Marijuana Prohibition Has Failed United States
Marijuana Prohibition Has Failed United States
In today’s society, criminalizing the use of marijuana has proved to be as effective as prohibition ended the consumption of alcohol in 1920. In retrospect, many people find ways in which to illegally obtain the drug. This drug has infiltrated our nation to the point that many citizens find the drug readily available in society and according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 34.8% of 12th graders admitted to abusing the drug in the year prior to the survey (NIDA). In today’s culture, the percentage of young people that use marijuana is still on the rise from year to year. Yet still surprisingly, legalization of marijuana continues to bring controversy to the public.
The public has always been misguided between the harmful effects of marijuana use and the benefactors economically and medically. The public views marijuana as “bad” mostly because citizens perceive the term drug as an illegal substance. In fact, most drugs are over-the-counter and prescribed medicines for patients. Although marijuana has harmful factors contributing to its public vision, marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. According to Stephen Sidney,
MD, associate director for research for Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California, a large HMO looked at
65,177 men and women age 15-49. Over 10 years, marijuana users died no sooner than nonusers. The second study looked at 45,450 Swedish army conscripts. They were 18-20 years old when asked about marijuana use. Fifteen years later, the marijuana users were just as likely to remain alive as nonusers.
And since marijuana smoking can't kill outright, there's no such thing as a fatal marijuana overdose
(DeNoon). The fact is that no one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications, including relief from nausea and appetite loss, reduction of intraocular (within the eye) pressure, reduction of muscle
In today’s society, criminalizing the use of marijuana has proved to be as effective as prohibition ended the consumption of alcohol in 1920. In retrospect, many people find ways in which to illegally obtain the drug. This drug has infiltrated our nation to the point that many citizens find the drug readily available in society and according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 34.8% of 12th graders admitted to abusing the drug in the year prior to the survey (NIDA). In today’s culture, the percentage of young people that use marijuana is still on the rise from year to year. Yet still surprisingly, legalization of marijuana continues to bring controversy to the public.
The public has always been misguided between the harmful effects of marijuana use and the benefactors economically and medically. The public views marijuana as “bad” mostly because citizens perceive the term drug as an illegal substance. In fact, most drugs are over-the-counter and prescribed medicines for patients. Although marijuana has harmful factors contributing to its public vision, marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. According to Stephen Sidney,
MD, associate director for research for Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California, a large HMO looked at
65,177 men and women age 15-49. Over 10 years, marijuana users died no sooner than nonusers. The second study looked at 45,450 Swedish army conscripts. They were 18-20 years old when asked about marijuana use. Fifteen years later, the marijuana users were just as likely to remain alive as nonusers.
And since marijuana smoking can't kill outright, there's no such thing as a fatal marijuana overdose
(DeNoon). The fact is that no one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications, including relief from nausea and appetite loss, reduction of intraocular (within the eye) pressure, reduction of muscle
Cited: Alcohol, 2012.Web. 14 Oct. 2012. . DeNoon, Daniel J. "Marijuana Smoking Doesn 't Kill." WebMD. WebMD, 18 Sept. 2003. Web. 14 Oct.