Surname 1

Students Name:

Professors Name:

Course Code:

Date;

Reasons why Marijuana should be legalized

Introduction

The cannabis sativa, popularly known as marijuana or weed is prohibited in most

countries, not only in most states of America. Actually, in the United States of America,

marijuana is legal in only four states. Namely: Washington, Alaska, Oregon and Colorado. This

November, five American states are expected to vote whether to legalize marijuana or not.

These states include Nevada, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and California. Even though

marijuana remains to be illegal I many states of America, we have heard many times both the

Democrats and the Republicans recognizing the value of cannabis. It is not fair to keep marijuana

illegal while substances under the same category as weed such as alcohol and tobacco remains to

be legal. The government actually has no strong reason why marijuana should not be legalized.

It is time that we come out strongly and legalize cannabis for the following reasons: Legalization

of weed will not lead to increased use, prohibition of marijuana is a form of racist and cannabis

sativa has legitimate medical benefits.

Legalizing weed will not lead to increased use

Even those who strongly oppose the legalization of weed can agree with us on this. The

government has control over products that are in legal markets than those in illegal markets. For
 Surname 2

instance, in the last decade, the government has managed to control underage alcohol

consumption since alcohol is legal. The research conducted by the University of Ohio shows that

the government has reduced underage alcohol consumption to 22.4 % in the year 2015 as

compared with 33.3 % underage alcohol consumption in 1991. This has been achieved through

effective alcohol marketing campaigns and mandatory underage drinking laws that the

government enacted. The same research furthers that cigarette smoking among high school

students is at its lowest point ever due to the growing municipal smoking limits and heavy

taxation that is being done on tobacco companies. In the year 2010, the state of Colorado started

regulating medical marijuana. The outcome of this act gave a positive gesture that if legalized;

we can easily combat the use of weed among teens (Barbaresco, S. et al. 54).

In illegal markets, there is no price control, regulations and standards of the goods that

are being sold and purchased. This is what poses a menace to the public health. With the current

federal laws that treat weed as equivalent to heroin and cocaine, most teenagers are adapting the

notion that the government is total unrealistic on issues pertaining drug policies. Through

legalizing cannabis, the weed will be sold openly in the legal markets hence the government will

have a better opportunity in controlling its use.

Prohibition of marijuana is a form of racist

Tracing back to the history of cannabis criminalization, Rob Waugh, a professor in the

University of Minnesota, asserts that the campaigns of illegalizing weed started in 1930s. These

campaigns were firmly rooted in prejudices against the African Americans and the Mexican

immigrates who were known to use weed during that time. Mr. Waugh furthers that the word

marijuana was being used to refer to the Mexicans.

 Surname 3

Current, more than one hundred thousand Americas use marijuana. Most of these users

are Filipinos, Hispanics, Negroes and their entertainers. Harry Anslinger, criminalizations

biggest champion has been heard in many platforms saying that the Satanic music such as swing

and jazz that are sang by these people are as a result of smoking weed. Anslinger furthers that,

due to the usage of marijuana among the white women, they usually seek sexual relations with

the Hispanics, Filipinos, Negroes and their entertainers.

Such sentiments portray racism of the highest degree. Recent research shows that both

the blacks and the white use marijuana at almost the same rates. Even so, A.C.L.Us 2013 report

shows that the number of black that are being arrested in possession of the weed is higher when

compared to the whites. The report shows that the number of blacks who are likely to be arrested

for the possession of marijuana in Iowa is 8.3 times more than the number of whites that are

likely to be arrested in possession of marijuana in the same county. The number goes up to 30

times in worst-offending counties in the country (Acevedo, D. 12).

The war against weed overwhelmingly seem to be aiming at the African-Americans on

the streets of the United States of America as the real white barons sit behind closed doors and

smoke it safely. To make it fair, the police should arrest the white people who are also smoking

weed from their safe backyards because they are also criminals just like the African-Americans

who are being arrested in the streets of America (The Definitive Guide to Cultivation &

Consumption of Medical Marijuana Paperback, April, 2015).

