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Legalizing Marijuana Argumentative Analysis

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Marijuana is the number one most used illicit substance in the United States. Although it is illegal to possess in most states, the war on marijuana has been an absolute failure. There have been zero deaths by way of marijuana overdose and yet, alcohol and cigarettes are available at every gas station and grocery store. Recreational marijuana usage is legal in the state of Colorado and the state makes close to one hundred million dollars a month alone in marijuana sales. One might then ask why marijuana is illegal in most states and the answer would be ignorance and an abundance of misinformation. Close to half a million people die annually from alcohol and an additional one hundred thousand people a year die on average due to cigarettes. No one has died from marijuana overdose or any type of ailments related to marijuana and that is an absolute fact (Brownstein). There …show more content…

“Smoking pot is much worse for your lungs than smoking cigarettes” is a myth (Poindexter). Some may argue that because, generally, no filter is needed while smoking cannabis, the lungs are not protected. This is found to be false. In 2012 a group of students held a study of the cannabis effects and what the smoke can do to your lungs and came up with this conclusion: “Occasional and low cumulative marijuana use was not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function (Poindexter).” However, cannabis smokers do not usually smoke more than a few joints to a few bowls a day, while with cigarette smokers it is not particularly uncommon for them to smoke a whole pack a day. In conclusion of this study, cannabis smokers seem to end up with healthier lungs than cigarette smokers. To make matters even better for cannabis lovers, it can be ingested without any smoke. A few simple ways to ingest cannabis are to eat it, drink it, inhale it as a vapor, take it in tablet form, or even rub it on your skin as a lotion or oil

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