Legalization of Marijuana
Essay assignment 2 Hybrid essay,
Draft 1.
Should marijuana be legalized? The matter of the legality of marijuana seems to have been polemic for a long time. Since the early 20th century, laws have been promulgated and implemented to prohibit the cultivation, possession and trade of marijuana in most countries. Meanwhile, efforts also have been made to change the illegal status of cannabis, seen as a part of drug liberalization, i.e. the process of decriminalizing and reducing drug prohibition laws (Drug liberalization, 2013). Despite that the recreational use of marijuana, which has psychoactive effects when consumed (Marijuana, 2013), is severely banned by laws, consumption of cannabis for medicinal purposes is legal in many countries, such as Israel and Canada (Legality of cannabis, 2013). On one hand, in a large number of countries drug legislations are vigorously imposed and the resulting punishment inflicted on illegal consumption varies from a lenient fine to life imprisonment, even execution in some extreme cases in Asia (Legality of cannabis, 2013). On the other hand, possession and consumption of small quantities of marijuana are fairly tolerated and accepted socially, even decriminalized morally, that is, laws are not enforced rigorously against such activity despite being an illicit drug. As a result, different social attitudes towards the legality of cannabis have led to a division in public opinions. In this essay, I will consider a variety of opinions on the issue concerning the legal statues of marijuana and evaluate these viewpoints from my perspective in order to argue in favor of the legalization of marijuana. First of all, one of the main arguments in favor of the legalization of marijuana appears to be economic. Advocates suggest that decriminalizing marijuana would generate tax revenue that is worth billions per year, and consequently, the legalized marijuana industry would create a large number of jobs. To take one example, in the
Draft 1.
Should marijuana be legalized? The matter of the legality of marijuana seems to have been polemic for a long time. Since the early 20th century, laws have been promulgated and implemented to prohibit the cultivation, possession and trade of marijuana in most countries. Meanwhile, efforts also have been made to change the illegal status of cannabis, seen as a part of drug liberalization, i.e. the process of decriminalizing and reducing drug prohibition laws (Drug liberalization, 2013). Despite that the recreational use of marijuana, which has psychoactive effects when consumed (Marijuana, 2013), is severely banned by laws, consumption of cannabis for medicinal purposes is legal in many countries, such as Israel and Canada (Legality of cannabis, 2013). On one hand, in a large number of countries drug legislations are vigorously imposed and the resulting punishment inflicted on illegal consumption varies from a lenient fine to life imprisonment, even execution in some extreme cases in Asia (Legality of cannabis, 2013). On the other hand, possession and consumption of small quantities of marijuana are fairly tolerated and accepted socially, even decriminalized morally, that is, laws are not enforced rigorously against such activity despite being an illicit drug. As a result, different social attitudes towards the legality of cannabis have led to a division in public opinions. In this essay, I will consider a variety of opinions on the issue concerning the legal statues of marijuana and evaluate these viewpoints from my perspective in order to argue in favor of the legalization of marijuana. First of all, one of the main arguments in favor of the legalization of marijuana appears to be economic. Advocates suggest that decriminalizing marijuana would generate tax revenue that is worth billions per year, and consequently, the legalized marijuana industry would create a large number of jobs. To take one example, in the
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