The Topic Of Legalizing Marijuana For Recreational Use

Legalizing marijuana is a concept that can potentially benefit the public as well as the local economies. There has been a nationwide debate on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The major consensus is that marijuana is not only bad for one’s health, but it is also dangerous to the community. These allegations are not true. Marijuana actually has health benefits that most people overlook. The following essay will address these health benefits in an attempt to present this concept in a way that the audience can better understand how legalizing marijuana can beneficial to an individual health, how it can give an increase to the economy.

Colorado’s legalization of marijuana began in 2000 with the Colorado Amendment 20. According to Davis, Mendelson, berkes, Suleta, Corsi & Booth (2015) the Colorado Amendment 20 legalized cannabis for medical use only. Even though this was true however, not just anybody was allowed to obtain marijuana. Any person wishing to obtain cannabis had to have a condition that was debilitating. “Debilitating conditions approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and included in Amendment 20 are cancer, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, cachexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, muscle spasms, and any other condition approved by CDPHE” (Davis et.al, 2015, p.1). This Amendment lasted for nine years and in 2009, anyone was allowed to obtain medical cannabis. There was no

The topic of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States has been a very controversial one. States such as Colorado and Washington have gone on the offensive and have legalized recreational marijuana and have enjoyed the high revenues brought in from cannabis sale. On the other hand other states have kept low profiles because they are wary of the possible negative outcomes of legalizing recreational marijuana and are using the states of Colorado and Washington as guinea pigs to see what their next course of action on this controversial topic should be. This is not only a highly debated topic among politicians, but also by the people. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center 52% of Americans

This article from los angeles time talks about the use of marijuana or pot in the state of Colorado.

of young people that use marijuana is still on the rise from year to year. Yet still surprisingly,

Police will be free to focus their efforts on more pressing public safety issues, rather than chasing pot dealers. Plus, recreational users will no longer face the risks associated with purchasing illicit drugs in dangerous settings, and can instead venture to one of several hundred retail outlets in the state. Legalized marijuana in Colorado has resulted in a decreased burden on the state’s already-clogged courts, as well as a much safer environment for recreational users to make

Many researchers and voters believe “Mary Jane” will cause Californian students’ academic performance to decline if marijuana becomes legalized; however, some do not accept this theory. While “Mary Jane” is constantly put down, new sources have proven that since the legalization of cannabis, teenagers have not increased their use of medical marijuana (Borchardt). “One of the biggest worries about legalized medical marijuana was that teenagers would smoke more pot, but it turns out those fears were wrong” (Borchardt). Since the legalization, the unincreased use of marijuana has not affected the academic performance of students. On a report from a National Survey on Drug Use, says other sources believe that the use of marijuana is increasing,

One of the reasons that marijuana should be legalized is the fact that marijuana reduces crime. Some critics might argue that marijuana causes many crimes, and therefore, marijuana should not be legalized. However, the State of Colorado, which allows the use of marijuana, experienced a huge decrease in the number of crime incidences involving marijuana after passing the marijuana bill, to seventy seven percent between 2012 and 2013. There were seven hundreds and fourteen cases of tiny amounts of marijuana possession for each month before the legalization, but seven hundreds and fourteen

Does it really come to morality after all? The decision to legalize marijuana has been subject for debate since first introduced in 1969; many arguing the fact that we are sitting on an industry worth an estimated 113 billion dollars. For once we have an opportunity to make a real impact in our economy. We have an aid on “the war on drugs”. But are we then showing our children that legalizing drugs is really the answer to our problems or does only the big picture mater in the end? Will this bring for a stronger, richer nation or will this bring us down to our knees.

Research hint as many as 10% of users will unravel turning over time. According to a Quinnipiac University survey extricate July 21, 2014, Coloradans extended to support the nation's legalization of marijuana for recreational use by a margin of 54–43 percent. quoth Torah order marihuana interest should be as strained as Torah adjust alcohol usage. The retailer can remain 2 percent of the tax to cover their disbursement. On September 16, 2013, the Denver City Council adopted an appointment for retail marijuana establishments. Sixty-one percent of respondents also pret. The tax will be imposed on sales after January 4,

Violent crime and property crimes have both decreased in Colorado since the state legalizedrecreational cannabis. There were 658,000 arrests for marijuana possession

Marijuana has been a very controversial area of legislation for years. Through the Obama years we saw more lenient laws go into place and more places allow marijuana in the United States. Marijuana in Colorado has been an especially complicated area. In the early 2000’s medical marijuana became more common. But in 2012 Amendment 64 passed which legalized recreational marijuana. Amendment 64 created by Democrats in Colorado’s Congress in 2011 did pass public vote with 1,383,139 votes due to the efforts of many politicians, the work of special interest groups, and a shift in public opinion of marijuana over time due to media and politicians.

It’s not as bad as smoking or drinking alcohol! The government knows what’s good for us! You can’t overdose on marijuana! Public schools told me “Be Healthy, don’t do drugs.” Arguments such as these are always thrown back and forth when going into a controversial conversation dealing with legalization of marijuana. Many people are on both ends of the spectrum when dealing with the legalization some may personally be involved due to run-ins with the law, family related issues, or personal beliefs. In a study, it was concluded that “more than 1.5 million drug-related arrests made by police in 2013, more than 693,000 were marijuana-related arrests.” (Federal Bureau of Investigations) This information shines some light on how much time police spend on arresting individuals who are affiliated with position, consumption, or selling of marijuana. Of course, this can be seen differently from both sides “The Anti-Weed” side one being that the policemen are doing a good job cracking down on the drug addicts. On the other side, it is policemen wasting time arresting/harassing citizens who are smoking a simple herb that helps one mellow out and relax to ease the stress of a long hard working day. It is very clear that both sides viewpoints differ when talking about legalization, but it doesn’t change the fact that the number of people being sent to prison over Weed related crime is still increasing regardless of some states making the substance legal, when it can not only help benefit

A number of movements to legalize marijuana have been gaining attention lately. Currently there are 14 states where marijuana is legal for medical use (medicalmarijuana). 41% of U.S. citizens believe marijuana should be legalized (drugpolicy) but others are still concerned about health damage. American society has lost the war against marijuana, and that's okay. We should stop wasting time and money trying to reverse history and instead legalize both medical and recreational use of this mild narcotic widely seen as no more harmful than alcohol.

Nowadays, cell-phones and alcohol consumption are enough distractions to hamper driver’s concentration; we do not need to add legal marijuana as another distraction. Defining, the distraction of marijuana, Szalavitz reports and Kluger (2010) writes,” tetrahydrocannabinol (T.H.C.) that’s behind a pot high’s otherworldly edge-and also behind the paranoia and hallucination”, hallucinations can put someone in crazy places, when one is driving his focus must be on the road and not somewhere else. Enlightening people to the hazard that external influences and specifically cell-phone usage create, researchers Horrey and Wickens (2006) found, “Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year”. Furthermore, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (1991) writes, “It is unlawful for anyone with 0.08 percent or more alcohol in his or her blood to drive”, the department deems legally intoxicated, one with blood alcohol content (B.A.C.) of 0.08%. On this note, research from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C) (1993) relaying to the government the numbers of death caused by those driving under the influence write, “deaths among young persons aged 10-24 years in the United