Should Marijuana Be Legal? | Teen Ink

Should Marijuana Be Legal?

December 19, 2013
By Anonymous

If you had a disease that caused you terrible pain, and there was only one drug that provided relief, would you take it? The answer is probably yes, although some of those in this situation cannot get relief because there are laws in states that prohibit you from taking this. This isn’t right because not a single person in all of history has died from doing this drug. This drug is marijuana. It is literally almost impossible to overdose on marijuana. Even though some think it is bad for your health, marijuana should be legal because marijuana provides relief from pain and no one has ever died from smoking it.

Cannabis (AKA Marijuana) has been used for most of human history- since 7000 B.C. and is specifically used to alleviate pain from nerve damage, nausea, spasticity, glaucoma and movement disorders. It is also a powerful appetite stimulant, which is beneficial for patients suffering from dementia, HIV and AIDS. Although doctors have split over whether marijuana causes lung cancer the way smoking cigarettes does, evidence seems to be accumulating that it could, but the medical uses for cannabis heavily outweigh the long-term consequences.
“Advocates of legalization make some good points, particularly about the waste of law enforcement resources in enforcing marijuana laws”-USA Today.
72% to 23%, Americans say the federal government’s efforts against marijuana “cost more than they are worth.” Similarly, by nearly 2-to-1, Americans say the federal government should not enforce its anti-marijuana laws in states that allow use of the drug.

Think of Marijuana right now. You may think of it as a dangerous drug. But marijuana is not nearly as dangerous as the “safe” drug, tylenol. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, overdoses from tylenol send 55,000 to 80,000 people to the emergency room in the U.S. each year and kill at least 500. Meanwhile not one person in history has been killed by marijuana.

"Unless decriminalization is accompanied by a successful program of 'education' that persuades people to abstain from using a drug that is relatively innocuous in comparison with, say, alcohol or tobacco, it won't do much to stem the violence. Education efforts should instead focus on undermining old prejudices that prevent meaningful reform in Mexico and the United States."--Isaac Campos, an assistant professor of history at the University of Cincinnati - Illegal-Reefer Madness
Seems safe, right?

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes since California voters made the first move in 1996.

“According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, nearly half of adults have tried marijuana, 12 percent of them in the past year and fifty-two percent of adults favor legalizing marijuana.” Poll: Marijuana Legalization Wins Majority Support Nationwide

In 1970, just 12% were for legalization. Those who admit using the drug are far more likely to support legalization than those who say they never have used it, although support for legalization has grown greatly among both groups.



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This article has 1 comment.


Zurrrma BRONZE said...
on Feb. 1 2014 at 10:30 am
Zurrrma BRONZE, Purcellville, Virginia
1 article 0 photos 3 comments
So long as its for medicine I agree with u