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Pros and cons of legalization of marijuana
Legalization of recreational drugs
Can Marijuana be used for medical purposes? essay introduction
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According to the CDC, Center of Disease Control and Prevention, there are zero deaths related to the overdosing of marijuana each year; however, there are approximately 450,000 deaths caused by alcohol and drug overdoses on pharmaceuticals, narcotics, and caffeine (cdc.gov). These statistics are staggering, and should be taken into account when the legalization of marijuana argument arises. Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes and recreational use with proper regulation.
In the 1930s, marijuana was linked publicly in several research studies, and was seen in the film “Reefer Madness”. The movie was based on the theory that smoking reefer, as marijuana is commonly referred to as, caused people to be “out of there mind” (White). The recreational use of marijuana was believed to have been introduced by immigrants from Mexico. Today, marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America. Surveys prove that marijuana has been used by almost 100 million Americans, with 25 million saying they have smoked marijuana this past year, and more than 14 million saying they smoke marijuana regularly despite the illegal laws against its use (norml.org). No matter how hard the government works in reality the marijuana plant is relatively unregulated.
With many Americans already engaging in use of the drug, why is marijuana still illegal? Marijuana should be legal for both recreational and medical use. Marijuana is not a dangerous drug . People don’t harm other people to get money for it; additionally, in which people commit violent acts because of being under the influence are extremely rare. According to USNews.com, being under the influence of marijuana doesn’t make someone violent; it makes t...
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... Something's in the Air: Race, Crime, and the
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Denning, Brannon P. "One Toke over the (State) Line: Constitutional Limits on “Pot Tourism”
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Porche, Demetrius J. "Legalization of Medical Marijuana (Cannabis)." American journal of men's health 7.6 (2013): 449-449.
Reilly, Mollie. "Marijuana Legalization and California Tax Board." TheHuffingtonPost.com.
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"Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option?" ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Oct.
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For over seventy years, marijuana has been a growing problem in our society. Due to all of the controversy over this drug, there have been countless battles fought concerning marijuana's capabilities. In the 1930's, a moral panic surfaced with regard to the use of marijuana. The movie Reefer Madness is a perfect example of how the media stereotyped and distorted this new drug in order to construct it as a social problem, convincing society that this narcotic was single handedly destroying humanity.
For many years now marijuana has built up its reputations as the gateway drug which destroys youths lives. Not saying this is false “...the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, "harder" substances” (Is Marijuana a gateway drug?). But what does it do to the body. “How marijuana affects health is determined by how it's consumed. Marijuana is most commonly smoked, such as from pipes, bongs, paper-wrapped joints, blunts and other items including devices that heat or vaporize marijuana...” (Marijuana and Lung Health). Any kind of smoke in general is dangerous to humans so it does not matter if it is firewood smoke or tobacco smoke it is not healthy for the lungs. It is already know that smoke from tobacco is harmful and kills 480,000 people annually. “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous” (What is a Cigarette).While marijuana does have some of the same chemicals in tobacco it does not have as much. So why is something that is recorded to kill 480,000 people annually legal but something that is not as harmful illegal.
Works Cited "The California Marijuana Vote." New Yorker 23 Dec 1996: 62+. Brookhiser, Richard. "Pot Luck." National Review 11 Nov 1996: 27+ Simmons, Michael. "Give Pot a Chance." Rolling Stone 26 Dec 1996: 111+. Rist, Curtis and Harrison, Laird. "Weed the People." People 21 Oct. 1996: 75+. Funk and Wagnall's Volume 23 "Marijuana" 1996 Baum, Dan. "California's Separate Peace." Rolling Stone 30 Oct. 1997: 43+ Brookhiser, Richard. "Lost in the Weed." U.S. News & World Report 3 Jan. 1997: 9 Buckley, William "Legalization of Marijuana Long Overdue" The Albuquerque Journal. Online. 8 June 1993.
