Legalization Should Happen and Here’s Why
BCOM/275
June 7th, 2015
Professor Esquivel

Legalization Should Happen and Here’s Why

I’m choosing to rebuttal the CNBC article on “Why we should not legalize marijuana”. A poll reveals that for the first time in history, Americans are more in favor of legalizing marijuana than criminalizing it. 2013 has marked a successful year for marijuana legalization, with Colorado and Washington both passing laws to decriminalize the drug. Now, fifty-eight percent of Americans are in favor allowing the plant to be legal. With the majority of Americans agreeing that marijuana should be legalized, those who are still on the fence about the natural plant should possibly reconsider their feelings.
Around forty percent of Americans have already admitted to using marijuana. Ever since marijuana has been known to mankind, not one single account of death from overdose has been recorded. On the other hand, in 2010, 38,329 people died from drug overdoses and alcohol abuse. Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is not as addicting as one may think. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, recently wrote in his essay, "Why I Changed My Mind About Weed," that we have been "systematically misled" on marijuana. He reports that marijuana leads to dependence in around 9-10 percent of adult users. Cocaine hooks about 20 percent of its users, and heroin gets 25 percent of its users addicted. The worst culprit is tobacco, with 30 percent of its users becoming addicted.
Medical marijuana is important to a lot of people. According to a Discovery Health article, marijuana has been extremely successful in relieving nausea, which is extremely good news for cancer patients suffering from nausea as a side effect of chemotherapy. The drug also helps with people who have loss of appetite due to diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, it helps relax muscle tension and spasms and chronic pain. Also, the National Cancer Institute announced that patients who ingested a cannabis plant extract spray reported more restful sleep.
One of the biggest and most widespread arguments from marijuana detractors is that smoking marijuana will lead to using other drugs. The studies show that people who use marijuana first before trying other drugs is correlation and not causation. People who go on to use harder drugs also tend to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol before trying the other substances plus with our current stigma on pot only people who are predisposed to being an "outlaw drug user" are going to smoke pot. In conclusion, marijuana isn’t any more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. “Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction” – Bob Marley.

Reference * http://www.cnbc.com/id/36267223 * http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-marijuana-2-html * http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/