Marijuana

Today, Marijuana is a drug used recreationally to create a heightened sense of reality and is usually used by people in their teens or early twenties. There is a lot of controversy over the legalization of marijuana, with both of the opposing sides making good points. Over the last few years however Marijuana has been adapted to fit our lifestyles, and social environment. Today many people around the world smoke Marijuana, for medicinal purposes, and the drug should be legalized permanently as it has many beneficial uses, including easing pain, helping The United States to stay away from debt, saving millions of acres in forestry and creating jobs for many people; raising The United State’s economic status. Legalizing marijuana, is taking one step into making this world a better place to live. If marijuana was legalized it could be regulated and taxed, which could help save and produce money. It could help reduce crime. Not to mention the many benefits it has for people with medical problems. Therefore, marijuana should be legalized because of all the benefits it has for society, Medical Use, and the benefits to country. Marijuana whose scientific name is Cannabis Sativa has been mentioned in manuscripts dating back to 2700 B.C. in China. he use of the drug rose from there, and became a large problem in the Unites States. The United States is one of those countries that can immensely benefit from the legalization of Marijuana use. In the States, Marijuana is the most widely used controlled substance, and since the drug is used so often, why not brew large amounts of money. Legalization of the drug would allow crime to be affected in a positive way. Illegal drug crimes consume police officers time, instead of dealing with larger, more serious problems that affect the country. One of the largest factors in legalizing the drug is that marijuana eases pain caused by AIDS, cancer and helps to cure glaucoma. Information from the National Cancer Institute, says that “marijuana is good in blocking against nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite with chemotherapy patients.”(Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A. Benson 1999 page 137-192). Marijuana can also ease muscle strain associated with multiple sclerosis. If marijuana is the only drug that effectively camouflages pain, there is no other choice but to legalize and use the drug. No person should have a say in this matter unless they have experienced the pain and suffering that the patients with cancer and AIDS have encountered due to their illness. Another factor in legalizing the drug is that marijuana will help Arthritis patient. Information from Marijuana Medicine Evaluation centers, says “Medical marijuana can be effective in the treatment of arthritis. Marijuana is a strong pain reliever and, when it used by itself or in combination with other pain- killers, has been found to safely and effectively control the pain from arthritis.” Many doctors believe that marijuana works as a great pain killer, appetite increaser, and it reduced nausea. Since the legalization of medicinal marijuana in California, many patients have said that marijuana is the only thing that helps achieve symptom relief (Eidelman). In some cases patients report that marijuana enhances the effects of prescription drugs, which might have been helping, but not enough (Eidelman). Dr. Eidelmen, a physician in California that supports marijuana, is a firm believer that marijuana is a great asset for treating cancer patients. Not only does it help relive side effects from the chemo, it also works together with drugs already prescribed to them. Basically, Marijuana will work with any drugs or itself if it is used as limited doses. Marijuana legalization groups such as the Physician's Association for AIDS Care, National Lymphoma Foundation argue that marijuana should be legalized in order to treat terminally ill patients. Among them are AIDS victims who find that marijuana stimulates their appetites so they can fight off dangerous emaciation; glaucoma sufferers who have used marijuana said it has prevented them from going blind, and cancer patients for whom it alleviates the severe nausea that is often accompanies chemotherapy and sometimes makes lifesaving treatment impossible. If marijuana were made legal there would be a reduction in crime and also in the entire amount spent to house prisoners. Currently, in the drug trade, if a transaction goes sour there's no police to call or lawyers to litigate. Also drug users turn to crime to pay for their habits because they are stimulated by drugs and therefore act violently. If drug is sold legally, it will become easy for users to buy it around the corner. Thus, it will increase the already existing problem of crime. People must settle disputes amongst themselves. This often leads to cycles of retaliatory violence. Legalization would create proper avenues to settle disputes. Many consider the War on Drugs an expensive failure. Resources for the DEA, FBI, and border security are only the tip of the iceberg. There are great law enforcement costs for the arrest, prosecution, trial and imprisonment of marijuana offenders. You have to add in the cost of police officers, judges, public defenders, prosecutors, juries, court reporters, prison guards, and the like. Legalization of marijuana would free up those people to concentrate on more important things like terrorism, assaults, rape, murder, etc. Additionally, an already overloaded civil court docket would be improved; thus, the wait time for other legitimate court cases would be reduced. Perhaps the biggest opponents of legalizing marijuana are the drug dealers themselves. They make their money as a result of the absence of competition and the outrageous street prices that come from the increased risk. Legalization would get marijuana off the streets; as a result, drug cartels would lose all or some of their business. More than $100 billion has been spent by the United States government in the past fourteen years in the "war on drugs". 