Legalizing Marijuana Essay Sample
Legalizing Marijuana Essay Sample According to Brown (1998), Marijuana is also referred to as Cannabis and it can be defined as a genus among the flowering plants comprising of three recognized species namely, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis, and Cannabis sativa. Marijuana’s typical herbal form consists of flowers and delimiting stalks and leaves of mature carpellate of female plants.The three classifications are autochthonous to South Asia, and Central Asia. Cannabis is a very unique plant that is used for a number of reasons, both positive and negative and its uses can affect the entire global society. Marijuana is known by a number of names, for instance, Cannabis, Grass, Attention Getter-weed, Dope, and Pot. The use of Marijuana has been found to have existed in the third millennium B.C. which is a long period of time ago. In the modern world, Marijuana has been used for medicinal, recreational, spiritual and religious purposes. It has been found that the benefits of using Marijuana outweigh the negative effects and therefore it should be legalized.
In America the users of marijuana are so much determined to oppose the prohibition of marijuana and achieve legalization, irrespective of how long it will take or how much they will spend to succeed. In spite of many threats such as arrests, and many other sanctions and punishments the users of marijuana have persisted in supporting its legalization for many years. This is because they believe in the importance of marijuana being greater than its negative effects. Prohibition has not succeeded to silence the users of marijuana in spite of its efforts in the last generation. Therefore marijuana should be legalized since its users will persistently fight for it until the time they will succeed (Times, 2007).
The use of marijuana has a variety of positive attributes, for instance it can be used as a kind of medication, and can be used for recreational purposes. It has been found that its side effects are relatively mild during when it is used for medication, and recreational purposes. Most people use marijuana since they have realized its positive effects toward their health, for instance the Americans suffering from a number of dangerous diseases have been using marijuana as the most effective medication.Marijuana is used to provide relief from nausea, pain, and spasticity. Many individuals have not been successful cured by the conventional medication and they have been found that marijuana is an effective kind of medication which can completely cater for there medical needs. Many adults in America prefer the use of marijuana to that of alcohol as a moderate and mild way to induce relaxation. It has been found that marijuana has a lower dependence liability as compared to other drugs, and as well marijuana’s side effects are easy to manage. Most users of marijuana develop tolerance to the various side effects of the drug, and therefore they persistently use it to their satisfaction (Info, 2010).
It is true that marijuana is very expensive for a country’s justice system and instead it should be taxed to give support to the most important government programs which need to be funded. There is no benefit to any given government if its law enforcement will keep on arresting many individuals every year for marijuana possession, since additional justice costs are incurred to dispose of the marijuana related cases. The arrests due to marijuana make justice less efficient and more expensive in the United State of America as this brings about wastage of jail space; congestion of the court systems; and diverting the police, judges, attorneys, and the corrections personnel away from terrorism, violent crime, and sexual assault of children. Taxation of marijuana can offer the needed and generous monetary requirement for many significant social programs and criminal justice in any given government (Times, 2007).
As it has been seen, marijuana is safer as compared to alcohol and it is a lethal drug. It has been established scientifically that marijuana is a drug that is not toxic to human beings; overdoses due to marijuana are almost impossible, and the drug is not as additive as tobacco or alcohol. For a number of years, there has been a stigma accompanying the Cannabis plant and it has been seen as an inherently evil plant by most of the people in any given society. Apparently, it is the use or misuse of the plant that is bad or good, and not the plant itself. Cannabis can be eaten, smoked, or drunk just like tea. Therefore it is unjust and unfair to treat the users of marijuana more severely under the low as compare to the tobacco or alcohol users (Info, 2010).
Cannabis is a long-lasting hemp plant. Over many years, the cannabis plant has been used to manufacture a variety of products namely, pulp, seeds, and medicine. The Cannabis plant pulp has been used as fuel and as a raw material for making paper. The seed has been used in foods but the oil that is extracted from the seed can be utilized as a base for varnishes and paints. The leaves and blossoms of the hemp plant excrete a sticky resin which is usually used in a number of medicinal functions and in most cases for entertaining people as they abuse its use (Gerber, 2004).
The legalization of marijuana in the United States of America will simplify the hemp development as a diverse and valuable agricultural crop, constituting its development as a bio-fuel that does not emit a lot of carbon which is a component of greenhouse gases. It has been seen that in the European countries and Canada have managed to give support to the cultivation of the legal hemp plant without legalizing marijuana, while in the U.S there is a great opposition to legal marijuana and therefore existing a biggest obstruction to the development of this industrial hemp plant as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop. As the energy policy of the U.S continues to promote and embrace the evolution of bio-fuel as a substitute to the dependency of oil and as well means to bring down carbon emissions, it is very important to develop this industrial crop as a source of bio-fuel, particularly because by using the hemp stalks for fuel, there will be no effect on demand and prices for food. Therefore legalization of marijuana will to a greater extent simplify the burden of regulating the potential hemp cultivation within the United States (Times, 2007).
If a market in marijuana becomes legal and regulated, then the sales of marijuana as well as its use by teenagers will considerably reduce. This will also reduce the exposure of these teenagers to other drugs within the illegal market. It is the illegality that makes marijuana to be very valuable, and this encourages teenagers to develop the habit of making easy money by selling the drug to friends. Legalizing the use of marijuana will make the drug less valuable, and therefore the teens will not get motivated to sell the drug as it will be less profitable. It has been found that the use of tobacco and alcohol by teens has remained a significant public health problem although the use of these drugs is legalized for adults. Therefore if the use of tobacco and alcohol can be legalized, there is no need of prohibiting the use of marijuana that is even better to human health (Info, 2010).
In America, the arrests related to possession of marijuana disproportionately affect Hispanics and blacks such that the law enforcement is perceived biased as well as discriminatory against minorities. Research has demonstrated that Hispanics and blacks constitute the largest number of arrests associated with marijuana possessions in the city of New York, mainly because of smoking marijuana in the view of public. Because of this, the enforcement law has been proved not to enforce marijuana laws fairly with regard to race. The minorities are too often arrested for the use of marijuana while the non-Hispanic and white Americans do not so much face the risk of arrest. Marijuana should be legalized so that inequalities are not depicted within societies (Times, 2007).
Conclusion
Most consciousness-altering drugs comprise of both constructive and destructive effects. Apparently, people use drugs following their constructive effects but most of them are not aware of the possible destructive effects. Therefore, it is the ratio of the constructive to destructive effects that propels much of the debates regarding drugs. Some individuals perceive the use of marijuana as a better option, while for other people the use of marijuana is more casual. Just like all the other substances, there is a possible price that can be paid regarding the risks to one’s health.
