Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized

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Recommended: cannabis has medical benefits

Marijuana's illegalization has always been erroneous. Early in the 1900s, a surge of Mexicans immigrated to the U.S., and the marijuana they brought with them was quickly associated with them. In the 1930s, tensions between white Americans and Mexican immigrants were heightened due to the Great Depression, and the use of marijuana was ultimately prohibited for the general public in 1937 with the Marijuana Tax Act ("Marijuana Timeline"). By the 1960s, marijuana became a symbol of counterculture, and the government stopped any research involved with its properties. In 1971, President Richard Nixon began the "War on Drugs," and marijuana was dragged into it. Nixon assigned a commission to review the danger marijuana possesses, and the commission concluded that marijuana was not harmful. Nixon ignored the commission's recommendations. He placed marijuana under Schedule One, a section reserved only for very harmful drugs with no health benefits ("A Brief History on The Drug War"). Despite it being illegalized for ludicrous reasons, marijuana is still treated as a dangerous drug by both society and the government. The reasons for its illegalization today are still illogical, as marijuana is potentially very useful for society. Because marijuana was originally wrongfully illegalized, marijuana should be legalized since it provides benefits to the nation and its illegalization is harmful and ineffective. Foremost, marijuana should be legalized because of its medical uses. Marijuana is sometimes given to cancer patients to ease their pain. One example is Tom Smith, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Although chemotherapy helped treat his cancer, he lost large amounts of weight in the process, and had a constant dull pain. When ... ... middle of paper ... ...s that these arrests have. The article also analyzes the racial bias that exists in these arrests. Unlike my other sources, Stamm's article has a clear bias. Stamm's goal is to convince the reader that marijuana should be legalized because of the harmful effects illegalization has on society. This makes this source useful because the author has the same point of view as I do. Despite the bias present in the article, the information provided is accurate and is cited. For these reasons, this article is a reliable source despite its bias. This article helped me write my paper by giving me a large amount of information that fits the point I am arguing. This information supported one of my points that marijuana arrests are damaging to people. This article helped convince me that marijuana should be legalized because the damage illegalization does to people shocked me.

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