Marijuana Legalization

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Legalization of Marijuana
In the United States, marijuana is legal in only 2 states for recreational use (Taylor 2). These two states are Washington, and Colorado. Every other state declares marijuana to be illegal, except for 20 states where it is permitted for Medical use. Marijuana should become legal for recreational use in every state in America. This drug is not harmful to human body, and I tend to disagree with the reasons justifying illegalization in other states. Marijuana should be legal; it is not as harmful to the human body as cigarettes, hookah, or alcohol. Although it is still illegal, cigarettes, hookah, and alcohol are not.
Historical Background of Marijuana
A reason as to why marijuana should be legal in the United States is that it already exists as a Multi-Millionaire Industry illegally and legally. If it were to be made fully legal, it would benefit the United States economy tremendously, and it would be more beneficial than it would be harmful (Webley 22). There are already many marijuana dispensaries in the 22 states where marijuana is sold for medical use, in exception for the 2 states, which allow it for recreational use. If there were to be dispensaries in all 52 states of the United States, the economy would benefit from it enormously, and criminal activity would decrease, as dealers would not have to sell it illegally.
Some of the reasons as to why marijuana is illegal in the United States are stated below. Marijuana is addictive, has no accepted medical use and is historically linked to narcotics such as heroin. In addition, marijuana is associated with unfashionable lifestyles and the people who try to legalize marijuana do not have compelling cases. Firstly, marijuana is thought to be addictive, whereby it is a Schedule 1 Drug and ‘has an increased potential for abuse'. Addiction is one of the pertinent reasons as to why the drug is still illegal. Nonetheless, this is an ignorant claim. According to drugabuse.gov, only 9 percent of its users become dependent on it. In comparison to cigarette smokers, that is a small amount. There are only 279 reported deaths from the use of marijuana per year. Despite these reports, there is no clear cut correlation in the causation of death. In contrast, there are more than 443,000 premature deaths from cigarette smoking every year, and 8.6 million people suffer serious illnesses due to smoking cigarettes. As such, cigarettes take a bigger toll on harming life than marijuana does. A pertinent question may be derived from this scenario, ‘why aren't cigarettes banned as an illegal substance if marijuana is?' Some might argue that cigarettes have a warning notification on the packet, so it is bought at the known expense of the consumer. One may argue that the same might be done for marijuana by putting a warning label on it notifying the consumer with messages such as, “can cause you to have poor motor performance, and impaired cognitive and immune system functioning, so stay at home when using it otherwise you will be fined”. If putting the warning notification on it is not enough, then smoking should be banned as well.
A rebuttal to the previous statement would be that marijuana smoke, according to the whitehouse.gov, contains 50-70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke does. A further rebuttal is inferred from a study of hookah and cigarettes comparison. 13 healthy volunteers had three hookah sessions or 11 cigarettes per day. The study found out that when using breath tests, the levels of carbon monoxide were 2.5 times greater in volunteers who used hookah than in cigarettes. From that study, it would mean that smoking hookah is not only 2.5 times worse than cigarettes, but it is also 2 times worse than marijuana. It may then fall within the tenets of logic to propose that the United States might as well make all three of the substances – marijuana, cigarettes, and hookah – banned substances. This is because both hookah and cigarettes seem far more deadly than marijuana.
False Claims about Marijuana
Studies have consistently proven that marijuana is far less addictive than even alcohol based on several indicators (Earleywine 244). The dependence developing in marijuana users is far less severe and relatively rare than dependence on other drugs. Excessive marijuana consumption may become problematic to other people, just as excess use of any substance may become problematic. As an example, excessive use of food and sex may become problematic, leading to overweight and other related consequences. There are no physical withdrawal symptoms that can be linked to marijuana. This is unlike other drugs. Drugs such as opioids and alcohol lead to severe and potentially fatal physical withdrawal. Such physical withdrawal effects include tremors, sweating, hallucinations, which potentially affect daily functioning, and often require medication to deal with (Galston and Dionne 17). In contrast, there are no symptoms resulted from the lack of using marijuana in a chronic user.
Anti-legalization movements also argue that marijuana has a higher likelihood of cancer (Hashibe, Straif and Tashkin 269). Nonetheless, there is no conclusive evidence that marijuana leads to any form of cancer. Most of these activists are concerned with respiratory malignancies. Numerous studies have been carried out in trying to rule in these carcinogenic effects. Despite this fact, a large case-controlled study found out that marijuana was not associated with the likelihood to cause lung cancer. It is from such findings that some of these concerns by activists are deemed to be baseless, theoretical and without any sound proof. Meanwhile, alcohol and cigarette continue to rage havoc in the cancer field. It is also essential to note that there has been no cancer-related fatalities attributed to marijuana use. Nonetheless, there are thousands of deaths linked to alcohol, and millions linked to tobacco. Yet, these agents are legal, and there is minimal effort to illegalize them. In 2010, 38,329 people succumbed to drug overdoses. 60% of these deaths were attributed to prescription medications (Renee and Luling 1). The irony in this is that, despite prescription medication being legal, it is associated with fatalities not reported in the use of marijuana.
