Legalization of Marijuana: Good or Bad

The legalization of marijuana is a hot topic these days. Marijuana has been legalized in many different states. Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012. Since then, Texas has been talking of legalizing it as well. Although the legalization of marijuana has brought quite a bit of controversy over the nation, I believe the good outweigh the bad.

Marijuana is used for different medical reasons, ranging from anxiety all the way to helping some side effects of cancer. Many people believe that marijuana can cure cancer, yet that is very far from the truth.

Medical marijuana takes away some of the side effects of chemo and radiation. Helping aid the feelings of nausea, dizziness, and weakness. I believe medical marijuana has helped many people. This being said, I agree with the use of medical marijuana.

Although marijuana is legalized to be used medically, many people still use it for the wrong reasons. I have researched this topic a few times out of curiosity. Each time I learn more about this drug, I find myself being more intrigued about legalization. People take drugs everyday. Some people may take several different types of drugs several different times a day. We don’t call these drugs though. We call these medication. A prescribe medication is a drug that a doctor prescribes or recommended to you. There are also over the counter drugs you can buy at local stores such as, Walmart, gas stations, or Dollar Store. Things like Ibuprofen, Advil, and Aleve are also drugs. So what’s the difference in marijuana? People all across the world believe marijuana is a harmful drug, and they aren’t completely wrong. If marijuana is used the wrong way, it can be dangerous. People do this thing called “lacing”. This is when marijuana is laced with other things like Hydrocodone. When marijuana is laced with Hydrocodone, it causes extreme drowsiness and even overdose. This one example of marijuana being used irresponsibly should be enough to scare people from using it inappropriately, but it’s not.

People die everyday from overdosing on prescribe medicines. You probably haven’t ever heard of someone overdosing on marijuana. That is because marijuana can not kill you. “Marijuana advocates point out there are zero reported cases of marijuana-induced death”. Paul Armentano also stated, “It is well-established in the world medical literature that cannabis is incapable of causing death by lethal overdose.”

It does not make sense to me that alcohol is legal. The legal age for a person to buy and consume alcohol is 21, but everyday people lose their lives to a drunk driver. Alcohol can cause liver failure/disease which also kills people daily. If alcohol ends people’s lives everyday but is legal, then why can’t marijuana be legalized? This is the concept that stumps me the most. Alcohol can kill people from many different ways, and is still legal. While marijuana has no records or killing people, only helping, and it still isn’t legal. To me it would make more sense to legalize marijuana for medical reasons.

Legalizing marijuana can also help lower crime levels. Drug gangs and cartels that run marijuana have to be very creative trying to drug deals. Gangs and cartels fight everyday to be at the top of the drug chain. All it takes is one wrong move and violence breaks out between each other. Resulting in gun fights, fist fights, and even stabbings, all originate from the gangs dealing drugs. Legalizing marijuana would help stop most of these crimes. If marijuana was legal, the government would regulate it. Then these gangs and cartels wouldn’t have to sell or trade illegally and people wouldn’t have to resort to illegal buyings. Legalizing would also help calm the border wars. There would be no reason for people to bring drugs across the border illegally if they could just go to a licensed store and buy it.

Weather marijuana is being used for medication or recreationally, it’s not such a bad thing. Many states are now legalizing the drug because they realize the benefits outweigh the bad. Now the question is, will Texas be next to legalize marijuana? With doing this research, I believe the drug has the potential to do good things if used properly. Legalizing marijuana really wouldn’t be so bad.

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