Madison Gaffaney Gaffaney 1
Honors English 10
Period 6
March 12, 2016
The Benefits of Nationally Legalizing Marijuana Marijuana also known as cannabis has been used as an herb for healing since Spanish immigrants first brought the medicine over during the Mexican Revolution. It was continued to be used through many decades and became wildly popular in the 1960’s as a recreational drug much like alcohol. Since the government could not ban the use or sell of the product due its unconstitutional properties, they came up with a Controlled Substance Act. This act allowed the government to control which substances were used based on their level of addiction and dangerousness. Shortly after the act was passed scientists and doctors began
…show more content…
As of now, the two types of illegal growth are trespass and indoor. Trespass marijuana growth is usually done in national forests or on public land because cultivators do not want to be caught growing on their own property. The secrecy of this operation causes the removal of trees, building illegal dams for extreme water usage, and spraying harmful restricted pesticides and rodenticides. The extreme use of water threatens the fish and rodenticides poison smaller animals who provide food for larger consumers. The trespassing process kills off a variety of population within that area and adds to the environment’s carbon dioxide build up. Indoor growth occurs in green houses or in one’s home by using grow lights and heat lamps. The heat lamps and lights are used to make …show more content…
By legalizing cannabis, law enforcement would not spend and waste money on investigations for suspected growers, dealers, or traffickers. This could cut prison spending by reducing high amounts of inmates convicted based on ridiculous marijuana related charges. Legalizing would also begin growing marijuana as a crop which would provide many with jobs such as cultivators, farm hands, transportation, packaging, ad retailing. By rising employment, the government would not have to spend as much money on unemployment packages. The new distribution could be globally traded and bring in revenue from other countries based off their legality. According to a Harvard economist, “The average annual trade in marijuana is estimated at $113 billion in taxes slipping through our fingers” (qtd. in Smith 1). The United States could be receiving billions in taxes each year, but since we are not the national debt continues to rise indefinitely. In result of helping the economy, doctors and hospitals can expand their research on marijuana benefits against
Marijuana is a naturally grown plant that has beneficial properties and the ability to create textiles, paper products, and other goods. Marijuana is currently illegal in many states in the United States. The legalization of Marijuana will produce enormous tax revenue, reduce crime, give us a renewable resource, and give sick and suffering patients a new effective medicine. The legalization of Marijuana in the United States would both benefit the well-being of its citizens as well the economy.
One of the main benefits that is obvious from legalization would be an increase in safe legal use of marijuana, instead of buying from sketchy dealers or in shady situations. Having a steady, regulated, and legal supply of weed at dispensaries increases the supply in the market, and by doing so would help increase demand for legal safe weed. This is a simple principle of supply and demand we can attach to the idea of weed legalization (Pic. 1). We saw a huge increase in supply during the first year or so in Colorado due to it becoming a major commodity according to Julie Verhage of Bloomberg (2015). When the market opened up for serious business to jump in on the already high demand the market exploded and prices plummeted on driving demand
Should marijuana be legalized for medical use and treatment? There are a lot of people who believe that it should not be legalized due to various reasons. At the same time, it would be a good idea to legalize it due to the multiple benefits of using marijuana. The benefits outweigh the bad aspects of legalizing marijuana. There are a lot of benefits for the use of marijuana in the medical field.
Marijuana is “ the dried leaves and female flowers of the hemp plant, used in cigarette form as [a] narcotic or hallucinogen.”(“Marijuana”) In the 17th century, marijuana production was encouraged and supported by U.S. legislation. Later, “during the 19th century,[marijuana] use became a fad in France and also, to some extent, in the U.S.”(“ Marijuana Timeline”). During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the drug raised fears linked with illegal immigrants and criminal activity. (“Marijuana Timeline”). Then, during World War II, cannabis regained its popularity and support as “Hemp for Victory” (“Marijuana Timeline”). In the following years, the federal government created laws restricting the growth and use of marijuana. Specifically, drug
If the United States were to legalize marijuana, then our country would reap the benefits. “A mature marijuana industry could generate up to $28 billion in tax revenues for federal, state, and local governments, including $7 billion in federal revenue: $5.5 billion from business taxes and $1.5 billion from income and payroll taxes(Marijuana Tax Legalization).” This fact given from TaxFoundation.org shows how if the marijuana industry could help reduce the Tax debt within our country. Many other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol are permitted to be used within our country but do not give us the same opportunity as legalizing marijuana does. “A federal tax of $23 per pound of product, similar to the federal tax on tobacco, could generate $500 million per year. Alternatively, a 10 percent sales surtax could generate $5.3 billion per year, with higher tax rates collecting proportionately more(Marijuana Tax Legalization).” Marijuana can and should be used to this country full potential in eliminating tax
The first recognised use of marijuana dates to 2737 B.C. where Chinese medics used this plant to treat several diseases like malaria. Marijuana first started being popular and draw worldwide attention was when the U.S. outlawed alcohol in the 1920s, many people turned to weed as a replacement for the extremely popular alcohol. Since then there has been a staggering trend in recent decades in the use of ‘pot’. Marijuana was first classified as an illigal drug in 1970 when the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) identified weed as a schedule 1 drug which is considered an illicit drug. This has caused controversy worldwide that is still ongoing today. In today's climate, one of the most controversial issues is if Cannabis should be legalized
The most commonly used illicit drug in the United States is marijuana (Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana, 2010). Its use is prevalent among young people (Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana, 2010). Rates of marijuana use have stabilized in the past few years after years of rise according to a yearly survey of middle and high school students (Drug Facts: Marijuana, 2015). However, the number of young people who believe marijuana use is dangerous is declining (Drug Facts: Marijuana, 2015).
Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a plant that is consider one of the many illegal sustains. Marijuana is a plant that clams to make people addicted like other drugs like meth, cocaine, and other harmful sustains. Marijuana has been refer as pot, grass, reefer, weed, herb, mary jane, or mj by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (34) When mentioning of this plant, it cause sirs among the public about the dangerous use of the plant. The news media portal marijuana as harmful plants that changes people for the worst. For the past years, states has proposal to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. While other states has taken the actions of making the plant completely legal. With the change of the laws changing, marijuana has
In the early 1900’s, Mexicans were immigrating by the thousands and with immigrants come their culture and habits. They used weed as a medicine or a stress-reliever and called the plant “marihuana”. The media used this term to give cannabis a bad reputation expressing marihuana causes violence and high amounts of sex in the streets. Due to this, the government jumped to conclusions and passed the Controlled Substances Act in the 1970s, which restricted the drug from any type of use in the United States. Ever since then, the public was convinced that marijuana was a horrible addictive drug. Thankfully, California became the first state to allow marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. Today, 28
For years the U.S., along with many other countries have criminalized marijuana. But it might not be as bad as people were led to believe. While some think that marijuana is a harmful and dangerous drug, the U.S. should legalize it because of it’s health benefits, marijuana has never actually killed anyone and the reason it was banned in the first place wasn’t even because the government thought it was harmful.
First off, how will marijuana help boost our country and economy. “Average annual trade in marijuana is estimated at $113 billion, which represents nearly $45 billion in taxes slipping through our fingers”(Smith.1). If we would tax it an extra $45 billion, this could really help our country financially.”Right now medical marijuana in California brings in 14 billions dollars a year and with legalization it is expected to rise by 4 billion and that’s only in California”(Derek.1). Legalizing marijuana would take it out of the black market which would end the war on marijuana, that is costing the government billions yearly. Legalization would dramatically cut down on prison spending, “an estimated one and four people are in prison solely because of non-violent drug offenses, including possession, sales,and repeat offenses related to marijuana”(Smith.1). A lot of prisons are becoming over populated, this would more than likely cut down on prison space as well. If one will think about pot legalization this can and will create more jobs, because there will be companies that will produce the drug. This would benefit the economy with extra jobs. That is how marijuana could help boost our country and
Marijuana or Cannabis has been around for 1000s of years, however during 1960s the US Government started banning the sale and use of it. Per the US Department of Justice, Marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substance Act meaning it has a very high potential for abuse with no medical benefits. Recently scientists have been testing marijuana and been finding out that it does indeed have some benefits.
What is really the reason why marijuana is illegal in most parts of America, or an even better question is – why isn’t it legally regulated here in America? Everyone has heard of the effects of marijuana use and we know about the perception that the general public has on the drug, but can these effects and estimations really be proven? Thousands of Americans admit that they currently use cannabis or that they have used cannabis at least once before. Everyone knows about the war on drugs in our poor communities and neighborhoods that has not shown any signs of improvement in the last few decades. Could it possibly be that people are fighting the wrong enemy here? What if we dug deep into the history and the backstory of this war and found out
Marijuana is an addictive and abused illegal drug in major cities around the world. Legalizing the drug will make it readily available to drug users or non drug users who want to engage in its use. In my opinion, Marijuana should not be legalized because doing so will lead to increased addiction and effect families.
Do you know how many ways you can utilize marijuana? Marijuana should be legalized, because it would benefit us instead of harming us like the critics say. Some of the greatest minds are powered by weed. You can use marijuana in various ways. Marijuana should be legalized because it could really help those with medical problems such as stress, pain, and alzheimers