The United States Should Not Legalize Marijuana
The United States Should Not Legalize Marijuana
By: Kristy Robertson
One of the most outrageous reasons to have it become legal is that it is all natural and put here by God. Many advocates for legalizing marijuana believe that this is a good reason. There are lots of toxins and chemicals that are put here naturally, does that mean Americans should start smoking those as well?
There are many reasons why marijuana should not be legalized in the United States. The nation should fight to reduce marijuana use to improve the country’s health, education, and productivity.
Some advocates for validating marijuana have argued that the costs of legalization will keep the United States from spending tax dollars on the criminal-justice costs of marijuana law enforcement. This is simply not true. Research has found that the percentage of people in prison for marijuana use is less than one-half of one percent. More than 30 percent, of treatment admissions reported in the Treatment Episode Data Set, are collected from state-funded programs and are referred through the criminal-justice system. Marijuana is a drug abused by individuals recommended to treatment by the court system. The future of drug policy should not be a choice between using the court system or treatment. The goal should be to get these two systems to work together to improve both the nation's safety and health.
If the federal or state government were to legalize marijuana, the number of marijuana users would increase. Research shows that today there are more than 15 million people who use marijuana, compared to the better than 100 million alcohol users and 70 million tobacco users. Though the number of marijuana users might not rise quickly to the current numbers for alcohol and tobacco, if marijuana was legalized, the increase in users would only grow large and rapid with much higher numbers in addiction. As Americans, we need to see that legalization will make the drug become less of a dirty little secret
By: Kristy Robertson
One of the most outrageous reasons to have it become legal is that it is all natural and put here by God. Many advocates for legalizing marijuana believe that this is a good reason. There are lots of toxins and chemicals that are put here naturally, does that mean Americans should start smoking those as well?
There are many reasons why marijuana should not be legalized in the United States. The nation should fight to reduce marijuana use to improve the country’s health, education, and productivity.
Some advocates for validating marijuana have argued that the costs of legalization will keep the United States from spending tax dollars on the criminal-justice costs of marijuana law enforcement. This is simply not true. Research has found that the percentage of people in prison for marijuana use is less than one-half of one percent. More than 30 percent, of treatment admissions reported in the Treatment Episode Data Set, are collected from state-funded programs and are referred through the criminal-justice system. Marijuana is a drug abused by individuals recommended to treatment by the court system. The future of drug policy should not be a choice between using the court system or treatment. The goal should be to get these two systems to work together to improve both the nation's safety and health.
If the federal or state government were to legalize marijuana, the number of marijuana users would increase. Research shows that today there are more than 15 million people who use marijuana, compared to the better than 100 million alcohol users and 70 million tobacco users. Though the number of marijuana users might not rise quickly to the current numbers for alcohol and tobacco, if marijuana was legalized, the increase in users would only grow large and rapid with much higher numbers in addiction. As Americans, we need to see that legalization will make the drug become less of a dirty little secret