Should Marijuana Be Legalized ?
Should Marijuana be legalized or not ?
One of the most controversial issues facing our generation is if we should legalize marijuana. In the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, marijuana is considered as a narcotic therefore making marijuana illegal in Canada. Canada is mo re tolerant of marijuana than the United States and it shows by the statistics. The Canadian Center on Substance Abuse said about 25,000 people was arrested in Canada for simple possession of marijuana in 1999, whereas in the United States it exceeded 600,000 because of their “zero tolerance” policy. In Canada it is estimated that over two million people have smoked marijuana within the last year, and over one hundred thousand people use it daily, yet marijuana is still considered an illegal substance.
Recent years Canada passed a law allowing people with serious illnesses to use marijuana for medical purposes, only if they obtained a government exemption. On September 05, 2002, a Canadian Senate Committee had proposed that Canada should legalize marijuana, that marijuana should be licensed by dealers and to adults 16 or older. Therefore to “legalize marijuana is to eliminate the black market associated with the drug, and to separate it from harder drugs that people are often likely to encounter when buying marijuana from the black market” (Windsor Star September 20, 2002). If this policy did go through Canada would be considered as a country that is very much tolerant toward the drug.
Facts:
What is Marijuana? Marijuana is a plant. There are three species of marijuana; Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. The most active ingredient in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinal (THC), this creates the “high”, the euphoric feeling that one may receive while taken marijuana.
In 1937 a Marijuana Stamp Tax Act was passed. This act prohibited the possession, use, sale, and the cultivating of marijuana. During this time little was known about the plant Marijuana, plus they couldn’t understand why smoking marijuana gave them this “high .” Mainly because marijuana was closely associated with the Indians and they were seen as to be “immoral people.” But the reason why marijuana is illegal today is mainly because of research that had shown some intoxicating effects; such as hallucination, anxiety, depression, extreme variability of mood, paranoia and schizophrenia that could last up to approx. six hours. Marijuana had not been proven to be physically addictive but, it can be psychologically addictive.
Addictive Potential:
A drug is addicting if it causes compulsive, often uncontrollable drug craving, seeking, and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences. Marijuana meets this criterion. More than 120,000 people seek treatment per year for their primary marijuana addiction. In addition, animal studies suggest marijuana causes physical dependence, and some people report withdrawal symptoms. But isn’t alcohol and cigarettes addictive too.
Physical Effects:
reddening of the eyesdryness of the mouth and throat
increase heart ratetightness of chest
drowsinesstar in lungs
unsteadinesscentral nervous system
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE MATTERS OF LEGALIZING MARIJUANA”
Against:
If we legalize marijuana, it will create a “gateway to drugs” harsher more dangerous drug use, like cocaine and heroin.
Legalizing marijuana will only make it more available for younger children, more marijuana use which will lead to more addiction and more problems.
Pot reduces thinking.
Crime rates will increase.
Allow younger kids to get a hold of.
Dangerous and causes lung cancer.
Psychological addiction
For:
Marijuana is a stress reliever.
Will decrease the crime rate if the herb is readily available. It will eliminate the need of an underground subculture.
Has medicinal values.
No one has ever died from smoking marijuana (overdose).
Waste of money on resources to find marijuana, where as the taxpayers money can go back into the community.
Law enforcement can spend more time and resources tracking down terrorists, murderers, rapists and other violent criminals.
Senate report stated marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.
Marijuana can be taxed like cigarettes.
We Are Not The Only One
July 10 2002 Britain’s Home Secretary David Blunkett in the House of Commons, stated that they’re legalizing the use of marijuana, keeping the practice theoretically illegal but allowing private use in small amounts. With legalizing marijuana they will “raise the punishment for marijuana dealing and step up drug education and treatment for the abusers.”(David Blunkett).
Many other European countries have already legalized the use of marijuana. Netherlands has legalized marijuana, as for Luxembourg has ended jail sentences for marijuana possession. Spain and Italy do not jail people caught with drugs meant for personal use. And last year Portugal eliminated jail time for possession of small amounts of any illegal drug.
Conclusion:
My opinion on the matter of legalizing marijuana is that, even if you don’t legalize marijuana people will still use marijuana. Plus every single year our government throws away millions of dollars on its war against drug (marijuana). It costs taxpayers, let’s say, a few thousand dollars a year to keep one, non-violent drug offender in jail. So it’s only the matter of wasting taxpayers money for arresting people, marijuana has a medicinal value to human kind, acting as a stress reliever. Plus the Senate committee concludes there is no convincing evidence that smoking marijuana leads to using harder drugs.
So if we do legalize marijuana, we could create this “gateway” for more and more harmful drugs to be legalized. But isn’t that the same reacting when alcohol was legalized? Not to mention the cultivation of marijuana. How can we say it’s okay to use marijuana but not cultivating? We can always use harsher punishments and hefty fines to discourage people to grow.
Marijuana could be used for recreational purposes but mainly for the medicinal value. Marijuana needs to be regulated. A lot of European countries that have been faced with this similar issue have found very effective way of dealing with it from full legalization to only giving hefty fines. These solutions would not only help the country’s prisons as they would be less crowded, also it can boost our economy since marijuana is a billion or millions industry. There are many people that could use marijuana as a medicine to help ease pain. Many individuals with glaucoma, arthritis, AIDS and countless cancer treatment patients would no longer be denied a substance that can reduce their suffering. These things cannot be changed unless we all stand up and express our beliefs. So I believe that marijuana needs to be legalized.