Argumentative Essay On Marijuana Legalization

Over the past several years the support for marijuana legalization is rapidly growing in the US. A recent poll in 2015 shows that 58% of Americans say that the drug should be legal while only 42% say it should stay illegal. Most polls regarding Americans and their pot use hover around the 40% mark for having tried marijuana at least once which is equivalent to about 127.7 million people, nearly half the country has already tried marijuana which is more than how many Americans know who Jennifer Lawrence is. To put this into perspective, that's greater than the population of California, Texas, and New York combined. Aside from its popularity Marijuana also has many health benefits and helps people from small everyday problems, to helping reduce
cancer. Marijuana is used to alleviate a lot of medical disorders. According to Discovery Health, “Marijuana has been extremely successful in relieving nausea, which is extremely good for cancer patients suffering from nausea as a side effect from chemotherapy, it also helps cancer patients cope with anxiety and pain.” Cannabis can also help slow cancer as showed in a government conducted study published in 2007 reporting that cannabis has been proved to "slow the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent”. Furthermore the drug has been known to help patients suffering a loss of appetite due to side effects from Aids/HIV. Additionally it helps relax muscle tension,spasms , and chronic pain, as researcher Mark Ware, assistant professor of anesthesia and family medicine at McGill University in Montreal says, "About 30% to 40% of patients attending a chronic pain clinic use cannabis as part of their pain control strategy, and have found it extremely successful". Not to mention marijuana can be a safe and useful sleep aid. The clinical pharmacology therapy says that “Over 2.2 million people use marijuana for better sleep and relaxation benefits.” This can also be another benefit for cancer patients. The “national cancer institute announced in a study that cancer patients who ingested a cannabis plant reported more restful sleep and relaxation”. Did you know that marijuana inhibits dreams? Numerous studies have shown that using marijuana before bed reduces REM sleep. Researchers believe this is why marijuana users report fewer dreams throughout their sleep. Studies show that marijuana increases the time the brain spends in deep sleep, which leads to less REM sleep, which is why the user feels more relaxed and rested but prevents dreams.

However, many people believe that making it legal will give children the impression that its use is safe and okay, studies have shown that young teens experience various setbacks from using marijuana, and one of the most widespread arguments against marijuana is that it has a high potential of abuse.
By making it legal we our setting a bad example for the next generations to come. It has been proved that if young kids are around drugs in their childhood, they will most likely fall victim later on and become a user. Marijuana effects the brain, reduces thinking, memory and learning. Now it is true marijuana may have some setbacks but According to the national control drug policy, “1 in 11 users will become addicted. Although this may be true, studies have shown that not one person has died from a marijuana overdose. From a 2012 study from a team of drug experts in the U.K, they assessed the combined effects against others and the user of marijuana to be less harmful than by the use of alcohol or tobacco. “A number of investigators have addressed this issue and found that only a relatively small percentage of those who try marijuana will become addicted. Researchers found that of those who had tried marijuana at least once, only about 9 percent actually get addicted to the drug”. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain giving the sense of
euphoria(you-for-e-ah). Smoking marijuana will certainly affect awareness, but it does not cause permanent to the brain damage.

Marijuana helps with many health disorders and is very useful in the medical profession. The long term side effects have not been proven to be harmful. It causes some memory loss and you may have a hard time remembering things that occurred during intoxication, but It has been used as a medicine since the ancient Asian dynasty. In my opinion given the benefits and lack of addiction, marijuana should be legalized in all states across the U.S.