Full Scale Legalization of Marijuana

Full Scale Legalization of Marijuana, please.

The legalization of marijuana has been a controversial issue in this country for many years. Marijuana is known as the cannabis plant and is usually dried up to be smoked or eaten to induce euphoria (Marijuana.) Many people believe that marijuana is a "gateway" drug and leads to harder substances. There are no clear physical addictions to marijuana and is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol combine. Medical marijuana is being practiced throughout the country and is legal in thirteen states. It is used medically for cancer patients, people with multiple sclerosis, and people with severe nerve damage. The rise of the marijuana trend has brought gatherings, music, protests, and festivals that have brought people together. Marijuana should go beyond medical use and be fully legalized because it is the number one cash crop in the United States, fewer inmates to crowd the prison system, and, contrary to wide opinions, it has few physical effects on the body.

As the controversy continues many different opinions have arisen. Recently, California has had a voting of Proposition 19 which was a pro-cannabis law that a person could posses up to an ounce of marijuana for personal consumption (Proposition 19.) People have started teaming up and push hard for the legalization of "pot" which has lead many to believe that can be done sooner than later. Doctors are using marijuana to help patients, politicians are becoming less reluctant to rejecting it, and a lot of people smoke marijuana. It can bring aid to the alarming debt of the country, lower prison totals, and has little physical side effects and no physical addiction.

The first reason for the full legalization of marijuana is that it can lessen the debt of the United States. From the beginning at Jamestown, society was forced to grow hemp (cannabis plant) and could be used for paying taxes (Hemp.) It is now grown in most parts of the country and is known as the most widely used illegal drug in America. A staggering 112 million people admit that they have smoked Marijuana at least once in their life (DEA.) It produces an illegal revenue of $38.5 billion dollars a year which is more than America's corn and wheat harvest (Marijuana Legalization.) It is a larger cash crop than cotton in Alabama, larger than grapes, hay, and vegetables combine in California, and larger than tobacco in South Carolina and North Carolina (Marijuana Legalization). The easy-to-grow plant makes more money than all of these products combine. According to a study done, if marijuana is taxed at a decent rate compared to cigarettes and alcohol, $6.2 billion would be in the hands of the federal government (Marijuana Legalization). The government spends $7.7 billion on prosecuting and policing marijuana throughout the United States (Legalize). The money that would be made from the legalization of marijuana would go back into state funds, eliminating the budget cuts the federal government has made due to setbacks. In the United States it costs 10 cents to produce one cigarette. On the streets of the United States a gram of marijuana costs about $20. According to Stephen Easton, an economist at the Fraser Institute, marijuana legally could raise $80 billion annually (Legalize.) This money would be going from organized crime into the hands of the public. The legalization of marijuana would bring in a significant amount of revenue for the United States and could possibly help surge the economy with over 100 million people admitting they have used "pot" one time in their life, the government would spend less on crime, and have a profit from marijuana that exceeds any other product being produced in the country. The recession that is currently plaguing the United States could be reversed. Marijuana would bring profit to the government and simultaneously give supporters what they want. It is a win-win situation.

The second reason that marijuana should be made legal is the crime that comes with illegal substances. Because marijuana is illegal, 847,864 arrests were made in 2009 for marijuana-related crimes (DEA.) Of the 847,864 arrests that were made, only 11 percent were for trafficking and selling marijuana (Marijuana.) There were 300,000 less violent crimes in 2009 and were tallied to almost 600,000. More and more prisons are becoming overcrowded by the alarming rate of arrests made from marijuana. With the full scale legalization of "pot," jails would have more room to hold more violent offenders. Also, police forces could focus more on crimes related to harder drugs like Cocaine, Heroin, and Ecstasy or even tougher crimes such as rape, murder, and theft. Every thirty-eight seconds someone in the United States is arrested because of marijuana possession (Legalize.) Most marijuana arrests are for low-level offenses and less than five percent are felony convictions. Jail time for possession of Marijuana (less than an ounce) can vary due to certain variables. Prior arrests, age, whether or not a person was on school grounds, and paraphernalia such as baggies and scales can dictate the length of time one has to serve. In 2009, the DEA seized over 666,000 kilograms of Marijuana in the United States (DEA.) This is a significant amount of consumed time, preparation, and money spent by this organization to stop people from using a drug that is not addictive.

In spite of all the chemicals that are in cigarettes, nearly 54 million people still smoke. Marijuana has no harmful chemicals in it that will hurt the body. The chemicals that are in cigarettes include arsenic (rat poison), carbon monoxide (car exhaust), butane (lighter fluid), hydrogen cyanide (gas chamber poison), and tar (roofing material.) Nicotine is highly addictive and not only affects the heart but it affects the entire body (Tobacco.) Many long term affects of tobacco scare some people into not wanting to try any of it. Heart disease, emphysema, cancer of the mouth and lungs, weakened immune system, and chronic lung disease are all effects of tobacco and lead to death. Nearly half a million people