Legalizing Marijuana The legalization of marijuana in the United States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and form a more productive society through its positive uses. The United States government is spending millions and millions of dollars each year to enforce petty marijuana crimes and it’s time for this change. Embracing marijuana for personal, medical, and industrial use will encourage economic growth and stability. Associating taxes along with eliminating risk of illegal activity will increase consumer confidence whereas the ease of growing requirements will boost substantial profit. Over the next couple pages I hope to convince you as to why marijuana should be legalized for the many reasons that I will touch on throughout this paper. As of today, there are only five states in the United States that have made changes to their laws by legalizing small amounts of marijuana. The five states that have legalized marijuana are Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C.. I believe that many more states will begin to legalize marijuana for all uses over the next few years. There is a lot more public support for reform than ever before with the newest polls showing that more than half of the country is in favor of legalizing marijuana. The Drug Policy Alliance believes that marijuana should be removed from the criminal justice system and regulated just like alcohol and tobacco are. Some of the biggest positives of legalizing marijuana would be that
This paper will look at the benefits and drawbacks to legalizing marijuana by looking in at Colorado.The state made forty million dollars by taxed marijuana in 2014 alone, also Colorado saved countless millions because of the extremely lower amounts of marijuana arrest and court cases. It is not clear how having new recreational marijuana stores opening will affect the cannabis market, or businesses expanding around them. Gov. John Hickenlooper says that the economy is thriving with record setting numbers of tourists (73.1 million). 49 percent of those tourist said that legal marijuana influenced their decisions to vacation in Colorado. The ER’s in Colorado have also seen a rise in numbers of marijuana related cases and those cases in non-residents have almost doubled. An unexpected situation that arose from legal cannabis was the amount of electricity that is being use to grow the drug. Some cannabusinesses have to go green with solar or wind power. There are many varying views on the effects of legal marijuana have developed in Colorado since marijuana became legal in 2014.
Legalization of marijuana is an important issue; most people recognize it as “harmful and addictive,” from the essay “Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized,” while others regard the ban on marijuana as ineffective, expensive, and unjust (1). According to Senator Bernie Sanders, “too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That’s wrong.” The ban is unjust for Americans because it is a complete waste of our tax dollars to continue criminalizing citizens for marijuana use. Legalization of marijuana in every state will be beneficial; for our economy, medical value and breakthroughs, lowering crime rate, aiding people who are victims of drug abuse, and more. The following paragraphs will explain further.
To legalize or to not legalize drugs, that is the popular question lately. The current repeat visitor to each states legislative sessions is making marijuana legal. Currently in the United States there are twenty states with legal medical marijuana and the District of Columbia. Out of those twenty only Colorado and Washington have also legalized marijuana for recreational use. When it comes to legalizing drugs marijuana appears to be the most popular one being advocated for. However, does that leave the door open for other drugs to be advocated for as well? Should they all be legalized or just a select few?
The legal status of marijuana in the US has been a subject of controversy since its introduction in (year?). A history of legal prohibition steeped in racism and misunderstanding has only recently given way to rational discussion based on scientific evidence and public health evaluations. Legalizing marijuana would not only be an economic boon for the US and be beneficial for our medical fields, but would also make it safer by introducing regulations and protection for consumers.
The United States is facing a new problem that it has not encountered before which is the increasing rate of underage use of marijuana in a volatile legal environment. The fact is that what used to be illegal in all of the United States is now starting to become legal, especially in Colorado and Washington, for both medical and recreational use. While many other states have legalized marijuana use for medical purposes, it is still illegal for anyone to use it recreationally. Marijuana use in adolescences is currently on the rise due to the perception of the drug, in addition to the interest, as of today.
Marijuana is a generally misconstrued substance that most Americans don 't completely get it. The use marijuana as a medication has been widely investigated and turned out to be one of the "most practical and most secure wellsprings of medicinal worth to the numerous Americans experiencing Aids, Glaucoma, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, and Chronic Pains" (Medical Marijuana). As indicated by the Institute of Medicines, (1999) "cannabis, in its characteristic structure, is one of the most secure remedially dynamic substances known" (Legalization of Marijuana). More assets and contextual investigations will be further examined to move down the case of pot 's therapeutic quality.
Legalizing marijuana is the most argumentative issue in United States. It has been discussed for many years. There are many debatable questions that need the final answers such as: Should Marijuana be legalize and taxed? Should medicinal marijuana in all states? Should the issue be addressed at the national or at the state level? Everything has its own pros and cons, so does legalizing marijuana. It can reduce the pain in medical purposes, prevent consumers from consuming marijuana illegally, and develop the United States economic. Marijuana should be legalized in just limited departments, and it should be taxed with high rate because marijuana can seriously bad effect to human’s health when using without controlling, and moreover, the
In 2012, marijuana was legalized for recreational use in Colorado. Now it is legal in Washington D.C., Oregon and Alaska, only fully legal for recreational use in Washington D.C. and Colorado. Legalization is not necessarily the issue any more. Child psychiatrist Mitchell S. Rosenthal stated, “At this point in the country’s history, whether pot is legal or not is no longer the main issue. The issue is the danger that marijuana poses to kids, how parents can protect their children from that danger, and what the rest of society—absent the criminal justice system--can do to support them.” Although legalization is rapidly spreading, it needs to come to a halt. Marijuana should not be legalized due to the dangers it poses
In the recent years, there has been a push, nationwide, to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. In most states, medical marijuana is legal and in some states, so is recreational. But the legalization of recreational marijuana may have detrimental effects. In the recent election, Arizona had a ballot measure (prop 205) which called for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. Prop 205 lost and recreational marijuana is not currently legal. However, it is likely that the advocates for this campaign will work to get their issue on the next ballot. If Recreational Marijuana is legalized in Arizona the number of deaths per year will rise because it is likely there will be an increase in the use of other addictive substances, there will be an increase in traffic violations and accidents, and the number of people effected by lung cancer and other medical issues will increase.
Support for marijuana legalization is rapidly increasing throughout the United States. “A slim majority, 53% of Americans, say the drug should be made legal, compared with 44% who want it to be illegal” (Motel). What would change if marijuana was legalized federally in the United States? Would everyone be sane? A lot of things in the United States could happen by legalizing marijuana. There would be less marijuana related crimes. With all the laws that are being passed, would it be harder to tax? Would it benefit the economy? marijuana should be legalized, federally.
Views on marijuana use and its legal status are slowly shifting across America. What was once viewed as a dangerous gateway drug is slowly being legalized across the nation for medicinal and recreational purposes. Alcohol is often used as a comparator to marijuana for good reason. Banning alcohol was attempted before and it was not successful. Marijuana is currently progressing through a similar phase alcohol went through during the Prohibition Era. Four states, including Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Alaska, now allow the use of recreational marijuana. Ironically, despite marijuana use still being illegal under federal law, Washington D.C., the nation’s capital, allows it as well. Marijuana should be legalized, both medically and recreationally, across the nation because it is less deadly than alcohol, stimulates the economy and generates tax revenue, and provides medical relief for serious ailments.
Marijuana usage has been on the rise for the past decade. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 94 million Americans have admitted to using marijuana at least once (2015). This can be said to be a pandemic, which is continuing to increase. Even though the recreational usage of marijuana is illegal within most of the United States, it continues to be used and is widely sold in the black market. States have started to realize that taxing the recreational use of marijuana can bring in more revenues for the state. Currently, four states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana by taxing it (CNN, 2015). Taxing the recreational use of marijuana can be beneficial to states, but it will be competing with the tax of medical marijuana, which will be less and the illegal sales from the black market. States have to provide a reasonable tax with incentives, so that people would want to purchase recreational marijuana instead of purchasing it illegally.
Marijuana is contervisol topic all around the world, some countries like Amsterdam and states in the United States have legalized marijuana, and this has put preasure onto other countries to legalize. Marijuana is also referred as weed, herb, and pot and is derived from a plant called cannabis sativa, also known as hemp plant. The cannabis plant produces THC, which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, and there are over 85+ individual cannabinoids, which are found in marijuana, but THC is responsible for the sensation of “high” felling. THC binds to special receptors in the brain and all around the body called cannabinoid receptors, the receptors trigger series of chemical reactions, which causes change in the body, and function of the brain. Prominence of marijuana, is surrounded by great controversy, there are two definite sides, those who believe marijuana should be legalized for recreation use, and those who believe marijuana should stay illegal for its own good for the society. Legalizing marijuana can create more jobs but marijuana should be kept illegal because we do not know the long term affects, marijuana can damage your health, and the use of the drug can impact public safety.
All over the nation we are seeing economic growth due to the legalization of marijuana. In 2014 expected tax revenue from the marijuana industry is an expected $67 million just in Colorado alone. Now in Washington their government is allocating a 25% excise tax on marijuana. While in Colorado they assigned a proposition to enable a 15% excise tax, and a 10% sales tax on recreational marijuana. Marijuana is stimulating businesses all over, whether it be real estate, construction, or candy! Business owners are using the legalization of marijuana to their advantage. With the legalization of marijuana businesses like Whole Foods and The Body shop, that import an estimated 25,000 hemp product, can buy their hemp products from national
The unjust imprisonment of American citizens with over-exaggerated jail sentences (pertaining to marijuana charges) is a very big problem in the US. I chose this topic because I had heard so many horror stories of people being sentenced at least 9-10 years on marijuana possession charges just to fill prisons, and it made me extremely upset. What angered me even more was the proof of racially motivated arrests/sentencing in many instances of unjust marijuana related arrests. While these people were “busted” for carrying marijuana and subsequently jailed for decades, rapists get out in 8-9 years on average (Sex Offender Attorney). Even more outrageous, almost all those charged with marijuana possession are sentenced/punished, while only 3 of