the legalization of marijuana
Uploaded by muffythediver on Nov 10, 2004
Essay three: Legalization of Marijuana
The legalization of marijuana has been one of the most heated debates to ever occur in the United States. There are two sides that feel equally strongly about this topic. There is the side that is for the legalization and the side that is against it. I found very plausible reasoning on why this drug should or should not be legalized.
Marijuana’s use as a medicine has been around for thousands of years, in countries worldwide. The use of marijuana can be dated as far back as 2700 B.C. through ancient Chinese writings. Marijuana has been associated with bringing relief to sick people suffering from AIDS, cancer, anorexia, epilepsy, arthritis, migraines, and glaucoma. Most doctors don’t recommend that you smoke marijuana to relieve yourself from the ailments associated with these sicknesses. The doctors are recommending the patients take a synthetic form of marijuana such as Marinol. Most patients feel like Marinol is an ineffective substitute because of the side effects. Patients complain that the feeling of being too sleepy and or the feeling of being too stoned is far too great. Now if the patients can smoke a joint they can be the judge for themselves on how much they need to get the desired effect.
Forty million Americans use marijuana more frequently than all of the other illegal drugs combined. I found that static to be staggering. Marijuana has also been proven to not be a physically addictive drug. If marijuana was legal it would allow the regulation of the drug. For instance, cigarettes have warnings of the affects of smoking them right on the box, alcohol is clearly marked with the percentage of alcohol on the bottle, and legal drugs have a listing of all active and inactive ingredients in them. If marijuana was sold legally it could also be sold with ingredients, purity levels, and the warnings of smoking it to your health clearly marked.
In the year 2000 there where 1,147,591 pounds of marijuana seized by the United Stated Coast Guard. The average price of marijuana goes for around 1,500 dollars per pound. Now if marijuana...