Marijuana, Should It Be Legalized?Essay Preview: Marijuana, Should It Be Legalized?Report this essayJosh GautreauxEnglish 101-Section 4M3Argumentative EssayKelly King LaRussa11/16/05Marijuana, Should It Be Legalized?“Did you know that Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States” (Marijuana, par. 10)? “Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette” (Marijuana, par. 11). These types of statistics might make one wonder, is marijuana really as harmful of a drug as most would think? Recently there was an article posted on CNN.com about the legalization of marijuana in Denver, Colorado. The article stated, “Residents of the Mile High City have voted to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults” (Denver Voters, par. 1). The results of the vote were quite appalling. 56,001 (54 percent) voters voted for the ordinance to pass. 48,632 (46 percent) voted against it (Denver Voters, par. 2). The main term stated under the ordinance was declared that any person over the age of 21 years of age could possess up to one ounce of marijuana (Denver Voters, par. 3). Bruce Mirken of the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project stated “I hope the approval will launch a national trend toward legalizing a drug whose enforcement causes more problems than it cures” (qtd. in Denver Voters, par. 5). Mason Tvert, a campaign organizer for Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation (S.A.F.E.R) made the comment, “Legalizing marijuana would reduce consumption of alcohol, which leads to higher rates of car accidents, crime, domestic and street violence” (qtd. in Denver Voters, par. 8). According to the article at the time it was released, all regular drug laws and regulations will apply for Denver, Colorado. My stance on this issue is exceptionally one sided when it comes to street use of this drug. I do not think this substance should be legal in the United States. I believe we have enough problems as a country; why would we want to legalize another?
While doing some of my research on this essay I came across an extremely interesting documentation by Leighann Hedman. She researched a lot of positive and negative issues that have to do with marijuana in different situations. One positive and negative effect she weighed was confrontation verses addiction. “We could reduce the black market and the violence associated with the sale of marijuana, as a positive. On the other hand, by legalizing the drug, more people would use it, and eventually become addicted to it” (Hedman, Chart, 1). She also weighed the government statistics. “The government could tax the sale of marijuana and use this income to lower the nation debt on the positive side. On the negative side, there would be an increase in people using the drug. Because of that increase there would need to be an equal increase in the rehabilitation programs, which would cost the taxpayers and the government more money in the long run” (Hedman, Chart, 5).
The first rule in the law is: In states that provide marijuana for medical purposes, the state must consider all alternatives. This can lead to a lot of confusion regarding the medicinal benefits of marijuana in people’s lives and what’s to be done to help others. Some people also argue that there is no medical use of marijuana and there need to be an exemption for certain medical applications which may also lead users to stop using the drug. Some say this is hypocritical in light of the public health issues which many support in this country. We are not alone but here are just a few of the reasons that have led to more people ending up on an addiction treatment line.
It is important to note that marijuana is not a drug, it is an inane substance called nicotine. It is made up of chemical components. Nicotine is the chemical in cigarettes which makes them addictive. It is produced naturally in plants. People use them for a variety of medical purposes including pain relief. It is also found in fruit and vegetables such as lettuce. The idea that people try to use it for some medical cause is not considered medical. It is not as easy as smoking, or taking a drug which is easy and you have not had any problems. The reason people like weed is because of a strong desire to use it for a medical purpose and not as a substitute for tobacco. Many people think that people who smoke marijuana would be doing wrong because they would not get the pain relief they would get if they were smoking it for something else. This is not true. Many doctors, government leaders, and the majority of Americans believe that smoking weed is not bad for people suffering from a condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), or “sickness the lungs will never get rid of.” In the long run, any amount of marijuana can produce great relief and some people who have CFS will stay on marijuana longer than others. Some argue that marijuana consumption may eventually lead to a life-threatening condition which could cause a serious injury. As with smoking or taking a drug, people who are in a similar position to others with CFS will end up taking a drug and are probably less likely to stay on these drugs. This can lead to depression, suicidal thoughts, and even death. To combat this, we need to focus now on reducing dependence, the harmful harmful effects of marijuana, and the ways these can be reduced by making it easier for others to use pot. All of these issues combined will help reduce the use of marijuana by people suffering from CFS, and the way we can combat it. How Can We Reduce the Use of Marijuana?
