Legalization of Marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana in the United States Imagine that someone makes a small decision that will affect the rest of his or her life. What if that small decision was to smoke marijuana for the first time? Maybe he or she never thought that someone could get addicted to marijuana, or maybe he or she simply had no idea that marijuana could have so many negative affects on daily life. That small decision, regardless, will leave that person’s life headed down the wrong path. As crazy as it sounds, my own life was negatively affected by marijuana. Being a young child with divorced parents was rough for me, as it is for many children. My experiences were a little bit different than what most kids go through, however. My siblings and I were locked out of my father’s house every other weekend. I did not know it at the time, but we were locked out so that he and his wife could smoke marijuana. My dad has told me many times that marijuana led him to try further drugs. Because of drugs, he ended up in prison, where he stayed for ten years. My dad missed all of my sport events, dances, graduations, and most importantly, watching me grow into the person that I am today. Marijuana is a brown and green mix of dried leaves and female flowers of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, used in cigarette form as a narcotic or hallucinogen (Webster, Inc. 456). The legalization of marijuana in the United States is a very controversial topic for many people because it is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. In this paper I will argue against the legalization of marijuana for both recreational and medicinal purposes in the United States. I will use facts about its health effects, affects on daily life, and abuse of the drug. Throughout the paper, I will refute some common misunderstood concepts about marijuana. People that argue marijuana should be legalized most usually take the stance that, “marijuana is used for medicinal purposes.” It is true that

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