Reasons for the National

Legalization of Marijuana
Michael T.

Reasons 1 through 3: Economic Benefits

1. Taxation of Marijuana
2. The War on Drugs
3. Drug Cartels
Reason 4: Reduced Crime
Reasons 5 through 7: Medical Safety and Uses
5. FDA Regulation
6. Medical Safety
7. Medical Applications
 Neuroprotective Abilities
Reason 8: Hemp Application
 William Randolf Hurst; Explanation on “Why Is Weed Illegal?”
Reason 9: Consequences of Marijuana Prosecution

Myth 1: Addiction
 Children
Myth 2: Increased Crime
Myth 3: Brain Killer
Myth 4: Gateway Drug

Facts 1 and 2: Arrest Statistics

1. Number of Arrests
2. Rate of Arrests
Fact 3: Impossibility of Overdose
Fact 4: Anti-Cancer
Facts 5 and 6: Early America
1. Patriot Use
2. Founding Fathers
 Reasons for the National Legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana has been decriminalized in several states, California included. Unfortunately, decriminalization is
not enough; marijuana needs to be legalized, not just on the state level, but on the federal level.
1. Legalization of marijuana would mean the government could tax marijuana, meaning better
schools, firefighters, etc. The government makes a huge amount of money by taxing alcohol and
tobacco. Taxation of marijuana would mean more cash for the country, and there is a plethora of
ways to spend it. Like for firefighters? Cops? Lower fines? Or better schools?
2. The War on Drugs is just one big, expensive failure. The FBI and other government agencies spend
billions upon billions of dollars on The War on Drugs; as of October 2010, about $41,500,000,000
annually, and increasing by the thousands every second. Unfortunately, that is just the beginning.
There must be police officers, there must be judges, there must be prosecutors, defense attorneys,
court stenographers, prison guards, prison food, prison employees, parole officers, and so on.
Legalization would mean less money being wasted, and it would also mean the freeing up of
resources. The people who had been working on marijuana are now free to concentrate on more
important things like rape, murder, terrorism, etc. It would also mean less unnecessary trials,
shortening wait times for cases.
3. Drug dealers, who are sometimes terrorists, will lose business. Some of the largest opponents of
legal marijuana are drug dealers. Drug dealers have very little competition, and are perfectly
justified to sell marijuana for enormous profit. Legalization of marijuana would lower prices and
allow competition from, most importantly, pharmaceutical companies. Because of that, drug cartels
will see their empires collapse; not even drug cartels can beat out companies with a hundred billion
dollars.
4. Legalization of marijuana would mean cheaper marijuana; therefore, related, more serious,
crimes such as theft would be reduced. Illegal drugs are expensive because they are illegal.
Production, transportation, and sale of illegal drugs has huge risks and must be done is secrecy.
Drug users must come up with the money for this heightened price. Therefore, only the rich can
afford to support their drug use; everyone else often must resort to crimes such as theft. Legalizing
marijuana will greatly reduce risks: production will be in large facilities, transportation will be
significantly more efficient, sale will be as easy buying booze, and none of this will have to be done
in secret.
5. The FDA could regulate the quality and safety of marijuana, like prescription drugs. As explained
later on in this article, marijuana itself cannot cause death; however, contaminants on marijuana
can. If marijuana were legal, the FDA could impose regulations on the production, transportation,
and sale of marijuana, practically guaranteeing quality and safety.
6. Marijuana, by itself, cannot kill you. According to the Department of Justice, “marijuana cannot
induce a lethal response as a result of drug related toxicity”. This means that it is medically
impossible to die from marijuana overdose. That is compared to 2,000 deaths caused by caffeine
overdose, 17,000 deaths caused by cocaine overdose, 85,000 deaths caused by alcohol poisoning,
435,000 deaths caused directly from tobacco, and nearly 800,000 deaths caused by overdose, side
effects, or allergic reactions to prescription drugs(annually, in the US alone). More people die from
tipped over vending machines(2 per year) than marijuana overdose. The European medical journal
The Lancet even stated, “The smoking of cannabis, even in the long term, is not harmful to health. It
would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco.”
7. There are medical benefits of marijuana. Because marijuana is known to rid patients of nausea and
cause “the munchies”, it is great for patients undergoing chemotherapy or who are suffering from
AIDS. It treats glaucoma, an ailment that is not only a leading cause of blindness, but can also cause
your eyeball to explode. Explode. Known for centuries as an exceptional pain reliever, it is used for

