Most Americans, especially politicians, agree that the repealing of the Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s was one of the best pieces of legislature the country passed. This situation parallels what is brimming in America today, about seventy years later, with marijuana. The recreational use of cannabis has skyrocketed and is now a pastime comparable to drinking a glass of wine to relax or unwind. However, there is one glaring difference between the two acts: one is punishable by law. The prohibition of marijuana does not stop Americans from obtaining the drug, but simply intensifies the unnecessary criminality and danger surrounding its use. Marijuana should be legal to obtain because statistics and scientific studies throughout the world prove that the legalization of the drug would not only make the United States safer, but also benefit the country financially. The criminalization of marijuana has dramatized a violent image of the drug which media outlets exacerbate by using scare tactics and myths. Legalizing marijuana would eliminate any unsafe or uncomfortable means that the over 100 million Americans who have admitted to using the drug currently have to go through to obtain it. This would separate violence, murder, and the sales of other deadly drugs such as cocaine or heroin from recreational marijuana use. Legalization in other countries, such as the Netherlands, where adults can obtain marijuana under a regulated, …show more content…
The United States both as a capitalist country and as a nation of individuals would benefit from the safe, regulated manufacturing and distributing of the drug. The millions of Americans who have admitted to using marijuana prove that prohibition is not the answer to the country’s drug problem. Legalization would not only promote safety, but also support the country