Legalization Of Marijuana

2 Pages 510 Words

Legalization of Marijuana



Most people in today’s society use substances to “alter” their minds. This isn’t new to our society it has been happening since the beginning of time. Some of these substances are legal and potentially deadly and others are illegal. Some of the legal drugs or substances that are being used everyday by most people are on the shelves in the grocery store or are being served at restaurants. Some of these drugs are less powerful than others, but almost all Americans are using them. Caffeine is a drug, tobacco is a drug, and alcohol is a drug. All of these are legal and can be deadly if used in an unsafe or unhealthy pattern. According to the United States report on Drug War Facts the leading cause of death in 2002 was tobacco with 435,000 deaths. Alcohol related deaths came in third at 85,000. It seems strange that there were no attributed deaths for marijuana use in 2002 and it is illegal. There are many benefits to the legalization of marijuana.

If the United States government legalized marijuana it would eliminate a lot of the legal issues that are clogging up our courtrooms. The law enforcement officials could spend more of their valuable time catching hard-core criminals. Not only will the legal system be more efficient on the war on drugs. But the legalization of marijuana could help the U.S. economy by opening up new jobs. The government would make a lot of money in taxes, sales and distribution costs, and these new jobs would lower unemployment rates in the country.

Many government agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and police departments argue that marijuana shouldn’t be legalized. These agencies believe that if marijuana is to become legal, then there will be thousands of more people using it. Another reason these agencies don’t want to see marijuana legalized is because they don’t think there is enough evidence that proves it is an effective drug as ...