by many cultures for thousands of years. Not only does the Cannabis Sativa plant produce Marijuana, it also produces Hemp. Hemp was used to make food, clothes, shoes, ropes and paper, making it a very useful cash crop. Legal up until 1937, Marijuana was used in America for recreational use, medicinal, and industrial products as well. In the 1960’s the government’s war on all drugs was created putting Marijuana in the same category as Cocaine, Heroin, and Morphine. Today Marijuana remains a

Illegal drug use is a huge part of American culture and one the most controversial of those drugs is marijuana; its technical name is Cannabis Sativa. But whether you call it cannabis, marijuana, pot, reefer, weed, bud, herb, Mary Jane, hemp, grass or wacky tabacci, it is still illegal in the United States. Actually, all over the world the deliberation rages about the harm or benefits that marijuana has to offer. Attempts to legalize it in the United States have been going on since the Marijuana Tax Act was introduced in 1937 and have thus far largely failed. The debate whether or not to legalize marijuana seems to circle around numerous points, including the recreational use verses being a gateway to

Cannabis sativa or marijuana, is most known for its euphoric psychological effects when consumed. Many Canadians take part in the use of marijuana which has been illegal in Canada since the early 1900s. The topic of marijuana legalization in Canada has been a highly controversial topic over the last century. It has been discussed recently in the news due to Washington and Colorado both voting to legalize marijuana in November of 2012. The Liberal and Conservative parties both have highly conflicting views on this topic, and many Canadians’ have the misconception that marijuana is a bad ‘gateway’ drug. Marijuana should be legalized in Canada because tax revenue profits will boost Canada’s economy, save millions of

Debates over the legalization of marijuana have been around for a long time now. The process to pass a law is long. Marijuana has been legalized in some parts around the country, and in different states in the United States. Several articles have been written, some approving of marijuana and some opposing it. The questions of the approval of marijuana come from a long run of opinions. Written articles have been made to express an individual’s own hypothesis over it. The articles “Why It’s Always Been Time To Legalize Marijuana” by Katrina Vanden Heuvel and “The Real Reason Why Pot Is Still illegal” by Lee Fang go further into detail on the pros and cons for the legalization and also differ into shaping up this argument. The authors of the articles

The topic of legalizing marijuana has been a topic of controversy for quite some time now not only throughout our local streets, but throughout the local and into the state government. The legalization of marijuana is such a controversial topic because some are for it and some are against it. People are for the legalization because of the great uses it has towards medicine, the money that could come from the taxation of legalized marijuana, and the emptying of prisons because of the releases of marijuana offenses. The list could go on and on. Other people are against the legalization because it is considered a “gateway drug”, or because the legalization of marijuana would eventually

European countries have differing policies by country in regards to marijuana. European countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland categorize marijuana as a soft drug and its use has been decriminalized. These countries focus less on punishing users, and place the emphasis on education and prevention. In the Netherlands marijuana can be bought in neighborhood coffee shops and not sold by dealers on the streets. Because there will always be portions of any population that will eventually experiment with some form of drugs the coffee shops are regulated by authorities and provide a safer alternative to buying hard drugs being pushed by dealers on the streets. (Government of the

Though all of these factors must be considered, one must also think about the reasons why legal weed could improve the quality of life. For various sicknesses, weed can act like morphine in dulling out reality and ‘Zenning’ a patient out until they reach a certain numbness. In TIME magazine, Andrew Ferguson states that “marijuana is addictive for 10% of regular users—making it less addictive than alcohol (15%) and much less addictive than cigarettes (32%), which are, they point out, perfectly legal.” The main problem the government has with marijuana is the fact that the side effects directly hinder normal functioning, preventing people to make logical decisions and suffering from impaired judgment.

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a plant which when consumed has psychoactive effects. It is believed to have been first used in the 3rd millennium BCE in what is now modern-day Romania (Rudgley). Throughout history, it has been known to be used during rituals and ceremonies, becoming an important aspect of numerous cultures. It has become illegal to possess, sell or use marijuana in various countries beginning in the 20th century, despite that it’s used quite commonly. According to a United Nations’ report, “cannabis was the world’s most widely produced, trafficked and consumed drug in the world in 2010” (Dockterman). Meanwhile, other, more-lethal substances such as alcohol and tobacco are legal and help benefit the economy. If two substances that can easily harm or kill people can be legal, then marijuana should receive the same treatment as they do.