Weed is harmless when compared to tobacco and alcohol

On a fair ground, we can compressively assert that weed is less addictive when compared

with alcohol and tobacco. In this decade, there is an ongoing honest debate among the scientist
 Surname 4

about the health effects of weed when compared to the health effects due to alcohol and tobacco

use. The scientists have come into a common consensus that moderate usage of marijuana poses

no health effects to health adults who smoke it. Dr. Robert Richards of the University of Ohio

compares the claims that weed is a gateway to usage of more dangerous drugs to the Reefer

Madness images of suicide, rape and murder (6 Powerful Reasons to Legalize Marijuana,

July 2014).

According to Barbaresco, S. et al. (2015), alcohol turns its users to maniacs behind the

wheel, domestic abusers or barroom brawlers whereas causal use of weed poses little or no

health risk to their users. They add that weed has never been linked to any serious diseases while

tobacco and alcohol are the basis of many chronic illnesses such as liver cirrhosis and lung

cancer. Weed does affect even lungs that much. At worst, heavy users of marijuana may only

experience symptoms of bronchitis such as coughing and wheezing (Barbaresco, S. et al. 58).

Also when thinking economically, Weed can be the biggest cash crop since cotton. Weed

is a big industry and a profitable one that if it can be legalized it can boost the economy of the

United States of America and help in creating job opportunities that will solve the problem of

unemployment in America. A good example is Colorado which has earned about $73.5 million

revenue from the selling of weed and weed related products just for the short period of time since

it legalized marijuana (Acevedo, D. 12).

Cannabis sativa has legitimate medical benefits

Weed has tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) which researchers think

have medical applications. Dr. Jennifer Welsh, a professor in the Oxford University, asserts that

THC has the ability of relieving pain in various body parts while CBD has the ability to impact
 Surname 5

the brain positively. Drugs such as Dronabinol have been found with traces of THC are effective

than smoking weed (6 Powerful Reasons to Legalize Marijuana, July 2014).

Even with this medical benefit and the legalization of weed in some states of the United

States, physicians have not yet been trained on ways of prescribing marijuana. Dr. Jean

Antonucci was quoted by the CNN saying that she feels completely in darkness about the

medical treatments of marijuana. She furthered that she dont know the right dosage of the drug

and whether the patients should eat, smoke or vaporize it. This shows that most physicians have

no knowledge about the usage of marijuana and physician schools are still not covering it in their

syllabus. Through legalizing marijuana, physicians will be taught on how to prescribe it to their

patients hence being beneficial to the health sector (Barbaresco, S. et al. 64).

Even so, some people may urge that marijuana is the leading drug that is cause of school

drop-out and indiscipline cases among teenager. This is not true since everything stars in the

mind. Marijuana is just being used as a scapegoat for most teenagers indiscipline and poor

parenting practices. If a parent brings up his or her child the correct way, then the child will have

high standards of discipline and will be aware of the importance of education.

Conclusion

On fair grounds, marijuana has more advantages just like other cash crops such as cotton,

tobacco etc. If legalized, they can improve the economy of the United States of America, ensure

equity among all races and ensure that physicians are taught the right way of prescribing it to

their patients so as to maximize on its benefits in the health sector.

 Surname 6

Work Cited

Barbaresco, S., Courtemanche, C. J., & Qi, Y. Positive Effects of Marijuani. Journal of health,

40, 54-68, 2017.

Acevedo, D., & Stone, L. C. Legalization of Marijuani. London. Print.

Jorge Cervantes, The Cannabis Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to Cultivation &

Consumption of Medical Marijuana Paperback . April 20, 2015. Web:

<https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Encyclopedia-Definitive-Cultivation-

Consumption/dp/1878823345>

Owen Poindexter. 6 Powerful Reasons to Legalize Marijuana, From the New York Times. July

31, 2014. Web: <https://www.alternet.org/drugs/6-powerful-reasons-new-york-times-says-end-

marijuana-prohibition>