Maxwell VanZant
Mrs. Blake
Advanced English 9
4 March 2016
Legalization of Marijuana: Research Paper
You’re living in the USA and there is much less debt and crime than there was previously; How may one ask? The legalization of marijuana will cause these things stated and more. It will also lead to lower prison populations, lower crime and increased tax revenue due to the taxation of an underground market such as Marijuana. Some believe that Marijuana causes harmful effects to the human being’s physical and mental health and abilities. Although some people believe marijuana is harmful, it should be legalized because it would lower gang populations, increase tax revenue, and lower prison populations.
Some believe Legalizing Marijuana would be horrible because some are under the impression that Marijuana is harmful and addictive. Some think that marijuana causes a rise in dopamine and alters the rate of nerve cell firing in the Reward Center of a magnitude similar to other addictive drugs (California Society of Addiction). However, “Between 10 to 30% of regular users will develop dependency. Only 9% will have a serious addiction” (Gumbiner). Some also say that, Marijuana has toxic properties that can result in…brain damage (Stimson). However, Harvard Medical School researchers performed... imaging on the brains of long-term cannabis users…and...subjects with no history of cannabis use. Imaging displayed “no significant differences” (Armentano). Now, let's go onto the very
On January 1st the states of Colorado and Washington officially began the regulation of legal marijuana sales. Thousands of people from all over the country including tourists from Wisconsin, Ohio, Chicago, and even Georgia lined up out front of dispensaries to make a purchase. Recreational marijuana is being regulated and monitored like alcohol; you must be at least 21 years old to make a purchase. The drug, which is controversial in many states’ legislations, is currently legal for medical use in 20 states, but Colorado and Washington were the first to approve of recreational use (Healy). The geographical concepts involved in the legalization of marijuana include migration, movement and flow, and private/public space.
Another benefit accrued through legalizing marijuana would be a significant reduction in crime rates. Since Marijuana is currently illegal, it is sold on the streets country wide. Thousands purchase the drug from dealers, putting their lives and reputations at risk, simply because it is the only method to attain it. Both drug dealers and gangs fight to sell the drug in the street, causing their deaths and the deaths of innocent people. Legalizing the drug help decrease the street wars and gang violence by taking the “right” to sell out of the hands of dealers, and into the hands of the government. Since the drug will be legalized, it will be available in the same locations as cigarettes and alcohol, decreasing crime
One of the most prominent opposing viewpoints are the medical risks of marijuana. The potency of marijuana has more than doubled from 1993 to 2008 (well.blogs.nytimes.Rabin). This increase in potency concerns health professionals as it pertains to young marijuana users and how it affects developing brains. The legalization of marijuana can give young people a false sense of safety. They can assume that if it’s sold in a legitimate store, that it must be safe to use, which is not always the case. The substance contains addictive properties and even in the states that have legalized it for medicinal and recreational use, have not instituted a comprehensive testing regiment to ensure the safeness of the drug. Without federal recognition, the FDA does not involve itself in ensuring the ingredients and purity of the
Legalization of marijuana should be legislated for medical use across the country. Marijuana does not have a potential good value that it should have, in the eyes of the government and the public. In reality it is actually natural and a effective medicine. The debate about medical marijuana is spreading like a virus across the country. Marijuana can be that one thing to clear off US 13 trillion debt as well as it can decrease crime rates and create more possibility of jobs for people who do not speak English language. Research shows that medical marijuana is bad for health and the government is in lack of manufacturing and handling the marijuana drug, classified as B class drug in the United States. It is legal in 20 states as medical marijuana use. Both the sides have valid argument but the pros out weigh cons by many reasons. Unlike other most legal tobacco products, medical marijuana is less harmful and has the capability to reduce the pain within diseased people.
If the possible medical advances for the legalization of marijuana are not enough to persuade some people, the economic growth from the market marijuana will create will convince others. One article from NBC News suggests that “As more states start to legalize weed, there will be a need for safety campaigns to increase awareness of what risks come from using marijuana”(Fox, 2016). Just as teens shouldn't use marijuana because of increased risks stunned brain development and dependency, neither should other drugs such as tobacco for “adolescent brain development, risk-taking and decision-making, and nicotine dependence” (Lyndon, 2016). Pros and cons come with the use of any drug, from legal drugs to illicit drugs. In conclusion, people are going to do what they want. The best one can do is to be aware and to be
Marijuana is illegal in 48 of the 50 states, but the drug will most likely be legal in the near future. The heated debate on whether the “illicit drug” should be legalized in all 50 states keeps resurfacing. The most popular recreational drug in the United States today is marijuana. The formal name for marijuana is Cannabis but it also goes by a number of other street names including bud, grass, weed, reefer, ganja, hemp, and herb. “In 2011, more than 18 million Americans aged 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month” That is a very large amount of people that have used the drug even before it was legalized in two states. The government has thrown unproven facts about the harmful effects of marijuana to the people to scare them. The United States government has stated that Cannabis does cause lung cancer and includes many carcinogens, chemicals that cause cancer. Scientists and researchers have proven the exact opposite considering the drug is now used in many cancer treatments. With this being said, marijuana is not a perfect medicine either. Some of the harmful effects include posing a major irritant to the lungs and increased chance of a heart attack. There are always alternatives to work around these harmful effects. For example, marijuana can be eaten which would cause no irritation to the lungs in any way. As far as the increase chance of heart attack goes, any exercise raises the heart rate just as marijuana does. This means that you
The topic I chose is the legalization of marijuana. My research was enjoyable because I love reading on a topic that I fully support and agree with. The four sources I found are very persuading and contain strong points. I used the web for research but as I found sources, I made sure they were credible sources since this is such a debatable issue.
