1000 dollars minimum, jail time, mandatory drug testing, drug awareness classes, probation, electric monitoring, all of these are penalties for the possession of marijuana under the federal law. All of these punishments are for your FIRST offense of possession of marijuana, according to Stephan Stine, criminal defense lawyer. A little strict for the most used illegal drug in the country I would say. A big controversial topic in this country is whether or not marijuana should be legalized. Some places have legalized it, but in most states it’s still considered a crime to be caught with it in your possession. After all it is the most used illicit drug in the United States. In 2009, a survey showed that 104 million Americans over the age of 12 have tried the drug at least once, and over 17 million had used it in that same month. The point I’m trying to prove is that although the drug is illegal in most states, the rate of use is constantly going up and will keep going up regardless of what the law is. I believe it should be legalized.

As a high school student, it’s pretty obvious I’m aware of the drug and have been around it for a good part of my high school career. In my opinion there isn’t anything very harmful about the drug if used in a proper way. I think that it being illegal is pointless and dumb. People will still use it no matter what. Second off, it’s not harmful to anything. And lastly, the rate of abuse is very low compared to those of other drugs.

Although marijuana is illegal, it’s still the most used drug in the United States, with 53% of Americans saying that they have tried the drug. I think that if the drug is legalized the crime rate would go down because of how many people get caught with the possession of weed. I think that to get charged with the possession of the drug is dumb. No matter how hard the police crackdown on it, people will still continue to use it. It’s just a waste of time in my opinion to try and stop something that will keep going on and is progressively getting more popular. The rate that marijuana is used will continue to go up regardless of whether or not it’s legal.

Another reason I believe it should be legalized is because it’s not harmful. You can’t get hurt or injured from smoking it. Ever since it has been known to man there has never been somebody that has died of an overdose of marijuana. On the other hand, in 2010 38,329 people died from overdose of other drugs. Alcohol is legal and that same year 25,692 people died from alcohol related causes, according to Renee Jacques of the Huffington post. It doesn’t make sense that a drug that lethal can be legal as oppose to an illegal drug that has never harmed anybody. Maybe we should focus more on the things that hurt us.

Lastly, the rate of abuse of this drug isn’t nearly as high as appose to other drugs used in this country including alcohol which is legal. 9-10 percent of American adults that use the drug depend on it. That’s very low compared to other drugs used in this country, like cocaine (20%), heroin (25%), and tobacco (30%). Many people who use it don’t depend on it. Not to mention that it is also used to help a lot of people sleep and also for medical purposes.

All these are reasons I believe that the drug should be legalized. The stats are there to show that maybe the drug isn’t as bad as everybody claims it to be. It would be smart to legalize the drug. It’s not just a drug you use to get “messed up.” It’s also very helpful to some people that have medical issues or have trouble sleeping. People should be able to buy it legally without having to have a sleeping problem or medical issues. Legalizing it won’t harm anybody, its marijuana, not alcohol.