Legalization Of Marijuana

Legalization of marijuana

Could it be me or have our community gone crazy over the topic of legalizing marijuana? Just make mention of the word legalization of marijuana and I bet you a lot of people have an opinion about it. The economist say legalize it and it would be good for the economy, the parent and educators that are against the idea say do not because it is a gateway drug and the supporters of the idea for medical use say why not if it helps people manage their pain better. And then there are always those people in the middle who say if it does not directly involve me I could care less. Marijuana is a common drug of choice for teenagers and young adult as well. It is usually the first drug that a teenager might try. It can be harmful to the teenager and to the people around them. For the purpose if this paper I will be exploring all of the perspective.

Marijuana is defined as a preparation made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant, which is usually smoked or eaten to induce euphoria and to heal and soothe. In the 1930s, the American media spread numerous false stories that marijuana was an extremely dangerous drug and therefore marijuana and hemp were effectively banned in 1938. In the perspective of America's war on drugs, marijuana is one of the biggest enemies. And since alcohol and tobacco, two life threatening substances, are legal some find it relevant to ask the question should marijuana be legalize? The legalization of marijuana is a controversial issue that has been fought for and against for several decades.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, according to the national household survey on drugs in 2000, it is estimated the 14 million Americans are current marijuana user and this represent 6.3 percent of people under 12 or older and 76 percent of percent of current elite drug user , of all the current elite drug users approximately 59 percent use marijuana. (galegroup.com). research has shown that individuals who had involvement with marijuana as their first drug of choice usually go on to try other drugs. "Not only does early marijuana use signal an increased risk for harder drug use by grade 10, but it is also associated with drug use problems, dependency and treatment need" (galegroup.com). Those that oppose the idea of legalizing marijuana say that our economy suffers a lot, due to the fact that we have drug problem as one of the biggest problem in America right now and we spend a lot in emergency rooms around the country treating people with drug problem.

The economists argue legalize the drug and tax it, this will bring in large revenue for the country. We all know that fighting the war on drugs is very expensive so the economists think that if we legalize the drug we will be able to save money, energy, time and labor. "Study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams of marijuana sold on the street is $8.60, while the cost for production was only $1.70" (economics.about.com) At the end of the day economist believe that taxing for marijuana would help cut the cost of fighting this drug war, it would bring in revenue that can be use to do other things and the believe that if marijuana was legalize that the demand for it would rise.

Legalize marijuana for medical a purpose that is what most medical doctors and patient that rely on the drug to manage pain are pleading for. Medical cannabis refers to the use of Cannabis as a physician recommended herbal therapy, most notably as an antiemetic. The term medical marijuana post-dates the U.S. Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the effect of which made cannabis prescriptions illegal in the United States Due to widespread illegal use of cannabis as a recreational drug its legal or licensed use in medicine is now a controversial issue in most countries.( wikipedia.org) According to the wikipedia the free encyclopedia medical marijuana is use for patient