Argumentative Essay

Go Green!

What comes to mind when you hear the word Marijuana? Munchies? A small green plant with a very strong smell? Maybe you believe that it is a gateway drug. ​In the United States, the legalization of Marijuana (also known as pot or cannabis) is a very controversial topic. Some might think that it may lead to addiction and car accidents. ​ However, Marijuana is a psychoactive drug from a Cannabis plant that can be used for many different recreational purposes. This plant has many benefits. For example, legalizing this drug can reduce incarceration, crime, and violence rates, along with boosting the economy by creating more jobs and being medicinal for those that are ill. Therefore, Marijuana should be legalized in all 50 states throughout the United States of America. 

(Aaron T.)       Marijuana is a recreational drug that has been perceived to be harmful and dangerous, when that is ultimately not the case. This perception has led to the prohibition of marijuana and its criminalization, which has led to a huge amount of arrests over the years on individuals with just a nonviolent possession of it. “Marijuana prohibition has been a costly failure. In 2013, there were 693,482 marijuana arrests in the U.S.—more than 45 percent of all drug arrests. Nearly 88 percent were for simple possession, not sale or manufacture” (Gale, 2020). These arrests for plain possession of a drug that causes no harm, have led to an unnecessary waste of funds on incarceration of individuals. A lot of these inmates have received harsher sentences in comparison to other criminal offenses just for possession of marijuana. These individuals who have been convicted for non-violent possessions of the plant should be expunged. “Prohibition empowers criminal organizations and contributes to violence, ​crime​ and corruption on a massive scale—from U.S. street corners to places like Mexico, where more than 100,000 people have been killed since 2006 in the country’s drug war.” (Gale, 2020).  The prohibition takes away the attention from police officers on focusing on more significant and violent crimes, which causes an increase in these certain crimes like murder for example. It also allows for underground criminal organizations which control the marijuana market to improve their quality of life with the riches that come from it. The prohibition does not allow legal businesses to intervene in that market, and whenever there are any issues, these criminal organizations respond with violence. The cause of this violence is not individuals who carry possession of it, it is prohibition itself. “In August of 2013, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will allow states to legally regulate the production, distribution, and sale of marijuana” (Gale, 2020). Being that marijuana is slowly but surely getting legalized nationwide by several states, those inmates who have been unfairly incarcerated for a misdemeanor at this point, should be pardoned for their offenses.

(Abubakar I.)  America's drug laws are not helping our current predicament at the moment. The war on drugs has done nothing but tear the communities apart, use resources which could be more beneficial in other areas, and increase our incarceration rate. The obvious choice is to legalize marijuanna federally. Colorado was one of the first states to legalize marijuana. Doing so it has earned up to more than a billion dollars in just over five years. Colorado's state budget is just about 30 million dollars, so when marijuana starts to bring in more than 21 million dollars a month it becomes hard to ignore what it could do if made legal on a federal level (Bernstien 2019). In addition to this it has created more than 41,000 plus jobs and even contributed to over 125 + million dollars to schooling and education (Bernstien 2019). The legalization of marijuana will only boost the economy. “A mature marijuana industry will generate more than 28 billion dollars in tax revenue for federal state and local governments. Which also includes seven billion in federal revenues. Also more than 5 billion in from businesses taxes and 1.5 billion from income and payrolls (Ekins 2016). Overall legalizing marijuanna will bring a major boost to the economy which we need today. It will keep the people happy while also keeping the government happy.

(Mariol F.)      Research has shown that marijuana can be a form of medicine for certain diseases. In Carter J. G, Chinn K. A. and Steinborn J. J. article “The latest buzz on medicinal marijuana: A legal and medical perspective” addresses the effects of the supreme court case of the United States v. The Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative. In this case the supreme court ruled that marijuana is not “medical necessity”, that the federal law classifying marijuana as illegal and that it will have no exception for ill patients. This ruling has affected millions of ill Americans who have diseases such as epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and even posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD that heavily rely on medical marijuana. Many terribly ill people have had to fight for a long time in the courts to defend why and how medical marijuana helps them. The authors go on to state that an administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young concluded with his studies that, “the evidence clearly shows that marijuana is capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision” (Carter,Chinn & steinbron, 2001). In the 1830s a Irish doctor by the name of ​Sir William Brooke O’Shaughnessy was studying in India and discovered that “cannabis extracts could help lessen stomach pain and vomiting in people suffering from cholera”(​History.com Editors, 2017)​. Therefore showing that medical marijuana is a compound that helps ill people and should be legalized in American and should not be frowned upon.

(Danitza L.)     However, many people might say we shouldn’t legalize weed because it will just cause more problems and deaths. People will become more addicted and there will be an increase in car accidents. Addiction isn’t something you can overcome so easily, it takes time, but if someone is already addicted to a drug then they will want to consume other drugs. Robert L. DuPont, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said “​People who are addicted to marijuana are​ ​three times more likely​ to be addicted to heroin” (DuPont 2016). This doesn’t mean that everyone who uses marijuana will become addicted to heroin, but they most likely will in the future. Charles Stimson, manager of the National Security Law Program, said “​One study found that more than 30 percent of adults who used marijuana in the course of a year became dependent on it, exhibiting compulsive behavior and signs of withdrawal” (Stimson 2012). People who are addicted to marijuana struggle with leaving it and their behavior starts to change. As the years go by the percent of adults and teens who use marijuana keeps increasing. According to the CNN “​States that legalized recreational weed see increase in car accidents, studies,” A 20 year old man was under the influence of marijuana and a sedative when his truck crashed into a church bus, killing 12 people. There has been an increase in the number of drug-impaired drivers across the country. Being on drugs while driving is dangerous. You lose control of what you’re doing and the consequence of that in some cases is death.

(Krysteen M.) As evident, marijuana legalization would not only lower incarceration rates all over America, it would also bring more money to the economy as well. We have already seen the medicinal benefits that marijuana has had on people who were/ are ill. The rewards seem to outweigh the risks. In fact, look at the current circumstances New Yorkers have found themselves in – home bound, quarantined indoors under recommendations of the state, no businesses open for any recreational activities. The best (and safest) option is to stay home, where you are not at risk of coming in contact with the virus that has shook the city’s core (COVID-19). This is a hard time for so many people, coping with this unexpected change of daily routine, anxiety/ feelings of distress about being “stuck” at home, and in general, a sense of panic and fear in the unknown. This would be the perfect time for marijuana to ease your worries. Whether you smoke a joint, or eat a yummy edible treat – the Cannabis, proven to mellow out moods and alter perceptions, would be the perfect ease – sure to calm bad nerves. It can be done indoors and it’s recreational, the ideal hobby for times of crisis like the one we are currently experiencing. There is no better time than now to legalize marijuana. In fact, we may even need it now more than ever. Think about it: the way the criminal numbers will go down, the economy will go up, and the wonders it will heal in health, physical and mental. Now is the time to go green!