Should Marijuana 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.

According to the opposition of some users, as many as 10 percent, cannabis leads to psychological dependence, but there is little evidence that it carries a risk of true addiction. Unlike

In the United State marijuana is the leading cause of substance dependence. 1 out of every 10 users becomes very dependent on the drug. The rate of dependence on marijuana is at the same rate as alcohols rate. Half of the daily user who use marijuana are or will become dependent and two thirds of people that suffer with substance disorder is because of marijuana. Addiction risk is also present when using the substance. Even though not scientifically proven marijuana is addicting. Teens from 9 to 16 percent risk for addiction doubles because of the age they started at. Those who use the drug daily have a high a chance of addiction risk that increases from 25 to 50 percent. Annually, 100,000 Americans turn to rehabilitation for help in prevailing over bad cannabis customs . Countries who experience relaxed marijuana like the Netherlands and Britain show why weed should not be legalized. These countries are seeing heavy users and are also seeing withdrawal symptoms from those that are trying to quit the drug. Addiction can lead to many different things. Many of these things are not healthy for you. Once addicted those who try to quit experience withdrawal symptoms, irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety and craving. Because of all harm that can come through dependence and addiction from the drug legalizing marijuana would not be a wise

To legalize or to not legalize drugs, that is the popular question lately. The current repeat visitor to each states legislative sessions is making marijuana legal. Currently in the United States there are twenty states with legal medical marijuana and the District of Columbia. Out of those twenty only Colorado and Washington have also legalized marijuana for recreational use. When it comes to legalizing drugs marijuana appears to be the most popular one being advocated for. However, does that leave the door open for other drugs to be advocated for as well? Should they all be legalized or just a select few?

Marijuana is very safe and supporters of legalization would like to see it regulated like alcohol, or even believe that it is safe enough that regulation would not be necessary. Kayla Morgan states that “Marijuana is a safe and natural substance” and that people have been “using it for centuries” (100). Since people have been using it for centuries, no one has overdosed and marijuana is not physically addictive in the way that tobacco and alcohol are. “Studies show cannabis is not chemically addictive in the way heroin, nicotine, or alcohol is. This means the user’s body will not go into a physical withdrawal if regular cannabis use is stopped.” (Morgan 50). Marijuana is not physically or chemically addictive, which would not have as big of an effect on the user as other drugs. Drugs even prescribed to users for medicinal purposes can become addictive, and put patients through physical withdrawal.

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In addition, marijuana raises heart rate for up to three hours after smoking. To recognize someone who is abusing marijuana if they have signs of withdrawal or if they have tried to cut back on their smoking or tried to use less marijuana but still find that they wind up smoking more or using more than they anticipated. No medications are currently available to treat marijuana addiction. However, behavioral support has been effective in treating marijuana addiction, include therapy and motivational incentives. Marijuana remains the most popular illicit drug among high school students even though it is only legal for those twenty-one and older in states where it is legal. The majority marijuana is the most popular illicit drug among high school because they do not think occasional marijuana smoking is harmful, since it’s already legal in some states.

Marijuana has earned itself a terrible name over the years. This plant has a long history with humans, from early medical uses to spiritual and even recreational use. In recent years, many states have seen the legalization of marijuana for medical uses. Most large scale experiments have been hindered because of the difficulty of getting experiments involving marijuana approved. Despite this roadblock for the research of marijuana, surveys and observations of the medical use of marijuana show that the plant may have legitimate medical uses. The lack of evidence showing that weed is a dangerous drug also pushes for its legalization for recreational use. Based on all of the evidence about marijuana for recreational and medical use, marijuana

For Five millennia Cannabis sativa (more commonly known today as marijuana) has been used throughout the world medically, recreationally, and spiritually. (Bostwick, 2012) The growing availability of medical marijuana in the United States today is helping many people’s lives as alternatives to traditional pharmaceuticals, when traditional medications do not alleviate their medical issues. Unfortunately, the full potential of medical marijuana will not come to fruition because at the federal level, which out ranks that of each individual state’s laws, marijuana is illegal. Its’ Classification as a schedule I drug- one with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use keeps it as what can be considered just a ‘street’

According to, Sarah Kershaw and Rebecca Cathcart’s article “Marijuana Is Gateway Drug for Two Debates,” the drug can be used “for medical and emotional problems, and can even help some battling to harder drugs.” Harder drugs such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and even alcohol; “The risk of addiction, they say, is less problematic than for alcohol and other drugs.” Unlike these harder drugs, marijuana is not addictive. It is proven that marijuana does not cause you to overdose or even put you in the hospital. Marijuana they say is “likely one of the safest substances we can interact with.” It does not cause as much harm as these other drugs; there are less

Marijuana is much safer than a lot of other drugs. It can be smoked, vaporized, eaten in edibles, the oil can be extracted from the plant and taken in a capsule or rubbed on a pained area as a lotion, and many other ways. Any one of these ways are safer than snorting or injecting a drug. Other drugs have a higher addiction potential and are very harmful to the body in numerous ways. Other drugs also have a high overdose rate, whereas marijuana doesn’t. Marijuana has no reported overdoses, and in fact, one would have to consume a vast amount marijuana in such a time that is impossible to do so.

Furthermore, it has never been proven that anyone has died of a marijuana overdose unlike most drugs. In an article written by the Huffington Post titled ‘How Many People Have Died From Marijuana they stated, “a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to be at risk of dying.” Basically saying it’s highly unlikely that someone could die from Marijuana consumption. Also in an article made by the CDC titled ‘Drug Overdose” it stated that 44% of Americans in the U.S. die from an overdose on prescription pills, and over the counter pills everyday. Whereas through the evidence gathered there, hasn’t been one proven case of someone dying of Marijuana overdose. According to another article located on the Leafscience Website titled “Can you overdose on Marijuana?” has shown important evidence. It showed that

One of the constant debates about whether or not marijuana should be legal or not is is it relatively safe. The herbal plant marijuana, individuals have “cultivated and consumed the flowering tops of the female cannabis plant since virtually the beginning of recorded history. Cannabis-based textiles dating to 7,000 BC have been recovered in northern China and the plant's use as a medicinal and euphoric agent date back nearly as far” (Armentano 1). Marijuana has been proven to “have a relatively unique safe record, particularly when compared to other therapeutically active substance” (Armentano 1). Unlike alcohol and any other drug, individuals cannot by physically addicted to marijuana or have an overdose on marijuana. When an individual is

Cornelius, J. R., Chung, T., Martin, C., Wood, D. S., & Clark, D. B. (2008). Cannabis

“Someday pray that he will grow a farm barn full, recent research shows it’s not so darn harmful.” (Madvillain, “America’s Most Blunted”) Despite the wide amount of research that shows the positive benefits of marijuana, it remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, numerous states have defied federal law and legalized marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use. Arizona has legalized marijuana for medical use, but it still remains illegal to use recreationally. This is absurd, as the evidence gathered over the last few decades strongly supports the notion that it is safer than alcohol, a widely available substance. Marijuana being listed as a Schedule I drug has ruined thousands of lives. Not to mention, an anti-marijuana agenda being broadcasted on behalf of multiple organizations combined with an uninformed population are a portion of the reasons why it remains illegal under federal law. Although federal legalization may be well out of the picture, Arizona should demonstrate progressiveness and legalize marijuana for recreational use. Legalizing marijuana would be beneficial as the local economy would experience an increase in revenue similar to other states that have legalized the substance, and citizens who partake in using a minimally harmful substance would not have to worry about local law enforcement ruining their lives.