Should Marijuana Be Legal Essay

Should Marijuana be Legal?

Should marijuana be legal? Forty-two percent of America’s population has tried marijuana at least once. That has been a topic that can be found all over the country from politics, social media, economists, medical professionals, etc. Pretty much every citizen in the world has an opinion. It is the most highly talked about topic in our country and possibly the world. So what is the problem? Some say that legalization would boost the economy if not make it robust and also be beneficial to some in health. Other’s that are against legalization would argue that it alters the mind and peoples behavior as well. In this paper I will show a brief history of Marijuana. I will also discuss the arguments for and against this very famous drug. Marijuana has been used as an agent for achieving euphoria since ancient times. It was described in a Chinese medical reference that dates back to 2737 BC. Chinese emperor Shen Nung wrote that it had powers of medication with a focus on rheumatism, gout, malaria, absent- mindedness and a host of other possibilities. He mentioned that it had intoxicating properties but the medicinal values were far greater. It spread from China to India, then to North Africa and it reached Europe around 500AD. In 1545 the Spanish brought Marijuana to the new world. The English introduced it in Jamestown in 1611 and it immediately became a commercial crop. In 1890 hemp replaced cotton as the cash crop in southern states. It was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until to 1942 and was prescribed for many conditions like labor pains, nausea and rheumatism. In the 1930’s a campaign conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics tried to portray it as a powerful addicting substance that would lead users into narcotics addiction. Still to today many people consider it a gateway drug. The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 classified marijuana, heroin and LSD as a schedule 1 drug which means it was thought to have the highest abuse and addiction potential. It also was deemed to have no medical use. Ronald Reagan started his war on drugs in the early ‘80’s. His administration and the following Bush administration followed a “zero tolerance” attitude which led to strict laws and sentencing. Use had decreased until the 90’s when the trend started to increase especially among teenagers. Presently today there 18 states that have decriminalized it for medical use and many more states are starting to follow as well. So that was a quick history of it now let’s reviews the pros and cons! The number one reason that people think marijuana should stay illegal is because it is looked at like a gate-way drug. The way this is “proved” is by a survey. When asking heroin addicts, 90% of them said that marijuana was the first drug that they tried. Marijuana is just the first drug that people try because it is the lightest drug you can do. From my own experience I can say that I cannot truly disagree with this statement. I grew up in Brooklyn, New York I had my first beer at the age of 13 and I had taken a hit at the age of 12. I did continue to try other drugs. But I stopped experimenting at the age of 22. From my personal experience it was a mixture of alcohol, marijuana and growing up in the inner city that led me to experiment with other drugs. Another popular reason is that drugs are addictive. The user loses his free will. The drug user will not be able to make informed, rational and logical decisions. Once they use drugs they will never be able to stop their addiction. Other reasons are that by making marijuana legal it will be hard to stop new users because of legalization. Another argument is that drug use is not only bad for the user but also bad for the family and friends of the user. The cost of health insurance would rise due to the violence that is associated with drug use. The children would be neglected by their drug addicted parents. The countries unemployment

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