Should Drugs be Legalized?

This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.

Drug policy is a crucial topic in the country today. Substance abuse, as well as drug-related crime rates, are a huge problem. This is a fact. The way to fix the problem of substance abuse, however, is widely disagreed upon. Some think that stricter laws regarding drug possession and use would solve the problem, while others believe that loosening the restrictions would be a better option. The issue of legalizing drugs, especially marijuana, is one that is debated all the time. In fact, in 1995, a survey was conducted on the most important policy issues and eighty five percent of the country placed drugs at the top of the list (Falco 1996). Many states are actually beginning to decriminalize, and even

I am certain in my belief that most students who have attended any university in the US have in one way or another been around drugs. However, whether or not they partook in them is debatable. They have more than likely made a decision: to do the drug, or not to do the drug. If they are like me, they did not do the drug, but continued to socialize with those that did partake. If they are not like me, they may have taken the drug and continued to socialize with those they are around. Drugs have become a large part of college culture, and more ultimately, human culture. The reasons vary as much as the reasons why people personally choose to partake in the drug of their choice. Peter De Marneffe states in his article “Decriminalize, Don’t Legalize”, that “people use drugs because they enjoy them; they find them fun and relaxing. If it is easier, safer, and less expensive to do something fun and relaxing, more people will do it and do it more often” (De Marneffe, 200). Currently, the US is dealing with drug prohibition (War on Drugs) which has become a topic of hefty discussion. As David Boaz states in his article “Drug-Free America or Free America?”, political entities have attempted to stop the use of various drugs since drugs were first used. He goes on to say the most familiar example to the American people is the prohibition of alcohol (Boaz, 194). In this position paper, I will do the following: I will define

Possession and use of cannabis, also commonly known as marijuana, is considered illegal. For years marijuana has been an illegal “drug” in most countries. In today’s world a few countries have legalized cannabis while others are still progressing toward it. In particular, small amount of marijuana have been allowed in places such as Europe, North America and South America. In the United States in particular, states such as Washington and Colorado have also legalized the usage of marijuana for medical/recreational purposes. On the other hand, numerous penalties are enforced pertaining the use or possession of cannabis where it is not legal. The chance of the penalties being small are seldom; offenders often receive severe punishments. Possession of small quantities of marijuana is not punished the same way as possession of large quantities of other illegal narcotics. In this essay, there will be an in-depth argument on the reasons why cannabis should be legalized, and why it should not.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 730 in 100,000 people behind bars. Why has America imprisoned so many of its own citizens? The recreational use of marijuana and other drugs has been banned in all but four states. This has led to the mass of approximately one million drug offenders incarcerated in the United States today. The legalization of recreational drug use in the U.S. would reduce the nonviolent prison population and provide funds for improved rehabilitation for prisoners.

The Constitutional authority for the federal government to regulate drugs is already tenuous, and saying that they have the ultimate right to say whether or not they're legal makes almost no sense. Drugs are not part of the laws that the Constitution allows the government to pass laws on, but the states can pass any local law.

Drugs in society have been a part of society for hundreds of year, and the usage of them definitely has to do with the psychology in the users and certainly the abusers. Throughout history, the way society views and uses of drugs has been different from culture to culture. In some cultures it is a natural consumption, while in others it is strictly forbidden both by law and society’s stigma. Addiction to drugs has always been around and it has always been a problem, in both places with strict and relaxed laws about drug use, how different patients are treated is a different issue. There are many facets to the battle against drugs like in the United States there is a current debate on the legalization of marijuana in all the states. When you

“Marijuana”, “pot”, or “weed” are some of the distinguished nicknames used to reference the plant Cannabis in our society. Cannabis, as defined on Webster’s online dictionary, is a “drug (such as marijuana or hashish) that comes from the hemp plant and is smoked illegally”. However, up until 1996, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 20 states and Washington D.C. Yet, under the Federal government, the legalization of medical marijuana in various states does not legitimize nor protect the medical use of the drug itself – it is still considered a Federal offense (The White House). The intention of the states legalizing the use of medical marijuana was to decriminalize the use of marijuana for approved medical conditions and purposes. The states which have legalized the use of medical marijuana have done so through the citizen initiative and the formal legislative process (The White House). Still, legalizing the use of medical marijuana has not been sufficient for some citizens as they are pushing for the legalization of cannabis in a whole. In fact, most recently, few states have adopted the legalization of recreational cannabis which is causing great controversy not only in government but in local state agencies as the separation of medical and recreational use is becoming blurred and forgotten. This analysis examines the new legalization of recreational cannabis and medical marijuana, and how the

