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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Replies

  • I think that it should be legalized. If people want to smoke they should be able to. Theres always gonna be postive and negative things to smoking.

  • I think it should be legalized for medical purposes. I think it would be ok to have it legalized since many states already do. But I think it should only be used for medical things not just for people to use it. 

    • Recreational use of marijuana can have benefits on a person's mental health and is used to treat depression and anxiety.

  • I think marijuana shouldn not be legalized. I think the legalization of marijuana would end up with more people beign addict to it and end up causing problems. There is a lot of poeple that end up beign dangerous and doing bad things because of the consume of it. 

  • I think that marijuana should be legalized. It is already leagal in states like Colorado for recreational use and is used in medicine. There will always be a positive and negative side affect to anything, and weed isn't that bad for the body.

  • I think marijuana should be legalized for everyone in the United States. If people want to be able to smoke marijuana, then they should be able to. There are many instances where doctors prescribe marijuana to their patients for different medical reasons. Marijuana can help people relax and can help other medical conditions.

    • I agree, weed is harder to get than alcohol or cigarettes, but it's basically harmless.

  • I dont think marjuana sholuld be legalized. I think lots of people just get so addicted to it and turn into a bad person. it can get very dangerous for the person and for the peers around. I already think people are badly addicted and they arent going to go very far in life.

    • Alcohol is definitely more addicting and is definitely more fatal. The benefits of marijuana far outweigh the negatives.

  • I think that it should be legalized it has already been legalized in many states and if it had proved to be a problem they would not have made it legal it's the same as cigarettes and alcohol. It grows naturally. 

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