...Marijuana is the most abused drug in the United States of America. People believe that by making marijuana legal it can reduce crime and costs of using law enforcement, but the reality is that making marijuana legal can affect many Americans. The cost will just be unbearable due to many addictions, overdose, and juveniles/adults committing delinquency acts because they are under the influence of drugs. Addiction will be the major cause of the United States spending money on overdosed people being admitted to the hospital. Many will not be able to afford visits to the hospital because of their addiction they have nothing left. Car accidents will be immense because being under the influence of any substance can and will impair driving. The cost of making marijuana legal would be ten times more than what the United States is spending on keeping it illegal. Drugs are stimulants that affect the body in many ways. There are many drugs that are legal and many that are illegal. Drugs are used in many ways doctors use it to help people. Then there’s abuse of drugs and addiction of getting drugs illegally to stimulate the body. Marijuana an illegal drug that stimulates the body. Has been the center of attention for a few years now because some Americans believe marijuana should be legal. They believe it can reduce crime and that it can save Americans money as well as making money by selling the illegal drug legally to Americans. Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal...
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...Lugene Rosen Legalize It! The legalization of marijuana would not hurt the country, but it would benefit it in many ways. Alcohol and tobacco are legal although they are more harmful than marijuana, which can be used to raise revenue, decrease the crime rate, and help heal the sick. Marijuana, or cannabis, has many positives much good can come from it being legal. Some of the main positives of legalizing marijuana include raising revenue for the country as a whole, decreasing the crime rate and number of prisoners, and it can be used as a cheap way for people to self-medicate. As with everything where there are positives there are negatives. Some negatives that could be argued would include how the government would control it, what to do with prisoners who were arrested prior to the legalization, and what kind of damage long term use could cause. The benefits of legalizing cannabis outweigh the negative side of it, like raising the revenue and economy of this country. One reason why marijuana should be legalized is that it can raise the revenue and economy of this country tenfold in a short period of time. People do not just start doing something because it becomes available in mass quantities with no prosecution. Marijuana can be grown by companies, like Phillip Morris a cigarette company, and taxed by the government. A high tax should be put on the product of course, making enjoying it a rare occasion. Alcohol and tobacco are legal products in this country, and the government...
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...Marijuana Legalization All across the United States there are prisons filled with men and women serving marijuana related crimes. Each one of these men and women go through the court systems, and this takes time and money away from our government. Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world. Mainly people think of marijuana of the dirty drug out on the street, when actually marijuana has been proven to help people medically. Marijuana is a less harmful drug than alcohol and tobacco, and yet it is still illegal and millions of men and women are serving yearly sentences. A single person is yet to die from an over dose on marijuana, while millions of people die from alcohol and tobacco every year. If cannabis was legalized it would do many great things, such as create millions of new jobs. With the economy struggling right now in American this would help our country greatly. Another thing marijuana would do is eliminate the spending on preventing marijuana use in North and parts of South America. If marijuana was legal it would give our government more time to look at more important issues, instead of preventing the use and selling of cannabis. Our government could focus more on the War on Terror and prevent harsher drugs from entering the U.S. such as heroin, meth, and cocaine. Our society would completely change; marijuana would be off the streets and would be treated probably. You would see a decrease in marijuana use at a younger age because it would be more...
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...Marijuana, the Possibility of a Carefree Future According to the government’s national Survey in 2010 on Drug Use and Health, over 22 million Americans that are twelve years or older use illegal drugs. If so many people are already using them, why not make them all legal? Although the idea of making every drug legal would give a huge economic boost to the economy, it is extremely dangerous. Therefore, the American government should only allow a few less harmful drugs to be legal. Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, caffeine, and herbal drugs should all be legal as the economic and overall benefit to society outweighs the detriment. Although caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and herbal drugs are already legal, marijuana is not. Marijuana should be legal as it has very little effect on the health of the user and it has the possibility of lowering the United States current debt. If marijuana is sold as a legal drug and is then taxed like alcohol or nicotine is currently, it would yield tax revenues of approximately 46 billion dollars per year (Ghosh). The legalization of marijuana would reduce government costs and raise tax revenues, saving the government roughly 8.8 billion dollars. As for health concerns, marijuana is not nearly as harmful as many other easily acceptable substances. For example, in Jodi Bullock’s article “Pot’s No Different from Alcohol, Legalize It,” she states that between 2001 and 2005, an average of 80 000people died from direct alcohol use or alcohol-related issues...