Marijuana in America became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was openly sold in pharmacies in the late nineteenth century (“Busted-America’s War on Marijuana Timeline”). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines marijuana as, “The dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which contains the psychoactive (mind-altering) chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as other related compounds” (“DrugFacts: Marijuana”). It was not until the Food and Drug act of 19...
Jazz musicians, labor workers, and river boatmen were quickly taking to its euphoric effects (Gettman, 1995). Smoking marijuana also became more popular during Prohibition when more people began cultivation of the plant and importing it into the U.S. to replace alcohol (Doweiko, 2002). In 1942, marijuana was removed from the United States Pharacopoeia and the Federal Government began to criminalize non-medicinal marijuana possession and use (Carter et al., 2003). Marijuana became extremely popular in the 1960's and, today, is considered the most widely used illicit drug in the world, Canada, and the United States (Gettman, 1995). Pharmacology and Chemistry of Marijuana Cannabis is known to contain over 400 chemicals in which about 70 are classified as plant cannabinoids.
Hawkins , John . "5 Reasons Marijuana Should Remain Illegal." 21 January 2014. Town Hall. Web. 10 April 2014.
"Pros and Cons of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana." Drug Rehab. N.p., 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 15
The history of marijuana in the United States dates to early colonial times. ``In 1619, America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Va., `ordering' all farmers to `make tryal of' (grow) Indian hemp seed.” (Tribune) A by-product of the cannabis plant is hemp. Today, hemp can be used to make fabrics, construction, paper, medicines, oils, body care products, and molded plastics. In colonial times hemp was used to make various textile products and in the 1800s hemp was found to have medicinal benefits. Herer says in his book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, “various marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, second or third most-prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s. (Herer) For centuries people have recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis; “depending on the c...
"If the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on."
Smith, Dave. "‘Medical’ Marijuana: 10 Health Benefits That Legitimize Legalization." . N.p., 8 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use (Guither, 2014). Going back to 1619, the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland (Block, 2014). It was actually a crime in some states to refuse to grow hemp in the 1700's. In the late 19th century, marijuana was a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies (PBS, 2014). However, in the early 1900’s things changed, a prejudice and fear began to develop around marijuana because it was being used and associated with Mexican immigrants. In the 1930’s, the massive unemployment rates increased public resentment and disgust of Mexican immigrants, which escalated public and governmental concern (PBS, 2014). In 1930 a new federal law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was created. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the FBN in 1930 (...
Rosenthal, Ed, and Steve Kubby (2004) "Marijuana Should Be Legalized for Medical Use." Retrieved from Opposing Viewpoints: The War on Drugs.
Marijuana continues to be one of the most used illegal drugs in the United States. Marijuana has been used for many years and at one time was legal to consume. Throughout the years, marijuana has been used for treatment of different medical conditions and has been used recreationally by people of all ages. While the use of medicinal marijuana has proven to be effective in treating medically ill patients, society continues to question its recreational use and the long term effects it will have on its users. Some feel that legalizing marijuana will only open up avenues for the use of more potent drugs, causing an increase in criminal activity. However, a number of people question why it is considered illegal being it is a naturally growing
The first law that regarded marijuana in America required farmers to grow hemp in the year 1619 for clothing, rope, and other materials, but “as early as 1840, doctors recognized the medical applications of marijuana, and the drug was freely sold in pharmacies for over a century.” (Rich and Stingl). In 1937, the use and possession of marijuana was made illegal, but “before 1937 marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and used. ”(Rich and Stingl). In 1970 the Congress decided to classify marijuana as a schedule one drug, which has made the legalization more difficult.
In the perspective of America's war on drugs, marijuana is one of the biggest enemies. And since alcohol and tobacco, two life threatening substances, are legal it is a relevant question to ask why marijuana is illegal. The taxpayers of America can partly answer this question when they fill out their tax forms and when they hear the hash rhetoric used against marijuana by the government. The fact that marijuana is illegal is sufficiently caused by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war. In other words, the government cannot turn back now.