Marijuana is the name given to any drugs made from the
hemp plant, Cannabis. Forms of marijuana are known by different
names throughout the world. In Western countries, particularly the
United States, it is known as grass, pot, tea, reefer, weed, and Mary
Jane. Marijuana can be smoked through a pipe, or it can be rolled
into a cigarette (Grolier).
Cannabis is one of the oldest known drugs. It can be used
medically, or as an intoxicant. THC, is the main psychoactive
substance in marijuana. THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol.
Hashish is another form of cannabis that is found on the top of the
cannabis plant. It has effects similar to marijuana (Grolier).
Marijuana is a hallucinogenic drug. Doses can range from a simple
"high" to effects similar to being intoxicated in alcohol. Users may
develop tolerance, but it has yet to be proven that marijuana is
physically addicting (Grolier).
Marijuana use became a concern in the United States during
the 1930's. Laws were passed which made possession, sale, and
use of the drug illegal, and provided severe penalties if any of the
laws were broken. Possession of THC was made illegal in 1968
(Grolier).
Despite all laws created to ban marijuana, it remains a widely
used drug. Use has decreased, but 50 million people have tried it at
least once, and only a small percentage of those people are addicts
(Ending Nightmare). The "War on Drugs" drains our country of much
needed money and resources for the seizure of marijuana, and yet,
marijuana is still plentiful. (Ending Nightmare). 60% of prisoners in
federal prisons are drug users, mostly marijuana users, and cost
taxpayers billions over the years (Prison Crowding). Alcohol and
cigarettes cause tens of thousands of deaths each year, while no one
has died from marijuana, and alcohol and tobacco are legal (Ending
Nightmare). Forty million Americans use illegal drugs, especially
marijuana, from time to time (Ending Nightmare). A large portion of
these people use the drug in moderation and do not become addicted
to it. Those who are addicts from marijuana need our help and
compassion, not punishment by law (Ending Nightmare).
The legalization of marijuana would benefit our country in
many ways. It would improve our economy, there would be less
crime related to drug use, victims of glaucoma and other diseases
would have better medicines, and it would allow police and other law
enforcement officials to devote more resources to hard drugs like
crack and cocaine.
During the 1920's, all use, sale, and possession of alcohol
was illegal. This was called Prohibition. The events that occurred
then are very similar to what happens today with drugs. Gang shoot-
outs were common. There was bribery of police and other law
enforcement officials, as well as judges. Criminals who
manufactured alcohol did not care about the quality of their products
and as a result, many people died from bad alcohol (End Nightmare).
This is true today. Some marijuana contains harmful chemicals.
However, if it were made legally, these harmful chemicals would not
be included in the marijuana.
When alcohol was banned, a new wave a crime and violence
was created by bootleggers conducting turf wars with one another.
when prohibition ended, so did the violence caused by the
bootleggers (Violence). Now, alcohol is legal for adults and there are
is no more violence related to alcohol. But today, the same effects
Prohibition had on the public are being repeated with the illegality of
drugs (Ending Nightmare).
Alcohol addicts certainly suffer from their addiction, but at
least they can support their habit easier than drug addicts.
Marijuana is very expensive, and many users resort to stealing in
order to get the money to pay for their habit. Alcohol users have a
much easier time supporting their habit. Much less money is needed
to buy alcohol since it is legal and they don't have to buy it from drug
dealers (Violence).
The United States' attempt to keep marijuana illegal is very
similar to how prohibition of alcohol failed in the 20's. Much of the
public is not against marijuana, 18 million people use it once a
month despite drug laws, and large amounts if people think it is
acceptable (Marshall 89). Also, users are willing to pay the high
prices to get the drug (Marshall 89).
The amount of THC needed to kill a person is 40,000 times the
amount needed to get high, whereas the amount of alcohol can be as
low as 4 to 1 (Sam). Alcohol is thought to kill 30,000 people, directly,
a year, either by poisoning or liver damage. Alcohol is also the
factor behind thousands of car accidents, but it remains perfectly
illegal, while marijuana has never killed anybody alone (Marshall 61-
62). There are about 500,000 deaths each year caused by alcohol,
tobacco, legal and illegal drugs. Alcohol and tobacco make up 95% of
this number, and another 4% is from overdoses on legal drugs. The
remaining 1% is from drug users. Even though 26 millions of
Americans use marijuana each year, no one who is just trying to get
high dies from marijuana (Violence).
Marijuana may be dangerous in some cases, but medically, it
causes far less harm than alcohol and tobacco (Ending Nightmare).
Another issue that concerns the legalization of marijuana is
that of the U.S.A.'s prisons. Federal prisons are being crowded by
drug users and dealers. They mostly are users of marijuana, and
account for 60% of all prisoners today. Because of new anti-drug
laws, these prisoners can be jailed for up to 30 years, and most are,
even for minor crimes.