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 Reasons for the National Legalization of Marijuana

the treatment of arthritis and, obviously, pain. There is also promising evidence of it being able to
treat Tourette syndrome, which causes physical and vocal tics. It can also combat drug-resistant
pathogens, such as MRSA, which is the bacterium behind several difficult to treat diseases. And,
contrary to what some opponents of marijuana say, there is no known link to lung cancer or
emphysema, both of which you can get from smoking tobacco. This is due to marijuana’s anti-
cancer properties. It can prevent malignant tumors(cancer) and kill gliomas, the type of
tumor/brain cancer that took the life of Senator Ted Kennedy. And because marijuana is a plant,
cannabis, corporations would be unable to patent marijuana as a chemical, or anything else.
Because no patents on it would exist, marijuana would be one of the cheapest medicines available.
 The U.S government was rewarded a patent, #6,630,507, on cannabinoids as
neuroprotectants. This means that they can be used to protect neurons from apoptosis and
degeneration, which can arise from numerous sources, such as stroke, head trauma, and
chronic neurodegenerative diseases. They can also arise from diseases of the nervous
system such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, and schizophrenia.
8. Marijuana can be used industrially. Hemp, a type of cannabis that does not get people high, has
many uses.
i. It has an advantage over trees in the production of paper; according to the Department
of Agriculture, hemp produces four times as much paper (per acre) as wood. In addition,
the hemp would be much easier to harvest; cutting down trees is a long, energy
consuming task.
ii. Hemp has four times the amount of cellulose that is in a corn stalk. Cellulose is used to
produce methanol, a biofuel that has been used to power cars. This methanol can be
used to reduce or possibly even eliminate our need for foreign oil, especially considering
how easy it is to produce and harvest.
iii. Canada, NAFTA, and the United Nations recognize hemp as a commercial crop. The
European Union even subsidizes(essentially, pays) farmers who grow hemp.
iv. It can also make rope, clothes, sails, paint, and it can even be used as a food
supplement.
v. It is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world, and is naturally resistant to bugs and
disease.
 This is actually the reason why marijuana is illegal. William Randolf Hurst feared that hemp
would replace wood in the production of paper; he ran a smear campaign in the 1930's to
scare America into illegalizing all forms of cannabis. Hurst had a paper empire; he owned
hundreds of acres of timber forests and a huge number of paper mills that made paper from
wood pulp. Because hemp was cheaper and more easily produced than wood, Hurst's empire
was at risk. He printed stories, in his newspapers, that Harry J. Anslinger MADE UP, and
manipulated the media into popularizing the anti-marijuana sentiment.
9. Illegal marijuana ruins lives. Say there's a teenager who desperately needs money to go to college.
Someone comes up to him and tells him he can make some money by just carrying drugs across
town. Then he's busted, and gets thrown in jail. In jail, he becomes friends with actual criminals.
Being in a rough crowd like prison changes his personality; he becomes like his friends. Once he
gets out, he's even less likely to make money, and he probably won't be able to get into college
even with the money, because of his criminal record. With no money, no hope, and a criminal
personality, having a crime-free life is almost impossible for him. All of a sudden, he's down the
path of being a lifelong criminal. Because he wanted to have a normal life: go to college, get a job,
be crime-free.

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 Reasons for the National Legalization of Marijuana

Myths
1. “Everyone will become an addict.” There are several tens of millions of smokers of pot in the U.S.
There have been several tens of millions for a long time. But very few people are addicted. Why?
Because, medically, marijuana not very addictive: the cannabinoids in marijuana are not truly
addictive. Unlike nicotine, cannabinoids do not rewire your brain. Rather, your brain craves the high
that comes with the marijuana. It's not a chemical addiction, but rather a habituation to end result.
 “Our kids will get addicted”. Disproving this is simple: alcohol is legal, but the children of
America aren't alcoholics.
 Additionally, a drug dealer has no problem selling to teens, whereas a bar won't serve
to anyone under 21.
 As discussed earlier, legal pot is cheap. Therefore, teenagers won't be as tempted to
sell marijuana to their friends, as they can't make as much money from it.
2. “Crime will go through the roof”. In addition to reduced crime because of the lesser risks of legalize
marijuana, marijuana does not cause users to commit any crimes worse than indecency. Have you
ever seen someone that's high rob a bank? Seriously endangering people's lives is not something
you do when you’re high on weed.
3. “It kills your brain.” It actually protects your brain cells(reason 7, bullet 1). It stops your brain cells
from dying, and as you get older, it keeps your brain cells in tip-top shape. Beyond that, it can
prevent diseases that would damage your brain.
4. “It is a gateway drug.” The only reason marijuana is a “gateway drug” is because those who use
marijuana must come into contact with drug dealers, who are very likely to be using “hard-core”
drugs. This unnecessarily exposes them to illicit drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine. If
marijuana were legalized, a marijuana user may simply stroll to an authorized dealer and safely get
his pot, with little to no contact with hard drugs.

Facts
1. In 2007, police arrested 872,720 people for possession of marijuana; 89% of those arrested were
arrested for only possession.
2. There is an American citizen arrested for violating marijuana laws every 38 seconds in the US.
3. To overdose on marijuana, you would need to smoke nearly 2,000lbs in 15 minutes; this is
medically impossible. There is no way your lungs could handle that much smoke; even if you avoid
suffocation, you would not be able to inhale it all quickly enough.
4. Marijuana is known to ward off cancer, even when smoked; this is despite the fact that
essentially all smokes are cancerous. Marijuana can prevent cancer because it causes older cells to
die, instead of forming malignant tumors.
5. During the 1770’s, cannabis was considered such an important crop that patriots could be jailed
for not growing it. It was used to make sure the new country could support itself financially.
6. Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp on their plantations.

Disclaimer: Reasons for the National Legalization of Marijuana does NOT encourage drug use. Infor-
mation regarding medical benefits is the result of scientific studies, not personal opinions.

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