Should Marijuana Stay Illegal?

     Marijuana does have some negative effects, but compared to other drugs marijuana is harmless. Other drugs are highly addictive were marijuana is not. Alcohol is one of the most leading causes of car crashes. Marijuana is nowhere near being a leading cause of death. Other drugs can lead to cancer where marijuana is used to cure it, and other drugs can lead to deaths. Other drugs impair you vision, but marijuana does not. All the other drugs except alcohol are gateway drugs, and the only way to purchase them is by smuggling them across the border. Many advocates say “we should begin to reflect that reality in our state and federal legislation, and stop acting as if otherwise law-abiding marijuana smokers are part of the crime problem. They are not, and it is absurd to continue using law enforcement resources arresting them.” (Gary) Many advocates also say, “Far more harm is caused by marijuana prohibition than by marijuana itself.”(Gary)

Although it is a highly common defense that marijuana is not addictive, it in fact is. Many regular smokers find themselves ridden with very similar withdrawal symptoms of a tobacco addict (Marijuana Addiction Symptoms and Effects). Around 9% of people who use find themselves dependent on marijuana (Is Marijuana Addictive?). That may not seem like much, but that is almost 1 in every 10 people hooked on a drug that is supposedly “non-addictive.” Legalizing a drug that causes disorientation, paranoia, depression, anxiety, dizziness, and a slowed reaction time is not safe, not to mention the fact that it is a gateway drug, often leading users to use even more damaging and dangerous drugs (Is Marijuana Addictive?). With the legalization of a drug like marijuana comes increased use and abuse of the drug. Marijuana is unsafe medically for the individual using and for the people around them when the user is under the influence, it will cost the government money and time and it will cost employers tons. Legalizing marijuana would be a huge mistake by our country.

Marijuana has been deeply studied in the past few decades and has shown scientist many things that weren’t evident before. Marijuana has been linked to many health issues good and bad. It has shown to reduce stress and anxiety, help with headaches, lower blood pressure and one of the most evident and positive health affects is that it has been shown in many studies to stop and even kill cancer cells in the body. There are however negative effects that have been looked into and studied by scientist. These include, blocking memory formation, psychosis, and an increased risk of depression while using marijuana regularly. Not everything revolving around marijuana is a “health issue” though, the biggest reason that people use marijuana today is because it simply makes people feel good. That is a positive effect.

I believe that the time has come to end the prohibition of marijuana in the United States of America. If marijuana were a legal substance and taxed like alcohol and tobacco, billions of dollars in revenue would be generated that could be put towards paying down our national debt. Further stimulation of our economy would result from the thousands of jobs that would be created in order to grow, manufacture, process, market and distribute the product. Overcrowding in our prisons would be reduced, creating much-needed room for violent and aggressive criminals. Finally, there is evidence that the legalization of marijuana will yield certain health and environmental benefits to American society.

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.

In the end my opinion stays the same. Marijuana should be legal, and everyone who has used the drug would say the same. Being safer than alcohol and way less addictive should have already been enough to allow the drug to be rescheduled. While I hope to see marijuana legalized in my life time. I have come to terms that this is just not where we are at as a society. With my experiences with my generation people still have their fears about the drug. Until we are allowed to research marijuana further we will not have the information to change people’s minds. Until then my opinion that I share with many others stays the same. Marijuana must be

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.

so expensive to obtain that its usage as a medical remedy in the U.S. came to a

First, legalizing marijuana in America will send a message to children that using the drug is acceptable. Because marijuana would be easier for children to obtain, there is a greater chance of a part of them becoming addicted to the drug. According to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, adolescents are at highest risk for marijuana addiction, as they are "three times more likely than adults to develop dependency" (U.S. Drug 65). However, this is transported from the fact that treatment admission rates for reporting marijuana as the primary substance of abuse increased from thirty-two to sixty-five percent between 1993 and 2003 (U.S Drug 66). Therefore, more young children ages twelve through seventeen entered treatment in 2003 for marijuana dependency than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined (U.S. Drug 67). With this in mind, not only are children at risk for becoming dependent

Possession and use of marijuana is illegal in over half of the United States, but it is still the third most popular recreational drug in the United States. The debate for this drug to be legal has been going on for many years; some states have legalized the drug for medical use, and some for recreational use as well. Other states seem to disagree; they are not in favor of making the drug legal for medical use or recreational use. It has been proven that marijuana has a positive impact on society. Marijuana should be legalized as it would reduce crime, provide health benefits, and it is a safe drug.

Growing up, everyone is told that, “Drugs are bad for you,” time and time again. Now as a kid you don’t really understand the reasoning behind it, but you listen to your authority figure regardless. I remember being told this my entire life and even to this very day. But as I got older I realized that people would still use drugs even though it’’s illegal. I could never understand why someone would go against the law and jeopardize their life just to use drugs? The drug that I am talking about is marijuana, and surprisingly it is all around us. Marijuana is even referred to in today’s media Mainstream media sources that people enjoy, like music, movies, and TV shows, do not even bother to leave the drug out of their system. Now being a young adult and having my own personal experience with the drug and knowing its effects on others, I wonder why it’s not legal. Why is it that this drug has become illegal all over the world? The debate to legalize marijuana in the United States of America has been fought over nonstop since the existence of the drug and its effects. Marijuana has been tested and proven to provide a very positive impact on the American society for many reasons. Some of these reasons are for America’s economy, health and even crime. These reasons could very well help America thrive in the future and that is why Marijuana should be legalized in the United States of America.

Marijuana should be removed from the law system and adjusted in a behavior similar to alcohol and tobacco. The life dependency risk for alcohol is fifteen percent and Marijuanas life dependency risk is nine percent. Alcohol affects a lot more people than marijuana. When people abuse alcohol it is way worse than getting high on marijuana because when people get drunk they want to do crazy idiotic things, but when people get high they usually just eat and eventually fall asleep says scientists. There are currently no reported deaths from simply smoking weed. Forty percent of americans already admitted to smoking weed. It is relatively harmless, this is why I think marijuana should be legal. Marijuana has a lot of positive qualities.

When hearing the word marijuana, we instantly think a “dangerous drug,” because that is what we are taught growing up. That there are different types of drugs that are dangerous for us and will only harm our health and our future. Growing up with this information as children, we do not really have other reasoning so we just take in the information and accept it. This information which was given to us at a young age is only questioned after we start to age. If research is actually done in order to gain a better understanding on the topic it will allow to draw own conclusions. For a very long time the legalization of marijuana has been a very controversial subject. It may be as a result of keeping this information given to us as a young child and never questioning it, or perhaps just the lack of knowledge on the subject. Marijuana is a drug because that is what it has been categorized as but it has been used in medicine for thousands of years. The positive impact that it will have on the country, the regulations able to be imposed on it and the many health benefits of marijuana should be a reason as to why it should be legalized.

Although the legalization of marijuana solves several problems at hand, it also creates new ones that may be even more detrimental to our society such as indecent exposure of it to our youth and excessive use leading to addiction. Marijuana often has been characterized as the “gateway” drug that leads to further illicit drug use and

When anyone uses marijuana there is a chance of them becoming addicted. In some cases it may be a very low chance but in others there is a high. Usually a person becomes addicted if they cannot control their urges to seek out and use marijuana. Once a person is addicted it affects heir family relationships, school performance, and recreational activities. Some marijuana users develop “tolerance” from its effects; to they tend to use larger amounts to obtain the desired effect that they would gain from using smaller amounts. In conclusion, marijuana is that one drug that should not be legalized.