Essay 4 First Draft Legalization of Marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana

By

Kristen Roberts

EN 101-H1

Dr. Kerr

22 November 2010

Legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana is a green, brown or grey, mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant ("Marijuana - What Is Marijuana?”). Marijuana has several nicknames including pot, hash, and most commonly, weed (Schmalleger). It is an illegal drug that can be smoked, eaten, brewed in tea, or cooked into foods (Schmalleger). When taken into the bloodstream, THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, goes into your lungs, heart, bloodstream, and then your brain ("What Is”). The THC targets receptor cells in one’s brain and creates a high ("What Is”). According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009, this high was experienced by approximately 16.7 million Americans aged 12 or older at least once in the month prior to being surveyed ("Marijuana - InfoFacts - NIDA"). This number is steadily increasing as the years progress ("Marijuana - InfoFacts - NIDA"). Marijuana is the most common illegal drug for recreational use ("Marijuana - InfoFacts - NIDA"). Marijuana should be legalized because it is less harmful than cigarettes, it has many positive attributes, and citizens arrested on Marijuana charges take up space in our incarceration facilities.

                Marijuana, an illegal substance, is less dangerous and addictive than cigarettes and scientists have not been able to link it definitively to cancers like they have with tobacco (Edell). Marijuana is not addictive; the majorities of users quit early in their adult lives and use Marijuana as a recreational drug (Edell). Less than 1% of Americans smoke Marijuana on a daily basis. (“Myths and Facts About Marijuana.”)  Cigarettes are known to be highly addictive and contain nicotine (“Smoking and Tobacco Use”). This means that a person who smokes cigarettes will smoke everyday multiple times. Cigarettes are not only addictive but deadly. Smoking cigarettes and secondhand smoke kills around 443,000 people each year in the United States (“Smoking and Tobacco Use”). The total deaths from Marijuana usage alone is zero (“Smoking and Tobacco Use”). Marijuana has not been traced back to any kind of diseases or cancers unlike cigarettes and other tobacco products (Edell). Studies have not shown any link between cannabis and heart disease (Edell).  Cannabis does not contain nicotine which is found in cigarettes and is associated with heart disease (Edell). Recently, the largest study looking for a link between cancer and Marijuana was done at the University of California at Los Angeles by Dr. Donald Tashkin (Kaufman). The study showed no connection between the two even when users smoked heavily and everyday; heavily meaning lighting up around 22,000 times (Kaufman). Marijuana does not cause lung cancer and there was no increase in cancer incidents for those who used the drug (Kaufman). Tashkin expected to find a positive correlation between lung cancer and Marijuana but instead found only positive outcomes from using Marijuana. Tashkin found that smoking Marijuana may even have a protective effect on the lungs such as a protective cover (Kaufman). THC, the active chemical in Marijuana, may kill aging cells and actually prevent cancer (Kaufman). Cigarettes, on the other hand, were found to have a 20-fold increase in lung cancer for people who smoked two or more packs a day (Kaufman). A legal drug on the market in the United States, tobacco, causes more deaths, more cancers, and more diseases than an illegal drug, Marijuana.

                Marijuana is not just a drug; the drug itself and other forms of the cannabis plant are useful. Marijuana use has positive attributes, such as its medical value and use as a recreational drug with relatively mild side effects ("The Top Ten Reasons Marijuana Should Be Legal”). This drug can be used as a pain killer or treatment for medical reasons including glaucoma, side-effects of cancer chemotherapy, syndromes associated with AIDS, epilepsy, and many more ("Marijuana as Medicine-FAQ."). Some who oppose the legalization of Marijuana claim that other prescription drugs are sufficient when it comes to these illnesses ("Is Medical Marijuana More Dangerous than Legal Drugs?”). However, Marijuana is not addictive like other prescription drugs (G.). Any addiction to it is socially addictive; it does not cause chemical dependency (G.). Marijuana as a drug treatment is something natural while prescription drugs are something created in laboratories and it does not have fatal side affects like some prescription drugs (G.).  It seems absurd that a natural plant involved in medicinal practices for ages is illegal when expensive man-made drugs can damage the kidneys, liver, heart, or even cause death and addiction (G.). Marijuana also has positive attributes when it comes to recreational drug use. Those who are against the legalization of Marijuana maybe believe that Marijuana is dangerous or toxic ("Marijuana Dangers.”). Scientific studies prove that Marijuana is not toxic to humans at all (G.). However, legal forms of recreational drugs like alcohol and tobacco are both more addictive and dangerous than marijuana and you can essentially overdose or die from both (G.). It is physically impossible to overdose on Marijuana. One would have to smoke 1,500 lbs. of Marijuana in 15 minutes (G.).  85,000 people die from alcohol every year whether it is from alcohol overdose in one night or over time because of an addiction ("Annual Causes of Death in the United States”). 435,000 people died annual from tobacco use ("Annual Causes of Death in the United States”).  As mentioned earlier, there are zero reported deaths for Marijuana use. Marijuana is a much safer and overall better medical treatment and recreational drug with less risk than prescription drugs, milder effects than alcohol, and less long term life threatening side affects like cigarettes.

                Another benefit of legalizing Marijuana would be the increase in space in prisons. People convicted with possession or distribution of marijuana and are sent to jail crowd these facilities when more dangerous people should be locked up. According U.S. Department of Justice statistics 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates were behind bars for Marijuana charges ("Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”).  The report did not even include Marijuana arrests for county or local facilities ("Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”). Basically 1 in every 8 drug prisoners in United States facilities are locked up on Marijuana related charges ("Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”). There would be space for dangerous criminals who commit homicides or other violent crimes rather than someone who uses a harmless drug. Opposing views of Marijuana legalization may believe that a law is a law and if someone breaks it they suffer the consequences. However, according to the Bureau of Justice, American taxpayers pay more than a billion dollars each year to jail people who violate Marijuana laws ("Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”). This unnecessary taxing could easily be solved with the legalization of Marijuana because it would decrease the amount of inmates by quite a large number. Not only that, but taxpayers pay another $8 billion dollars for arrested relating to Marijuana possession and distribution annually in criminal justice costs ("Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year”). America’s incarceration facilities and taxpayers would greatly benefit from the legalization of marijuana.

                Legalizing Marijuana has worked well for other places such as Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Any form of Marijuana is legal in the Netherlands with certain restrictions (“Amsterdam Drugs, Drug Laws in Amsterdam."). The Dutch think that citizens should be able to use Marijuana as a natural right of personal use (“Amsterdam Drugs, Drug Laws in Amsterdam.").  Marijuana can be smoked or sold in public (“Amsterdam Drugs, Drug Laws in Amsterdam."). However, one is only allowed to possess 5 grams of Marijuana at one time, even in coffee shops where smoking is allowed inside (“Amsterdam Drugs, Drug Laws in Amsterdam."). There are still restrictions on Marijuana in the Netherlands as there are with alcohol and tobacco in the United States but the Dutch are very tolerant of the drug and their system works well (“Amsterdam Drugs, Drug Laws in Amsterdam."). I believe that the United States should follow in the footsteps of Amsterdam and the Netherlands and legalize Marijuana because it is a safer drug than tobacco, can be used for medical purposes, and violators of the law crowds our countries jails.

 

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