English 10a
There are lots of conflicts in the world that we live in, like if we should legalize gay marriage or legalization of prostitution. But one of the biggest conflicts is the legalization of marijuana. Many people think it’s bad because it’s labeled as a “gateway” drug, or for the direct fact that you are smoking it. Government and adults try to feed you lies, they only tell you the bad effects of the drug and make it up to be something way worse than it is. The government has no problem telling you all the bad things about marijuana, but what about all the bad effects and chemicals in cigarettes. People have no problem giving that out to the society, and cigarettes are a lot worse for your body than marijuana. There are bad effects to everything, but some are worse than others. It is our job to do what is best for the society but if you are giving out cigarettes to the society why not give out marijuana as well.
The thought of legalizing marijuana has been going on for over 40 years. To some people this thought is impulsive, even if it’s for health benefits. Medical marijuana is only legal in 8 states; Arizona, Alaska, California, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and washington. (Impact on Youth, Joffe.) The legalization of medical marijuana in these states has drawn more attention and concern about how much the availability will go up. It always drew attention to how much more appealing the drug will look the younger generations.(Teen Pot Use, Preidt.) Many people are worried about teens and young adults doing drugs because there are many features about marijuana that other illegal drugs have as well. People are afraid that the legalization of marijuana will increase health, social and economic costs. It seems majority of the people are against legalizing marijuana, but how come they have no problem with cigarettes which are way worse for your body.
Cigarettes are something you commonly see and hear about in today’s society. Cigarettes are one of the leading causes of lung cancer which is the leading cause of cancer deaths.Cigarette smoking can lead to major illnesses and injuries. Smoking cigarettes is not only bad for the person smoking it, but it is also very unhealthy for anyone who is around the smoker. This is called secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause death and cancer just like it could to the person smoking the cigarette. There are lots of risks you have to worry about when choosing to smoke. There are hundreds of different chemicals put together and combined in the making of cigarettes. Marijuana is a pure plant strait from the earth, there are no extra chemicals or harmful substances mixed in with it. If your choice was smoking a pure plant or smoking hundreds of harsh chemicals, why not choose the pure plant. With the whole world the use of tobacco has caused over than 5 million deaths per year. Deaths per year due to marijuana smoking is slim to none.(Environmental Health Perspectives,Jamrozik.)
Marijuana is a major illegal drug in the US. There are lots of dangerous and life threatening things people can be doing to put themselves and possibly others in harms way. If you get caught with an ounce of marijuana and someone else robs a bank, some would think the person who robbed the bank would get a far worse punishment. That’s where they’re wrong, the government treats them as almost equal. It is not fair that someone who didn't do anything wrong to harm another person, or even themselves has to go to jail for as long, or longer than a person who just robbed a bank. The laws for having marijuana on you should be treated lighter, just like those of alcohol or tobacco. Unlike other harsh drugs marijuana isn’t an unnecessary drug, there are lots of positive aspects to its existence ( Impact on Youth, Joffe)
Marijuana can be an important part of somebodies life, it can be what's helping them eat everyday due to eating problems; or it can be what helps