What Are The Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Marijuana

The question of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use has been a three decade long conversation. There are many pros and cons to legalizing marijuana. There are many different ideas about the effects of marijuana, but as with any drug answers are going to vary depending on the person you survey. Age, health, and mental stability are all factors to consider how a drug can positively or negatively affect you, and marijuana is no different. To be legal or not to be legal is the million dollar question up for debate.

The uses of marijuana amongst teenagers has increased over the years making it the most accessible drug in America as well as one the most beneficial due to its medical uses. According to the article of Marijuana Use Among Youths Is a Serious Problem, written by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) (2004), stated that the uses of marijuana has impacted the youth in many ways due to the unknown factors of marijuana such as admittance to treatment facilities, and being admitted into emergency rooms. The CASA took the con side of the argument dealing with the issues of marijuana use with teenagers. The second article Marijuana Should Be

There have been many arguments that have been raised against marijuana whether it has to do with recreational marijuana, medical marijuana and in any other ways. Most arguments against marijuana are centered on the use of the drug for pleasure and imagination. Is it morally permissible to use marijuana, does it cause violence, is it a gateway drug, is it addictive, should using marijuana be regulated by law and what regulations should there be, should it be fully legalized and regulated, should it be decriminalized are questions that are usually asked when it comes to recreational marijuana. Providing answers and solutions to this dilemma is not as easy as pointing the wrongness of crimes such as rape or murder. Therefore, the debate on marijuana cannot be held on similar platforms as those crimes and it needs a philosophic analysis to identity the moral rightness, wrongness or the neutrality of the use of recreational marijuana. In this paper, I will argue that there is pros and cons to recreational marijuana and why there are pros and cons to it.

Recreational marijuana legalization in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have, technically, broken federal law. As long as the federal government does not do anything about the state’s blatant disregard for higher law they can do what they want. I think that because state and federal law contradict at the moment there should be clarification. States should only be able to pass a law such as this if it is also legal on a federal level, but if there are no repercussions for violating federal law where does it end? Recreational marijuana is a state issue, in my opinion. If it is to be legalized in America at a federal level then each state should be allowed to choose their side. At this point, federal government is showing its cracks. 4 of our states are currently not obeying the Constitution; federal law trumps state law. Our government needs to pull itself together and start paying attention to what the states are doing.

Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana. The congressional decision to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug in 1970 has made the legalization campaign more difficult, since it officially established marijuana as a dangerous, addictive drug with no medicinal benefits.

Legalizing marijuana has always been an interesting topic for many people to dispute about. Some people say it is good, while others say it is bad. No matter what topic you speak about, it has its pros and cons. For example, marijuana can be used in great ways if legalized. Through money given from dispensaries to the crime rate lowered because of the ability to acquire marijuana in legal ways. Some bad examples are that it can be a gateway drug and can cause one to want a “better high” to people thinking it affects people's lives. Legalizing marijuana (medical and recreational) will help the United States with money, crime, and other numerous ways.

When it comes to dealing with marijuana and deciding between legalization, decriminalization, or leaving it how it is now the best option would be legalization. Decriminalization of marijuana would still not make it legal, but it would lessen the criminal penalty. Therefore, some states treat possessing a small amount of marijuana like a minor traffic violation. Whereas legalization would make marijuana legal like states such as Colorado and Washington have already done. But why is this the better option?

I have always been against the use of all illegal drugs including marijuana, but while researching this topic, I have learned a lot about some of the positives of legalizing marijuana use. Considering it is classified as an illegal controlled substance, I have always been under the assumption that marijuana was bad for people, no matter what my friends may have said about how good it was. I was peer pressured into trying it when I was fourteen. I knew right away that it was not for me. It made me pass out and sick to my stomach when I woke up. That reiterated my assumption that it was bad for people. I did not understand how people could like it. I figured other people must not have had the same reaction as I did after smoking it.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions as reversed President Obama’s 2013 policy that protects legalized marijuana programs from intervention from the federal government. What this does is hands the decision back to each state. Each state’s U.S. attorney will now decide whether to enforce the federal marijuana law. Attorney General Sessions stated that “it is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States.” According to General Sessions, the previous policy undermines the rule of law. Currently, individuals that are prescribed medical marijuana and the programs that supply it are protected from federal prosecution by the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment. The amendment expires on January 19, 2018. (Schladebeck & Blain 2018).

