Pros And Cons Of Marijuana Legalization
Debate on Legalization
By:
University of Iowa
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate on the legalization of marijuana. It has been going on for over 75 years and will continue to be debated even if it gets legalized. There are many supporters for each, with those for legalization taking a slight advantage in recent years. Advocates for legalization rely on the medicinal value and the economic benefits that legalization would entail. There are so many benefits of marijuana that are often overlooked. The hemp plant, which could be used as a major cash crop is one of them as well. On the other side are those against legalization. These people rely on the support that marijuana is hazardous to the health and mind of an individual …show more content…
If it becomes legal it will likely be taxed a lot and regulated, much like alcohol and tobacco. This will likely cause more illegal trafficking because there will be many people out there growing more potent products that are not taxed or regulated. These illegal growers will be pushing their product on to the consumers and the consumers will likely try to buy the more potent product, thus straying away from the legal product (CNBC, 2010). This is a reason why legalizing marijuana would be ineffective. The amount of people who use marijuana will likely increase a lot once legalization happens. Look at the number for alcohol and tobacco usage. There are 129 million users of alcohol and 70.9 million users of tobacco compared to marijuana’s current 15.2 million users and that is when it is still illegal (CNBC, 2010). The number of marijuana users will likely skyrocket over the years if it became legal. CNBC (2010) states that if legalization happens then it will lead to more youths using the drug because it is more available to them, as is the case with alcohol and tobacco. This is especially discouraging because when used as a youth, marijuana is far more dangerous to the mind. A developing mind should not take intoxicating drugs as it could hinder their development. One last issue is the high rate of intoxication of marijuana usage and the fact that people will likely be driving while under the influence of marijuana. “Marijuana is almost always consumed to the point of intoxication” (Logan Lane, 2013). This is obviously an issue because people are likely to drive after they’ve smoked because you stay intoxicated for a long time when smoking marijuana. That could lead to more accidents, which is already at too high of a
By:
University of Iowa
Abstract
There is an ongoing debate on the legalization of marijuana. It has been going on for over 75 years and will continue to be debated even if it gets legalized. There are many supporters for each, with those for legalization taking a slight advantage in recent years. Advocates for legalization rely on the medicinal value and the economic benefits that legalization would entail. There are so many benefits of marijuana that are often overlooked. The hemp plant, which could be used as a major cash crop is one of them as well. On the other side are those against legalization. These people rely on the support that marijuana is hazardous to the health and mind of an individual …show more content…
If it becomes legal it will likely be taxed a lot and regulated, much like alcohol and tobacco. This will likely cause more illegal trafficking because there will be many people out there growing more potent products that are not taxed or regulated. These illegal growers will be pushing their product on to the consumers and the consumers will likely try to buy the more potent product, thus straying away from the legal product (CNBC, 2010). This is a reason why legalizing marijuana would be ineffective. The amount of people who use marijuana will likely increase a lot once legalization happens. Look at the number for alcohol and tobacco usage. There are 129 million users of alcohol and 70.9 million users of tobacco compared to marijuana’s current 15.2 million users and that is when it is still illegal (CNBC, 2010). The number of marijuana users will likely skyrocket over the years if it became legal. CNBC (2010) states that if legalization happens then it will lead to more youths using the drug because it is more available to them, as is the case with alcohol and tobacco. This is especially discouraging because when used as a youth, marijuana is far more dangerous to the mind. A developing mind should not take intoxicating drugs as it could hinder their development. One last issue is the high rate of intoxication of marijuana usage and the fact that people will likely be driving while under the influence of marijuana. “Marijuana is almost always consumed to the point of intoxication” (Logan Lane, 2013). This is obviously an issue because people are likely to drive after they’ve smoked because you stay intoxicated for a long time when smoking marijuana. That could lead to more accidents, which is already at too high of a