If our country's prisoners were businesses, they would the
envy of all other businesses on Wall Street. Unfortunately,
taxpayers are paying to keep the inmates behind bars. It is
calculated that imprisonment of prisoners who committed only minor
crimes could cost taxpayers billions over time. It costs the people
$359 million every year (Prison Crowding). If marijuana, most of
these drug users would be free, and there would be more room for
convicts of violent crimes like rape and murder.
The goal of the War on Drugs is to seize illegal drugs like
marijuana, and prevent importation and sale of them. Every year,
more money is spent, more drugs are seized, penalties for drug use
increase and become more severe, and yet, illegal drugs are still
legal (Ending Nightmare). It is clear from this that the War on Drugs
has failed, or if it has not failed yet, it will in the near future.
Marijuana users who have tried the drug at least once in their life has
reached 50 million people. That's a lot! Despite government efforts
to reduce the amount of marijuana available from drug dealers, the
amount of marijuana is increasing and the price is dropping. Our
government spends $75 billion a year for this failure. What a waste
of money (Marshall 88)!
Money is wasted every year on this doomed battle between
drug dealers and law enforcement officials. Each year about $145
billion in money is taken from the public and consumers to fight this
war. It is responsible for 60% percent of Americans who are in jail. It
also takes up fifty percent of trial time in courts, and uses 400,000
policemen. But marijuana products are increasing in numbers (War
on Drugs). Marijuana accounts for most of the drugs used today. If it
were legalized, valuable resources could be used to stop cocaine
and heroin, which are much more dangerous.
Because of the War on Drugs and new drug laws, the crime
rate in America has been increasing by a margin of thirty-two percent
since 1976 (Ending Nightmare). The War on Drugs also drives up
drug prices. This attracts more people to the business. When drug
dealers can get more money for their marijuana and other drugs, they
usually resort to violence like turf wars (Violence). As violent crime
increases, more resources needed to be used in the War on Drugs.
If the most widely persecuted drug, marijuana, were made legal, then
more resources would be able to be diverted into stopping drug
dealers and their violence (Violence).
Marijuana dealers and users are all criminals. Since millions
of people are marijuana users, the United States has a large criminal
class. This is bad for the country because it has an enormous
corrupting effect on public institutions and laws. Contempt for the law
and authority among users brings disrespect for authority (Marshall
90-91).
If the war against marijuana is stopped, $10 billion a year in
federal enforcement will be saved, $10 billion a year in state and
local prosecution, and $8 billion a year a year in other costs.
Billions of dollars will be saved in stolen property caused by users
who need money to support their habit. Our government will also
benefit with an extra $12.5 billion a year in tax revenues (Dennis
138).
"Adults should be allowed to live as they wish, provided they
do not harm others...the government should not outlaw alcohol or
opium. To do so would be to substitute the government's tastes and
moral judgments for those of the individual, and unjustified violation
of personal freedom by the state" (Dennis 81).
This is a good argument for the legalization of marijuana. As
long as the government keeps marijuana outlawed, a portion of the
people's freedom would be taken away. Someone who smokes
marijuana at home is not causing injury, he is just engaging in a
minor pleasure. From the results of most surveys taken, it is proven
that most marijuana users are not addicts and not physically
dependent on it (Marshall 81). Most people who use marijuana do so
responsibly and only from time to time, not every day. Users who
are unfortunate enough to become addicted to it deserve help and
compassion, not punishment (Ending Nightmare).
Marijuana is very easy to produce. Thousands of dealers
have been attracted to the high profits (Marshall 90). Most of these
drug dealers are teenagers who cannot afford education after high
school, and most even drop out of high school. They are attracted to
the high profits of selling marijuana. These youth never learn
valuable life skills and usually living off welfare (Ending Nightmare).
Police and laws cannot lower the prices because marijuana in on the
black market, and outside the law (Marshall 90).
An opposer to marijuana legalization might ask, "If marijuana
is so easy to produce, couldn't people grow it in their homes if it were
legal?" Well, the answer would be to make it illegal to grow
marijuana in homes, just like it is illegal to produce alcohol
independently. Then people would be forced to buy it in stores, or
pay high prices of home growers.
Drug dealers and addicts commit most crimes related with
marijuana use. Because the prices are so high, addicts are forced to
steal to get enough money to continue their habit. Drug dealers
commit the most violent crimes related to marijuana. They fight each
other and police through turf wars and running from police. They
need to defend their valuable turf. Innocent bystanders are
sometimes hurt or killed (Violence). This is similar to the crime that
occurred when alcohol was illegal. Now there are no turf wars over
alcohol, and addicts of alcohol do not need to steal, they can get a
job (Violence).
There are many myths that people have about marijuana.
People against the legalization of marijuana use these in their
arguments. Most of the myths are false. A few are true but can be
misleading. Below are some myths related to marijuana.
"Marijuana causes brain damage." This is a false myth. It is
based on a monkey study done in the 1970's done. The scientists
only used four monkeys for this and his work has been highly
criticized. He failed to control experimental bias, and misidentified
the monkey's normal brain structure as damaged. Actual studies of
humans showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy marijuana
users (Myths).
