The Option of Legalizing Marijuana | Teen Ink

The Option of Legalizing Marijuana

October 20, 2010
By GibbleLibble SILVER, Roslyn Heights, New York
GibbleLibble SILVER, Roslyn Heights, New York
6 articles 0 photos 8 comments

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i love my friends like a nerd loves math class


There has been talk of legalizing marijuana in the United States. Many want marijuana to be treated like alcohol and tobacco. Economists have been saying that the government would gain a huge amount of money if marijuana is legalized. Truthfully, money is not worth risking the lives of millions.

Marijuana is a very dangerous drug that is unfortunately popular. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, marijuana is illegal. Many are arrested each year for using, selling, or buying this illegal drug. It has been said that marijuana should be legalized because the government would gain money from taxes and law enforcement. This would cause a huge increase in the use of marijuana. In the article “Marijuana Mess” author Kristen Lewis says that “Every day, nearly 3,600 young people smoke marijuana for the first time and that one in 10 people will become dependent on the drug.” If marijuana use becomes legal then the amount of teenage “potheads” would increase. Currently it is hard and expensive for teenagers to get a hold of pot, but if it were legal it would be much cheaper and easier to possess. Teenagers may start to use it around school more during their free periods. Legalization would increase access to a dangerous drug.

“Marijuana smokers absorb three to five times more poisonous carbon monoxide than tobacco smokers do. Regularly smoking marijuana can lead to similar problems as smoking cigarettes: difficulty breathing, chronic bronchitis, frequent coughing, and even cancer”, says Lewis. There have not been as many deaths from marijuana because it is illegal. If it is legalized the number will greatly increase. It was reported in the 2002 Canadian Medical Association Journal that “Current marijuana use had a negative effect on global IQ score only in subjects who smoked 5 or more joints per week.” This study was performed in April 2002 when it was much harder to possess five joints per week. If marijuana is legalized then everyone can have five or more joints per week easily. This may cause subjects to have an IQ decrease.

In the District of Colombia, and fourteen other states, medical marijuana is already legal. California was the first of these states to legalize medical marijuana. Pot is a very popular drug in California, and many are interested in a new law called Proposition 19. “The Perils of Pot Prohibition” stated that California's Proposition 19 would legalize possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use while allowing local governments to authorize and regulate commercial production and distribution.


In the article “Pot Tolerance Hits a High” surveys indicate that only 40 percent of Americans want pot to be legalized. The majority of Americans still think pot should be illegal. We already know that marijuana is a highly dangerous drug. By legalizing this drug we will not only increase its use and sale but we may even open the door for other drugs to be legalized as well.


The author's comments:
its fabulous!

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This article has 6 comments.


on Dec. 21 2010 at 6:24 pm
LovableD BRONZE, Killeen, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 26 comments

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Are you living or are you exsisting

I think that either way people are going to use marijauna. If you make it legal people have the ok to do so. If you keep it illegal then of course people are going to have that adrenaline rush to break the law and people are going to make prohit because the trading of the illegal drug, so I think that it wouldn't make much of a diffrence. Also marijauna is no worse than cigarretes and alcohol and their legal.

TheJust ELITE said...
on Dec. 19 2010 at 3:03 pm
TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
254 articles 202 photos 945 comments

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&quot;I feel that a hero is somebody who will stand up for their values and what they believe in and that can take any form. People that have values and have thought them through rather than those who just do what they&rsquo;re told.&quot;-Skandar Keynes<br /> <br /> &quot;When it&rsquo;

cigarettes are just as dangerous as any drug and the same with alcohol. The problem is that cigarettes and alcohol are major money makers and the government doesn't want to lose that. Drugs are dangerous and can cause permanent damages to your body and mental state whereas the damages made by cigarettes, if stopped early enough, can become obsolete with time. My grandfather who quit smoking in his twenties or thirties and has no trace of any permanent damage on his lungs is an example of that.

on Nov. 24 2010 at 11:51 am
GibbleLibble SILVER, Roslyn Heights, New York
6 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
i love my friends like a nerd loves math class

Thank you so very much for your love and support. You obviously have a fabulous taste for a good article, unlike some people.

CHALP SILVER said...
on Nov. 24 2010 at 11:49 am
CHALP SILVER, Roslyn, New York
5 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
I Love My Friends Like A Nerd Loves Math Class

This article is a great piece of work! Us anti- marajuana writers must stick together once and for all and take the stand against legalizing marajuana! It does more harm then good and your article is a top notch way of proving it. Gibble Libble you are on your way to being famous!

Ryan said...
on Nov. 23 2010 at 6:43 pm
To be completely honest, I was just searching for articles to back up ridiculous claims made my marijuana opponents for an essay I'm currently writing. I really think you should do some research before you post information like this... A lot of your "facts" have been disproved and the overall message of marijuana being this horrible substance is getting old. Look at how marijuana became illegal in the first place...racism and propaganda.

MJXPERT said...
on Nov. 5 2010 at 12:39 pm
No one has proved that marijuana can kill someone because every person who was said to have "died from smoking pot", smoked cigarretes as well. There is no positive connection between death and marijuana.