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Should the U.S. Decriminalize Marijuana? Every year our government spends about nineteen billion dollars to control the usage of marijuana. About seventeen thousand people were arrested last year because of it. The U.S. spends about twenty thousand per year house keep these inmates. (Miles) Who are these dangerous people that we are talking about? These people are considered pot heads. There is a marijuana arrest every forty two seconds in the U.S. In most cases most people who are pulled over don’t have a lot. Yet the government is letting jails get over crowded and using money the government needs. The economy in the U.S. is horrible, but the U.S. could save billions of dollars by decriminalizing marijuana. Marijuana should be decriminalized because it helps people with health issues, it saves the U.S. tons of money, keep jails safer and less congested, and benefit other people that need it. Marijuana should be decriminalized because it acts as a natural pain killer. Studies have shown that marijuana sometimes is the only painkiller that can help a person. For example, it helps people with chronic nerve pain due to injury or surgery feel less pain, relax, and sleep better. (Doheny) This is only one of the pains that marijuana can help, but there are many more. Today, more than 60 U.S. and international organizations support providing marijuana to people that need it. (NORML) Since marijuana is priceless and can assist so many people with medical care for many different illnesses, states should decriminalize it. An honest marijuana consumer doesn’t show harm to society. According to the marijuana policy project, enforcing marijuana prohibition costs tax payers an estimate of $10 billion annually and results in arrests of more than 701,000 individuals per year. On average, one person was arrested for a marijuana-related offense in the U.S. approximately every 45 seconds. (project) This number is higher than the total number of all criminal arrestees combined. Marijuana smokers, as well as every other citizen in the U.S. fulfill their dues by paying taxes and taking care of their families and children. Instead they are arrested and treated like lawbreakers, simply because of their choice to smoke marijuana. Consequently many children of smokers are placed in homes, which takes more tax dollars and suffrage towards families. This creates a problem towards the criminal justice system. As the community we to consider the public view towards the issue and create laws to decriminalize marijuana. Responsible marijuana smokers are not the problem and we should pass laws to help support it. Marijuana is less dangerous to consume for your health than tobacco and alcohol. According to the National Institution on Drug abuse, 400,000 die each year from tobacco and 50,000 people die from alcohol. Research shows that you cannot overdose from marijuana. According to the National Institution on Drug Abuse, unlike tobacco and alcohol, marijuana does not cause an addition, cancer, heart problems or and other problems to your body. It also doesn’t affect the brain functioning or cause aggressive actions like alcohol. (Volkow) As a result, consuming marijuana shouldn’t be considered as a crime because it does no harm to your body and it makes you calm and relaxed. Decriminalizing marijuana will also save the government and tax payers a lot of money. Many people are in jail simply for getting caught with marijuana. If you get caught with marijuana you should get time in prison, but you shouldn’t owe a life sentence. This is causing the jails to be over populated and costing tax payers much more money. Today 50 percent of the inmates in prison are in there because of a drug related incident. Marijuana makes up about 30 percent of that. (Miles) Jails and prisons are so crowded that it is now putting other inmates and correctional officers in danger. Marijuana will continue to put more and more citizens in prison for a long time, and they will continue to be overcrowded, unless the government passes laws that will decriminalize it.
Citizens understand the viewpoint of the opposing people that marijuana is still consider a drug, but the U.S. could save so much money and time by not harassing and putting innocent citizens in jail over a small marijuana charge . Also another argument against decriminalizing marijuana is that alcohol and cigarette smoke are already so damaging, smoking marijuana is not harmful and addictive. Also if they were to legalize it, the usage would increase, but wouldn’t you rather see someone getting stoned or would you rather see someone drinking and driving? Marijuana doesn’t alter your brain in a negative way. If anything marijuana will make your more calm and focused on what you are trying to achieve. Marijuana is safer and could bring the U.S. money instead of putting innocent citizens in jail. Decriminalizing marijuana would benefit society. The drug does not cause serious damage or health problems to your body like tobacco or alcohol. Nevertheless, people will continue to drink and drive and do other harmful with alcohol, even though it is still legal. Marijuana is a drug that is not addictive and it can help certain people that need it. Decriminalizing it can help our government save money and make society better in the long run, because it would keep less people out of prison. The government must let people choose if they want to smoke it or not. It will also make our world more tolerable to each other because of the relaxing feeling it gives you.

Works Cited
Doheny, Kathleen. WebMD Health News. 2010. 4 November 2015.
Miles, Kathleen. "Just How Much The War On Drugs Impacts Our Overcrowded Prisons." (2015).
NORML. MORML foundation. 4 November 2015. project, Marijuana poilcy. Marijuana poilcy project. n.d.
Volkow, Nora D. National Institution on drug abuse. July 2015.

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