Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana Two of every five Americans - say "the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: it should regulate, control it, tax it, and only make it illegal for children." according to a 2003 zogby poll (Nadelmann). Since the discovery of Marijuana, there has been a strong debate wether or not the drug should be legal. Those who oppose marijuana often say, "Marijuana is bad for you." or, "Marijuana is a gate-way drug." But according to many studies done by scientists and many public health organizations, marijuana isn't as harmful as the federal government and many Americans claim it to be. Marijuana is actually far safer than alcohol, tobacco and multiple illicit substances. There are also

"No other law is both enforced so widely and harshly and yet deemed unnecessary by such a substantial portion of the populace." (Nadelmann). Every year police make about 700,000 arrests for marijuana offenses. That's almost the same number of arrests per year for cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and all other illicit drugs combined. Almost 600,000 of those arrests are for more than possession of small amounts. Millions of Americans have never been arrested or convicted of any criminal offense except this. (Nadelmann). Not only do charges for small amounts of marijuana stay on your record forever, but it makes life in general very difficult. Instead of Police spending their time on such a small matter such as this, they should be spending their time on more serious issues. "The budgetary impacts of Marijuana legalization. are not trivial. A savings of $7.7 billion per year in resources is substantial." (Miron). The legalization of Marijuana would bring many economic benefits such as, revenues increasing without taxes

Marijuana has been proven to safely treat several medical conditions such as migraines, chronic pain, Glaucoma, carcinogenic effects of tobacco and improve lung health, seizures, and anxiety. Medical researchers have also concluded that cannabinoids can be helpful in treating pain associated with chemotherapy, postoperative recovery, and spinal cord injury, as well as neuropathic pain, which is often experienced by patients with metasitic cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. And while many medical patients found marijuana to be a solution to their misery. A 17 - year old boy named, Simon Johnson who has a disease called, Chrons disease; a disease which causes nausea and vomiting. He also found marijuana to be an escape from his symptoms. While Simon was still in the hospital he found out that some cancer patients smoke marijuana to relieve them from their pain. Simon soon began to smoke marijuana behind his parents back, afraid of his parents finding out and taking the one thing that relieves him from his pain. He finally got caught at school and immediately got expelled, like he expected, his parents went hay-wire. Soon Simon confessed about how the marijuana has helped reduced his pain. His mother, Cheryl Johnson says, "we changed our minds once we saw that the marijuana really helped to control his nausea and vomiting. And Simon didn't have to