There are others who argue that marijuana use may increase the use of harder drugs amongst the populace. This is commonly termed as the “gateway theory,” where marijuana is thought to open doors to harder drugs such as heroine, crystal-meth among others (Taylor 2). Nonetheless, there is no causal relationship between cannabis use and the decision to indulge in other hard drugs. In essence, making the drug illegal may promote the use of hard drugs. This is because the sale of marijuana is forced into the underground market where there is availability of other hard drugs. As such, making marijuana available into the legal market may actually decrease the exposure of consumers to hard drugs.
Some of those against legalization often purport that it is the duty of the government to protect its citizens. Nonetheless, limiting the use of marijuana intrudes on personal freedom. Even when marijuana is shown to be harmful, every person has a right to choose what harms him or her. Up to now, those against legalization are yet to prove serious harmful effects attributed to marijuana. The government can afford to loosen up regulations on guns, yet choose to illegalize marijuana. This is despite of the recent shooting events in the country that have become rampant. Therefore, one wonders which group of people that the government purports to protect by illegalizing marijuana, at the same time promoting access to powerful weaponry.
As a free nation, people have the liberty and freedom to use marijuana (Renee and Luling 1). From a philosophical standpoint, people deserve the right to make choices for themselves, as long as they are the sole bearers of their actions. The government may regulate these choices only when the actions of the individual are seen to endanger others. This is not the case with marijuana. The person who chooses to consume marijuana does so according to his own free will. In addition, the government can be deemed to have a right in regards to limiting actions that pose a significant threat to individual users. This argument is illogical in the case of marijuana. It would only make sense to limit these latter drugs in comparison to marijuana.
Another reason why marijuana should be legalized concerns religious matters. Just like Judaism and Christianity instruct followers to take wine on certain occasions, some religions instruct the followers to consume marijuana. Rastafarians, some Hindus and Buddhists permit the use of marijuana during some of their religious and spiritual ceremonies. These religions and their followers deserve freedom so as to practice their religion as it seems fit. The first US constitution amendment says that the government should not prohibit the free exercise of any religion (Webley 22). As such, marijuana use should be made legal.
Additionally, law enforcement of marijuana does not promote equality as purported. Arrests for the possession of marijuana disproportionately affect the Hispanics and blacks. This reinforces the perception that the government's law enforcement is prejudiced and biased against minorities. It is imperative to note that African-Americans are 13% of the US population (Hashibe, Straif and Tashkin 270). Nonetheless, this small minority accounts for over a quarter of all marijuana arrests. As such, law enforcement has failed to demonstrate that laws pertaining to marijuana can be enforced in a fair manner without discrimination. Needless to say, marijuana use is widespread among all races, and only that tighter surveillance is instituted among these minorities.
There are others who argue that marijuana use causes detrimental effects to the brain (Guithe n.p.). Those who support illegalization of marijuana often claim that youths who use marijuana often report lower grades. Additionally, they claim that marijuana use among adults leads to memory impairment. This is disputable. Very many extremely successful persons have admitted to having smoked marijuana. Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou, Ted Turner, Martha Stewart are some of the examples of high-functioning users of marijuana (Renee and Luling 1). Even businessmen such as Richard Branson have admitted to using marijuana in occasional circumstance (Renee and Luling 1). If indeed marijuana impaired memory and thinking, such people would not be where they are. As such, marijuana does not lead to poor memory performance.
There are those who argue that Marijuana is associated linked to gang involvement, carrying a gun and thoughts of suicide (Taylor 2). They claim that marijuana contributes to violent behavior and victimization. Nonetheless, there is no plausible evidence that establishes a link between violence and marijuana use. In fact, incidences of violence are higher among those who indulge in alcohol. Illegalization of marijuana pushes the business to where gangs are likely to be involved. Legalization of marijuana use will eliminate the commodity from these violent zones, and is likely to reduce gang involvement and carrying a gun. There is also no scientific evidence demonstrating increased rates of suicide or suicidal ideation among users of marijuana.
Comparison to alcohol and cigarettes
Scientifically objective study has come to conclusion that marijuana is safer than alcohol and cigarette smoking (Renee and Luling 1). Marijuana is safer to the consumer and those surrounding when compared to alcohol and cigarette smoking. Cigarette and alcohol are more addictive than marijuana. In addition, cigarette and alcohol are associated with many deleterious medical consequences. Virtually any body system can be affected by alcohol consumption. The effects of alcohol consumption range from psychological effects to adverse diseases such as liver cirrhosis and esophageal cancer (Earleywine 247). In addition, smoking has been linked to various malignancies, cardiovascular diseases and cerebral vascular accidents. Despite the glaring facts, marijuana is still regarded as the culprit, yet only a few health concerns have been attribu...