Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

The legalization of marijuana became a heated political subject in the last few years. Twenty-one states in America have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington are the only states where marijuana can be purchased recreationally. Marijuana is the high THC level part of the cannabis plant, which gives users the “high” feeling. There is ample evidence that supports the argument that marijuana is beneficial. The government should legalize marijuana recreationally for three main reasons. First, I will present two common arguments against the legalization of marijuana and then refute them. Second, I will explain how there is no proof of harmful effects from marijuana and that there are many health benefits prominent. Third, I will describe how legalization would bring in tax revenue for the government. Finally, I will go into detail on how legalization would decrease crime rates.

Cannabis, regularly known as marijuana, and by various other names is a composition of the cannabis plant intended for utilization as a psychoactive medication and physiological effects. People usually think that marijuana is unhealthy drug that needs to be avoided, but is it harmful than alcohol and tobacco? In modern days, cannabis is used as a recreational or medical drug, depending on the laws provided by different states in the USA. Although marijuana faces a strong opposition, a force for its legalization is extending across the nation. However, what are the after effects if marijuana is legalized? What are the pros and cons of it being legalized?

The legalization of marijuana has been a debate that has been going on for the past decade. Many Americans (about 80 percent surveyed) do believe in the legalization while others disagree. With the correct facts in place, it is easy to prove that the legalization of marijuana is a huge benefit to the American people and those who disagree are disagreeing for the wrong reasons. One reason it should be legalized is marijuana can be used for medical purposes, others say it can help lower the debt in America by taxing marijuana. Many of these arguments favoring marijuana are outlined in this paper.

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

Marijuana can be viewed in two ways: an addictive illegal high or a medical treatment drug. Marijuana first and foremost is an illegal drug, and can land you up to 7 years in prison just for possession or up to 14 years in prison for the supplying and production of the drug. However, marijuana is not all bad. It can be used for medical purposes (shown in certain states of the USA). Many people are unaware of this, so this leads us to the question: Marijuana; legislation or a continued ban?

Marijuana has been and continues to be a topic of major discussion in the United States. Until recently marijuana was only available in select states to people who have legitimate medical conditions and whose doctors believe that they could benefit from marijuana use. Recently however, both Colorado and Washington have both passed legislation allowing the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes for adults 21 years of age and older. These recreational marijuana legislations hold major implications regarding the future of marijuana and its legality in the United States. While this new legislation may be scary to some, I welcome the legalization of marijuana for recreational use for a number of different reasons.

Marijuana (also called pot, weed, or Mary Jane) is the name used to describe the seeds, flowers, and leaves in the hemp plant of the genus Cannabis. There are three main species of Cannabis, Cannabis Indica, Cannabis Sativa, and Cannabis Ruderalis. The main type of marijuana that has been used throughout history has been Cannabis Sativa. Marijuana is typically found as a shredded, green-brown mixture of the flowers, leaves, and stems from Cannabis Sativa. Most people smoke marijuana by rolling it like a cigarette, called joints. People also put it in hollow cigars, called blunts, and some people even mix it into food such as brownies and tea.

Marijuana has always been a major topic on War on Drugs, either to let it stay illegal or to decide whether to legalize it. Marijuana can give off deadly or fatal actions that could to harm toward the user or those around the user. While also marijuana can be a help to the economic problems that America faces today. The Hawaii State Government should legalize marijuana because it is a non-addictive substance, it has the potential to increase tax revenue, and there are medical benefits to its use.

Marijuana legalization would allow for legal distribution and taxation of cannabis as well as decrease expensive enforcement and incarceration costs. Political authorities debate whether legalization or decriminalization is necessary. Derived from the hemp plant called Cannabis sativa, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (Glauser). Usually smoked in a blunt, joint, or pipe, the dry, shredded brownish-green mix of stems and leaves can be mixed in food, or brewed into a tea. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) is the main active chemical that rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream when someone inhales marijuana. Once the THC reaches the brain, the chemical reactions lead to the “high” that users experience when they use marijuana. Only lasting a few hours, these effects are short term. More realistic concerns question whether or not users will become addicted to cannabis. “Compared to other substances, marijuana is especially un-addictive; it’s often paired with drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, but when discussing addiction, a much more appropriate comparison would be to caffeine” (Glauser). As a non-addictive substance that can be therapeutic, reduce arrests, and boost the economy, marijuana should be legalized.

One of the most divisive issues in America today is whether to legalize the cultivation, sale, and possession of cannabis. The prohibition of marijuana cost tax payers an annual of 12 billion dollars a year to prosecute recreational users as criminals which was a component in our deficit today. The current prohibition of marijuana makes criminals of otherwise law abiding cannabis users. Legalization will provide medical benefits of marijuana, and economic benefits of legal marijuana, and the re correct the societal harm that results from the current prohibition of marijuana on the federal level and the majority of states. Those in favor of the current prohibition claim “there are no good reasons to legalize marijuana”, but they do not know all of the plants benefits.

Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug globally; different types of the drug have been used for many years for their social, aesthetic, and medicinal effects. International laws and treaties have forbidden farming, possession, and selling of marijuana. This makes lawbreakers out of more than the 125 million people marijuana consumers and those who supply them. The trade makes illicit markets totalling to billions of dollars per year, some of the illegal activity results in violence and corruption by public officials. Millions of marijuana users are arrested annually for possession of drugs, and some traffickers also land in prison (Kacey, 2014).

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana is a dried flower cluster and leaves of this female plant. This plant can be smoked or ingested as an illicit drug to induce euphoria or treating illness and diseases. In America today, the word marijuana has risen a concerned eyebrow. The economic woes that plague this country will become abundance through the legalization of marijuana. Legalizing marijuana would benefit the country in many ways; therefore, embracing it for medical, economical, industrial, and recreational use would encourage economic growth. There are various methods of consumption or medical and personal use.

Each state has their own regulations and laws about the usage of marijuana. In recent years, many states have passed laws to legalize the usage, purchase, and sale of marijuana. The District of Columbia passed a law to legalize the growth and possession of the drug, but not the sale. Currently, nearly half of the states have legalized the use of medicinal marijuana for patients that qualify for it. However, there is still a federal law prohibiting this drug. These people who have medical reasons and qualify through doctor evaluations, can still face federal offenses even though it is legal in the state. If there is a drug out there to aid people dealing with a disease that could be cured by using this drug why are there so many people against it?

Marijuana has been vilified in America over the past 70+ years. Despite it’s many practical uses, medicinal and industrial, our Federal government insists on maintaining the status quo that the growth, possession and use of marijuana is criminal despite the evidence that the legalization of marijuana would have a positive influence on America.

In addition, another benefit in which legalizing drugs can provide would it’s health benefits. This argument is more applicable for the drug, marijuana, as there are many uses for this drug for medicinal purposes. Massachusetts, California and New Jersey are some states that legalize marijuana and use of the drug under certain conditions. A medical condition that marijuana has proven to have shown a positive effect on is cancer. Many patients diagnosed with cancer who experience and have to go under chemotherapy find that marijuana helps in aspects of mood, nausea and vomiting and