Marijuana

Introduction

The use and possession of marijuana is considered illegal in most parts of the world. Precisely, it is evident that this drug has been taken as an illegal drug for a many decades. In addition, most states fail to weigh the importance of marijuana with its adverse effects, and to compare these benefits with other drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes. Nevertheless, despite the high number of states that have maintained harsh rules on those individuals using this drug, there are some that have become legalized the use of marijuana, such as Colorado and Washington, due to its medicinal value. This research paper pays high attention to the reasons why marijuana should be legalized all over the world.

The primary reason is that marijuana has numerous health benefits, and thus its legalization would mean higher and better quality health standards of individuals. For example, Sativex (a cannabinoid drug) has been discovered in the recent past in the United Kingdom and have been found to treat multiple Sclerosis more effectively (The Cannabinoid Documentary 2013). Consecutively, marijuana is being used to facilitate digestion and minimize instances of extreme vomiting, among cancer patients who are undergoing cancer chemotherapy, and as a powerful appetite stimulant for HIV and Aids patients. In addition, the drug enhances breathing among asthma patients through opening up of their lungs. Therefore, banning the use of marijuana is a major disadvantage to individuals who suffer from these conditions that use this drug as a chief component of their medication (Kmietowicz 89).

However, most researchers criticize the notion of legalizing the use of marijuana, claiming that the proposers use this aspect of medicinal value as an excuse. Moreover, they propose that instead of legalizing the drug due to its medicinal value, it is better to forgone this benefit since there are numerous painkillers and appetite boosters that are readily available in the market. However, their perspective is ruled out by another study that suggests that cocaine, which started to be used long before marijuana could have been long legalized if the latter does not really have a medical value, or if the proposers want it to be legalized for other reasons (Moudgil 77).

Moreover, legalizing marijuana contributes to economic relief, mostly due to the taxes that are realized as a result. For example, California realizes 14 billion dollars per year after it legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes (Caulkins et al. 47-63). Most studies also reveal that California can realize 4 more billion dollars if it can fully legalize the use of this drug. However, this would be achieved due to numerous factors, including saving the vast amounts of money that is lost through smuggling of marijuana, increased revenue from taxes, and the reduction of government spending. For example, the federal government spends 11.5 billion dollars annually to cater for individuals who have been jailed due to crimes relating to marijuana it (The United Sates Department of Health and Human Studies 2008). This high amount of money that is spent by the federal government on these prisoners is a great burden to the taxpayers. Therefore, Legalizing the use of this drug would facilitate saving of these amounts of money, and the release of these jailed individuals would make them participate in economic development, rather than spending government revenue.

Consecutively, legalizing the use of marijuana would create employment opportunities for most individuals; since the plant would be produce the plant in large scale, for both local and international markets, which in the long run enhances economic growth. Additionally, legalizing marijuana would significantly contribute to the reduction of crime rates in a given country. For example, it is depicted that almost1/6 of Americans serve their terms imprisonment after being found guilty of possessing and using marijuana it (The United Sates Department of Health and Human Studies 2008). Studies depict that legalizing the use of this drug would reduce the overall number of crimes, provide more space in jails for real crimes, relieve stress among policemen and provide more time for them to participate in other economic activities.

In addition, most individuals who highly oppose the legalization of marijuana stipulates that the drug is more harmful to human body, and leads to addiction compared to the use of cigarettes and alcohol. However, studies show that approximately 15 million Americans abuse alcohol, 69.7 million are cigarette smokers, while 4.2 million abuse marijuana. This shows that even though marijuana is not legalized by the federal government, there is a high number of Americans who consume it (The United Sates Department of Health and Human Studies 2008). However, the same study depicted that more than 1000 deaths were caused by cigarette smoking, 550 deaths were linked to alcohol-related diseases and accidents, while no any single death was reported to have been contributed to the use of marijuana. This shows that marijuana is less vital to human health compared to other substances such as alcohol and cigarettes.

Moreover, most studies reveal that the use of marijuana should be legalized as a way of curbing racism in the united states (Kmietowicz 91). Moreover, these studies depict that the use of this drug was illegalized due to the exaggeration of its effects by the propagators of racial discrimination, who development negative attitude to marijuana and the Mexicans who introduced it to America.. For example, during the great economic depression that occurred during the 1930`s, many Mexicans migrated to American, and experience racial discrimination (Caulkins et al. 47-63). However, since these immigrates were smoking “marihuana,” (the current marijuana), the Americans criminalized the use of this drug in order to hurt the minority group and to deport them to their original homeland. In addition, current studies criticize the federal government for failing to demonstrate that the laws against marijuana are not based on race discrimination. Currently, blacks and Hispanic Americans accounts the largest population that is imprisoned for marijuana use, compared to non-Hispanic Americans.

Conclusion

It is, therefore, evident that the use of marijuana should be legalized due to the above numerous reasons that proves that the drug deserves legalization. The drug has numerous health benefits, enhancing economic growth, reducing the rates of crime, increasing free resources among others. Recent studies show that the proportion of Americans who supports the legalization of this drug have tremendously increased to 58% in 2013, and this implies that it is the high time for governments to legalize this drug.

Work cited

Kmietowicz, Z.. “Countries Should Consider Legalising Cannabis In Light Of Futility Of Bans.” BMJ 341.oct05 1: c5471-c5471. 2010 Print.

The United Sates Department of Health and Human Studies. Health United States, 2008.<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf>

The Cannabinoid Documentary: Scientific Research And Real Facts About The Cannnabinoids In Cannabis. Published on 12^th February 2013. Accessed from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHnQ-YAqAsA&feature=youtu.be

Caulkins, Jonathan P, Angela Hawken, Beau Kilmer, and Mark Kleiman. Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know. , 2012. Print.