Marijuana has several medicinal benefits. For example, it assist with problems associated to muscle spasms, chronic pain, nausea, weight loss and much more. With the legalization of marijuana more people would have access to experimenting with it to see if it helps their medical issues. This will also decrease the amount of drug related crimes by 52% allowing a greater focus on other more dangerous drug crimes (American Civil Liberties Union, n.d.) On the other hand, negative consequences include breathing difficulties, increased heart rate, psychological dependency, reduced immune system, and much more. Personally, I feel that it is our responsibly as a society to educated individuals on the

First and foremost, marijuana is legal in some states in the United States but for medical use only and other countries such as Canada have already allowed for medical marijuana to be used. (“17 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.”) The fact that states and other nations have allowed the use of marijuana for an important aspect like medicine should be considered in the argument of making the drug legal. Especially since it has caused no problems being used that way. Marijuana as medicine can be a pain reliever for its users. It is also beneficial to the everyday person for relief of migraines, OCD’s, ADHD, ADD, and even prevention of Alzheimer’s. The drug also has no proven or tested medical drawbacks (“10 Major Health Benefits of Marijuana.” COED. ) Unlike other drugs like sleep aids, painkillers, alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana is not addictive. Of course the argument could be made that it is but there is no factual evidence that proves this point. People that are anti-marijuana legalization will say that it is unhealthy and bad for you. All of these assumptions

Marijuana use in the United States has been increasing throughout the United States, along with the number of marijuana related arrests. In 2011, law enforcement agencies made 574,641 arrests for small quantities of the drug intended for personal use, the “marijuana arrests were about 13.6 percent more than the 505,681 arrests made for all violent crimes, including murder, rape and serious assaults” (Williams, 2016). Illegal and legal marijuana use is associated with high rates of property and violent crime rates, but in recent studies evidence was found to support the opposite. Shepard & Blackley (2016) found that legalized medical marijuana does not have a negative effect on violent and property crime. Morris et al. (2014) found that medical marijuana laws are not predictive of higher violent and property crimes, but may be related to reductions in violent and property crimes. Maier et al. (2017) found that states with decriminalized and legalized marijuana laws compared to states without did not differ in rates of property, violent, or drug abuse crimes. To better understand this social issue, one must look at it from the view of each of the sociological theories; Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. These theories help sociologist explain and understand the different aspects of social interactions and issues.

It is known that for many years there has been a fight whether to legalize marijuana for medical use or not. Many who are for it say that it is not addictive, hard to overdose on unlike other illegal drugs, and is very useful medicinal wise. These people do not have a problem with it and are actually in favor of legalizing it because they feel the benefits out way the disadvantages. Although, those who are against it say otherwise. They say that it is a “gateway” drug and not only will it lead to more hard core drugs, it also kills your brain cells. These people say that smoking marijuana turns one into an unproductive human because once they get hooked on it they will never want to do anything but smoke and will never get a job and become a member of society.

Cannabis is becoming increasingly widespread and increasingly common in modern-day society for both recreational use and for medication. The article by Craig Reinarman, ‘Criminalisation, legalisation and the mixed blessing of medicalisation in the USA’ generates many controversial issues of cannabis.

Should Marijuana be Legalized? Over half of Americans answer ‘’Yes.’’ Marijuana is greatly frowned upon, not just in America, but all across the globe. But these laws against Marijuana are up for debate in several countries. Especially in the United States. There are sixteen states in this country that allow medical usage of Marijuana.