Legalize it!

I would like to state before we begin that I do not smoke. I have only tried it twice and have never even gotten high. I believe this should give more weight to my argument though. Yes, I do believe marijuana should be legal. I believe anyone that wants to do it, can easily obtain it. In fact, marijuana is used by roughly 25 million people annually. Under the current system, all we are doing is putting money in the hands of criminals rather than making it legal and taxing the bejesus out of it.

Legalizing marijuana could be very beneficial. The most obvious reason, taxing it and using that money for worthwhile government projects. Not only would that extra money be gained, but we would also save money that is wasted on prosecuting people for using it. So much money is wasted every year for cases involving marijuana use. These cases usually lead to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. So much of this money could be going to more important issues.

People say that marijuana is a gateway drug, and this may be true, but I believe those that are going to do something harder are most likely going to do it anyway with or without marijuana in the equation. A legal market for the drug, however, might in fact reduce the chance to purchase something harder. If you are purchasing it illegally from a drug dealer, they are most likely going to push a harder, more expensive/addicting drug on you. Thats just good business. A legal establishment just selling marijuana reduces the risk of being offered any other drug.

I do think that one negative factor of doing the drug is it will kill brain cells. But no more than going out and getting drunk every weekend. (I base this fact on no research). I can’t remember ever hearing about a marijuana overdose though. I do not see how smoking can be worse than getting sickly drunk each weekend.

It can be argued that marijuana has some positive attributes. Such as providing relief to pain and stress and can be used as a way to relax. Not that I am saying you should do it every time you want to relax. The good outweighs the bad when it comes to legalizing marijuana. Extra money to benefit our country rather than sending it back to criminals is enough of an argument alone. Also, lets not ignore the jobs it could create! We are talking about a whole new market for hemp. I believe one day we will see it legalized, but that day may not come anytime soon.