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...Hunter Scott JD Simpson ENG 1201-928 04 May 2018 Should Marijuana Be Legalized in All States for All Uses? When people hear the words “weed” or “marijuana,” they often think and say that it is bad or no good because of the events that occur when people use it. They also are aware that the drug is illegal across most of the United States of America. What most people do not understand is the positives that making marijuana legal across the nation entails. An abundance of controversial topics exist throughout today’s society, and the debate of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for all uses in all states is just one of many of them. Today, nine states and Washington D.C. have the drug legalized for all uses. However, other states only...
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...Marijuana: Legal or Illegal One of the most controversial health issue topic has to be medical marijuana. The herbal medicine is legal in some states but illegal in many. The question to ask is why it is illegal in many states. What are the benefits for medical marijuana? There are pro and cons to this drug but is there too many pros for it be illegal? Yes. The drug has been legal to become a component to help improve the life of patients. Although millions of dollars are used for the drug war for marijuana, one drug that has positive effects can change the American economy by producing marijuana. What is marijuana? Also known as Cannabis, marijuana is known for a drug and a medicine. The major chemical in the herbal medicine is THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). This chemical compound is the reason for some beneficial factors in medical. Some pros in making it legal would include stimulation of hunger in chemotherapy and AID patients, also patients with glaucoma. The medicine can be taken by vaporizing, smoking, drinking, eating and capsules. The best part of the drug is that there has been no lethal effect. No one has died from the consumption of marijuana. The THC in a person cannot be tested, such as a breathalyzer. The drug is grown naturally and it is coming through the soil, natural plants should not be illegal to have, especially a one that does much more. Growing cannabis would not only help the health system and lower drug wars cost, there would be more hemp, which is...
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...According to www.drugpolicy.org, the first 10 months of legal marijuana sales have resulted in nearly $40 million in tax revenue. This is one of the many reasons that causes me to believe marijuana should be legalized. This is not the only benefit there has been to legalizing use of marijuana in the state of Colorado. In fact, there has been countless benefits from the legalization of just one state. I maintain that marijuana should be legalized for not only medical, but recreational use, for benefits such as crime decrease, money benefits, and more. The first thing I would like to point out are the money issues. As stated before, the legalization has resulted in roughly $40 million in tax revenue for Colorado, and that is just in the first...
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...Legalization of Marijuana While legalizing marijuana is politically risky, by that the government has even looked into this issue and they still believe it shouldn’t be legalized. Many to manage pain, so it should be legalized use it. Patients whose backs are broken, and those who experience pain every day, from certain injuries, feel much better after using it. Medicines prescribed by doctors, are sometimes expensive, and at times they don’t help the patients. When a patient is on medical marijuana, it alleviates pain and it makes them feel at ease. According to the Los Angeles Times, a Dr. Donald Abrams claims that when patients are going through chemotherapy, they tend to lose appetite. He says when they use marijuana it alleviates pain and creates an appetite. People tend to argue that marijuana doesn’t create an appetite, but it has been proven by medicalqestions.com. They say that molecules from marijuana bind with receptors from the brain to activate the hunger response. Marijuana should be legalized because there isn’t any superior incentive why it shouldn’t be legalized. Everyone has a right to do what he or she wants if it doesn’t hurt anyone, in other words freedom. If one can freely smoke cigarettes, why can’t marijuana users enjoy that too? Cigarette smokers or other non smokers might argue that, because it’s a drug marijuana smokers are not supposed to enjoy smoking freely, but cigarettes are also a drug. Has anyone ever considered that? People ought to have...
