The legalization of Medical Marijuana has been an issue of debate over the past 20 years. The claims that Marijuana is a dangerous drug and is classified as a schedule one narcotic has now been changing to be more accepted under the terms of medicinal use. Going against federal law, many states throughout the nation have set their own laws regarding the use of this drug.
Currently, many states find a positive use for it in the medical field by helping patients deal with many different forms of pain relief, such as naseau from chemotheropy, helping with eating disorders, and other regular pain ailments. These states have set up qualified medical dispensaries and require patients to be registered under state law. Thousands of patients show strong support for the legalization of marijuana for medical use, and other's show support for the decriminalization. Other forms of support question the cost/reward benefit of the prohibition of marijuana. It has been estimated that the legalization of marijuana could generate billions of dollars in revenue for our country anually, and it would decrease the power the cartel's have in America. People argue that if legalized, and created and distributed in a form similar to that of alcohol, America could flourish in the dispense and control of this drug that is so familiar in our culture.
There are other individuals who would vote against this legalization to marijuana because they believe things such as it would increase use rates and increase criminal activity because it will be then be legal and easier to obtain. Another obvious point why people object to the legalization is because marijuana is, in fact, a drug, and is classified as a schedule one narcotic which is along side with drugs such as meth and heroine. There is also the individuals who favor private prisons and correctional institutions. It is the ability of prohibition to allow these private prisons to make billions of dollars for arresting marijuana users. Over half of arrests in America are for possession of marijuana alone, and the legalization of it will take away from the time, effort, and effectiveness for police officers to focus on the harsher realities of criminals.
There are other individuals who would vote against this legalization to marijuana because they believe things such as it would increase use rates and increase criminal activity because it will be then be legal and easier to obtain. Another obvious point why people object to the legalization is because marijuana is, in fact, a drug, and is classified as a schedule one narcotic which is along side with drugs such as meth and heroine. There is also the individuals who favor private prisons and correctional institutions. It is the ability of prohibition to allow these private prisons to make billions of dollars for arresting marijuana users. Over half of arrests in America are for possession of marijuana alone, and the legalization of it will take away from the time, effort, and effectiveness for police officers to focus on the harsher realities of criminals.
In order to work at this conflict, individuals need to be more accepting of one another's thoughts on the legalization. It is very obvious there are positives to both sides. For those using marijuana for medical reasons, it is obvious they would want medicine to help their illness, and not be in trouble for it. There are also millions of people who have been using marijuana for recreational reasons for the past 70 years,have had no negative effects, and built many solid reasons on why it should be legalized. On the apposing end, those who do not believe the drug should be legalized, have every right to feel this way. There is clearly a reason marijuana is scheduled a level one narcotic, and many people, such as parents, obviously would not want their children having easier access to the drug. The drug being legalized means that it will be seen going on freely, and be interpreted as a drug that does no harm if people are legally being allowed to smoke it to help them medically. Individuals believe too much of what they hear, they develop a position that will not change, and then a lot of conflict evolves from this. If people would just dig deeper and try to understand other's view on things like legalization, i believe the issue would not be such a large stumbling block.
I have trouble with this topic as well, deciding whether or not I support it being legalized or not. There are so many supporting arguments on each side that leads to the difficultly in a decision overall. As much as I believe it would be very beneficial for medical use and since there is so specific documentation of death from the use of marijuana, it makes it hard to not want it to be legalized. But some do tend to call it a 'gateway drug' to harder drugs that do cause addiction. I found it interesting that you talked about the fact that many Americans are being arrested for using marijuana and those arrests could be focused on other, more serious crimes. I have never really thought about that before, and it is a good point.
ReplyDeleteI feel that marijuana needs to be reevaluated under modern technology in order to legalize it for recreational purposes. If it can be proven that marijuana is worse for the body than alcohol and tobacco, then I see no reason why it should be totally illegal. One problem is the stigma that was associated with the product back when it was made illegal decades ago. In order to get marijuana banned, more extreme views had to be taken to convince the public that it was bad. I wonder why alcohol isn't seen as a gateway drug if a tolerance can be build up and more and more alcohol needs to be consumed to achieve the desired effect.I feel there is a double standard here that should be brought down.
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