Legalize Marijuana!

      Marijuana should be legalized for medicinal and recreational purposes. The legalization of marijuana has the potential to solicit a variety of positive results in American communities such as marketing and farming. I am going to explain the importance of marijuana and why we should stop the war on drugs. Marijuana has a lot of misleading “facts” and I am going to expose them.

      Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America and has been used by nearly 100 million Americans (Norml). Government studies show 25 million Americans have used marijuana the past year, and 14 million Americans do so regularly (Norml). The GDCADA statistics show there are over 100,000 alcohol related deaths each year. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC there are 443,000 deaths attributed to cigarette smoke in the U.S. Furthermore, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose (Norml).

      Marijuana, also known as cannabis, has become the largest cash crop in California. If we were to tax it by 10%, we would bring about new jobs in agriculture, marketing, and packaging. I will talk more on that later. If cannabis were going to be taxed what would you tax it under (meaning food or medical) or it could have more than one tax. Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually and results in the arrest of more than 847,000 individuals per year. This exceeds the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault (Norml). Conforming to DrugSense there have been over 1,630,500 arrests in 2009. Arrests for drug law violations in 2009 are expected to exceed the 1,841,182 arrests of 2007 costing even money.

      The estimate on the war on drugs is over 40,000,000,000 (DrugSense). Legalizing marijuana can lower the crime rate; provide jobs for several occupations such as distribution, farming, and advertising. Lastly the legalization would create tax inflow. The government can take drugs off the streets and release them into the free market helping the community progress thus getting through the recession.

      Marijuana is a valuable aid in the medical field as far as pain relief and neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is pain caused by damage to nerves or by damage to the brain, brainstem, or spinal cord. Marijuana has served as an appetite stimulant for people who suffer from eating disorders, HIV and AIDS patients. It has also been known to serve as a treatment for major depression, epilepsy, and bronchial asthma. There are even plants of marijuana used for certain medicinal purposes. Marijuana can replace Ritalin for ADD and ADHD.

      White Rhino (a cannabis plant) is used for pain relief and appetite stimulation. Peacemaker (a cannabis plant) medicinal properties are ms, arthritis, and insomnia (Treating Yourself issue 15 S2009). Purple Urkle (a cannabis plant) helps relieve back and head pain (Westword). These are few examples of what cannabis can do in the medical field. Using medical marijuana can replace some of today’s medicine.

      When there is talk about legalizing marijuana, it being a gateway drug is always brought up. The gateway theory is not a theory at all. It is a description of the typical sequence in which multiple drug users initiate the use of high-prevalence and low-prevalence drugs. For example people who ride a motorcycle (a fairly rare activity) have ridden a bicycle (a fairly common activity). Bicycle riding does not cause motorcycling riding, and increases in the former will not lead automatically to increases in the latter (Iversen 227-228).

      Is cannabis safe, is another highly asked questioned when talking about the popular drug. There is no convincing evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults (Zimmer & Morgan 80). Just like anything else people may or can have allergic reactions from using the relatively safe drug. Some users of the drug my experience temporary effects like panic, anxiety, and paranoia (Zimmer & Morgan 80). Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing. The mental process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory (Zimmer & Morgan 70).

      There have been studies shown that subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they had just learned, but they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. The diminishment only lasts for the duration of intoxication (Zimmer & Morgan 70).  Marijuana killing brain cells is a myth. The theory that marijuana kills brain cells are based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century ago that has never been proven through scientific study. The medical test that is currently used shows no signs of brain damage from marijuana, even from long-term high dose use (Zimmer & Morgan 56).

      Marijuana can not only save us money, but bring us money as well. There is a non-psychoactive strain of cannabis called hemp. Hemp is one of nature’s strongest and most versatile agricultural crops. Here is a list of some of hemps commercial uses; clothes, construction, nutritional supplements, paper products, food (also livestock feed), and body care products. The legalization of marijuana can bring hemp into the market and the many commercial uses hemp could make it the number one cash crop in America. Marijuana is a $14 billion dollar industry.

      I do believe the recreational use of marijuana is also important because how safe the drug is itself compared to alcohol use and tobacco. Recreational use of marijuana is much safer than the social use of alcohol. People socialize and drink alcohol every day, which can lead to enragement, black outs (possibly hurt someone), and alcohol poisoning. You cannot overdose on marijuana; it is a safe drug so there is not any poison related to it except for people who may have allergic reactions from the use of it. The second hand smoke of tobacco is just as dangerous as first hand smoke and many people use cigarettes. The recreational use of marijuana is much more peaceful than alcohol and tobacco use.

      Marijuana is a wonderful and unique plant. It is a relatively safe drug to use. The versatility of marijuana can bring on a revolutionary change upon America. Making the environment better, bring in more revenue, save us from useless taxpaying on marijuana prohibition, and bring new jobs. This may be the cure for our diseased economy that the recession has brought on use. The pros out way the cons by a mountain! So why should we keep criminalizing marijuana?