Marijuana: Should it be legal

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Barry Turner

Neal Peters

English 101

29 April 2013

Should it be legal

In 1978 the state legislators of New Mexico made a law allowing

physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients suffering from nausea caused by

chemotherapy, much of this due to the efforts of a cancer patient by the name of Lynn

Pierson. The Federal government modified the law to make it comply with IND

regulations requiring a research program. The FDA also demanded many studies and

required the doctors to fill out many pages of forms for every patient and documenting

their progress, slowing the process to a stand still. This process of getting marijuana to

the patients was taking so long that the New Mexico officials considered using

confiscated marijuana from the state highway patrol. In August of 1978 Lynn Pierson,

who worked so hard for the legalization of marijuana, died of cancer without ever

receiving legal marijuana. A few weeks later the Federal Government suspended the

marijuana program. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics reasons for making it illegal were

that it was highly addictive and caused violent crimes. Today neither of those reasons has

been backed by much data and many experts believe the opposite. According to the

National Household Survey on drug abuse, more than 76 million Americans admit to

trying pot. Along with those who value marijuana; for recreational reasons, many doctors

say that it has medicinal uses as well. The government should look at these acts and
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consider the legalization of marijuana.

There are many arguments against the legalization of marijuana. One commonly

held views is marijuana is “gateway drug” or a drug that opens the door for harder drug

use such as cocaine or heroin. The Institute of Medicine disagrees, and in their 1999

report they explained that marijuana has been mistaken for a “ gateway drug” in the past

because patterns in adolescence drug use is strikingly regular. Because it is the most

commonly used illicit drug, it is likely that it is the first illegal drug people try. Most drug

users begin with alcohol and nicotine, before they use marijuana (Joy 32).

Another complaint about marijuana is that it is a dangerous drug that causes

permanent brain damage. Dr. Iverson of Oxford University says, “Cannabis does not

cause structural damage to the brains of animals as some reports had claimed, nor is there

evidence of long-term damage to the human brain or other than slight

impairments in cognitive function after drug use is stopped (Woolfe 24).” In fact,

commonly used drugs such as aspirin are more dangerous than marijuana. Even though

marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug there have been very few deaths resulting

from its use. Yet thousands of people die every year from the use of aspirin, which causes

gastric bleeding. It has been proven through animal testing, that it is almost impossible

for a human to digest or inhale enough marijuana to cause a state near death (Woolfe 24).

The government is not this strict on other drugs; alcohol and tobacco are both legal

drugs. In terms of its short- term effects marijuana not much different from those caused

by alcohol, as it affects the users psychomotor skills. More than 100,000 people per year

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are killed from alcohol related accidents and health problems (Griffiths 36). Also three

times as many people are killed in alcohol-related accidents than all other illegal drugs

combined. Tobacco, which is far more addictive than marijuana kills more than 430,000

people per year, but is still considered an acceptable and legal drug (Griffiths 36).

It is Ironic that marijuana is safer drug than the legal drugs alcohol, tobacco,

aspirin, barbiturates, and morphine, yet the government spends almost 9 billion dollars a

year to keep drug offenders behind bars. This money could be spent on much better

things, like education systems. For example; from 1986 to 1996 the California state

government built 21 new prisons and only one new university (Ambrosio and Schiraldi

3). In 1969, $65 million was spent by the Nixon administration on the drug war, in 1982

the Reagan administration spent $1.65 billion; and the Clinton administration spent $17.7

billion (Office of National Drug Control Policy). Even with this increase in spending the

use of marijuana is still rising. Why should the government spend billions of dollars

trying to stop a relatively safe drug, when they could be making billions taxing the sales

of marijuana? Also while 58% of the federal inmates are drug offenders, 46% of those are

in for marijuana (Beck and Allen). With the average cost of $23,749 a year per inmate the

states and government could save a lot of money if they sentenced drug abusers t

treatment programs instead of prison (Beck and Allen). What’s the reason for keeping all these people behind bars? Many say that the use

of marijuana causes violent crimes. When the National Commission on Marijuana and

Drug Abuse studied the relationship between marijuana and violent crimes, they found

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“Rather than inducing violent o aggressive behavior through its purported effects of

lowering inhibitions, weakening impulse control and heightening aggressive tendencies,

marijuana was usually found to inhibit the expression of aggressive impulses by pacifying

the user, interfering with muscular coordination, reducing psychomotor activities and

generally producing states of drowsiness, timidity and passivity (Schafer and Raymond

76).”

Today, the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined

populations of Alaska and Wyoming (Irwin 3). In 1998 our incarceration rate was 645

people per 100,000, which is three to ten times higher than the rates of other democratic

societies. Experts believe this incredibly high incarceration rate is due to drug arrests

increasing by as much as 800% in the last fifteen years. After these inmates get out of

prison many o them resort to violent crimes, because it is even less likely that they will

find a job after than before serving a sentence, and most of them are doomed to

unemployment and will likely go back to prison on a more serious offence such as

robbery. If the government legalized the use of marijuana there would be a heavy burden

removed from the courts and prison systems. Many Americans could enjoy a drug safer

and less harmful than the likes of alcohol, tobacco and many prescription drugs with out

the worry of breaking the law. Already 76 million Americans use marijuana and the

number seems to be increasing, despite the increase in government spending in efforts to

control drug use. If the government legalized marijuana, people like Lynn Pierson could

get the medical treatment they deserve and Americans could enjoy a drug that they have

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been using since the founding of this country.