Legalize Marijuana Essay

It has been more than two decades since the debate began whether or not to legalize marijuana; and it seems that neither side is winning. Studies have shown that there are some medicinal properties in marijuana; nonetheless, whatever stand the government takes marijuana will be abuse.
Marijuana is a plant that is dried, crushed and wrapper into paper and smoked like cigarette; it can also be smoked in pipes. No one knows its origin but one thing is certain, it gains notoriety from the Rastafarians in Jamaica and even though it is not illegal there, police usually look the other way when it is being smoked or farmed. It gains international popularity through the king of reggae, Bob Marley. Tourists often make friends with the natives intending to get some of the best “ganga.” Jamaican “ganga” is sought after outside of Jamaica as much as its Blue Mountain Coffee. In Jamaica marijuana is sometimes used as medicine, especially for colds, by boiling it. Many people have gone crazy by drinking “ganga” despite it medicinal value no one knows how to proportion its use; nonetheless it has not lost it potency.
There are many countries in Europe that have legalized drugs and America has debated for a long time whether or not it should follow suit. Everyone knows that special something that we passed several times in our house when we were children, totally oblivious to us until our parents say do not touch, at that very moment we develop the need to open “Pandora’s box.” Many people have argued that the enchantment to drugs is the thrill of getting it illegally and I (the client). share this belief. Contrary to what many people think drugs are not legal in Holland, police just no longer arrest citizens for using, and Hollanders are contented to ignore drugs users. Maia Szalavitz reports that, in 2001 Portugal concluded that it should legalize drugs and rather than arresting drug users, offer them rehabilitation. In 2009 when the program was evaluated, the report says that “in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled” (2009). Marijuana will not seem so attractive once it is no longer out of reach.
In the cities of America, one cannot go for more than a mile and does not see either drugs changing hands or someone strung out on drugs; this is such a common occurrence that no one pays attention anymore. Making drugs illegal has not stopped drug users from getting their fix; therefore, making marijuana legal will not make a difference to people who want to use it; but it does make a difference in the pocket books of the government, especially the money spent to keek them in prison. According to Joffe and Yancy the government is not doing a good job policing alcohol and tobacco being sold to adolescents and if cannot control the law that is already enacted how well will it do with an added law? They believe that it would best suit the government if it concentrates on the medicinal properties of marijuana (n.d. 636). The truth is legal or illegal if a person wants marijuana badly enough he or she will get it.
So many people are alcoholic and have gotten sick from smoking yet it is legal to get these commodities and they cause for more damage than marijuana. Marijuana is a natural herb; Barnes reports that some of its medicinal values are: it controls glaucoma, anticonvulsant muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, antiasthmatic, antianxiety-antidepressant, an andgesie, and alcoholism, opiate withdrawal and an antitumor medication (2000). Marijuana has value that alcohol and cigarettes do not have yet, they are legal; what the government needs is to get its priority straight.
This debate has been going on forever and the government needs to take a stand and legalize it and bring an end to this discussion. It it is going to burdened about marijuana why not worry about prescription pills or take cigarettes and alcohol off the market; while it is spending money deciding to legalize or not to legalize marijuana users are still getting high.
Barnes, Eric R. (2000). “Refer Madness: Legal &Moral Issues Surrounding the Medical Prescription of Marijuana.” Bioethes. Vol 14, no. 1
, Alan, Yancy, Samuel. AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICSTECHNICAL REPORT: “Legalization of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth”
Szalavits, Maria. (2000). “Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalizing.” Time Science and Space. Workhttp://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html#