Pros And Cons Of Decriminalizing Marijuana

The question of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use has been a three decade long conversation. There are many pros and cons to legalizing marijuana. There are many different ideas about the effects of marijuana, but as with any drug answers are going to vary depending on the person you survey. Age, health, and mental stability are all factors to consider how a drug can positively or negatively affect you, and marijuana is no different. To be legal or not to be legal is the million dollar question up for debate.

Weed, on the other hand, does not come close to how dangerous alcohol dependence and addiction is. In fact, “less than 10% of those who try marijuana ever end up meeting the clinical criteria for dependence, whereas 32% of tobacco users and 15% of alcohol users do.” Of course, the stipulation that weed is the number one most common, “gateway drug,” for teens in society today is a never dying myth that, was proven false. Most commonly, people who try marijuana never venture off to use any other illegal drug, and the vast majority of those who do try another drug don’t show signs of any associated problems, let alone become addicted. Truthfully in most cases, weed is an endpoint in drug use rather than a portal to fall deeper into experimentation.

People might think smoking marijuana is cool. They might try it without knowing what it is or what affects is has on you. Once someone smokes it for the first time, they might keep doing it again and again and they could get hooked on it for life. People who use marijuana usually never use any other type of illegal drugs, but more than seven thousand five hundred people get arrested for using marijuana every year. There is a wide variety of marijuana, but they are all based off of two marijuana plants, Indica and Sativa. Marijuana is very popular in America, and all over the world. Marijuana affects the body, it can be used as medicine, and marijuana can be addictive.

Recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have, technically, broken federal law. As long as the federal government does not do anything about the state’s blatant disregard for higher law they can do what they want. I think that because state and federal law contradict at the moment there should be clarification. States should only be able to pass a law such as this if it is also legal on a federal level, but if there are no repercussions for violating federal law where does it end? Recreational marijuana is a state issue, in my opinion. If it is to be legalized in America at a federal level then each state should be allowed to choose their side. At this point, federal government is showing its cracks. 4 of our states are currently not obeying the Constitution; federal law trumps state law. Our government needs to pull itself together and start paying attention to what the states are doing.

Socially, legalizing marijuana would create a safer nation and economically, the US has the potential to earn billions of dollars in extra revenue that the economy desperately needs.

Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana. The congressional decision to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug in 1970 has made the legalization campaign more difficult, since it officially established marijuana as a dangerous, addictive drug with no medicinal benefits.

“Weed is addictive and is gateway drug. You shouldn’t smoke it.” This is a common misconception about Marijuana that a variety of people believe. This is because they do not know the history of it and what is in the Marijuana that makes it, what people say is “addictive.” They also probably do not know that there are disadvantages and advantages of using Marijuana. At the end of the day, it is really the choice of the user. But people should become more aware of where Marijuana originated from, what it is made from and the pros and cons of smoking it if they choose to.

Legalizing marijuana has always been an interesting topic for many people to dispute about. Some people say it is good, while others say it is bad. No matter what topic you speak about, it has its pros and cons. For example, marijuana can be used in great ways if legalized. Through money given from dispensaries to the crime rate lowered because of the ability to acquire marijuana in legal ways. Some bad examples are that it can be a gateway drug and can cause one to want a “better high” to people thinking it affects people's lives. Legalizing marijuana (medical and recreational) will help the United States with money, crime, and other numerous ways.

I constantly hear that weed does not harm you, this is false. “Marijuana contains more than four hundred known chemicals, including the same cancer-causing substances found in tobacco smoke”. (Alcohol vs. Marijuana, 2013). Let that sink in for a second, it has four hundred known chemicals in it that does not sound healthy for you. I also found out that “ It has been found that consuming one joint gives as much exposure to cancer-producing chemicals as smoking five cigarettes”. (What is Marijuana, 2013). One joint is the equivalent as smoking five cigarettes, but weed is harmless, I think not. Marijuana also affects your mind to where you cannot remember things. Marijuana smokers do not have the same ability to remember and organize information compared to people who do not smoke.

Marijuana has proven to be beneficial for medical purposes. It has therapeutic effects that will ultimately allow patients with adverse health conditions to improve their quality of life. Legalizing marijuana can also improve the state of the United States’ economy through taxation and creation of job opportunities. Additionally, it can reduce the crime rate in the United States and save the United States tons of money. Contrarily, marijuana should not be legalized for recreational usage. Extensive studies have globally communicated that utilizing marijuana for recreational purposes have fostered addiction to more powerful drugs. Recreational usage of marijuana has also contributed to adverse health effects. Moreover, recreational usage of this drug is still unacceptable in professional and social environments. Should marijuana be made lawful for medicinal and/or recreational purposes?

Another unfortunate problem is that Marijuana is an addictive drug. It can cause the brain’s dopamine levels to spike, which can rewire a user to need marijuana to have normal dopamine levels (“Reasons Not to Legalize”). According to a National Survey

My position in this debate panel is to legalize the possession of marijuana. The liberal’s stance is that they want to legalize, regulate and restrict the access of marijuana. To many young Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of drugs ,which then is costly to the criminal justice system and the young offender is caught in the criminal system for minor, nonviolent crimes. They want to focus on keeping this drug out of the hands of children by implementing specific locations to distribute this drug.

Cannabis is becoming increasingly widespread and increasingly common in modern-day society for both recreational use and for medication. The article by Craig Reinarman, ‘Criminalisation, legalisation and the mixed blessing of medicalisation in the USA’ generates many controversial issues of cannabis.

Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is addictive. Research showed that up to 9% of marijuana user became addicted and that number is doubled if the user started using at a young age. In addition, the withdrawal symptoms are very similar to most other drugs. Some

Now I understand that the two of you believe that marijuana is a “gateway drug” but I have done excessive research and I can assure you that it is in in no shape or form a “gateway drug”. The gateway theory argues that because heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine users often used marijuana before graduating to harder drugs, it must be a “gateway” to harder drug use. The theory implies that there is a causal mechanism that biologically sensitizes drug users, making them more willing to try and more desirous of harder drugs. Yet the gateway hypothesis doesn’t make sense to those who use marijuana or have used in the past. Research shows that the vast majority of marijuana users do not go on to use hard drugs.