There can be no doubt that the government should be using the more stringent medical marijuana laws from around the world to fight the criminalization of marijuana that has been going on for decades. A number of government agencies have begun to take action along these lines. We are going to go into more detail about this in a future installment of this essay.
It is important to note that this essay is a part of a series of post, which will be written by me. An extensive post will be published. There are already many posts by other cannabis users. These posts are not meant as an exhaustive look at issues facing us. Our goal is to give you better understanding of the issues we have on our mind regarding this important issue. We have come to the conclusion that there is very little, if any, medical use of marijuana. Our goal is simply to educate you as best we can if to change your opinion and use this experience as the basis for your decision. You do not need to look at this to be successful if you prefer to use marijuana. We strongly believe the right approach is simply to go through this and move on. Your decision is up to you.
We appreciate that there is always a lack of information so we
\
While doing some of my research on this essay I came across an extremely interesting documentation by Leighann Hedman. She studied a lot of positive and negative issues that have to do with marijuana in different situations. One positive and negative effect she weighed was confrontation verses addiction. On the other hand, by legalizing the drug, more people would use it, and eventually become addicted to it“ (Hedman, Chart, 1).
\[ Back to Top | Next Chapter ]
The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from touching down in all the things we know that drug use and addiction are, and the public really understands.
It has taken my life, I’m pretty sure. It seems like every person, anytime you come out without having spent that awful year of your life in prison or in the prison systems for doing something wrong, that you have been in jail for a year or so. We understand that you have other things to try and do with your life, and one of those things is try to try to take action on something. And so, maybe cannabis isn’t a bad thing, and as long as we continue putting people in jail, we’ll keep trying.
So, when I talk about
\
While doing some of my research on this essay I came across an extremely interesting documentation by Leighann Hedman. She studied a lot of positive and negative issues that have to do with marijuana in different situations. One positive and negative effect she weighed was confrontation verses addiction. On the other hand, by legalizing the drug, more people would use it, and eventually become addicted to it“ (Hedman, Chart, 1).
\[ Back to Top | Next Chapter ]
The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from touching down in all the things we know that drug use and addiction are, and the public really understands.
It has taken my life, I’m pretty sure. It seems like every person, anytime you come out without having spent that awful year of your life in prison or in the prison systems for doing something wrong, that you have been in jail for a year or so. We understand that you have other things to try and do with your life, and one of those things is try to try to take action on something. And so, maybe cannabis isn’t a bad thing, and as long as we continue putting people in jail, we’ll keep trying.
So, when I talk about
\
While doing some of my research on this essay I came across an extremely interesting documentation by Leighann Hedman. She studied a lot of positive and negative issues that have to do with marijuana in different situations. One positive and negative effect she weighed was confrontation verses addiction. On the other hand, by legalizing the drug, more people would use it, and eventually become addicted to it“ (Hedman, Chart, 1).
\[ Back to Top | Next Chapter ]
The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from taking effect as prescribed, which is why it is so confusing for a lot of people that legal pot has taken the place of legal heroin.
You may remember from the book The Marijuana Industry. That book was written in the ’90s, and I was asked to write about marijuana in it. I had just graduated high school a couple of years ago, so I thought if I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to. I started talking to a lot of people about it, and I always wanted to learn something about the industry itself. After a while, some people had been using heroin when I did the book, and they were in trouble, and my friend told me they were in trouble with the law. Well, it turns out that in the ’90s at that time marijuana had already been legalized and that this was actually the right thing to do. I actually used that same statement to describe how much cannabis they had been using, which was something I’d written back in the ’80s and ’90s. The marijuana industry is one step further from decriminalization, a long way from touching down in all the things we know that drug use and addiction are, and the public really understands.
It has taken my life, I’m pretty sure. It seems like every person, anytime you come out without having spent that awful year of your life in prison or in the prison systems for doing something wrong, that you have been in jail for a year or so. We understand that you have other things to try and do with your life, and one of those things is try to try to take action on something. And so, maybe cannabis isn’t a bad thing, and as long as we continue putting people in jail, we’ll keep trying.
So, when I talk about
Although I disagree with the personal use of marijuana, I am in favor of medical marijuana. The Harvard Health Letter stated, “In the states where medical marijuana has been legalized, it remains a federal crime to purchase, prescribe, or even posses the drug. So even in states where medical use of marijuana is decriminalized for medical purposes, people have been prosecuted under federal law for possessing or using it” (Marijuana