Legalization of Marijuana

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Legalization of Marijuana

"The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of any subject is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion and studying all modes in which in can be looked at by every character of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this.' - John Stuart Mill" (Mill. 7). The topic of legalizing marijuana is a very conservational issue in American politics today. There are many good arguments both for and against legalization. But most important is that all of these arguments are based on facts.

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the act that effectively made marijuana illegal in the US, was based on the fact that "marijuana caused violent crime and sexual excess." (Grinspoon. 139) These theories have been thoroughly discredited and proven to be unsubstantiated. If marijuana was legal crime would decrease, dealers would be driven out of the market by lower prices, and the government would benefit from the sales tax on drugs. Moreover, "Legalization would give the government more control over the purity and potency of drugs." (Grinspoon. 3)

Drugs are a taboo subject in America, mostly because people are uneducated or misled by government education. Because of this most people feel that someone who uses drugs is a danger to society. When in fact, drug abuse for the most part is a victimless crime only affecting the user and the user's body and therefore should be the user's choice. It should be self-evident to see how Anti-Drug laws eliminate personal responsibility and free choice, leading to government infringement on individual rights. The War on Drugs has lead to the inexcusable erosion of our civil liberties by the use of...

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...here are enough vices in our Society. Is it really necessary to go out of our way to add another one? Or should each person be aloud the free to make that decision for them selves?

Works Cited

Grinspoon, Lester. "Should Marijuana be Legalized as a Medicine? Yes it's a Beneficial Drug." The World and I June 1994. Rpt. In Chemical Dependency: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. New York: Greenhaven, 2003. 145-149

Lynch, Timothy. "The War on Drugs Has Failed." After Probation. 2000. Rpt. In Chemical Dependency: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. New York: Greenhaven, 2003. 150-156

Voth, A. Eric. "Should Marijuana be Legalized as a Legalized as a Medicine? No it's Dangerous and Addictive." The World and I June 1994. Rpt. In Taking Sides: Drugs and Society. Ed. Raymond Goldberg. New York: Dushkin, Brown and Benchmark. 1996. 143-147

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