Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay

The truths about marijuana are slowly starting to resurface, the government keeps ignoring that cannabis could one day be as powerful for the U.S. Unfortunately, these truths about marijuana are under a lot of criticism because of the stereotype of what people see as a "marijuana or cannabis smoker." There is a great difficulty in this law because marijuana is still recognized as a harmful and dangerous substance in some states. This can cause problems because each state has their different views and opinions on the matter, and have their own rules and how the rules apply towards it. The twenty-six states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form, but California, Massachusetts, and Nevada just passed the law for recreational use. The states that have medical marijuana and recreational legalization are Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska. The states that only have medical marijuana legal are Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii (Ingraham). However, legalizing marijuana could have some benefits instead of being a drug with some bad reputations. Marijuana should be legalized because of medical reasons, safety reasons, and have some benefits to society.

Marijuana charges reflect the still-existing discrimination in society. Although use rates for African-Americans are only around 25% greater than that of whites, marijuana possession arrests are about three times greater for blacks than whites (Gettman, 2009). Legalizing marijuana would eliminate this aspect of racial disparity in the United States, where any single step could be seen as a move in the right direction. This would also help decrease the population of those in jail or prison for marijuana offenses, instead allowing those individuals to become productive members of society.

The legalization of marijuana is a very debatable subject, some people think it is bad and should be illegal, and some people think it is good in some ways if used properly. It should be legal because it has few negative effects, it serves other purposes than getting people stoned, and it is better than other drugs.

The legalization of recreational marijuana is an important debate, one that could really cause drastic changes in societies. Marijuana has entered a dark stage in the pathway of legalization, and it is correlating with the prohibition stage that alcohol rested in. The debate can often reach a nasty level between individuals taking sides with the topic. Legalization of marijuana can be very beneficial under regulated circumstances, therefore making all of the negative views less important.

Marijuana has been a plant for longer than any human has been alive. Civilizations have used marijuana for hundreds of years for hundreds of purposes. But ever since the 1970’s when growing or having possession became illegal marijuana has been looked down upon by a majority of people living in the United States. Just because it’s illegal doesn’t give someone the right to look down upon you for doing a drug that’s been here longer than we

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in United States and in many other countries; this is a statement that seems to be in each article that is written about the legalization of marijuana. This is a subject that has been up for debate for quite a few years now. There are many people who support the legalization of this drug and are strongly convinced that marijuana is not a drug in which one should be punished for, but rather a drug that should not be frowned upon and seen as a way to help our nation economically and medically. On the other end, there are also many people who support the criminalization of marijuana and believe it is a drug that should remain illegal

The legalization of Marijuana for recreational use has been a hot topic for quite some time. Arguments about why it should or should not be legal have been some of the highlights of many debates. Marijuana, which is usually wrongfully conveyed as a harmful drug that will only do harm to our society if it get legalized for recreational use. Skepticism aside, the history and facts about weed don't illustrate a dangerous drug that leads to the deterioration of the human body and mind, but the opposite excluding it's already proven pain tolerance .The legalization of Marijuana for recreational use is something that should be instated in every state in the country due to it already being legal in some states, people are gonna use it no matter what, and because its effects being less harmful compared to other substances that are legal.

It has been highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation while other oppose because it will increase the numbers of drug users and drug related crimes. Marijuana is a drug that is legal in the United States. This drug is bad and cause some side effect to your brain and body.

The legalization of Marijuana has been an ongoing issue for many years that has lead to much controversy. Not only is smoking marijuana a risk to the person, but also every other human being around them therefore, Marijuana should not be legalized. All over the country, there are teenagers and adults that smoke marijuana for recreational purposes. Smoking marijuana has become so common recently, that to some people they do not even consider it a drug. Marijuana has detrimental effects on people. It alters physical and mental health, is extremely addictive, negatively affects people’s lives and should not be legalized.

The use of recreational marijuana was legalized in the state of Colorado in the November 2012 election (Hudak, 2015). As Colorado’s Amendment Sixty-Four was put into place, its ruling and subsequent implementation were in direct conflict with U.S. federal legislation that criminalizes the drug’s possession and use (Hudak, 2015). With more states legalizing the use of medical marijuana and a small percentage of jurisdictions following Colorado’s lead, the debate over whether marijuana should be legal continues. Proponents of the debate advocate that the use of marijuana in small to moderate amounts is not any less harmful than the recreational use of alcohol. Proponents of the drug’s use also advocate that many with chronic diseases and terminal illnesses benefit from the drug’s pain relieving effects. Opponents of legalization state that harmful use of the drug will likely increase and children could become exposed to harmful levels of the drug (Alcoholism Drug Abuse Weekly, 2014).

This research paper will study the correlation of past exposure to marijuana and the belief of its addictiveness is a direct association with an individual’s opinion on if marijuana should be decriminalized in the state of Oklahoma. Decriminalization is legislation ceasing to treat it as illegal. Criminal penalties will be reduced in certain acts of marijuana use. Examples of this are an individual can be fined but not imprisoned for possession but distributing and selling marijuana would still be considered a criminal act. From a sociological standpoint, this research would be beneficial in decriminalization policies for marijuana toward lowering the social constructs of the criminal act of possession and use. However it will regulate the cultivation and retailing of marijuana. Marijuana decriminalization is prevalent to sociological studies because of statistically as of 2014, the center of disease control (CDC) state that 40% of people have used marijuana in the past and 23.4% currently partake. If we were to decriminalize the act of marijuana use and possession social cost would decline by about 3 billion dollars (CDC) a year because we would no longer have to house inmates with marijuana charges. The money saved could be used for treatment in substance abuse, prevention programs, medical research toward marijuana and other sociological problematic areas that Oklahoma faces. The purpose of this study is to obtain and examine the attitudes of college students at the

Essentially, people will always use marijuana because it is an alternative source of relaxation and recreation.  The government should learn to embrace these people’s ability to choose rather than prohibiting this source of intoxication which, despite its illegality, is already prevalent in society.

First, when trying to decide what you think about the legalization of marijuana, you need to stop to listen, and actually understand where each side of the argument is coming from.

Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana is opposed by a vast majority of American’s and people around the world. Leaders in Marijuana prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement adamantly oppose the substance, as do many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of illegal drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing decision making thru legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate here in the United States and in other countries. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is the oldest drug user lobby in the U.S. It has strong ties to the Libertarian party, the Drug Policy Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

It is heavily debated as to whether or not marijuana should be legalized. There are numerous reasons for and against legalizing marijuana, some say that the government can tax it, some say that it helps with certain medical conditions. People also say that it is not a gateway drug and does not lead to drug abuse. Then there is the question of should we legalize it now even though there is no way to test the levels in your blood at a routine police stop. There are some really good points as to why marijuana should be legalized and some good reasons as to why it should not be legalized, the truth is that people are going to smoke marijuana whether it is legal or not.