The use of marijuana in the United States has been widely discussed and debated throughout the years if it should be legalized. Some states, such as Colorado, have benefited tremendously through the act of legalizing marijuana, either through recreational or medical purposes of the drug. Some studies even show the dropping of crime rates, and drug affiliated gangs in the state of Colorado has considerably gone down. As a society, many young adults throughout the nation are taught through their parents and schools that those drugs are bad, and they are dangerous for their health and safety. Surprisingly, many scientists and other lab experts are opening up to the idea that marijuana can actually be used to offset and improve some symptoms, but …show more content…
This proves that the legalization of marijuana, like some are led to believe, will not increase the amount of crime or gang related incidents within an area. The results of less crime were seen in less than three months of legalization, which made some people praise the legalization of cannabis in their neighborhood. Studies between the year of 2013-2014 show that the crime within the city of Denver was at an all-time low of 14.6% in the area due to the legalization of cannabis of Colorado, “It’s all kinds of crime that has decreased, and not even all dispensaries were able to be up and running in Denver since January 1st due to regulatory hurdles and licensing issues still being sorted out. Property crime is down 14.6%. Violent crime is down 2.4%” (Sarich). Also brings the freeing up of law enforcement resources to deal with much more serious crimes, rather than petty marijuana bust in illegalized areas of the United States. Thus showing how the widespread legalization of marijuana would greatly benefit the United States and its individual citizens as a whole. By creating a safer much habitable living conditions due to fewer crimes and other disturbances due to the legalization of …show more content…
Furthermore drug laws within the United States for marijuana are leaving many people being issued harsh jail sentences, due to marijuana charges against them. Even though some states, such as North Carolina decriminalize marijuana, numerous amounts of states are treating their citizens with cruel and usual punishments just by having a small possession on them at a given time. During the years of 2001 and 2010 8.2 million people were arrested due to marijuana type drug charges, and out of that group of 88% were based on just having a little bit of marijuana on them at the time. By legalizing cannabis in the United States it would free the already overcrowded prisons in the country, due to the harsh minimum sentence laws placed on them. An instance of these harsh minimum sentence laws is with the case of Joe Pinson, who was sentence to a mandatory 5-year sentence in jail because he cultivated and possessed marijuana, “Joe Pinson, convicted in 1993 of marijuana cultivation and possession - his first offense - and sentenced to a mandatory five-year jail term, despite the fact that he grew the marijuana because it helped treat his debilitating asthma symptoms” (Goddard). Just proving how so much of the resources and space of prisons are being filled and used up by just small time marijuana users who were caught with barely anything. Also having a family member sent to jail for the first time due to marijuana would greatly devastate a family household, and disrupt the stability
An informative article's purpose is to provide the reader with as much information as possible while making sure to impartial to the subject matter. Nevertheless, Keller writes with a determination to sway his readers into believing that this task is close to impossible to achieve. Had he cited examples of cities that have a functioning system of managing legalized marijuana, he would have provided his readers with both sides of the coin. Furthermore, Keller mainly refers to the issues surrounding legalizing marijuana and fails to provide the positive implications of doing so. He refrains from mentioning the decreased criminal activity, the beaten out black market activity, and the overall increased safety of the people indirectly involved in such activities.
The question of whether to legalize marijuana or not is a very controversial and important issue. Many people especially teenagers are thrilled that the law enforcement is legalizing marijuana as they will not have to buy it illegally. Legalizing marijuana will allow people to think it is acceptable for us to smoke every day, at any time, which increases the drug use. What people are unaware of are the negative effects it will have on their lives. Adolescences will be more prone to buy marijuana, which will not let them focus on their studies.
Marijuana is the most used drug product alone that is used illegally and is not known for any permanent or fatal effects. Pretend their is a tax of $.50 or $1 per joint, we can make a rough estimate of the revenues that could be raised from legalized marijuana. According to the 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, some 19.5 million Americans used marijuana at least once in the year, of whom 5.3 million used at least once a week and 3.1 million daily. About one-half of the latter are thought to be multiple daily users, who can be expected to make up the bulk of total amount of consumption of this product. Can also help with economical problems.(Revenues From Legalization of Marijuana)
Marijuna is a dried up flower with seed its natural and help with health problem and economy issues. Scientists started to discover that marijuana can significantly help people that have become ill and it can stop crime from happen and help people with sickness. Now being a adult and having my own personal experience with the drug and knowing its effects and what it do to the body. Marijuana has been proven to provide a very positive impact on the society today for many different reason. Some of these reasons are for America’s economy, health and even crime.
