Ever since 1937, marijuana has been outlawed in the United States and has been classified as a Schedule 1 drug. According to the DEA, a Schedule 1 drug has an inherent likelihood of being abused and has absolutely zero medical value. However, doctors have discovered that marijuana has several medical uses and can even be lifesaving. In addition, even recreational marijuana is not nearly as harmful as other legal substances including alcohol and tobacco. Already 27 states have realized that that marijuana can be lifesaving and have legalized the substance for medical use. Marijuana should be legalized in all 50 states because it does not fit the classification of a Schedule 1 drug, It costs to much money to keep it illegal, and it can be life saving The Schedule 1 classification of marijuana is completely inaccurate. A Schedule 1 drug is a substances that has zero medical value and can be highly abused. Other drugs in the Schedule 1 category include heroin, LSD, mescaline, and ecstasy. The difference between these drugs and marijuana is that these drugs have horribly bad effects on your body and can easily kill you …show more content…
Preventing people to have access to marijuana costs the government over $20 billion dollars a year and causes millions of peaceful nonviolent people to be sent to jail. Taxpayers then have to pay for these peoples food, housing, medical expenses, and court fees. Prohibition of marijuana has also created the black market where people are buying marijuana from illegal drug cartels. When something is illegal it creates a “forbidden fruit effect” where people want to smoke marijuana just because they are not allowed to. If marijuana were made completely legal, the government could even tax it generating upwards of $8.7 billion dollars a year which could be spent on schools, infrastructure, or even better drug