Marijuana

Why Marijuana Should Be Legal?

The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so according to his or her own free will, and the government also may have a right to limit individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual. But this argument does not logically apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs are which legal, such as alcohol and tobacco. There for the most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why should marijuana be legalized?" but we should ask "Why should marijuana be illegal?" From a abstract point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves.

There is no logic why someone would be pushed to take legal drugs that are proven to be worse for ones body and mind. "Marijuana is far less subject to abuse than most drugs used to treat the same conditions. It is also less addicting. Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, says that "Marijuana is safer than most drugs used to treat the same problems." Since there is no known case of lethal marijuana overdose, that would mean marijuana is safer than aspirin. One thousand people a year die of aspirin overdose. The side effects of aspirin can also harm young children. The estimated ratio of lethal to effective dose is 40,000 to 1. Marijuana was also ruled "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known," by the D.E.A."

The second major reason that marijuana should be legal is because prohibition does not help the country in any way, and causes a lot of problems. There is no good evidence that prohibition decreases drug use, and there are several theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase drug use (i.e. the "forbidden fruit" effect, and easier accessibility for youth). One unintended effect of marijuana prohibition is that marijuana is very popular in American high schools. Why? It is readily available to students. You don't have to be 21 to buy marijuana; marijuana dealers usually don't care how old you are as long as you have money. It is actually easier for many high school students to obtain marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol, because alcohol is legal and therefore regulated to keep it away from kids. If our goal is to reduce drug consumption, then we should focus on open and honest programs to educate youth, regulation to keep drugs away from kids, and treatment programs for people with drug problems. But the current prohibition scheme does not allow such reasonable approaches to marijuana; instead we are stuck with 'DARE' police officers spreading lies about drugs in schools, and policies that result in jail time rather than treatment for people with drug problems. We tried prohibition with alcohol, and that failed miserably. We should be able to learn our lesson and stop repeating the same mistake. Instead of repeating past mistakes, you would want to control it just like alcohol. I have place a chart below that indicates how the first prohibition act failed.

The third important reason that marijuana should be legal is that it would save our government lots of money. In the United States, all levels of government (federal, state, and local authorities) participate in the "War on Drugs." We currently spend billions of dollars every year to chase peaceful people who happen to like to get high! These innocent people get locked up in prison and the taxpayers have to foot the bill. We have to pay for food, housing, health care, attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses to lock these innocent people up. This is extremely expensive! We could save billions of dollars every year as a nation if we stop wasting money send people to jail for having marijuana. In addition, if marijuana were legal, the government would be able to collect taxes on it, and would have a lot more money to pay for effective drug education programs and other important causes. Nobody knows exactly how much money is spent to enforce anti-marijuana laws because there are so many factors to consider. I have documented some, which is listed below.

Cost of keeping marijuana illegal =

Ð'* Cost of active law enforcement

Ð'* Cost of prosecution (and defense!) of accused offenders

Ð'* Cost of incarceration of convicted offenders

Ð'* Cost of (publicly funded) anti-drug education and propaganda

Ð'* Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that would be generated if drugs were legal and taxed

Ð'* Cost of foster care and social services for children of incarcerated offenders

The U.S. Federal government spends more than $18 billion per year on drug control programs.

We would have more money to spend on important problems if marijuana were legal.

The fourth important reason that marijuana should be legal is religion. It clearly states in The First Amendment to the