Marijuana: Legalization Essay

Marijuana has a deep history in America, being in the Americas since 1545 when the Spanish brought it over with them. Later, it was again brought over with the English colonists to Jamestown. Here it was used as a large cash crop similar to tobacco and was used as a major source of fiber. Later in the 1890s, a similar plant, hemp, became another large cash crop in the southern half of the US even replacing cotton. Around this time marijuana was also used in medications, although it was not on the scale of cocaine and opium, being used to treat everything from labor pains to rheumatism, “any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain and stiffness” (The Definition of Rheumatism). Further on, in the 1920s marijuana became increasingly more popular with jazz musicians and even special cafes/clubs opening for its use. It was not until the 1930s when a campaign conducted by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics whom labeled marijuana as the harmful “gateway drug” it is seen as today. Though

The legalization of the drug marijuana is a hot topic nowadays. Many people want this substance to be legalized and regularly available like cigarettes. But what some people do not know are the serious health risks involved when using marijuana. There is a lot more to marijuana than just smoking it.

In modern society marijuana has always been considered a sort of taboo subject in the United States due mainly to the fact that it is illegal. Many people don’t realize however that considering the history of our country, marijuana has only been illegal for a relatively short time span. Several of our founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew marijuana for hemp (the material derived from the plant) regularly and there is even speculation Washington smoked the plant occasionally. Back in those days marijuana did not have the sinister reputation it has today but instead was a vital part of colonial life, with the hemp material having a number of uses including rope, clothing, and paper (West, 1998). It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the public opinion regarding marijuana began to shift and restrictive laws were put in place that would eventually lead to illegalization.

In order to gain an understanding of marijuana's so called "harmful" negative effects; it should be compared to other drugs that are presently legalized in this country. In the pharmaceutical world, over-the-counter drugs are being prescribed for everything these days. Ritalin and Adderall are readily available for college students in the university health centers across the country. Kids are staying up all night studying, complaining that they can not pay attention, and are immediately referred to the prescription drugs which in many cases they do not even need. Along with the prescription drug problem in our nation, we have a serious issue concerning alcohol and tobacco. Alcoholism is killing people daily with liver malfunctions

There has never been a death from marijuana overdose. “A person would have to smoke 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint to overdose” (Wing). Marijuana was classified as an illegal drug in 1970, because it can be abused very easily (“infoplease”). Marijuana was then grown indoors. Marijuana is illegally used by many people daily. Marijuana should be legalized because it is naturally grown and can be used to help cancer patients, relieve stress, and be used daily.

Thousands of people die every year from tobacco and smoking related illnesses, and hundreds of innocent people die every year in auto accidents caused by drunk drivers. It 's even possible to die from alcohol poisoning, but marijuana has never been directly attributed to any deaths. Despite all this, public opinion on marijuana is still based on myth and prejudice even though it remains relatively harmless. The harmful effects of marijuana have been exaggerated.

Marijuana or Cannabis is one of the bused drugs in America and the rest of the world. Interesting accumulating evidence show that the significant negative impact of this drug outweighs the positive effects. However, the medical benefits of the drug seem on the process of chemical compounds as compared to the drug itself. Medical debates show that chemical compound in marijuana are the problem as compared to the plant. The said chemical compound affects the mental and physical health of the persons abusing this drug. There have been traditional efforts to control the use of marijuana through legislation laws, (Crick, Haase, & Bewley-Taylor, 2013). However, in the recent past the efforts and the laws are being lifted to relax the implementation of the same legislations and the population is responding fast in accepting the legalization of the use of marijuana. The aim of this paper is to discuss how lifting on the laws of the said drug indicate adverse tolerance of Cannabis among populations. The paper will also discuss impact of legalization marijuana on the safety, security and overall quality of human life. Also, the paper will analyses the effect of relaxation of the laws controlling this drug to other hard core drugs such as cocaine, heroin and meth-amphetamines among others.

The legalization of marijuana in the United States is a long and historically debated subject. Pro-legalization advocates provide many reasons for the decriminalization of marijuana; some of the reasons include, zero recorded deaths from direct use, wasting tax-payer money prosecuting non-violent offenders, and prohibition promotes organized crime. Anti-legalization organizers condemn legalization due to marijuana being considered a gateway drug, moral and religious opposition, legalization could lead to harder drugs being legalized, and the fear that legalization would enable the drug to be more accessible to children. There are many positive and negative aspects of legalization, but personally I am in favor of legalization and

Legalization of marijuana is one of the most controversial topics in American society today. Surveys done by the US Government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive showed that 95 million Americans have used marijuana. There are two opposing sides that have strong stances on whether it should become legal or should remain illegal. We have one side that is anti-marijuana and the other is pro-marijuana. Each side provides valid and strong arguments supporting their views. The purpose of this paper is to carefully examine each opposing side and try to find some way to come to a compromise.

I think people that don’t know how to control or don’t have control over marijuana the weed program the development of the biological control of marijuana program/system, an advisory group was established at the request of biological control researchers who were seeking. It legalizing the use of marijuana as a social catalyst and as a tool with which prior physicians can know about the marijuana controversy, what are the benefits and hazards of medical marijuana?

The United States has been tricking its people for over 50 years, the government continues to say that marijuana is harmful to one’s health and well-being, yet the positives of this drug outweigh the very few negatives. There have been countless studies trying to pin at least one serious side effect of smoking or ingesting marijuana, but these studies are ultimately unsuccessful. Marijuana in fact, has many health benefits, ones that can cure or suppress many modern diseases, some of which can modern medicine to shame, why would we need anything else? There are many other more dangerous drugs on the market. Tobacco, Alcohol and prescription pills, these three things kill hundreds of thousands of people annually, but the government

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.

As defined by the World English Dictionary, hemp is the “the tough fiber of this plant, used for making rope, coarse fabric, etc.” (World English Dictionary) Marijuana not only has an abundance of

less dangerous than tobacco and people smoke less of it at a time. Or you can

     Marijuana cultivation in the United States can trace its lineage some 400 years. For most of our nation's history, farmers grew marijuana, then know exclusively as hemp, for its fiber content. "Colonialists planted the first American hemp crop in 1611 near Jamestown Virginia"(Snyder 241). Soon after King James I of Britain ordered settlers to engage in a wide scale farming of the plant. Most of the sails and ropes on colonial ships were made from hemp, as were many of the colonists "bible, clothing and maps." According to Jess Lord, "George Washington and Thomas Jefferson cultivated marijuana and advocated a hemp-based economy" (89). Some colonies even made hemp cultivation compulsory, calling its production necessary for the "wealth and protection of the country." Marijuana cultivation continued as an agricultural staple in America through the turn of the 20th century.