Essay
Keeping Non-Medical Use Marijuana Illegal with Penalties and Fines
Non-medical use Marijuana should not be legalized. The penalties should not be lessened and any fines required should remain the same. Marijuana, for description purposes in this essay will also be described as the drug, cannabis, pot or weed. I have only smoked the drug once. I did not feel high, and there was definitely no euphoria. It made me nauseous and gave me a terrible headache. Admittedly, my personal experience is lacking. However, I have seen the effects on my nephews. Let’s assume these boys have a tremendous amount of potential to be successful productive adults – because they do. As soon as they started smoking, the effect was immediate. There was no urgency to get to school or go to work. They seem to forget all of the important items that need to be taken care of, and they lacked all motivation and drive they used to have. It became more important to smoke weed than to do anything productive. Subsequently, they both lost their jobs. One to a random drug check and one for not showing up (choosing smoking over working). It’s just tragic because it’s so easy to access and right now it’s illegal. Imagine what will happen if it were made legal. Marijuana causes distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving and problems with learning and memory. The current penalties for possessing marijuana range from $2,000 to $10,000 fines with no jail time having less than one kilogram, all the way up to 10-years to life in prison with millions of dollars in fines for possessing 100 to 1,000 plants (with intent to distribute). This leads to one of largest arguments to legalizing the drug. Some argue it would allow police and court resources to be freed up for more serious crimes. And that it would also allow the FDA to regulate the quality and safety of the drug. And also argue that legalization would add tax revenue. Later in the paper, I will
Non-medical use Marijuana should not be legalized. The penalties should not be lessened and any fines required should remain the same. Marijuana, for description purposes in this essay will also be described as the drug, cannabis, pot or weed. I have only smoked the drug once. I did not feel high, and there was definitely no euphoria. It made me nauseous and gave me a terrible headache. Admittedly, my personal experience is lacking. However, I have seen the effects on my nephews. Let’s assume these boys have a tremendous amount of potential to be successful productive adults – because they do. As soon as they started smoking, the effect was immediate. There was no urgency to get to school or go to work. They seem to forget all of the important items that need to be taken care of, and they lacked all motivation and drive they used to have. It became more important to smoke weed than to do anything productive. Subsequently, they both lost their jobs. One to a random drug check and one for not showing up (choosing smoking over working). It’s just tragic because it’s so easy to access and right now it’s illegal. Imagine what will happen if it were made legal. Marijuana causes distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving and problems with learning and memory. The current penalties for possessing marijuana range from $2,000 to $10,000 fines with no jail time having less than one kilogram, all the way up to 10-years to life in prison with millions of dollars in fines for possessing 100 to 1,000 plants (with intent to distribute). This leads to one of largest arguments to legalizing the drug. Some argue it would allow police and court resources to be freed up for more serious crimes. And that it would also allow the FDA to regulate the quality and safety of the drug. And also argue that legalization would add tax revenue. Later in the paper, I will