Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

Cannabis has been illegal since the Marijuana Tax act of 1934. Yet out of a population of 284 million American citizens, 70 million Americans claim to have smoked cannabis at some point in their lives. Prohibition of cannabis is therefore apparently ineffective at changing the habits of a population, just as prohibition of alcohol was ineffective in 1919-1933. Making otherwise law-abiding citizens fugitives does nothing more than fill the prisons and alienate the populace from their government. In fact the total cost to taxpayers of solely marijuana-related incarceration (in local, state, and federal prisons and jails) of 15,400 people exceeds $1.2 million per year.

Marijuana legalization has been a controversial topic requiring a public policy solution in the political realm. There have been various arguments made for and against the legalization of marijuana. There are several states that have legalized marijuana use for medicinal purposes while others have let their guards down completely allowing citizens to use it not only medicinally, but recreationally as well. While the use of marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, there is much discussion by other states regarding policies to support marijuana legalization and many policy makers proactively planning for the possibility

By legalizing marijuana less harm will be caused. This creates high levels of crime; addicts are forced to commit crimes to pay for a habit that would be easily affordable if it were legal. Police sources have estimated that as much as half the property crime in some major cities is committed by drug users. More drastically, because drugs are illegal, participants in the drug trade cannot go to court to settle disputes, whether between buyer and seller or between

The United States government, in order to solve the marijuana problem, needs to completely legalize the drug and place similar regulations on marijuana as it does alcohol. It should not only be decriminalized; decriminalization would only legalize the possession of marijuana. If the government chose to decriminalize the substance, it would still waste millions of dollars in prosecuting all other marijuana related crimes. Decriminalization would also fail to make the sale of marijuana legal in the country, thus losing a product with the ability to provide the country with a substantial source of revenue. Marijuana should be legal for sale to all individuals over the age of twenty-one. The reason for the age restriction of twenty-one is due to the similar effects of alcohol and marijuana. Both of these substances are mild intoxicants (Ford). The government must also place the same sales tax on marijuana as it places on tobacco and alcohol; without this special tax, the government’s profit on the taxation of marijuana would be noticeably less.

Marijuana has been around for a long time and its use has become wide spread in America. So much so, that an underground culture and economy have formed around it like a protective shroud. For most people, a supply of marijuana is only a phone call away (ICSDP.) Yet it has been illegal to possess, use, grow, or distribute since the thirties. Despite the possibility of becoming addicted to marijuana, many use it recreationally, while others rely on the medicinal effects of marijuana to alleviate a variety of diseases. Thirteen states have enacted medical marijuana laws and programs despite federal prohibition policies against the use of marijuana. Twelve more states are in the process of following this trend and if they are successful in

Medical marijuana is legalized in 29 out of the 50 states in the United States and the main goal is to obtain legalization in all states (Procon, 2017). People around the world have different views of using marijuana for medication, especially when it is being used for children. The benefits of marijuana are endless and it can be used for numerous different medical conditions. Of course with anything positive there is always a negative side of it. People believe that the medical marijuana will affect the brain of people that use it since it is a drug. Overall medical marijuana should be legalized in all states throughout the United States, because it is safe, and it provides a huge amount of economic benefits and health benefits.

Our countries laws have long needed a review as well as some research into the effects that marijuana and other illegal drugs have on our bodies and way of life. We have lived in a country where marijuana has been illegal and we have been sending offenders to prison; some longer than sex offenders. A stigma was placed on drugs forty

has no problem distributing harmful substances such as tobacco and alcohol, which have little to none positive health benefits is astonishing. There is no record in the history of the entire world, where a person has overdosed and died from marijuana alone. One could even say marijuana heals more people than it actually kills. This is why marijuana should have never been placed within a category of heroin which has ruin a countless number of lives. Keeping marijuana illegal only will make things worse not any better. Children in low income families and rundown neighborhoods look up to people dealing drugs more than hard working citizens. They would rather follow the actions of the dealers than work a nine to five because of the glitz and glamor that drug dealers possess. By legalizing and taking control over the marijuana industry the black market for marijuana will begin to shrink. Violence and arrests for marijuana would also begin to decline since there’d no longer be a strong incentive to rob or kill over something that could be purchased at the store. Most of the stigma of violence related to marijuana comes from the lifestyle that comes with illegal drug dealing. Having an illegal market for marijuana only makes the gangs and black market dealers better off. This is probably the reason gangsters were originally for prohibition and even help enforce it against their competition. In a legal system, tax revenue and other money produced from sales

