Benefits Of Legalizing Marijuana

Marijuana: Legal or Illegal? Look around you- chances are someone close to you has been smoking marijuana. The topic of legalizing marijuana is a very controversial topic. There are many people that say marijuana should be legal. These people argue that it helps medical ailments, legalizing it and taxing it could help the economy, and that marijuana is safer then already legalized drugs. Other people say that marijuana should not be legalized. These people argue that marijuana is very harmful, has raised the crime rate, and would be very expensive to legalize. There are many reasons marijuana should be legalized. One reason is that it helps medical ailments. One online source says that “In general, the vast majority of our respondents considered …show more content…
The stats show that the use of marijuana can help relieve certain symptoms one might have, such as, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Another reason marijuana should be legalized is because it could help the economy. One source says that “Leading economists believe that, by legalizing and regulating the plant, not only would that money be saved, but taxing it would pull in at least $6 billion more per year.” This quote says that by legalizing marijuana, not only would the government save money but they would gain money. The government would gain money because they could tax the marijuana. Whenever any marijuana would be sold, there would be a small fee added to the price that goes to the government. Another online source says “So at a minimum, legal marijuana would pump $14 million into the economy every year, with more coming in all the time as more and more people decide to try the now-legal drug they’d been hearing so much about.” This statement also talks about how the government would benefit financially …show more content…
Some reasons are that it is very harmful to the smoker and others, it is a gateway drug, and addiction and rehab rates would increase. Marijuana can be very harmful to the smoker and the people surrounding the smoker. The smoke inhaled by those who do not smoke is called second hand smoke and is as dangerous as smoking a cigarette. One source say that “marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke.” Another source says that “In 2005, 242,200 emergency room visits in the United States involved marijuana.” This is saying that marijuana not only causes problems such as cancer but it can also result in physical injury thus causing you to go to the emergency room. Physical injuries can be caused by car accidents and falling or tripping. Driving on marijuana can be very dangerous not only for the driver, but also for passengers and pedestrians. Marijuana should also not be legalized because it is a gateway drug. This means that users who use marijuana are most likely to move on the something stronger. One source says that “the vast majority of cocaine users (99.9%) began by first using the “gateway drug” marijuana.” Another source says that “One study found that youth (12 to 17 years old) who use marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than kids who do not use pot, and that 60% of the kids who smoke pot before the age of 15 move on to cocaine.” The term “gateway

Show More