Does Legalizing Marijuana Really Make Sense? Should marijuana be sold freely and made available to everyone? To me it makes somewhat sense. There are several beneficial effects as well as there are some very not as much. The debate over the legalization is very heated here in the United States. Marijuana is legal in some states for medical purposes only and others have not quite been convinced of the cannabis. Our newly re-elected president, Barack Obama, says he is against legalizing marijuana. So, “Puff the Magic Dragon” has bit the dust (Bernadine Healy, U.S. News Web site, Feb. 4, 2009). I have read an excerpt from the book Good Reasons for Contemporary Arguments that will go further into reasons for this topic I have chosen to write my essay on. In my opinion, this green proposal could possibly get the United States out of the deficit that is spoken of on a daily basis. People are going to manufacture, use, and sell the drug; so why not make it legal and slap a tax on it? Revenue is there to be made. It could be known as a veritable marijuana economic-stimulus package (Joe Klein, Time, April 2009). This argument is ranked number one right now for the new administration among the thousands of possible actions voted upon on the website by the public. It stands above stem cell research, the war in Iraq, and Wall Street bailouts (Bernadine Healy, U.S. News Website, February 4, 2009). President Barack Obama gives a flat “no” to the idea, although he admits to toking the drug in his younger days. In actual realization, I really don’t think we will get any further other than marijuana being solely available for medical intervention only. I believe it should be a legal option for everyone in every state to be able to receive the medical marijuana therapy to relieve themselves of different ailments like others living in the states that reinforce the drug. Although marijuana is mostly used recreationally and can be abused, it
Cited: Healey, Bernadine. “Legalize Marijuana? Obama Was Right to Say No”. U.S. News. 4 February, 2009. Web site. Klein, Joe. “Why Legalizing Marijuana Makes Sense”. Time, April 2009. Print.