Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

There are multiple cases of Marijuana deaths in America. There are thousands of reasons why marijuana shouldn't be legal. For instance, it can cause major car crashes, it can lead you into different and even worse drugs, cause your memory to fail, your attention span to diminish, and your ability to learn even harder than others. This list could go on and on, Marijuana is bad for you, no matter what you say there are facts that show how

Marijuana has been deeply studied in the past few decades and has shown scientist many things that weren’t evident before. Marijuana has been linked to many health issues good and bad. It has shown to reduce stress and anxiety, help with headaches, lower blood pressure and one of the most evident and positive health affects is that it has been shown in many studies to stop and even kill cancer cells in the body. There are however negative effects that have been looked into and studied by scientist. These include, blocking memory formation, psychosis, and an increased risk of depression while using marijuana regularly. Not everything revolving around marijuana is a “health issue” though, the biggest reason that people use marijuana today is because it simply makes people feel good. That is a positive effect.

In order to gain an understanding of marijuana's so called "harmful" negative effects; it should be compared to other drugs that are presently legalized in this country. In the pharmaceutical world, over-the-counter drugs are being prescribed for everything these days. Ritalin and Adderall are readily available for college students in the university health centers across the country. Kids are staying up all night studying, complaining that they can not pay attention, and are immediately referred to the prescription drugs which in many cases they do not even need. Along with the prescription drug problem in our nation, we have a serious issue concerning alcohol and tobacco. Alcoholism is killing people daily with liver malfunctions

Legalizing marijuana for health and municipal purposes in the United States Of America, personally I think it's a great idea. A lot of other people don't think legalizing marijuana is the greatest idea in the world, they think that people will use it in the wrong ways and not to help with any diseases that it can kill. Legalizing marijuana in the United States should be done because it can help people with diseases that they can’t fix with just any medicine, it can kill most deadly diseases, and it keeps people from taking multiple pills a day.

Marijuana has a greater beneficial impact on society then many people realize. Marijuana should be legalized for medical as well as recreational purposes. This is a highly controversial issue that is being debated throughout the country. In essence marijuana is evaluated by the effectiveness of the drug. It is defined as the dried flowered clusters and leaves of a hemp plant smoked for the intoxicating effect. Whether it should be legalized or not is the real question.

To start off, many people think weed should not be legal. One reason some may say it is not safe to legalize weed is public safety. “Marijuana use, like the use of alcohol, can cause impairment in the user. This means if a person is driving whilst under the influence, they may be more prone to having a collision and potentially harming a pedestrian or fellow road user.” (10 Reasons Marijuana Should Remain Illegal). Also, some think the use or marijuana will lower the quality of life. “

     Marijuana does have some negative effects, but compared to other drugs marijuana is harmless. Other drugs are highly addictive were marijuana is not. Alcohol is one of the most leading causes of car crashes. Marijuana is nowhere near being a leading cause of death. Other drugs can lead to cancer where marijuana is used to cure it, and other drugs can lead to deaths. Other drugs impair you vision, but marijuana does not. All the other drugs except alcohol are gateway drugs, and the only way to purchase them is by smuggling them across the border. Many advocates say “we should begin to reflect that reality in our state and federal legislation, and stop acting as if otherwise law-abiding marijuana smokers are part of the crime problem. They are not, and it is absurd to continue using law enforcement resources arresting them.” (Gary) Many advocates also say, “Far more harm is caused by marijuana prohibition than by marijuana itself.”(Gary)

If the substance was legalized it would give adolescence easier access to the drug. With easier access to marijuana the youth is at risk of health problems especially ones dealing with the brain. Marijuana use in adolescence is connected to anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Marijuana doesn’t only put the youths health at risk it puts their whole life in danger. Frequent use influences their education negatively. Repeated use has been linked to dropout rates and poor grades. Our youth is our future and legalizing would only put our future in danger. Marijuana is also a significant factor in car accidents, which can lead to injuries and sometimes even death. Although many supporters of cannabis say “marijuana is not bad for you” it significantly increases the chance of many different health risks. Some of the health risk includes memory loss, cancer, immune system deficiencies, heart disease and birth defects. Also if used regularly decision making, memory and decision-making can suffer. Many consumers claim that smoking marijuana does no harm but Rosalie Pacula the co-director of the Rand Drug Policy research center has stated “If pot is relatively harmless, why are we weeing more than 100,000 hospitalizations a year for marijuana use?” also emergency room admissions percentages has increased by 164% from 1995 to 2002 and surely has increased since. These

Can you imagine being just six-years-old and suffering from over three hundred violent seizures a week? From birth, Charlotte Figi suffered from a rare form of epilepsy, which caused these seizures. After trying everything to help Charlotte, her parents finally decided to try medical marijuana, and it worked! Charlotte still had seizures, but now, she had maybe two or three seizures a month instead of three hundred a week. Charlotte’s story and many similar stories, along with medical research and sound reasons, have caused the public’s opinion about marijuana to change in favor of legalizing it, and I agree. I strongly believe that marijuana, and especially medical marijuana, should be legalized across the entire

Most college students cease to believe that smoking marijuana is just as harmful as tobacco or other illicit drugs. In actuality, marijuana has a high level of carcinogens, as well as carbon monoxide, which makes the heart work harder to deliver oxygen to deprived tissues. The same health issues that arise from smoking tobacco such as, emphysema, bronchitis, and other respiratory problems can also be brought on by smoking marijuana.

Some medical reasons that marijuana shouldn’t be decriminalized are that it has long and short terms effects. Examples of the short term outcomes include memory loss, difficulty with thinking, loss of motor skills and increased heart rate. According to the National Institutes of Health show that someone smoking about five joints per week is taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. There is no science proof that smoked marijuana can be used for medication. Since cannabis plants are polluted with a range of fungal spores, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of infectious organisms. Taradiff, J. "Marijuana and the War on Drugs. “Marijuana. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thomas Gale, 2008. 157. Print.

I picked cannabis as the plant to focus on because in my opinion it is probably the most controversial plant solely for the reason that people smoke it so much Marijuana's past is far from criminalistic.

Marijuana is a dangerous drug because the long-term effects are unknown since there has not been enough research conducted. There will be an increase in accessibility to young children and teenagers. Also, the legalization of marijuana will lead to the legalization of other potent drugs because marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana causes the user to experience impairments which include distortions of time and space perceptions and impairs coordination. The impairments of marijuana users will increase drug impaired driving, which will cause more accidents. Lastly, the addictive nature will lead to an increase in marijuana

Cannabis has also been stated to be a “gateway drug” (Fergusson & Horwood, 2000) thus, by legalising cannabis there is more of a chance for user to become addicted to ‘harder’ drugs such as cocaine and heroin. This is generally because addicts become accustomed to the high they get from marijuana therefore need a stronger drug to get a similar ‘hit’. Another disadvantage of legalising cannabis would be that it might fall into the hands of minors, which can severely impact developing brains. By allowing marijuana to be legal, it increases accessibility to children. Causing children from a young age to become associated with drugs and alcohol, which can lead to criminal activity. (Himmelstein, 1983)

First and foremost, marijuana is legal in some states in the United States but for medical use only and other countries such as Canada have already allowed for medical marijuana to be used. (“17 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.”) The fact that states and other nations have allowed the use of marijuana for an important aspect like medicine should be considered in the argument of making the drug legal. Especially since it has caused no problems being used that way. Marijuana as medicine can be a pain reliever for its users. It is also beneficial to the everyday person for relief of migraines, OCD’s, ADHD, ADD, and even prevention of Alzheimer’s. The drug also has no proven or tested medical drawbacks (“10 Major Health Benefits of Marijuana.” COED. ) Unlike other drugs like sleep aids, painkillers, alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana is not addictive. Of course the argument could be made that it is but there is no factual evidence that proves this point. People that are anti-marijuana legalization will say that it is unhealthy and bad for you. All of these assumptions