Legalizaing Marijuana

Legalizing Marijuana

COMM/215

03.26.2014

Legalizing Marijuana

While marijuana is considered a gateway drug, it should certainly be legal.  The legalization of marijuana has been a debated topic for a very long time. Whether in support or opposition, the emotions that individuals have (which are based on their opinions of the drug) are fervent. Marijuana can be used for different reasons besides the use of recreational euphoria such as health and financial. Marijuana has been called a gateway drug by some, meaning if used, could encourage some to use harder drugs or at least open their minds to the possibility. It’s also been called a gateway to a better economy and medical breakthroughs. Although the use of marijuana is legal in a few states, it remains illegal on a federal level. I believe marijuana should be removed from the illegal drug list, decriminalized and regulated by the US government.

Legalizing marijuana just makes sense. The US government has spent roughly 51 billion dollars on the “war on drugs” and somehow still hasn’t figured out a way to keep them off of the street. Also, this $51,000,000,000 price is also based upon what it costs to try cases as well as house offenders. “Perhaps the single greatest force behind the growth of the prison population has been the national "war on drugs." The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased twelvefold since 1980. In 2000, 22 percent of those in federal and state prisons were convicted on drug charges.” (Cole 2000 p. 8). The government would see a decline in this price if marijuana was decriminalized, made legal and government regulated. Jobs would be created from the legalization and decriminalizing of marijuana also. From farmers who could grow and cultivate it to the individuals who would package it to the organizations who could regulate it, jobs would be plentiful. This would greatly increase our economy which in turn, would drive down the national deficit. The regulation of marijuana is just smart. Prohibition has not solved the drug problem. It has only led to the dangerous black market, run by cartels and criminals. A substantial portion of the billions of dollars used to purchase the drug on the Black Market could be filtered back into our local and federal economies which could benefit the communities.

One can argue that marijuana should be illegal because it’s dangerous and harmful to the human body. However, one must ask the question: Just how safe are legal drugs? The federal government has stated its position and reiterated the same position to the American public that marijuana is a gateway drug and that it causes significant harm to users. Why then do they favor regulating alcohol and tobacco? According to the CDC cigarettes caused a whopping 480,000 deaths annually including deaths from second hand smoke. ("CDC - Fact Sheet - Tobacco-Related Mortality - Smoking & Tobacco Use", 2013, p. 1). I totally support a person’s right to smoke but you can clearly see that their habit affects people in a very severe and negative way. Yet, this drug is totally legal. Anyone can walk into a store and buy cigarettes and alcohol with very little hassle. Alcohol is responsible for many deaths worldwide and has been determined to be one of two drugs that if stopped “cold turkey” could possibly cause death, if a person is clinically and physiologically dependent upon it. Again, alcohol is completely and totally legal.

Legalizing the sale, regulation and consumption of marijuana isn’t the same as condoning it. Cigarettes and alcohol are legal drugs that are regulated by the government but not condoned whatsoever and to label it as such is inappropriate at the very least. In order to have an understanding about the adverse effects of keeping marijuana illegal, one must take a look at the statistics of individuals whose lives are forever changed because they have a police record for being charged and/or convicted of a single marijuana related crime. However, that is not to imply that sympathy should be given to these individuals because they knowingly broke the law. And, regardless of how they feel about a set of laws they find hypocritical, THE LAW IS THE LAW. Some find it to be equivalent to the heads of our great nation signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and proclaiming that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness but forgetting one small fact. The unjust institution of slavery was very prominent and actually made a law. However, a law is a law – CORRECT?