Marijuana (cannabis, hemp, or hash) has been argued upon amongst the United States for over fifty years. As well its various functions, both therapeutic and in trade, our government insists on preserving the status quo that the development, possession and use of marijuana is criminal despite the evidence that the legalization of marijuana would have a positive influence on America.
The legalization of recreational marijuana has recently been a widely debated topic, especially since medical marijuana was legalized in several states. Critics say that cannabis is a Class I drug that has both negative health effects and behavior effects. However, there is minimal evidence to support these claims, and none of the benefits of marijuana are taken into consideration when the arguments are made. The possession and use of recreational marijuana should be legalized in the United States because it would provide a steady source of income for the government in the form of taxation, it would reduce the sale of more dangerous drugs since they would not be present in dispensaries.
The 2016 elections and the subsequent legalization of recreational marijuana in California, Nevada, and Massachusetts show how constantly evolving attitudes regarding marijuana and regulations pertaining to marijuana practices are. Corresponding with constantly changing attitudes regarding marijuana, users are finding more novel ways to make the most of their plant products. Butane-extracts or butane hash-oil (BHO) products are potent marijuana concentrates (Bell, Slim, Flaten, Wiktor, & Monte, 2015) that require the liquid-gas butane as the catalyst in the process of extracting pure THC from marijuana plant product (Raber & Elzinga, 2015). At-home BHO labs are rising in their popularity (Rosenthal & Downs, 2014) due to the perceived ease
In recent years across the United States and in many other nations as well, drug policy and the rationale behind these policies have started to undergo a tremendous shift. This change in public policy is visible to most through the ongoing legislation across America regarding the legalization of medical marijuana in 23 states, and recreational cannabis use becoming legal in 4 states as well (Hanson, 2015). This shift in public policy marks a significant turning point in the view of drugs and drug culture in the United States and reflects increased public knowledge of the less than desirable affects of the “drug war” mentality.
All around this paper, there will be the very disputable discourse between sanctioning medicinal ganja and consistent hashish. Both sides of the contention have their advantages and disadvantages, and there is an in profundity depiction of both sides of the contention. At the end of the day, however, the paper completely underpins the sanctioning of therapeutic hashish and weed by and large. Medical hashish less destructive than most other lawful tobacco items and can lessen the ache inside feeble individuals. Cannabis likewise could be a treatable and more regular pill to help individuals in ache. Marijuana likewise has the possibility to raise the U.s. Out of their extreme monetary battle and also lower wrongdoing rate and make more occupations for many people more individuals. On the other hand, analysts accept that a restorative pot is still awful for individuals' wellbeing and the administration does not know how to direct the processing and offer of ganja. Both sides have good contentions, yet the aces exceed the cons by a noteworthy sum. This paper has assumptions of heaps of valid sources, specialists and scientists clarifying their side of the story. But read on to make your individual sentiment.
Legalizing medical marijuana for North Carolina would be extremely beneficial. Marijuana does not only relieve stress but it can cure symptoms of cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, and Crohns’s disease. Twenty-three states have already legalized it and it has helped thousands of people. If something that is grown naturally in the earth can be beneficial to society and do the same job as all these drugs made in labs with unhealthy side effects the why do we not utilize it? According to federal law there is no such thing as medical marijuana. To the government marijuana is a dangerous drug classified as a schedule one substance. What the government does not understand is that not only is it helpful but they could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue from it.
With the legalization there will be more jobs to help the lower class of all areas looking for work. For those who can not find work, they will be the people forced to relocate. Besides the financial aspects of it, marijuana provides a medical value. It has had a history of medical properties that date back to ancient times and still finds use today with modern medicine. Pot is also a safer drug when compared to its counterpart in tobacco or even alcohol. With marijuana legalization, it could lead to the reduction of poverty and destitution among poor cities.
Legalize, control, and discourage is a way to fix the problem. Evident by Colorado and Washington, “the legalization of marijuana can stop most of these possession arrests” (Levine). After the first opening of the first retail marijuana stores on January 1, 2014, Colorado had decreased crime rates, decreased traffic fatalities and increase in economic output (DPA). Since 2010, the marijuana possession arrest have went down 84% since its legalization. The tactic of legalizing, controlling, and discouraging has been proposed by the Economist, a weekly news magazine, in the late 80’s.