Legalizing Marijuana

T-TH 9:30 Ð'- 10:50 class

December 6, 2007

Mary Jane the Great

The debate over the legalization of marijuana has been one of the most controversial issues ever to occur in the United States. Its use as a medicine has existed for thousands of years in many countries worldwide. Marijuana should be legalized for several reasons. First, the government could earn money from taxes on its sale. There would be more money for our country and less money ford the drug dealers. It also has medical purposes. Its value to the medical world outweighs its potential abuse. It will reduce crime rates. Many say that legalization of it will never happen but I feel it is inevitable. The government has a major roll in the legalization of marijuana. They unfairly make marijuana illegal when it has zero American annual deaths were tobacco and alcohol alone have about 500,000. One person who would have put his foot down towards the government is Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau was a man who lived by his own beliefs on the government. He felt is was reasonable and often right to disobey the government if they are irrational. The government is being illogical on the issue that if marijuana were to be legal, the country would prosper.

There are benefits of marijuana as medicine. Marijuana is known to be a much safer than cigarettes and alcohol. It is also safer than a lot of over-the-counter medicines. "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" (For 2). It doesn't make sense for marijuana to be illegal when alcohol poisoning and premature deaths due to cigarette smoke are the leading deaths in America. Drinking too much in one day can kill you, but smoking too much marijuana in one day can only put you to sleep. "Marijuana also relieves nausea suffered by cancer patients undergoing powerful chemotherapyÐ'...patients to have multiple sclerosis and AIDSÐ'...also proved to be effective in the treatment of glaucoma because its use lowers pressure to the eye" (For 2). Though the smoke of marijuana has three times more tar and five times more carbon monoxide than tobacco, the heaviest marijuana smoker rarely uses as much as an average tobacco user.

By legalizing marijuana we will also help reduce crime. There is a lot of crime due to the illegal selling of marijuana. There are many people competing in selling this product and many are ruthless. Some say stories about how they have territories where they sell, and if anyone passes that territory many bad things can happen to them. Some kill each other to reduce the competition. There is so much rivalry between them that they have to stay ahead somehow. The fact that these people are out there hustling marijuana brings danger to the streets. Also, when these people are caught and put back in the streets, they are willing to do more just to stay out of jail.

Another good thing that will come out of legalizing marijuana is that the drug dealers and gangsters will not be making money anymore. These drug dealers are usually part of gangs. By selling marijuana in this underground market, they are making money so their gang can survive. These gangs are known to be very notorious and there is no reason why they should be getting any money from selling marijuana. Once we legalize it, they will have a smaller market and hopefully, die out. Gangs started back when there was prohibition of alcohol. It doesn't make sense that people don't realize that the same thing is happening today. If they realized prohibiting alcohol was bad, how could they not realize this?

We will save and make a lot of money by legalizing marijuana. First of all, if we legalize it,