Marijuana should be legalized and the reasons for legalization far outweigh the reasons to keep it an illegal drug. Men and women over the years have been known to use drugs - addictive, psychoactive, mind altering and otherwise for various purposes. Drugs that are illegal now were once legal and used for medicinal purposes. Making a certain drug legal or illegal is as much a political decision as it is a decision based on the health ofthe population. Although there is a certain ambiguity about where to place Marijuana in the different classes of drugs, there has been in recent times increased demand to legalize Marijuana and here's why. Marijuana causes less damage to the body than cigarettes and alcohol. It is used for medicinal reasons as it helps dulls the pain in people suffering from chronic health conditions. It acts as a better sleeping aid than pills. It is not addictive and there has so far no reports of anyone overdosing on Marijuana. Although detractors claim that it does alter the mind and slows it to a certain extent and give it as a reason for not legalizing it, the benefits of Marijuana far outweigh the supposed damage it causes. 23 states in the US have legalized marijuana. Some states have legalized the medicinal use while some allow both the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. Legalizing it throughout the country will only bring in beneficial results.
Smoking pot or marijuana carries with it a lot of health benefits. The two active chemicals - cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol found in marijuana can help in relieving pain. this comes handy for people who suffer from chronic pain. it is also known to reduce the sense of nausea that is caused by chemotherapy. Marijuana, according to the National Eye Institute helps in reducing the intraocular pressure and helps in slowing the progress of Glaucoma (Astaiza, 2014). Other medicinal uses of marijuana include treatment for epileptic seizures, increasing the lung capacity, killing of cancer cells and the slowing of Alzheimer’s disease. Since marijuana has not been legalized, it heavily affects the amount of research that can be carried out to find its medicinal uses. Legalization would help more research and probably the weaning of patients from pills. Legalization of marijuana could also help people who want to try a natural method of healing as compared to the regular treatments that are available. MArijuana used to treat these illnesses also does not cause any side effects which most of the other drugs do. They are not expensive and some minor ailments such as digestive problems and chronic pain can be treated at a fraction of the cost of regular medicines.
Marijuana has the potential to fuel economic growth. In spite of marijuana cultivation and use being illegal in the country, there has been no dearth of marijuana sale or consumption in the country. In fact there is a thriving underground market that distributes marijuana across the country. Imagine if this industry was legalized. Not only will it create more employment opportunities, but it will also bring in more tax to both the state and the federal government. Employment opportunities will open up in the cultivation, transport and the retail sales of marijuana. Also smoking is not the only way marijuana can be used. The fiber from the plant is used to make a clothes, accessories and more. Legalizing marijuana is good for the economy as it brings in more income to the individual involved in the trade as well as the states and the country. And the money made will be legal. The government will also find that it is easier to regulate the legal market than the illegal trade. Millions spent by law enforcement agencies can be diverted to other useful purposes like health and public education. Arcview Market Research, in its 2014 report stated that the legal marijuana industry in the country grew by 74% in that year alone (Lininger 2015). There are a lot of leaders, politicians and successful businessmen who have admitted to using marijuana in the past. None of them have claimed to have been addicted by it or given up because it was interfering with their work or lifestyle. It is right to vilify a drug and its users if it creates problems to the user or the society as a whole. But when it does not cause any problems to the user or those who are around the user, there is no point in banning the substance.
Marijuana is also not an addictive drug and neither it is a gateway drug (Jacques 2013). Unlike Tobacco or alcohol which are legal in the market, marijuana is not an addictive drug. People who smoke marijuana do not get the high and lows of other drug users. There also is no desperate craving to smoking pot. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, marijuana affects neither the lungs nor the liver. People who oppose the legalization of marijuana have various reasons such as the lack of proper research on the adverse effects of marijuana on the body, the takeover of the industry by tobacco companies and the moral implications. Marijuana has been smoked for ages not only in the US but in countries all over the world. If it had proved to be a serious social problem or had created a health crisis, it would have been known by now. De Addiction centres would also try to cure marijuana users. In spite of its use for centuries, marijuana use has not been known to cause any serious health problems or addiction. As for the takeover of the industry by tobacco giants and its packaging for more sales, it is quite doubtful as there exists an alternate culture among port users that would prevent total commercialization of marijuana.Others complain that smoking marijuana would lead to experimentation with other hard drugs. But the states that have legalized marijuana have not seen any sharp increase in the use of marijuana or other drugs. In fact making it legal has driven down its allure. There is no longer a sense of danger or risk attached to smoking pot out in the open and this has only succeeded in bringing down the usage. As to the moral and ethical implications, banning marijuana while keeping tobacco and alcohol legal only smacks of hypocrisy. Alcohol and tobacco consumption apart from the various health problems they create also serve to be a huge drain on the economy. Smoking pot could also help people from smoking more cigarettes. Marijuana users also do not have to worry about a painful hangover and the smell that is associated with a cigarette smoker.
In spite of the many laws and strict punishments, drug use, abuse and sales remain a huge problem in the country. Billions of dollars spent on eradicating the drug trade and the sale of illegal drugs has not succeeded in getting rid of the problem completely. Rather it has exacerbated the problem with more teenagers moving towards it and experimenting only because it is cool to try it and it is fascinating to do an illegal drug. It is not to say that every drug has to be legalized. There are certain drugs such as heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy that should be banned but drugs like marijuana should not be banned. Marijuana unlike the other drugs does not kill the person or make him or her a life long addict. At its worst, it can become a hobby that is quite difficult to shake off. Smoking pot everyday also has not proven to be detrimental to the health of anyone. Instead of wasting time, resources and money on trying to stop the sale and use of marijuana the government can legalize it and enjoy the income that it brings. Perhaps legalizing marijuana can also restore the cottage industry and many small scale industries that have virtually disappeared from the country. Cultivating hemp is also economically beneficial to the farmers as it can be sold as the raw material for making many products. Thus the benefits of marijuana far outweigh the supposed detrimental effects and thus it should be legalized for both medicinal and recreational purposes across the country.
Works Cited
Jacques, Renee. “This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere”. The Huffington Post. 24 Oct, 2014. Web. 27 Feb, 2016.
Astaiza, Randy. “ 23 Health Benefits of Marijuana”. The Business Insider. 20 Apr 2014. Web. 27 Feb 2016.
Lininger, Ann. “ Marijuana: Will Legalization Create an Economic Boom?” 1 oct 2015. Web. 27 Feb 2016.
