Should Marijuana be legalized?

Answer 1

It's impact on the brain, most notably problem solving skills and its multifaceted ability to significantly increase the risks associated with aspects of long-term psychological health makes legalization a dangerous thing.

Offering another recreational drug to society through legalization is the wrong choice.

Ignorance is bliss sometimes though, isn't it??

Answer 2

Absolutely. It is freedom of choice. Studies of Marijuana have proven that it does NOT produce lung cancer as once was thought (University of California, San Diego just released this about 4 months ago). It is non-physically addictive although it may be psychologically to some. And overall it is healthier than other legal substances such as alcohol or cigarettes. It has also proven to be medically sound for people suffering from illnesses such as bulimia and others.

Suggesting legalization would mean people would drive high, work high, or go to school high, is a baseless slippery slope. It could be suggested, if one believes the slippery slope, that alcohol being legal would have similar consequences, but we know that is untrue. Also, seeing into European countries that have legalized it shows that it is untrue; Netherlands, for example, is a prosperous country.

Nevertheless, marijuana does make your brain slower if you abuse it, but it isn't as bad as what alcoholism can do to your brain. Unlike what the "Psychology Ph.D" says, there aren't many longitudinal studies to be able to predict long term effects, and the ones that do exist, don't suggest long term memory decay or impossibility of recuperating short term memory loss.

Again, legalize it.

Answer 3

It's just a matter of time. I think it would be safe to say that at least 80 percent of today's politicians have at one time or another, done some type of drug. (Except Bill Clinton, he didn't inhale). Society has become a lot more tolerant about drug use. It's becoming an accepted part of life. Politicians, athletics, doctors, lawyers and a surprising amount of senior citizens indulge. If they legalize pot now, it would be worse than reversing the law on abortion. But eventually it will happen. As soon as they figure a way to make it socially acceptable and get away with it.

Answer 4

No. It will cause so many stoners and burnouts that this country will be diminished to nothing eventually. Smoking pot every once in a while isn't bad, but if it was legalized then people would be smoking it on a daily basis. Outside of work, getting people walking by high, they get addicted to it, they start smoking it around people, those people get high they get addicted, and the pattern continues until eventually everyone in this country is a stoner. So no, it shouldn't be.

Answer 5

Yes. I can say with absolute certainty that there are more accidents involving alcohol - which is legal - than pot. Heck, I know people who have had accidents while flicking cigarettes! Never one involving pot...probably because they are so paranoid! LOL If pot were legalized, everyone would be scared to speed, and the cops wouldn't give out half as many speeding tickets...maybe that is why it is still illegal?!

Answer 6

yes, mother nature created it for our use unlike alcohol and prescription drugs, imagine what would happen if people stoped taking antidepressants and just dealt with there problems by having a hit or two at rest time. because then u couldn't remember why or who u were mad at, un like alcohol that just makes some people belligerent, or antidepressants that make them want to kill themselves or others, marijuana makes a person relax and see the world in a different light, not just lazy or stupid, that just happens cause the person is lazy or stupid to begn with.

Answer 7

marijuana is the most commonly uses illegal substance in the United States. it is used by many people, most of which aren't your stereotypical "druggie", with no life agead of them. Many of them hapen to be very successful, good people. Think about it almost if not every person who reads this paper will know (even if they don't realize it) at least one if not several regular users of marijuana. Its often made out to be much more harmful htan it really is, unfortunatly not every one realizes this.

What many people don't realize is marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Yet it's the one of the three that gets a bad rap and is illegal. Marijuana isn't even physicaly addicting. You certanly don't see meetings for marijuana like you do with alcohol and AA. Unfortunatly due to American culture the less harmful of the three is illegal.

The most common reason why marijuana can be harmful is that people can often come across laced marijuana without realizing it. Marijuana can easily be mixed with other more harmful drugs with out the buyer realizing it, until they have already used it. This is a dangerous thing that causes many people to do more harmful, hard core drugs without realizing it. If it were to be legalized the government could provide guide lines, like it does with alchol to insure that people knew what they were putting into their bodies.

Marijuana actually has many helpful benefits toward diseases / sicknesses. Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by AIDS. It can Reduce interlobular pressure, which alleviates the pain and slowing and sometimes even stopping the progress of glaucoma. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting, all of which marijuana would help. It can limit muscle pain and relieve tremor nad unsteadiness of gait for multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana can help prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. It can also alleviate chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries. Each one of these applications have been deemed legitimate by at least one United States court, legislature, and/or government agency.

Due to these reasons and many others many people are going to jail/prison on a daily basis due to simply smoking a little pot These aren't dangerous criminals that would kill or rape someone. Many of them are teachers, lawyers and respected members of their communities. But yet we still pay thousands of dollars of tax payers money to lock up non dangerous "criminals" yearly even though most aren't going to stop after they get out of jail. Don't you think the money spent here is a waste? Couldn't it be going to more useful things such as hospitals, disease research, or better schools? These are the things that would benifit the people of this country. Certanily you would rather benefit the people more than throwing a non violent pot head in jail who was only trying to smoke a joint and relax after a long days work in jail. There is up to forty million regular (note thats just the regular not occasional users) drug users in the United states. If we were to throw all of them in jail it would cost $500,000 per million people, plus the cost and space of building many more prisons. Couldm't that money be spent on building hospitals? There's already about 1.5 million people tax payers are paying to keep in jail over drugs. From 1990 to 2003, nearly 5.9 million people had been arrested for smoking marijuana. Thats a greater number than the entire population of Alaska, Delaware, The District of Columbia, Montania, North and South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined. This country simply can't afford to put 40 million more in jail.

Marijuana should be legalized. It has many uses such as helping sick patients. People are going to smoke it no matter what the government sais, and with out govenment guidelines this can be dangerous. Not to mention the fact that we have no way we can afford to throw all those people in jail. Its much less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, which are legal, so doesn't it make sense that it would be also?

Answer 8

If you mean for social use, then my answer is No. I have seen what the effects of smoking to much Marijuana has done to more than one friend of mine.
If you are talking about for medical reasons, then my answer is Yes.

Answer 9

Just like Iraq, our government has waged a war on people that smoke pot, make it legal and the crime element will be gone. Look at Amsterdam.

Answer 10

YES...
America's war on drugs is a Disaster causing greater
damage than did Alcohol Prohibition in the late 1920's & 30's...