Legalization

There is no logical explanation to the reason of how or why alcohol and many other easily available "drugs," are legal however Marijuana remains illegal. "Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality." (drugwarfacts.org 1998) In case there is uncertainty of what types of medicine can cause fatality, that are even available over-the-counter: "By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year." (drugwarfacts.org 1998) Federal law states Marijuana is illegal, however the States do each have their own law and consequences of being in possession of, some even have Medical Marijuana regulated. There are hundreds and thousands of other drugs legal and illegal that can be very harmful and even cause fatality. What most of these drugs have in common is they are all manmade altered substances. Marijuana on the other hand is all natural and is produced by planting its seed and growing the plant naturally like any other plant.

Alcohol went thru a prohibition in the 1930s where it was illegal for anyone to possess, sell, or be under the influence of alcohol. People still went about making their own homemade alcohol and selling it illegally behind the governments back. The government then realized that every time a sale was made before prohibition they were able to tax it and gain a little bit of money off each sale. During prohibition every sale was done on the black market and the government did not see any of the possible tax revenue that would have been gained. They then realized they were losing money and soon begin to make it legal again. Today alcohol is still legal for people that are the age of 21 and over. It causes the second most deaths behind tobacco and cigarettes.

Tobacco has been widely used since the 1900s and was not under criticism of the surgeon general until sometime in the 1960s. Smoking was portrayed as the cool thing to do and was not seen as a health threat to any of its users. Today it is very well known that cigarettes are the leading killer in the United States of America and they can harm ones health in a variety of ways, as well as the people around the smokers that may inhale second hand smoke. It can cause: lung cancer, gum disease, throat cancer, staining of the teeth and other health problems. Today tobacco is legal and available to anyone that is the age of eighteen and over. Cigarettes are known to be extremely addictive and a very bad habit and do not take much for those with a weaker will to get hooked and ruin the rest of their lives.

Cannabis or otherwise known as Marijuana is illegal in the United States of America as stated by the Federal Law. There are fifteen states that have passed laws to regulate Medical Marijuana for those qualified as