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...States “The war on drugs has become the longest most deadly war the United States has ever faced.”(Wright, 2011) The United States has been fighting drug trafficking since the 1900’s and the main dilemma is how to exactly stop it. Some people believe that making drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine legal in the United States would put a stop to drug trafficking, but this is just going to do nothing but make things worse for the people of the United States and cause the drug war to begin in our own country. It is believed by some that making drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine legal in the United States will stop drug trafficking from other countries and help the United States in other ways. People believe that making drugs legal in the United States that it would reduce the prison population which will save the government money, it will make money for our country because the government can tax the drugs, reduce the chances of drug overdoses because the drugs will be more pure and the amount sold will not be deathly, help cancer and glaucoma patients, and stop trafficking and smuggling from other countries. This all may be true in some ways but making these drugs legal would just cause more problems within the United States and for our people. These problems vary from more crime within the United States to more jobless people in the United States. Also it is not going to make the drug traffickers disappears they will find...
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...Marijuana: Should not be legalized As a member of a modern society I have seen that people want to legalize marijuana in order to make it a taxable product and therefore help the economy. Although it can be a good idea to boost up the economy the use of marijuana will be abused and more incidents will occur in our society. There is no sense in having more violent crimes occurring in society. The activists that are in favor of the legalization only see it in the way that will benefit them. They do not see the negative effects that can occur if the plant legalize and is be produced, distribute, and better yet consumed. Although the campaigners who want to legalize marijuana have reasonable arguments (the plant sales contributing to the economy), the legalization of the substance can cause various types of problems within society and therefore the legalization of the substance should never be an option. The first law dealing with the usage of marijuana dates back 1619 a law led the usage of such plant be gifted to the farmers by making good usage of it by making it into hemp in Virginia. During the 1840s that’s doctors first acquired knowledge regarding medical benefits that marijuana has and it was legal to be sold in accredited pharmacies. Then the prohibition was enacted because the United States was afraid that criminal events would happen due to the sneaking of Mexican immigrants. Mexicans were accused of addiction to the plant because it made them become insane and violent...
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...the dilemma. It is important to use not only an emotional perspective but an objective and cognitive perspective as well. Combining our values and morals in our decision making will have a huge impact in the end result of our decision. A recent event that has happened in our society involves a parent who has given his toddler liquid cannabis without doctor knowledge. This situation was aired on ABC News on May 5, 2011. The article is titled “Montana Dad Gives Cancer-Stricken Boy Marijuana Behind Doctor’s Back” (James, 2011). A two year old child named Cash was diagnosed with a stage four brain tumor. He lived in Montana and was taken to Salt Lake City, Utah for extensive chemo therapy treatment. He suffered septic shock, a stroke, and a pulmonary hemorrhage. The child was extremely sick and went 40 days without eating. Due to the nature of his illness his body was shutting down and the family was frightened. Doctors were doing everything possible for this child. The father who had extensive knowledge on the use of medical marijuana (had used it himself for Attention Deficit Disorder) decided to give it to his son through his feeding tube without the doctors knowledge. The marijuana was legal in Montana but not in Utah (“15 legal,” 2011). Each day the father gave his son 3mm of the marijuana liquid twice daily. He feared...
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...Meghan Robbins-Sevel Abstract I choose the topic of Legalizing Marijuana because the debate of whether marijuana should be legalized is an ongoing argument in the United States. Also, it has always bothered me how harshly marijuana is prosecuted in this country. While researching the subject of legalizing marijuana I wanted to find out exactly how much tax money was spent on prosecuting nonviolent marijuana offenders, how marijuana became illegal and how marijuana could help our economy if legalized. The results from my research were astounding to me. It was a shock to know that while alcohol was deemed illegal at one point marijuana was completely legal. I expected to prove my thesis, but I was not prepared for so much information that leads me to believe and become active in the cause for legalization. Although there is much opposition, I am very confident that the legalization of marijuana will not be too far away. Keywords: John Getteman, NORML.org, MMP.org, PBS, American Cancer Society The Legalization of Marijuana The word Marijuana alone is enough to send conservatives running from the room. The discussion about the legalization of Marijuana is at the forefront of the American mind. Marijuana is a drug to most people, it is believed to impair the brain and thought to be more toxic than the consumption of alcohol. The legalization of Marijuana is a touchy subject, however, the legalization of marijuana could help our struggling economy, ease the pain and symptoms of...
