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 …show more content…
It is noted in the Colorado Politics article “Despite claims, data show legalized marijuana has not increased crime rates,” by Brian Heuberger that, “During the first year of the implementation of Amendment 64, Denver experienced a 2.2 percent decrease in violent crime rates and an 8.9 percent reduction in property crime offenses, according to research conducted by the Drug Policy Alliance,” (Heuberger). This statistic mentioned by Heuberger shows that there has been a decrease in crime in Denver, Colorado as a result of the legislation that made marijuana legal in the state. Because crime has decreased post-legislation, it means that it would do the same in other states as well, making the need to legalize the drug in every U.S. state. In the article by W.E. Messamore from Independent Voter Network titled “Marijuana Legalization Is Decreasing Violent Crime in Border States,” it mentions that the Uniform Crime Reporting Program discovered that, “ . . . marijuana laws have correlated with a 12.5 percent decrease in violent crime homicides, aggravated assaults, and robberies in states that border Mexico,” (Messamore). In short, crime has decreased in states along the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of legalizing marijuana. If legalizing cannabis helps the crime issue in border states, certainly it can help with the issue across the rest of the country, which is why every state should legalize the drug. In the …show more content…
In the New York Post article “Marijuana legalization hasn’t led to more drug abuse: study” by Jacob Passy, it is noted that, “For instance, looser marijuana laws appear to have reduced the use of cocaine and heroin among teens and regulation of marijuana has made drugs such as salvia and other narcotics seem more risky,” (Passy). Passy means that making marijuana legal actually decreases how often one uses drugs. If all states make marijuana and other drugs legal, it can reduce the usage number across all states and eventually the entire country, which makes legalizing the cannabis drug a necessity. It also mentions in Christopher Ingraham’s article “Following marijuana legalization, teen drug use is down in Colorado” from the Washington Post that, “State-level numbers from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that a little more than 9 percent of Colorado teens age 12 to 17 used marijuana monthly in 2015 and 2016, a statistically significant drop from the prior period,” (Ingraham). In other words, this means that legalizing marijuana in Colorado has actually decreased the amount of teenage marijuana users instead of increasing it. This shows how legalizing marijuana in other states can reduce one’s use of it, and that this action needs to be taken across all states of the nation to make that usage number reduction happen. In the same source, it brings up that, “In no states did