The Legalization Of Marijuana

4 Pages 1056 Words

This is only a tool for research not my actual paper:


Why legalize marijuana? The legalization of marijuana will reduce narcotic drug use, crime, and create a better society. Marijuana's effect on people is greatly over exaggerated, in that marijuana acts as a scapegoat for many of society's problems today. Marijuana is blamed today for leading to the use of narcotic drugs, this claim has never been proven, the only grounds for that statement is, marijuana is a more widespread and more sampled drug. There are many reasons presented by both sides why or why not marijuana should be legalized.
Chronic marijuana users may develop a motivational syndrome characterized by decreased motivation, and preoccupation with taking drugs, or what is contrived as generally lazy. The relationship of this syndrome to marijuana use however, has not been proven. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, and reaction time. The effect of long-term use on the intellect is unknown. There is no evidence that marijuana induces or causes brain damage ("marijuana" 2, Microsoft). In 1991, almost half the oncologists who answered a Harvard Medical School Survey said they would prescribe marijuana for relief of chemotherapy side effects were it legal, and most had already recommended it to their patients (Baum, 132).

Marijuana grows throughout mild to hot regions, with more potent varieties produced in dry, humid, climates. Marijuana is defined as a cannabis plant; and or a preparation made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant, smoked or eaten to induce euphoria, or “high”.
The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that we presently have 20 million regular users of marijuana in the United States (Heerema 130). The inclusion of drug users within society is in turn based on the premise that the desire to alter consciousness is a normal human trait, ...