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Why Marijuana Should be Legalized

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Why Marijuana Should be Legalized
Mollie Farragher
Mrs. Nunes
Online English 12
16 January 2015
Why Marijuana should be legalized Multiple studies have found that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco yet somehow is still considered a schedule 1 drug along with other more extreme drugs such as heroin. Marijuana is the leaves and shredded flowers of hemp plant called Cannabis sativa which is usually a green or gray mixture. Marijuana can be not only smoked in the form a joint, blunt, bowl, bong, etc but can also be eaten. Uses of marijuana can be medically or recreationally and the use of it can be dated back to thousands of years ago in Asia when its effect was discovered for medical and spiritual purposes. “The main mind-altering (psychoactive) ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol)” (Marijuana, gmu.edu). Marijuana should be legalized not only for the immense possibility of tax revenue but also because regulating marijuana makes society safer, providing job opportunities and the countless health benefits. Despite that marijuana has been known as being an agent for reaching bliss it also provides many health benefits that could benefit many with a variety of conditions. In fact “the survey of more than 1,500 doctors and nearly 3,000 consumers found that 69 percent of doctors said medical marijuana can help with certain conditions and treatments” (Preidt). Marijuana’s significant medical benefits include renewing a cancer patients appetite, providing sleep aid (helping those with insomnia), lowering anxiety, relieving those with chronic pain, and many others. Also if Marijuana was legalized and used for medical purposes it would then have to go through the FDA for regulating meaning there wouldn’t be a risk of it being laced with something else. A popular marijuana strain known for being an option to treat seizures is called Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s Web medical potency is due to its high CBD content and the strain is also effective with little to no



Cited: Blaszczak-Boxe, Agata. "Marijuana 's History: How One Plant Spread Through the World." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/48337-marijuana-history-how-cannabis-travelled-world.html>. "Charlotte 's Web Strain Information." Leafly. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.leafly.com/sativa/charlottes-web>. "Cost of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis." Cost of Marijuana Prohibition Economic Analysis. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/>. "MARIJUANA." MARIJUANA. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-2/grass.html>. Preidt, Robert. "More Doctors than Consumers Say Medical Marijuana Should Be Legal: Survey." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-doctors-than-consumers-say-medical-marijuana-should-be-legal-survey/>. Robles, Yesenia. "Pot Revenues Starting to Help Select Schools on Pricey Projects." - The Denver Post. 31 July 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. http://www.denverpost.com/marijuana/ci_26247743/pot-revenues-starting-help-select-schools-pricey-projects. Runyon, Luke. "Legal Marijuana Drives Booming Demand For Denver 's Warehouses." NPR. NPR, 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2014/11/14/364138298/legal-marijuana-drives-booming-demand-for-denvers-warehouses>. Sarich, Christina. "Colorado Crime Rates Down 14.6% Since Legalizing Marijuana." Natural Society. 19 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://naturalsociety.com/colorado-crime-rates-14-6-since-legalizing-marijuana/>. "Top 10 Pros and Cons - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. 6 May 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000141>. Wolff, Madeline. "Legalizing Marijuana Can Reduce Crime, Increase Revenue for State." The Sundial. 9 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. <http://sundial.csun.edu/2009/11/legalizing-marijuana-can-reduce-crime-increase-revenue-for-state/>.

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