Why We Should Legalize Marijuana

 It’s common to hear your friend or parents stigmatize weed as a “bad” or “unhealthy” activity, worse than alcohol or cigarettes. It’s so terrible for you! They say, LOOK AT ALL THOSE POTHEADS! They are failing school and have none future!

But hah, the effects of marijuana have long been over exaggerated in the press and in the government. Media and entertainment portray it as a super deadly substance and that it  will harm and transform us into low-IQ hoodlums.
                                                 
                                            

But according to data from science, weed does not actually have all these serious harms.

The three most prominent notions of weed are that is causes lung disease, is addictive, and is a gateway drug.  

They are all WAY over exaggerated.

1. MARIJUANA CAUSES LUNG DISEASE

Marijuana causes lung disease, maybe even in higher rates than in that of tobacco users? Ridiculous. Marijuana and Tobacco smoke are near chemically identical and the only difference is marijuana’s psychoactive ingredients (THC). (21)

Oh. Okay. But what about those BIG huge TOKES that marijuana smokers do like on gravities and waterfalls? Yes, it’s true that these deep inhalations are larger per hit, but it’s not the amount of smoke per hit, but total amount of smoke inhaled (total volume of smoke) that is what causes irritation and problems. Tobacco smokers smoke on average 16.8 cigarettes per day which is way more than the average of 2 joints per day.

                                            

2. MARIJUANA IS ADDICTIVE

            Anything can addictives. Anything from eating frosty from Wendy’s to Playing world of war craft can be addicting. Addicted can be defined as being physically or mentally dependent on a particular activity, and unable to stop without incurring adverse effects. Wouldn't you call this “addiction”? 

There was a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (60) that found out that while 77% of young adults had used marijuana, 74% of those had not used in the past year and 84% had not used in the past month.

Also in 1976 Clinical Studies of Cannabis dependence were conducted on test patients. These test patients were administered the equivalent of 15-20 joints a day and then ceased abruptly. Symptoms that occurred include sweating, decreased appetite, restlessness, and disturbed sleep, evidence of physical dependence. However, this symptoms were quite mild in nature (even when the dose was 15-20 joints per day! Nobody smokes that much per day). Thus when marijuana is consumed in its usual dose (average 2 joints), it would be difficult to note any physical dependence. 

3. MARIJUANA IS A GATEWAY DRUG

            A “gateway drug” is considered to be a drug that leads to the act further use of other drugs that otherwise would not been consumed without the consumption of the “gateway drug”.  Findings of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that over time, there has not been a consistent relationship between the consumption of weed and other drugs. Thus there is no observable relationship between the consumption of weed and other drugs. (83)

          

Drugs like cocaine, heroine, and LSD all have huge detrimental impacts on health. But we see that marijuana has minimal adverse effects on health… so why should it be banned?

IT SHOULDN’T!

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was the advent of harsh marijuana control in the U.S. The sale, control, and use of marijuana were now officially a punishable crime. 

But what has marijuana prohibition done for us? ALL it has done for us is further society’s susceptibility to violence, reduce economic efficiency, and decrease medicine availability.

1. VIOLENCE

            Remember the time when alcohol was banned? Yeeeah the ban from 1920 to 1933? Remember? The prohibition’s intention was to reduce alcohol and benefit society, but instead the rate of alcohol production / consumption and organized crime increase drastically, the exact opposite of the goal (^ Charles Hanson Towne, The Rise and Fall of Prohibition: The Human Side of What the Eighteenth Amendment Has Done to the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1923) p.159-162)

                                          

 Crimes in America during this time increased due to illegal production and transfer of alcohol. The prohibition was ended in 1933, and rates of crime dropped down to the low rates of pre 1920.

This is the current situation with Weed in America. 

Drug cartels are extremely dangerous many willing to murder in order to finish their job. Legalization will make these cartels unprofitable so many will have to shut down. A decrease in these groups could bring safety to many regions in both Mexico and the United States. 

2. Waste of Money and Resources

            Billions are spent on regulating something that has no harmful effects. Also, we waste tons of labor prohibiting marijuana. These people can be more productive (maybe some can even help grow it). Finally, the government spends even more money producing negative publicity for marijuana which all adds up to the population seeing it as far worse than it really is. (Here is a scientific look at the actual effect on your brain.)

… BENEFITS OF LEGALIZATION

1. Tax Revenues

      Billions and billions of dollars would be raised by state and federal government through a tax on marijuana similar to cigarette taxes. Our government is currently in a huge deficit, and has yet to find a clear remedy. Some government officials of California even predict a 14 billion dollar tax revenue increase if marijuana was legalized and regulated under tax (Source). Legalizing would be a huge boon not just to individual states but also to the nation as a whole and its reputation on the world stage. Currently, America is on the brink of economic disaster, having to service such an enormous debt to countries such as China, and legalizing weed at this juncture would alleviate America from all possibility of self-destruction. 

2. Shut down the black market f

Legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana would greatly weaken the illegal drug cartels. Weed is the largest commodity of the black market (stats), and taking this away from the black market would allow the transfer of money that would otherwise be circulating within the black market, to the legal American market. Money will naturally allocate back into the normal cycle of trade. Reducing the quantity of goods within the black market reduces the number of transactions. Illegal drug transactions is a crime itself, and is generally associated with other crimes such as murder to both involved and non-involved parties (crime). Thus legalizing marijuana will reduce the number of crimes, improving general welfare and safety. 

3. Hemp industry

      Cannabis hemp can be harvested and become a huge boon to the economy. Hemp industry has tremendous capabilities of anything from textiles to paper.  It would solve the problem of land. Some lands are not arable for some crops but may be arable for hemp. Hemp would maximize the use of land (resource) in America. The Hemp Industry will create tons of new jobs (YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT JOBS ARE RIGHT!) Hemp has very high yield, is environmentally friendly. Hemp has tons of good uses.

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4. Medical

      Marijuana could help alleviate many health problems.   It would also be a cheaper alternative to several other medications.

When the benefits outweigh the cons by this much, I think it makes the answer clear America...

LEGALIZE.