Even though the government could earn a lot of money from taxation, it is hard to afford the cost of drug usage and drug abuse. Since the government needs to take responsibility on its consequences such as health care, crime careers, and victims of drug related crime, it is predictable that the cost of legalization will never be worth the social cost (Harwood, Fountain & Livermore, 1998). Besides drug taxation, some people believed that legal marijuana could better help the government to access and control the black market. In contrast, this could encourage drug producers to expand their market to the bigger target group and approach to teenagers. To sum up, it is true that taxing marijuana could raise
Colorado is proof of the effects of marijuana legalization on the economy. The additional money made from marijuana could be used for good purposes. Money would be saved because less arrests would be made, so the government wouldn’t have to spend so much money on U.S. prisons. Plus, more dispensaries would be opened, so more job opportunities would arise. Author states,”And [Colorado] is enjoying economic growth and the lowest unemployment rate in years.”
Impacts of Decriminalizing Cannabis As a teenager, one would likely assume I’ve been exposed to strangers, and possibly friends, offering me some sort of an illegal substance in hopes of having me as a “customer.” While this hasn’t happened to me, I don’t have to look far for the experience, even though Cannabis is illegal in Canada. Decriminalizing Cannabis is something I’m in support of, even though I have no intention of using it, or any sort of non-perscription drug. When you weigh the positives and negatives of decriminalization, the pros far outweigh the cons, allowing for a more prosperous economy and potentially safer society. The Liberal Party of Canada stated that, “Canada’s current system of marijuana prohibition does not work.
Marijuana is also the second leading substance for which people receive drug treatment and a major cause for visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about implications for public health – especially among adolescents, for whom long-term use of marijuana may be linked with lower IQ later in life. Research also shows that policies that would make drugs more available would likely not eliminate the black market or improve public health and safety. Recent reports from the nonpartisan RAND Institute in the United States found that the potential economic benefits from legalization had been overstated. Marijuana legalization would not eliminate the black market for the drug.
Marijuana is an illegal substance that should be legal because of the great impact it would do for the country. Other substance out in the world are far more dangerous and have more toxins in them than marijuana. People’s health has been helped out Marijuana has many factors such as, having less toxins than other substances, health benefits, and if legalized, would help the economy. Multiple people die everyday from drug overdoses. Drug Abuse of prescription drugs, is riskier than some illegal drugs(“The Truth about Prescription Drugs”).
The legalization of marijuana is an important topic for today’s society because there are multiple uses for it. One is that cannabis can be used as medicine. It has been found to help treat people with a different range of health issues. Marijuana can also be used to bring in more money for the state by having the profits made go toward their government and provide more jobs to citizens. These jobs would involve the production of marijuana and distributing it.
As described above in the past paragraphs, there are many positive outcomes due to the legalization of cannabis. However, there are also negative effects of it which need to advocate restriction and control. Also, legalization of cannabis in the states respectively may show more effects it could have when legalized nationwide. In addition, further medical research may indicate the health benefits. Subsequently, legalization would bring prosperity rather than a loss for the nation.
SUMMARY: Drug legalization advocates, Tommy McDonald and Tony Newman, in the article California Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Marijuana Legalization, published by Drug Policy, discusses that California becomes the next state to legalize recreational use by adults. McDonald and Newman support their assertion of federal legalization of marijuana by using facts and statistics. The authors discuss that other states have had a successful transition into the drug world. The authors’ overall purpose was to open the conversation of why legalization of marijuana should be legal nationwide in order to advocate for safe use of marijuana.
Marijuana, morphine, heroin, and cocaine continued to be used when the Prohibition was over in 1933. In 1937, 46 states decided to ban the use of marijuana for the reason that it was dangerous and a potential drug for addiction. Fast forward 60 years, states began to legalize marijuana for medical use in the 2000s. Although there is a chance for addiction, medical marijuana should be legalized in all states because it has accumulating health benefits, is administering relief to pain, and is less threatening than most opioids and painkillers. A multitude of people who have been using marijuana for medical purposes have reported “no ill effects, and only positive, life-enhancing results” (“Is Medical”).
The National drugs and substance institute notes that many slag names across the globe have been used to refer to marijuana which include, Mary Jane, herb, pot and grass among others ( Booth, 2015). Marijuana is a greenish- grey which is a mixture of the dried shredded leaves and flowers of cannabis sativa. There are many ways in which its users use it. Some use it in hand- rolled cigarettes which they refer to as joints. Others use pipes, water pipes and marijuana cigars commonly referred to as blunts (Hoffmann, 2003).
Marijuana is a misunderstood drug. Many assume that the usage of marijuana, or cannabis, is dangerous, but it can be the exact opposite. So why is the legalization of marijuana in the United States such a problem for many people today? Considered to be a gateway drug and the reason for the downfall of our youth nowadays, marijuana has developed a negative reputation. Lester Grinspoon, a professor at Harvard University, states, “Few drugs in the United States have produced as much affective heat as marijuana, particularly during the last decade.