Synthesis Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

The debate on the legalization of marijuana has been a longstanding issue. In the article, “What Science Says About Marijuana” by Philip M. Boffey, Boffey addresses why marijuana should be legalized. The main ideas address are that no one can die from an overdose with marijuana and that marijuana is not potent and addictive like heroin or tobacco. Although it can decrease one’s performance and cause symptoms of bronchitis, it does not have any major health issue and has no connection to causing cancer. Additionally, marijuana causes a mild effect compared to violent outburst and abuse caused by alcohol. Boffey continues to explain the addictiveness to marijuana. Compared to heroin, the withdrawal of marijuana is not as harrowing and is relatively mild. Additionally, many assume that once someone depends on marijuana, they start to use other drugs. However, due to the limited potent of marijuana, 9% only become dependent on marijuana, which is significantly low to 32% of people dependent on tobacco. Therefore, based on the information from his article, Boffey illustrates why marijuana should be legalized. In the article “Cool the Rush to
Marijuana does not have the potency of other drugs, but more time is spent to ban marijuana. In the second article the writer Barber is against the legalization of marijuana and is worried about the future generations as marijuana becomes popular. However, marijuana does not breed as many negative effects in comparison to tobacco. Teenagers can not overdose on marijuana and there is no evidence connecting marijuana to any neurological inability. Additionally, it is easier for people like teenagers to withdraw from marijuana, so if there was a push to stop teenagers from using marijuana, it would not be hard to do.Too much time is spent to ban marijuana, when there are many more problematic drugs like heroin and tobacco that should actually be