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Should Marijuana be Legalised? Marijuana should be legalized for a number of reasons. It is a relatively safe drug, in comparison to harder, more addictive drugs like heroin and cocaine. It is the most widely used drug, behind only alcohol and is even more popular than tobacco. Marijuana can have many positive effects on the body, such as relaxation and pain relief. The legalisation of marijuana would result in a decrease in crime and let police concentrate on more serious offences.
The health and medical benefits of marijuana are numerous. Marijuana was originally used solely as a medicine, in China and central Asia, and is still used today in the treatment of painted other symptoms caused by dangerous illnesses. Some of the conditions that marijuana can be beneficial for are cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and chronic pain. Marijuana is effective in reducing nausea and vomiting and also stimulates the appetite. As a drug, marijuana is remarkably safe. Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known.
Unlike many pain relieving drugs, users of marijuana suffer no side effects. This shows that the continued prohibition of marijuana will only lead to more painted suffering by victims of serious medical conditions. Another group to benefit from the use of marijuana as a medicine would pharmaceutical companies. Because of its many medical uses and high value, huge profits could be made. As well as its use as a medicine, marijuana is also widely used a recreational drug.
Its popularity is mainly due to the relaxation and mood lift experienced during use. Because of its popularity, a lot of people have become involved in the growing and dealing of marijuana, meaning that police have had to dedicate long hours and time consuming attention to its prevention and control when this time could have been better spent pursuing more serious, violent and dangerous crimes. Theme and money saved by the courts and the police on marijuana related crimes could be reinvested in the reduction of hard drugs and violent crimes. Marijuana use, relative to these crimes, is much more widespread throughout the community. Marijuana is an easy drug to produce in comparison to other illegal drugs such as cocaine.
For this reason, there are a lot of small time drug dealers who would be shut down and forced out business by legalisation. Most people would choose to buy from large corporations who could produce higher quality marijuana at a lower cost, with the knowledge that it would before of adulterants and poisons. The black market would disappear and with it so would the violence and theft associated with the distribution of marijuana. With the disappearance ofthe black market, the production of marijuana as both a medical and a recreational drug could be regulated and monitored by the government.
In this way, it could be licensed and taxed, providing the government with income that presently goes straight into the dealers pockets. It has been estimated that each year drug lords make over twenty billion dollars from the sale of marijuana and cocaine. If marijuana was legalized then one of their major sources of funds would be taken away, meaning that organised crime would also decrease. Those opposed to the legalisation of marijuana have few reasons for it to remain banned. The main reasons are that it is damaging to peoples health, it is a gateway to harder drugs and that legalisation would increase crime. The claim that it can detrimental to health is simply short-sighted and ignorant.
The benefits of marijuana to sufferers of AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses far outweigh the minimal health problems associated with its use. The legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco are far more harmful and damaging than marijuana. Alcohol causes damage to the liver, brain and stomach. Blackouts, hallucinations and extreme tremors can occur. Alcohol causes physical and mental damage unborn children when consumed during pregnancy.
Thousands of people are hospitalised in New Zealand every year due to alcohol. Withdrawal from alcohol can be fatal. Over 100, 000 deaths annually are directly linked to alcohol poisoning. In over 4, 000 years of recorded history no one however died from a marijuana overdose. Cigarette smoking is also highly lethal. Smoking triples the risk heart disease and increases the risk of dying from lung cancer more than 20 times.
One in every five deaths in New Zealand smoking related. On average, smokers die nearly seven years earlier than non-smokers. Smoking causes health risks forgot-smokers through passive smoking which can also cause lung cancer and heart disease. These facts and statistics show that marijuana remaining illegal due to health risks would be contradictory, when alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous.
So much more dangerous that ninety-five percent of health-related problems in New Zealand are because of alcohol and tobacco. The belief that marijuana is a gateway drug, that it would learn to harder drugs, is missing an important point. Alcohol and tobacco are also gateway drugs. Seventy-five percent of marijuana users also smoke and the majority of drug users startup with alcohol, which is readily available throughout society. While these destructive drugs are used as an introduction torus, how can marijuana be singled out in the way that it hasten? The other main reason that groups opposed to marijuana use istat drug related crime would increase.
This is simply false and untrue. How can this be right when users and growers would no longer be prosecuted, the black market would disappear and police would have more hours free? It is simply not the case. Marijuana must be legalized because of its health benefits, the reduction in crime and the financial benefits that would result. At the moment, it is impossible for police to fight off the use of marijuana. It is simply too widespread and they are wasting their time trying to stop it.
If marijuana were legalized, the timed money saved could be reallocated to a more manageable, worthwhile and achievable goal, such as keeping young people off drugs, or fighting harder, more dangerous drugs. References Davis, L-Facts about marijuana, 1996 Gibson, J-Marijuana, 1993 Murphy, T-Legalisation of Marijuana, 1998 Value, A-The Legalisation of Marijuana For and Against, 1996
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