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...The Legalization of Marijuana Do you ever think that maybe our government isn’t as foolproof as we would like to think? Maybe our government isn’t always looking out for people’s health as much as how much money it can make? The fact is, tobacco and alcohol are the two of the leading causes of death in America and are legal. While marijuana has virtually zero deaths yet remains illegal because the government can’t profit from making it legal. Hash, tree, reefer, cannabis, gong, chronic, pot, herb and weed are a few of the common slang terms for the widely known controlled subsistence marijuana. “The term ‘marijuana’ refers to the leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant. Marijuana is a tobacco like substance produced by drying the leaves and flowering tops of the cannabis plant. Marijuana contains a natural chemical called THC (delta-9-tetrahydocannabinol) which gives users of the drug a ‘high’ when smoked” (What is Marijuana). Marijuana has several different effects, all of which are not severe or extremely harmful. “Some of the effects of marijuana use include increased heart rate, dryness of the mouth, reddening of the eyes, impaired motor skills and concentration, and frequent hunger” (What is Marijuana). According to Pete Guither, marijuana has been recorded to have been used as far back as 7,000 B.C.E. Its common use at the time was to weave fabrics and make rope, shortly after it was used as a recreational drug. Even though it is illegal now, in 1609 Virginia passed...
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...Marijuana Policy Ashford University: POL 201 Marijuana Policy A topic that has been in and out of the news a lot over the past 20 plus years and has had an immense amount of public opinion either for or against it, is the legalization of marijuana in the United States. This is a product that is illegal in 48 states for general recreational use and illegal in 26 states for medicinal use. But our country did not always have this sort of sentiment toward this plant. Marijuana is the mixture of dried and shredded flowers and leaves that come from the hemp plant. In 1619 legislation was passed in Virginia that required every farmer to grow hemp, and it was even used as legal tender in three states. By the 1900’s the drug became associated with immigrants and an anti-drug campaign was started. By 1931, 29 states had outlawed marijuana, and in 1937 the Marijuana Tax Act made is illegal under federal law to possess it (Marijuana timeline). In 1996 California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and as of July 7, 2014 New York became the 23rd state in the U.S. to do the same. A survey found on USAtoday.com stated “that in 7.3% of Americans 12 or older regularly used marijuana in 2012(Leger, 2013),” that is approximately 23.9 million people.” The stance that the federal government is holding firm onto is that marijuana is illegal, and is a schedule 1 controlled drug. There are many advocates in the legalization of this drug deemed by the federal government...
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...illegal drugs used every single day in the United States. The most common illegal drug used is marijuana. Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a drug derived from dried leaves and buds from the cannabis plant. This drug can be classified as a hallucinogen, stimulant, or a depressant. Marijuana is a very beneficial drug used for recreational, and medicinal purposes. Cannabis should be legalized and decriminalized for a various amount of reasons, which include: economic, medicinal, and religious reasons. Cannabis is a drug of many names, the most common a person might hear are weed, pot, ganja, and mary jane. Marijuana’s first recorded use as a medicinal drug was in China in 2737 B.C. Until the early 1940s, marijuana was was easily obtained at the local general store or pharmacy. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 severely restricted Marijuana as a recreational and a medicinal drug. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 made it illegal to possess, use, buy, sell, or cultivate marijuana. Only a year later, President Nixon enacted the “War on Drugs” policy. However in 1996, California was the first U.S. state to legally allow medical marijuana to pain-suffering patients. Today, 13 U.S. states currently have laws in place which allow regulated medical marijuana use. Marijuana is very similar to alcohol when talking about how the United States government treats it. Alcohol was legal in the early 1900s until 1919 when the prohibition of alcohol took place. When this took place...
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