Should Marijuana be Legalized? Essay -- Papers Weed Drugs Legalization

Should Marijuana be Legalized? Every 54 seconds, someone in the country is arrested for smoking marijuana. While some see this as a sign of the epidemic proportions of marijuana use in this country and as support for a continued crackdown; others argue that pot arrests are a waste of time and money, and a sign that it’s -- forgive the pun -- high time to legalize marijuana. What do you think: should lighting up a joint, join, beer drinking and puffing tobacco as an inalienable American rights? Supporters of legalized marijuana argue that it should be legalized to protect the greater social good, to prevent government hypocrisy towards recreational drug use, and to protect individual rights of choice. By defining all marijuana use as criminal, they argue, we are clogging courts and already-overburdened prisons, wasting police resources, and needlessly destroying the lives and jobs of otherwise model citizens. By legalizing marijuana, we would not only avoid these problems, we would also be drying up the money that goes to organized crime and drug smugglers through the marijuana market. The government would be able to regulate marijuana, preventing more dangerous substances from being combined with it. The economic benefits of legalization of marijuana would also be substantial. Not only would the government receive revenue from marijuana taxation, farmers would also be able to grow hemp, which was an important source of fiber for rope, cloth, and paper in the United States until sixty years ago. Marijuana, AKA: pot, dope, grass, weed, Mary Jane, reefer, ganja, kaya, and doobie, an illegal drug, is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It can be eaten in c... ...ects timing, movements, and coordination. Also, according to a study conducted by Reitbrock and Harder, using pot can affect thinking and judgment, which can mean users may do things they wouldn’t do with a clear head. This can mean unsafe sex or other risky behaviors. We can debate this issue all day long. I don’t feel America is ready to legalize marijuana at this time. Give it some time and some extensive comprehensive studies, and then, maybe, just maybe there could be a place in the medical field for this herb, if it is administrated in a controlled environment. Resources American Council for Drug Education 164 West 74th Street New York, NY 10023 National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) 12 West 21st Street, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 National Institute on Drug Abuse 6001 Executive Blvd Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9561.