Should Marijuana Be Legalized

1963 Words4 Pages

George Washington once said, “make the most you can of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere”. Hemp or marijuana is a plant, also called “weed”,”grass”, “herb”, “dope” ,“reefer”, and many other names, hat have been a major part in the United States history. In the 1800's, laws like the Vaccine Act of 1813 and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 labeled plants that contain THC a narcotic and even label recreation cannabis as a poison. Medical cannabis is now legal in six states and another six are pending. Cannabis is used to treat many symptoms like paranoia, lack of appetite, and cancer. The very first state to legalize marijuana for medical use was California, and then in 2013, it was legalized for recreational use in Colorado and Washington. If all fifty states were to legalize marijuana, it could have a superior outcome and also benefit many Americans.
Marijuana is defined in the dictionary, as the dried leaves and female flowers of the cannabis or hemp plant, used in cigarette form as a narcotic, hallucinogen and medicine. During the years of the new founded colonies, King James I ordered 100 crops of hemp to be grown in what we now call Virginia, for the use of making cloth, similar to cotton, to make hats, and other clothing (Policymic). Many Farmers grew large numbers of hemp crops, including a few of our founding fathers, like former presidents: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hemp is a plant that is also illegal, due to the fact that it contains the chemical THC. THC is the chemical that make it a narcotic,this is what makes marijuana and hemp illegal, according to most present day laws in the United States. Sixty percent of people who overdose are people who use perception pills and alcohol, causing acciden...

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