Should Marijuana Remain an Illegal Substance

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.")

Legalization keeps progressing in advance, but because of many years of government obstructions on research, there is nearly not enough known about the dangers of marijuana, or the benefits. Marijuana in the United States is classified as a Schedule 1 substance, which is defined for substances that have significant risks, such as addiction, but, in theory, have no medical benefits, making it difficult to obtain medical marijuana to do clinical trials (Doctor's Case for Medical Marijuana 14). With four states permitting its use for both medicinal and recreational purposes and 24 states only for pharmaceutical, there has been many thoughts whether this plant should be kept unlawful in the United States or not (Ingraham 2). Activists believe that the legalization will provide many benefits to the citizens as well as the economy, but antagonists think it will just make it easier for people to obtain it for recreational purposes. Although this may seem true, study proves that there was a significant decrease in the underground market after legalizing marijuana in Colorado, which meant less people were consuming it recreationally. Enforcing laws against something that is naturally grown is unnatural; therefore, marijuana usage for recreational and medicinal purposes should

Marijuana is becoming one of the most commonly used and abused drug in the United States. “According to government surveys, about 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly (Norml). The reasons some people smoke marijuana can be for just relaxation, just to be curious, and more reasons. Even though marijuana is bad in several ways, it is good for one reason which is medical purposes but that does not mean it should become legal. Marijuana can cause good and bad, but the bad outweighs the good. There are numerous reasons marijuana should remain illegal.

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.

Marijuana, a speculated harmful gateway drug where ‘Marijuana raids are more harmful than the drug itself”(Ingraham, 2017). Is Marijuana really that harmful to be illegal? Marijuana is currently illegal in some states in the U.S. and Canada for recreational use, medical use or both. Some areas already legalized the use of Marijuana like California, Nevada, etc. which is causing controversy since other states and countries won’t. Marijuana should be legal as the facts and statistics are coming out, like, the health benefits, the Economic benefits and how a low-risk drug like Cannabis compares to other legal drugs.

Dr. Drew Pinsky once said “It would be malpractice to say cannabis isn't addictive”. In America, of the 7.3 million people charged were classified with illicit drug abuse in 2012, 4.3 million were with marijuana. The more legal and accessible marijuana gets, the worse it will be for society and the users. Marijuana needs to stay illegal. Marijuana has many effects that prove it needs to remain illegal. Marijuana largely and negatively affects your mental health, is horrible for your physical health, and ruins lives and is dangerous for the community. Looking at those three reasons we can see that marijuana needs to remain illegal because it largely affects your mental health, is terrible for your physical health, and wrecks lives and is dangerous

For many years American society, especially our youth, has been bombarderd with a large amount of strong and broad "anti-drug" messages. Much of the time when this message was being broadcasted to people, again especially in the case of young children, it is simplified to just saying "drugs are bad", such as in the famous Public Service Announcment named "This is Your Brain on Drugs". In reality not all illegal drugs are the same, speicfically mairajuana is really not as dangerous as people would assume based on these messages that lump it together with drugs like heroin or cocaine. Beyond just being safer and less addictive than other substances, marijuana should not remain illegal for recreational use because it alleviates some of the pressure on America 's War on Drugs, and the sale of marijuana has become a profitable industry in the places it is legal.

vMarijuana should be illegal because it gets people sicker and it gives a lot of bad health like cancer, heart disease, and it will get people addicted to marijuana.

Since 2009 the government of the state California and Colorado, considered the idea of legalization of the marijuana. A high percentage of People of the United States doesn’t consider marijuana as a drug because is not strongly addictive. There’s also proves that marijuana never kill anyone and that is not so dangerous as alcohol and Tabaco. Marijuana should still remind illegal for his dangerousness. Marijuana is a magnificent pain reliever for people who suffer from anxiety, cancer, or glaucoma. Marijuana has good benefits, but honestly if the government legalize this drug, youngest people are going to be affected because they would have easy to accessibility. Cannabis (marijuana) also have side effects. Nervous system disorders, increase heart rate, causes bipolarity, and a long term effect can be lung cancer are some harms that marijuana users can get. Furthermore, marijuana is consider impair with alcohol that means that a driver under the influence of pot can be as dangerous as a drunk driver. The violence is also a consequence of the use of marijuana. Studies shows that marijuana affect the human mind that can cause aggressive and violent behavior.

Marijuana costs the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money every year. The government is spending this money to help enforce and regulate marijuana laws in states that have legalized the drug for both medical and recreational use. This drug should only be restricted to those who need it for medical purposes. Recreational use of marijuana has become a big drain of tax dollars, to fix this problem marijuana should be only used for medical purposes, and there should be a limit on how much you can have in your possession at one time.

We see cannabis on the news all the time nowadays, whether it’s about the new dispensaries that have just opened up in Denver or someone that has eaten one too many weed brownies. Ever since Amendment 64 had been passed in the state of Colorado, it is legal for patients who are 21 and older. Although scientists have done a good job testing cannabis oils, extracts, etc, there still needs to be better testing on patients and some stricter laws and regulations in the state.

Have you ever believed in something and later came to the realization it just wasn’t true? Perhaps when you were younger, all the children believed in great ole Saint Nick until we became older and realized their really isn 't a fat white guy sliding down the chimney delivering presents to families. Well I once had a belief until one day that all changed. Her name was Marijuana.

I like to think that I am fairly level headed when it come to recreational drug use. My parents did a good job of teaching me not to abuse drugs. I only snuck sips of alcohol to see what it tasted like when I was a teenager. Now that I am 21 and in college I will admit to occasionally getting drunk intentionally. I’ve never picked up smoking; I have had a cigar at a wedding. I have made it a point to stay away from illegal drugs like meth, cocaine, ecstasy, heroine, and etcetera. As for marijuana, I tried it in Colorado recently with my boyfriend. Afterwards, and during, I thought about why it isn’t legalized for recreational use in more areas. There are many points to think about regarding the topic of legalized marijuana. Is it safe? Is

Americans fight against an enemy that only continues to grow in strength. The U.S. has been engaged in a forty-year war over drugs, yet these drugs still continue to emerge in higher concentrations and attract more users. The United States verges on losing the war on drugs if current laws do not see change soon. The key to change is marijuana.