Legalization of marijuana

Marijuana, pot, or “weed” has been widely illegal in the united states since 1937, even though the American medical association had objections because of marijuana's medical positives. Many Americans viewed pot in a bad light, partially due to prejudice towards Mexican immigrants in the 1910s who used marijuana, according to Eric Schlosser in an article for The Atlantic, “Police officers in Texas claimed that marijuana incited violent crimes and arose a lust for blood, giving it’s user superhuman strength.” This obviously wasn’t true, but rumor spread that Mexican immigrants were giving “killer weed” to American school kids. Marijuana is not all that toxic to the body and has medicinal benefits, it is used to soothe migraines, insomnia, and stomach aches. It can also treat and reduce seizures and works as a painkiller without causing dependence and there is no such thing as a marijuana overdose, in fact when compared to alcohol, alcohol kills more than 140,000 people each year due to overconsumption, while marijuana kills absolutely none. Regardless of all the benefits, marijuana was effectively banned nationwide in the 1937 “Marijuana tax act”. Punishment for possession of marijuana would continue to get worse until the 1970s when most states made their disciplines lighter. However, it is still considered a schedule 1 substance, in the group as much harsher drugs like heroin and methamphetamine.

Counter argument: Smoking marijuana is still inhaling smoke, which isn't good for your lungs. The drug of marijuana isn't harmful in itself, but the smoke inhalation is just the same as smoking a cigarette, or vaping, although cigarettes still have nicotine and vapes have more harmful chemicals. There are also vaping products that contain marijuana. This is why smoking marijuana should be illegal under the age of 18, although there are other methods of consuming marijuana such as edible products like chocolates or gummies, these are often disguised like other products such as Trolli gummy worms or nerds rope. I believe these products should be much more clearly labeled and not disguised as children's products to avoid children from consuming them.

Now, marijuana is legalized for medicinal use in 29 states, and legal for recreational use in 8 states, recently president Biden granted a pardon to those who were caught with simple marijuana possession, stating “No one should be in jail for simply using or possessing marijuana.”.  I believe recreational marijuana should be legalized for all over the age of 18 across the entire united states.

 

What do you think?

Should marijuana be legalized nationwide for recreational use?

 

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    • I agree, marijuana is listed as a schedule 1 substance, it's grouped with drugs like ecstasy and heroin, and cigarettes are definitely worse than marijuana but they are listed as a schedule 2 substance, and are sold at almost every convenience/grocery store. I think marijuana should be lowered to schedule 4, the same group as Xanax.

  • Marijuana is clearly being used regardless if it is legal or not. However, I do think if it were to become legal there would be an increase in the number of people using it recreationally. With Biden's pardon to prisoners who were incarcerated due to marijuana posession, it almost seems like marijuana has been socially accepted, just not legally, yet. 

  • I personally believe that edibles and treats with marijuana in them should be legal, but I feel like smoking pot isn't good. As you said, smoking pot is just like smoking a cigarette or vaping, and neither of those is good for your lungs. Treats like chocolates and gummies have the same effect, just in a safer way. They also have medical benefits, which can help people in the end. Plus, if they were sold in dispensaries, it would help stop minors from being able to access them. 

    • I see your point, but I did also mention in my post that vaping and cigarettes are more harmful to smoke than marijuana, cigarettes have nicotine, so do vapes as well as other harmful chemicals in metals in vape juice. It's definitely worse to smoke a cigarette or use a vape.

  • I think that marijuana should be legal, but only because it can help people with medical problems like seizures, constant physical pain, while also helping with severe mental health problems. I also believe that it should only be legal to people 18 and older. This is because for people with bad mental and physical health issues the best time to start using marijuana medically would be when they are proven to be a responsible adult. Even if we do eventually make it legal throuhout the US there would still be people who sell it illegally.  All in all, I believe that it should be legal for only medical use because it has been proven to work so well in the past for those who have needed it.

  • I don't think that marijuana should be legalized, it's a drug. And it can cause health problems. Marijuana can also be addictive, kids, and just people shouldn't be around it. We all know most people don't use it for medical reasons, they just smoke it for fun or cause it gives them a good feeling. 

    • Exactly my point, a lot of people who use marijuana recreationally, use it because it makes them feel good, this can greatly improve mental health and fight depression and anxiety.

  • I personally don't think that marijuana should be legalized, it's a drug. And it can cause health problems. Marijuana can also be addictive, kids, and just people shouldn't be around it. We all know most people don't use it for medical reasons, they just smoke it for fun or cause it gives them a good feeling(gets them high). 

  • I think that marijuana should be legal, it is not worse than drinking alchohol and it just alters your thinking and is really not much different than being drunk. I feel like if it was legal it wouldn't make more people want to smoke it I think it would just make people who already smoke it not hide it as much anymore. now a days if you want something you can just go buy it weather its breaking the law or not almost everything is accesable.

    • I agree, making marijuana legal would reduce crime rates as people illegally smoking it would be able to get it legally, alcohol is definitely worse than weed and actually kills, whereas pot has zero overdose-related deaths.

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