Legalization of Marijuana for Recreational Use, Essay Example

Marijuana: A Problem Or A Solution?

For thousands of years humans have been amazed by the great power that drugs can have. Today, almost all of the drugs we have are synthesized through various chemical processes that ultimately lead to the desired substance. Thousands of years ago this type of technology was not available but people still saw the effects and power of drugs through plants that we still use today. One of these plants is Cannabis. This plant produces the substance known as Marijuana that has been used for almost five thousand years and was first seen in use by the Chinese around the year 2737 B.C. Everybody could make use of this substance until 1905 when the first regulation was passed in El Paso that would attempt to stop the use of marijuana as a discrimination to the Mexican immigrants that were crossing into the United States. By the 1930s most states had laws or regulations that put some kind of focus in the use of marijuana and its prohibition. The main reason for this ban at the time was the fear of addiction to the drug that would cause a lot of problems to the nation. Today, the people making the greatest obstacle against the legalization of marijuana are parents that fear that their children might become addicted to the drug and might ultimately ruin their lives. If parents fear this so much then shouldn’t it be their responsibility to educate their children properly on what they should do rather than fight against a drug that could bring great economic growth as well as health benefits to the United States? Our technology has grown very much and so has the knowledge of the responses to the use of marijuana. Many new medical and scientific studies have proven that marijuana could cure or help fight symptoms of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s which are almost impossible to treat with any other substance legally available. The economic  benefits, the health benefits, and the expected crime decrease are the reasons why marijuana should be legalized in the United States.

Many people when they hear anything about marijuana they instantly think of drug addicts and the horrible life that comes from abuse of drugs. These people simply overlook all of the medical benefits that would stop treating diseases and would cure them once and for all. They also miss the insight that only drug dealers can report which state that marijuana has a very low addictive power and therefore they only use it to introduce their clients to hard drugs which have an extraordinary addictive power and keeps their business going. This type of business has led to the misconception that marijuana has a very high addictive power.  If the chance of getting addicted to marijuana was compared to that of getting addicted to caffeine, a very small difference would be seen that might even favor marijuana as the least addictive substance from the two. When marijuana is compared through various statistics to alcohol we find that alcohol causes far more deaths each year than smoking marijuana. This instance is illustrated in a political cartoon found in Figure 2 that compares marijuana to alcohol and the death toll they have.  Another thing that marijuana could help prevent is suicide which has greatly increased over the last 100 years. The use of marijuana has shown to lower levels of stress and relieve depression which would greatly have a chance of preventing suicide. As seen in Figure 1 the United States had a suicide rate of more than 10 people for every one hundred thousand people. This might not seem as a huge number at first but in total it caused more than sixty thousand deaths just in 2013. Truly health benefits would become the most significant benefits from the legalization of marijuana, but another number that would actually significantly drop would be the crime rates all over the United States and especially in the borders.

Arrest rates are fairly high in the United States when compared to other countries. Most people would think that these rates are so high because of all the crimes happening in the United States but when we take a closer look we find that the most significant cause is from something relating to marijuana especially possession. As found in a document on 10 facts about marijuana from de Drug Policy Alliance, ” Approximately 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana law violations in 2012 according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Report – comprising about half (48 percent) of all drug arrests in the United States; that’s one marijuana arrest every 42 seconds. A decade ago, marijuana arrests comprised just 44 percent of all drug arrests. Approximately 42 percent of all drug arrests nationwide are for marijuana possession. Of total arrests for marijuana law violations, more than 87 percent were for simple possession, not sale or manufacture. There are more arrests for marijuana possession every year than for all violent crimes combined.” (DrugPolicyAlliance). If marijuana was to be legalized in the United States there would be a far lesser number of arrests in the nation. Most of the people that make use of marijuana never use any type of hard drug in their lives.

A great deal of money is spent by government every year on agencies such as border patrol in order to prevent any trafficking of drugs such as marijuana. If marijuana was legalized these officers and all of the resources used to prevent marijuana from crossing could be used to protect cities more and make them safer for the people that live there. The people that are currently handling the marijuana industry are gangsters, mobs, and cartels. In order to enforce their rules and mark their territory these people are forced to use various violent methods that may include torture and might even get to killing. Many people argue about the way these people handle the system but at the same time they do not support the legalization of marijuana that would make it possible for this business to be regulated in order to have an effective and civilized business with no violence. Legalizing marijuana would stop all of the violent crimes that happen as a result of some type of conflict within this currently illegal business.

Summing up the previously analyzed documents and sources of information the legalization of marijuana would be greatly benefitial to the United States and would only have positive effects for the nation. The United States would experience a time of high economic growth if marijuana was to be legalized since government would gain a lot of income from taxing the sales of marijuana. Health care benefits would also be extremely important since diseases that had been difficult to treat before could even be cured by the use of marijuana. Recreational users would also benefit in their health since marijuana has been shown to reduce levels of stress in humans. Finally the violence in the United States would decrease since the business would become civilized and far more standardized. The United States should legalize marijuana since it is the solution and not the problem

Works Cited

Allen, John. Thinking Critically. N.p., 2015. Print.

“Cannabis Reduces the Likelihood of Violence During…” Marijuana Policy Political Cartoons. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Cervantes, Jorge. Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible. Sacramento: Van Patten Pub, 2006. Print.

Gillard, Arthur. Marijuana. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.

Hill, Kevin P. Marijuana: The Unbiased Truth About the World’s Most Popular Weed. N.p., 2015, Print.

Holmes, Adam. Growing Marijuana Box Set: Growing Marijuana for Beginners & Marijuana Growing Mastery. N.p., 2014. Print

“Marijuana Legalization and Regulation | Drug Policy Alliance.” Drug Policy Alliance | Guiding

Drug Law Reform & Advocacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.

OECD ILibrary: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.