70% of this money has been spent in law enforcement. Only approximately 30% of the money is spent on education of the young to stop drug use before it starts. If marijuana was made legal then a large portion of the 70% could be spent on more worthwhile causes. Many people who are pro- legalization/decriminalization feel that it is ridiculous to incarcerate people for possession of marijuana and then let convicted murderers out of prison early to make room for the drug users. If there were no convictions of people for marijuana possession then there would be an enormous surplus of government funding as well as prison space that would be able to be put towards much better causes. Government spending is the major reason for the many Americans that are pushing for the legalization of pot. The National Clearinghouse on Smoking and Health states, "The federal government spent $1 billion on marijuana enforcement in 1980 and about $5 billion in 1990. State and local spent between $3 and 4 billion in 1980 which means they may now be spending $10 billion presently" (Goldberg 80). Basically, legalization of marijuana will help the countries to get over with all the recession and unemployment. The war on drugs deals with every level of society. Every year, the U.S. government spends large amounts of money to control drug use and to enforce laws enacted to protect society from the dangers of certain drugs. Some argue that the fight against drugs is not needed and that society has already lost the war on drugs and the only way to remedy the problem to end most of the fighting altogether is by decriminalizing the use of marijuana. William Buckley says, "Pot is harmful, but people should not go to jail for smoking it" (Buckley 1A). Legalizing marijuana in America because it feels that current marijuana control policies are costly and ineffective in combating drug problems. Marijuana should be legalized because of major circumstances like medical uses, reduce crime, and helps the country to reduce unemployment. All of these is major problems we are facing today’s in the world. There are many cancer patients, and many more medical patients we are having. Major problem we are facing right now is recession, and more than thousands of people are unemployed. By legalizing marijuana help us to reduce the unemployment, help the country to overcome from recession. Another factor is crime; we can reduce the crime if we legalized the marijuana. There are many practical uses for Marijuana plant. It seems like this should have been done years ago because of all the economical, societal, and medical advantages. I believe that there is no major harm in making it as legal as an alcoholic beverage or a pack of cigarettes. If marijuana was legalized, instead of focusing spending the money on prohibition of the plant, government would have more money towards cleaning up the cities and better quality education for our children. There are people out there who are sick and could really benefit from it. I also know that there are people out there who will try to abuse it too, but that is no different than alcohol. People abuse alcohol on a daily basis and yet it’s still out there on the shelves able to be bought by anyone 21 years of age and older. It should be the consumer’s choice whether to drink alcohol or to smoke marijuana. If you wanted to do it you should have the right and that why I believe marijuana should be legalized. Miron, J. A. (2006). The budgetary implications of marijuana prohibition. In Mitch Earleywine (Ed.), Pot Politics: Marijuana and the Costs of Prohibition, Oxford University Press, Inc. National care institute. (12/12/2000) Marijuana Use in Supportive Care for Cancer Patients retrieved on February 12, 2011 http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Support/marijuana Marijuana Medicine Evaluation Centers (March, 2009) Marijuana Medicine for Arthritis Patients retrieved on February 12, 2011 http://www.marijuanamedicine.com/arthritis.html Buckley, William. "End the Pot Penalties". The Washington Star News 10 November 1974: C4 Dr. Eidelman.S.William “Medical Marijuana Benefit” (8/2/2004) retrieved on February 15, 2011 http://www.dreidelman.com/Eidelman_AppealPeoplevSpark.html Goldberg, Raymond. Taking Sides; Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Drugs and Society. New York: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1993. Wolff Madeline (California Lutheran University ) “Legalizing marijuana can reduce crime, increase revenue for state” November 9, 2009 retrieved on February 15, 20011 "Drug Enforcement Administration." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. Retrieved February 17, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3437701522.html