The more able the less criminal smuggle marijuana illegally and they become more aware. The usage of marijuana decreases aggression in the human body(Liccardo). Alcohol will disable a person from being able to think properly and act in ways they intend to do. Alcohol rate for property crimes is higher than marijuana users(Liccardo). There is way more harmful drug that cause the human to become a criminal. Marijuana use is not the cause of crime(Pfeifer). States in which marijuana is legalized are not worried about the smuggling of marijuana which lowers the crime rates. Marijuana is merely defined as a crime(Liccardo). Criminal are people who do not care about himself and have reason for there action. So therefore, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson would not have cared about anyone if marijuana was harmful because they grew marijuana on their lands, conduct for which they could be prosecuted as a drug felon today(Joseph). Marijuana in the past was a very different topic than it is today this plant was not seem as a crime. In 1989, four hundred fourteen drug related homicides in New york only six were related to marijuana(Liccardo). Marijuana is a plant which has no harm to the society we live in. Young offenders who used have used marijuana will be more likely to use it in the near future. When people are searching and looking for answers they will make people make statement which may or may not be true. Ignorance are the real enemy in the war on drugs, not the

Each year, New Jersey police have set new records for marijuana possession arrests, making the largest number ever in 2015: 24, 985 (Sinha, 2017). Enforcement of marijuana prohibition exacerbates deep racial disparities in our criminal justice system and costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually (Sinha, 2017). First, there will not be any illegal selling of marijuana. This will limit the people who sell it illegally and facing five to ten years in jail, and hence they can now sell it legally without any fear of being arrested. It would force the people selling it illegally to get a legal job. It also allows police and courts to focus on more violent crimes in communities. It will create a set of standards for quality and safety control in the environment (Hall & Lynskey,

In addition to Marijuana dropping less crime rates, it is also less problematic than alcohol and cigarettes. Marijuana and alcohol are often put against each other in an effort to determine which is healthier. Although, they both seem bad, The Huffington Post cited “a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in

“In fact, of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests nationwide between 2001 and 2010, 88 percent were for simply having marijuana” (Crain’s Chicago Business, 2017). Out of all of the people that were arrested for marijuana, the majority of them were just for possessing marijuana. If marijuana is legalized, then crime rates will drop.

The prohibition of marijuana has an enormous social cost. The detrimental effects of prohibition run from wasted resources to shattered lives. The police all over America pledge thousands of hours to arresting, booking, and inprisoning marijuana smokers everyday. Many of whom are otherwise law-abiding citizens. In 2012, more than 658,000 arrests were made due to marijuana. The most disastrous of these arrests have spent over a decade in prison. These arrest take policemen not only away from their loved ones, but away from more serious and urgent issues. Furthermore, enforcing laws on possession cost over 3.6 billion dollars of the tax payers money every year. With that being said, the reason marijuana became illegal is because the government

Some say that marijuana is a crime in itself. Each year, millions of dollars and resources are used to patrol, arrest, trial and detain offenders who are either buying or selling marijuana. Pro-legalization advocates often cite these economic statistics and claim it is reason number one why marijuana should be legalized.What these advocates fail to mention, however, is the link between marijuana and other crimes committed, and what effect legalization would actually have on the overall crime rate.

The United States is divided with the controversial topic of legalizing marijuana with opposes proclaiming it is a drug and has considerable side effects, and supporters saying it had been proven to be beneficial medically. More than twenty states have legalized medical marijuana, and seven have legalized recreational marijuana. In all, marijuana should be legalized for it has many medical benefits, and is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco.