Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized Essay

A problem in the US today is smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes are made up of literally hundreds of very harsh chemicals that are inhaled into the lungs and can cause serious consequences down the road. Marijuana has been compared to cigarettes in some studies. The good part about marijuana is that it doesn’t affect the lungs in a bad way. Marijuana contains THC which acts like a sort of cough drop and opens the airway leading to your lungs. Cigarettes on the other hand or as I like to call them, (sick)arettes do the exact opposite by filling up your lungs with

For many years, there has been a war against society and the federal government on whether or not marijuana should be legal in the U.S., for medicinal and recreational purposes. There are so many positive aspects as to why it would be a highly viable asset to communities all over the U.S. Though there are some aspects to be looked at and taken into consideration when it comes to legalizing this drug, it still stands as an important fact that marijuana should be in fact legalized by the federal government, so that the development of hemp crops can be used as a valuable agricultural crop in the U.S., creating a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions we consume every day, so that we can expose majority of the prohibitions on the dangers of marijuana are solely based on disinformation and lies, and so that dollars collected in tax revenue from marijuana sales can be used for bettering our communities instead of spending our earned taxed dollars on criminalization costs keeping it illegal.

This research paper will study the correlation of past exposure to marijuana and the belief of its addictiveness is a direct association with an individual’s opinion on if marijuana should be decriminalized in the state of Oklahoma. Decriminalization is legislation ceasing to treat it as illegal. Criminal penalties will be reduced in certain acts of marijuana use. Examples of this are an individual can be fined but not imprisoned for possession but distributing and selling marijuana would still be considered a criminal act. From a sociological standpoint, this research would be beneficial in decriminalization policies for marijuana toward lowering the social constructs of the criminal act of possession and use. However it will regulate the cultivation and retailing of marijuana. Marijuana decriminalization is prevalent to sociological studies because of statistically as of 2014, the center of disease control (CDC) state that 40% of people have used marijuana in the past and 23.4% currently partake. If we were to decriminalize the act of marijuana use and possession social cost would decline by about 3 billion dollars (CDC) a year because we would no longer have to house inmates with marijuana charges. The money saved could be used for treatment in substance abuse, prevention programs, medical research toward marijuana and other sociological problematic areas that Oklahoma faces. The purpose of this study is to obtain and examine the attitudes of college students at the

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The truths about marijuana are slowly starting to resurface, the government keeps ignoring that cannabis could one day be as powerful for the U.S. Unfortunately, these truths about marijuana are under a lot of criticism because of the stereotype of what people see as a "marijuana or cannabis smoker." There is a great difficulty in this law because marijuana is still recognized as a harmful and dangerous substance in some states. This can cause problems because each state has their different views and opinions on the matter, and have their own rules and how the rules apply towards it. The twenty-six states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form, but California, Massachusetts, and Nevada just passed the law for recreational use. The states that have medical marijuana and recreational legalization are Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska. The states that only have medical marijuana legal are Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii (Ingraham). However, legalizing marijuana could have some benefits instead of being a drug with some bad reputations. Marijuana should be legalized because of medical reasons, safety reasons, and have some benefits to society.

Studies have proven that marijuana is no more harmful to a person’s health than alcohol or tobacco. Every year, tobacco kills roughly 390,000 people, alcohol contributes to 80,000 deaths in America and marijuana contributed to 0; no deaths from marijuana have ever been recorded in US history (Abovetheinfluence.org). When smoking tobacco, the user inhales tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and 200 other known poisons into the lungs (Abovetheinfluence.org). All forms of tobacco, including cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco, contain the addictive drug nicotine, and can also cause cancer. Alcohol alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. Alcohol plays a role in at least 50 percent of traffic deaths, about half of murders, and about 25 percent of suicides (Abovetheinfluence.org). Marijuana side effects include delusions, impaired memory, hallucinations and disorientation, which are no different from the side effects of alcohol alone.

Drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana have been around for years. The fact that it has been around so long has made it become a trend for many adults, teens, and even kids. Many of those who use, either use one or both without knowing the health effects either of the two drugs can have on you. Some say marijuana is more harmful than alcohol, and others vice versa. Although both drinking and smoking have short and long term health effects, experts show that marijuana is much safer to use health wise rather than drinking.

Smoking marijuana, in some ways, is like smoking cigarettes. Marijuana can produce airway injury, coughing and wheezing, some of the symptoms of cigarette smoking (Marijuana). But the downfall to smoking marijuana is it contains almost 50% more benzopyrene (the cancer-causing chemical in tobacco) than a cigarette (Fact Sheet). Marijuana contains cancer causing agents and toxic particles that can lead to bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer (What to Teach Kids 3). People do not realize how much more serious the risks of smoking one joint are compared to smoking one cigarette. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day (Marijuana). The affects of smoking marijuana are much severe than smoking cigarettes.

The legalization of marijuana is, and has been a heavily disputed issue for decades. On one hand, marijuana could lead to a medical breakthrough, or at least provide relief to cancer and AIDS patients. On the other hand, legalizing a drug could expose it to too broad an audience. As a drug, marijuana has never proven to be anywhere near as harmful as cigarettes or alcohol. Each year in the United States, 400,000 people die from tobacco, 50,000 from alcohol, and from marijuana, zero. Regardless of what side one may take to this argument, there are some causes to this marijuana debate that everyone should know. Marijuana was not always illegal, and the reasons behind the history of narcotic regulation are interesting when viewed from

Marijuana does not sound as harmful as people have said it, and it’s misleading the public. For example, the U.S federal government data has shown that the average THC in marijuana is less than five percent. Compare to Alcohol and tobacco, Marijuana does not cause strong addiction, cancer, heart problems, birth defect, emphysema, liver damages and ect. A recent 2009 populations case-control study found marijuana smoker that had smoked for over a 20 years period of time has shown a reduced risk of head and neck cancer. Without the effects of marijuana, the consumer is free from all memory issues but only cause short-term memory while under the influence of marijuana. Marijuana can reduce respiratory health hazard or spread of second hand smoking, since it can be consumed in non-smoking way and still have the same effect. Non-smoking hazard ways include using it as a spice for baking, flavor for drinking and etc. According to a 1997 UCLA school of Medicine study, volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiratory of Critical care Medicine, stated that both the continuing or the intermittent marijuana smoker showed any significantly different rates decline in lung function as compared to non-smoker. If marijuana were legalized, it will reduces health care cost by accidental injection of unsafe drug usage and reduce the possibility of overdose.

Researchers from Conference of Quebec University Health Centers state's, “marijuana can actually improve lungs, Smoking weed isn’t actually that bad for your lungs, and smokers actually have improved lung function when compared to both cigarette smokers – and people who have never smoked either.” Researchers from around the world are testing marijuana on lungs and results are coming back that marijuana is actually strengthening them. According to Rob Waugh, “In what could be a key moment for advocates of legal cannabis, the U.S. government has admitted that the drug can shrink cancer cells.” (use different examples) There are multiple health advantages when it comes to smoking marijuana but, most of the population that smoke marijuana just use it to get high.

Even though marijuana has many ways in which it may help an ill person, it is like other drugs in which it has side effects also. Smoked marijuana has the same affects on the body as tobacco, which is a legal and tolerated substance. Chronic smokers of marijuana are at risk for chronic obstructive lung disease and lung

It is heavily debated as to whether or not marijuana should be legalized. There are numerous reasons for and against legalizing marijuana, some say that the government can tax it, some say that it helps with certain medical conditions. People also say that it is not a gateway drug and does not lead to drug abuse. Then there is the question of should we legalize it now even though there is no way to test the levels in your blood at a routine police stop. There are some really good points as to why marijuana should be legalized and some good reasons as to why it should not be legalized, the truth is that people are going to smoke marijuana whether it is legal or not.

Marijuana is a cannabaceae plant, which has always been associated with negative connotations until recently, when it has been discovered that this plant may be used to cure diseases and improve a country economy. Thus, the American opinion is split on the question of “Marijuana Legalization”. In fact, a survey undertaken by CNN/ORC International Poll states that 55 % of Americans believe that the use of marijuana should be legal, while only 44 % think it should be illegal (CNN). I also share the American majority opinion since there is some evidence that marijuana yields positive results.

Many studies have shown that the “more marijuana one uses, the more likely one has the risk of developing head and neck cancer” (Giannasio). This is why marijuana is as harmful as tobacco because the more one consumes it for medical uses or even just as an escape from reality then, the bigger the chance that person will develop head or neck cancer. In addition, “it has been proven that a smoke of marijuana “contains 50%