"Marijuana damages the reproductive system." Experiments
with tissue cells in petri dishes, and animals with near lethal doses
of marijuana have been rejected by the scientific community as being
invalid. The animals that were tested all returned to normal. Studies
of humans have not revealed any reproductive damage (Myths).
"Marijuana is a "gateway" drug -- it leads to hard drugs." In
Holland, since marijuana was legalized, cocaine, heroin, and use of
other hard drugs has declined. It were a gateway drug, use of these
should have increased. Studies done in the 70's showed a negative
correlation between marijuana and hard drugs. Hard drug decreased
in states when marijuana was legal. It tends to substitute for hard
drugs (Myths). Also, if marijuana were legal, it would cost less than
hard drugs, for they, hard drugs, would still be illegal. As long as
marijuana is illegal, hard drugs will be offered along with marijuana
by drug dealers. This causes marijuana users to be inclined to buy
hard drugs also. There are 60 million people who have tried
marijuana, but only 1 million people have tried cocaine. The gate is
pretty narrow (Dennis 140).
"Marijuana suppresses the immune system." Animals who
were given extremely high doses of marijuana showed that their
immune systems were not damaged. It has been proven through
tests that marijuana actually stimulates the immune system (Myths).
"Marijuana is much more dangerous than tobacco." Marijuana
contains close to the same amount of carcinogens as does the same
amount of tobacco. A heavy tobacco smoker consumes much more
tobacco than a heavy marijuana smoker consumes marijuana.
Smoked tobacco has a 90% addiction rate, while marijuana is far less
addictive. Also, laws against marijuana make it difficult to use
devices which filter out some of the marijuana smoke (Myths).
"Legal marijuana would cause carnage on the highway." Even
though marijuana can cause hallucinogenic effects similar to alcohol,
85% marijuana users who caused traffic accidents were also drunk
on alcohol. For the people intoxicated only on marijuana, the number
was much smaller (Myths). In states where the penalties for
marijuana possession were reduced, a rise in marijuana use was
reported, but they also a experienced a decline in alcohol use, which
brought about less motor vehicle accidents.
"Marijuana flattens brain waves." The War on Drugs made
this up. Marijuana actually stimulates the part of the brain that helps
with creativity. This is caused by an increase in alpha waves. Alpha
waves are also associated with relaxed states (Myths).
"Marijuana is more potent today than in the past." Marijuana
used for testing in the 1970's was stored in un-airconditioned rooms.
This caused the THC to deteriorate and decline in potency. Tests
done independently show that marijuana has the same potency and
THC level today as it had in the past (Myths).
"Marijuana impairs short term memory." If a person seems to
lose his short term memory, it is not from marijuana. After the effects
of the marijuana wear off, his short term memory will return fully.
Only while intoxicated on marijuana is his short term memory
impaired (Myths).
"A person can die by taking too much marijuana." This fact is
true. However, an extremely high dose is needed to kill a person. A
marijuana user would need 40,000 times the amount he would need
to get high in order to kill himself. Another interesting fact about this
is that the ratio for alcohol varies between 1:4 and 1:10 in order for
alcohol to kill the drinker (Myths). No one has been found dead after
just trying to get "high" (War on Drugs). Our government seems to
think that marijuana is as dangerous as cocaine, even though there
have been very few deaths caused by it.
The legalization of marijuana would have many beneficial
effects on the United States.
A main benefit of marijuana legalization would be that victims
of glaucoma would have a new and effective medicine to help them.
Marijuana can also be used as an anti nausea pain reliever. Doctors
could do experiments and tests with marijuana and not arouse a
debate (Marshall 91).
The black market for marijuana would be gone almost
overnight. Thousands of marijuana dealers would be put out of
business, and a hidden part of our economy would become visible.
This new revenue would help our economy, as well help as our
federal budget increase. This would be caused by two things. First,
marijuana would be taxed, and this would increase the federal
revenues. Second, there would be a huge reduction in law
enforcement costs, and police could focus on more dangerous drugs
like cocaine and heroin. Courts would also have less cases and
would be able to spend more time prosecuting violent criminals like
rapists and murderers (Marshall 91-92).
Most drug dealers would quit the business because the large
profits would be gone. Most incentive to sell marijuana to minors
would be reduced (Ending Nightmare). Because less drug dealers
would be roaming the streets, drug related crime would be reduced,
and other crime as well. There is no reason to commit violent crimes
when operating a legal business (Violence).
In the book Chemical Dependency: Opposing Viewpoints,
Richard Dennis says about drugs and alcohol:
"The appropriate standard in deciding if a drug should be made
legal for adults ought to be whether it is more likely than alcohol to
cause harm to an innocent party. If not, banning it cannot be justified
while alcohol remains legal...Small dealers could sell it legally, but
would be regulated, as beer dealers are now in states where beer is
sold in grocery stores." (135)
"Drugs should be legalized because they do less harm to our lives,
our property, and our humanity, than drug laws" (qted. in Ending
Nightmare).