Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

Essay by wehaveproblemsHigh School, 12th gradeA+, March 2009

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Garrett Beltis

Dery

Senior Communications

January 21, 2009

Should Marijuana be Legalized?

Green, Reefer, Weed, Mary Jane, Grass, Pot, Ganja… Marijuana has been described as "the new drug menace, which is destroying the youth of America in alarmingly increasing numbers." But if you were to ask 41% or more of the American public, it's a feel-good drug that is less harmful than other, currently legal drugs, and there for marijuana should be legalized.

Marijuana is a psychoactive drug extracted from the plant "cannabis sativa". It is currently legal in thirteen states for medicinal purposes. It is currently decriminalized in eleven states. Federal law claims that this plant is addictive, has been historically linked to narcotics, and is often used as a stepping-stone drug, leading to heroin, cocaine, or other harder drugs (balancedpolitics.org). This is why it was made illegal in most situations and why it remains to be.

On the other hand, many marijuana activists argue that it is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco, it intrudes on personal freedom, and it could be a source of additional tax revenues, among many other reasons.

It is said that marijuana is often used as a stepping-stone drug, leading to heroine, cocaine, or other harder drugs (balancedpolitics.org). Studies read that pot use progresses to the use of harder drugs. It is the opinion of some high school students that users feel they are doing one illegal drug, and that there will be no repercussions if they do another. They have already bit the bullet and broken a law, and they only see the law, not the physical damages. So when they get away smoking pot, who is to say they can't get away doing crack cocaine?

There are other arguments as...