Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

The legalization of marijuana has been a debated subject in America since the 1970's. The pro-marijuana society in America has made claims as to how marijuana can help cure or lessen the effect of some diseases and that by legalizing the drug; the use of pot will actually decline. The fact of the matter is that marijuana is a drug that can be placed into a similar category as cocaine or heroine. Like these other drugs, pot (marijuana) smoking carries with it serious side effects that can effect the user forever, and sometimes-even cause death. Marijuana was first cultivated in America during the colonial time period and was used as a fiber for rope and even clothing. The plant was not used for its psychoactive properties until 1910,

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.

In its early days cannabis or “marijuana” as it’s mostly known was first established in 8000 B.C. Later becoming more and more popular cannabis was incorporated in many things such as weave to fine hemp cloths, medicine, and as a fiber for the Chinese and later all across the world. Nowadays marijuana is illegal and has been so since 1970 after the Federal Controlled Substances Act was passed. Now there’s an ongoing controversy about cannabis being legalized or decriminalized for medical or even recreational uses. Marijuana laws are getting looser and looser and states around the world and starting to be more accepted but the drug is still not legalized completely and there’s no concrete reason why.

Since the first efforts to legalize marijuana in the 1960s, Americans have become progressively more accepting of requests to liberalize laws restricting possession and use of marijuana, but the shift has not been a straight line. After 11 states decriminalized marijuana possession in the 1970s, recoil led by suburban parents led too much harsher implementation of drug laws. But since California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, outlooks toward the drug have relaxed significantly.("A Brief History of Public Opinion on Marijuana Legalization.")

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.

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The usage of the Marijuana plant has been around for such a long period of time, dating back to thousands of years. The people of our past have recognized the possible benefits of the

Marijuana is known for its psychoactive effects creating a euphoric sensation or a high for its users. Introduced in the 3rd millennium BC, marijuana has evolved into a highly demanded and used drug. From it’s everyday users, known as “stoners”, to use and endorsement by celebrities, marijuana is considered a recreational drug. Marijuana is regarded as the most used illicit drug in the world; however, due to restrictions on the possession, use, and sale of marijuana is illegal in most parts of the world. Although marijuana is technically illegal, it is used for a recreational high, prescribed in the medical world, and is surrounded by controversy everyday.

The current background on the situation is that 23 states and The District of Columbia(D.C) have legalized medical marijuana although other states have legalized cannabidiol ‒a non-psychoactive marijuana extract‒and others states require a doctor to prescribe the cannabis, but this is actually illegal under federal law, so these states are not included. Four states and Washington D.C

The craze for marijuana started, in America, in the early 1600’s, at a point there was even a law passed that required every famer to grow marijuana, it was not until the 1900’s that the growing and usage of cannabis started escalating too quickly and in the 1930’s increase in crime and violence linked to using marijuana caused 29 states to outlaw the use of marijuana, however in the 50’s to the 60’s a new “hippy” culture had started and marijuana, and other drugs, were a large part of the culture. This caused new laws to be placed, mandatory and stricter sentencing rules and larger fines. However in the 1970’s there were political changes trying to decriminalize the possession of the drug for non-medical purposes as well as legalizing it for medical purposes. Then during the 1980’s due to large number of protesting parents and campaigns from other parties, the government was compelled to start a ‘war on

Marijuana entering the mainstream and the legalization of marijuana go hand in hand. From 2004 to 2015, 24 states including D.C, have legalized medical marijuana and they are Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, New York, California, Maryland, Vermont, New Mexico, New Jersey, Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia and Montana. Fourteen states have decriminalized certain amount of marijuana possession and four states legalized marijuana use and they are Colorado, Alaska, Oregon Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. In the state of New York marijuana has been decriminalized so possession of 25 grams or less is considered a citation which is like a traffic ticket. If you are carrying more than 25 grams in New York City then it is considered a misdemeanor and you can receive a jail sentence. According to recent opinion polls more than half of Americans support legalizing marijuana, but particularly for medical use. “Cannabis is the world’s most widely used illicit

Some people like to call it marijuana, some people like to call it weed, and some people like to call it cannabis. But have you ever took the time to get to know about this drug? Marijuana has been introduced to the world all the way back to 2337 BC. At first the focus was on it’s power as a medication for people to use such as rheumatism, gout, malaria,

At the time of this writing marijuana is legal in some way in only 25 states, meaning half the country is still deciding whether or not it should be decriminalized. 2016 is a voting year, and 5 states will have it on the ballot (DeMaria, 2016) in November. It won’t be long until it’s legal everywhere.

Obviously, the Swiss later improved upon their first experiment. However, the Swiss “needle park experiment” is the example that drug war advocates like to cite when claiming that decriminalization isn’t effective; however, there isn’t a cookie cutter method for harm reduction and decriminalization. In fact, one of the best kept secrets in America is the success other countries have had from experimenting with decriminalizing drugs. The rate of drug use in America is the highest in the world, whereas many other countries, in particular many European countries, have reduced their drug usage with a more laissez faire approach. Various countries have implemented different policies which open the door for creating a hybrid model from other countries.

Marijuana is a cannabaceae plant, which has always been associated with negative connotations until recently, when it has been discovered that this plant may be used to cure diseases and improve a country economy. Thus, the American opinion is split on the question of “Marijuana Legalization”. In fact, a survey undertaken by CNN/ORC International Poll states that 55 % of Americans believe that the use of marijuana should be legal, while only 44 % think it should be illegal (CNN). I also share the American majority opinion since there is some evidence that marijuana yields positive results.