Did you know that almost half of the population in the United States belongs in jail, according to the law on marijuana? It’s true. In 2008 Time Magazine reported that researchers had found more than 42% of people surveyed in the United States had tried marijuana at least once (Lynch, 2008). So if marijuana use is so common in the United States, why should it not be legalized? In this paper I will discuss both the supporting and opposing positions on the legalization of marijuana. I will also explore the moral and ethical views for legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana or cannabis is a preparation of the cannabis plant intended for use as a hallucinatory drug and a medicine as well. The principal hallucinatory constituent of marijuana is Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. Twenty three states and the District of Columbia has legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes in the United States. Legalizing marijuana has many benefits to it. Not only has marijuana been proven to counter act some symptoms of cancer and other diseases, it can also boost the economy and increase tax revenues. Along with all these things legalizing marijuana can also lesson crime rate and allow police and federal agents to focus

Marijuana is a very controversial drug that spurs a lot of debate as to whether it should be legalized for recreational purposes or not. Most of the states already have legalized marijuana for medical purposes although the federal government prohibits any use of it. Proponents and opponents to this debate each try to argue their side and to show why recreational marijuana should be or should not be legalized but no consensus has been reached due to the complexity of the problem especially resulting from federal and state laws contradictions on the laws pertaining to drug use. Proponents argue that legalizing marijuana would increase revenue, lower burden on law enforcement, increase national security, safeguards individual rights, and make consumption safer. Opponents on the other hand, argue legalizing marijuana would create a gateway for harder drugs like cocaine, emergence of black markets, create new users, cause health problems, and loss of productivity. The issue is thus a headache for the federal and state governments bearing in mind the public support that legalization has been getting over the years. Leaders and mostly governors are at a loss whether to succumb to people’s needs or use their discretion or moral values in deciding whether to support or not. The issue is thus becoming a great concern for law enforcement officers, parents, educators, health care workers, government and the public as

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.

In 1920 when alcohol prohibition began the war against cannabis had been going strong for a decade. In 1910 the Mexican Revolution created a surplus of Mexican immigrants in the United States; American citizens were frightened by the Mexican culture, including their recreational use of cannabis (Marijuana Legalization, 2015, para 7). Politicians continued to use fear and racism to grow disapproval and hatred of cannabis. Beginning in 1915 twenty-nine states passed the anti-marijuana law, which was first created and passed by the state of Utah when a group of Mormons who were visiting Mexico returned home with cannabis (Marijuana Legalization, 2015, para 9). The prohibition of cannabis

One the many controversies in our country today, regards the prohibition of illegal narcotics. Deemed unhealthy, hazardous, and even fatal by the authorities that be; the U.S. government has declared to wage a “war on drugs.” It has been roughly fifteen years since this initiative has begun, and each year the government shuffles more money into the unjust cause of drug prohibition. Even after all of this, the problem of drugs that the government sees still exists. The prohibition of drugs is a constitutional anomaly. There are many aspects and sides to look at the issue from, but the glaring inefficiency current laws exude is that any human should have the right to ingest anything he or she desires. The antagonist on the other end

Drug abuse is a major public health issue that impacts society both directly and indirectly; every person, every community is somehow affected by drug abuse and addiction and this economic burden is not exclusive to those who use substance, it inevitably impacts those who don 't. Drugs impact our society in various ways including but not limited to lost earnings, health care expenditures, costs associated with crime, accidents, and deaths. The use of licit or illicit drugs long term, causes millions of deaths and costs billions for medical care and substance abuse rehabilitation and the effects of drug abuse extend beyond users, spilling over into the society at large, imposing increasing