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Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

851 Words4 Pages

The topic of legalization of marijuana has long been a divided topic within the United States. Right now in America the cannabis plant is slowly becoming more accepted and decriminalized. A recent nationwide survey has shown “slightly more than half of the citizens of the US, 54 percent, said the use of marijuana should be made legal across the country,” (Nick Gass). There are four states and Washington D.C. where marijuana is legal for both medical and recreational use. There are twenty-one other states that only have medical marijuana legalized, but there are many states that will have legalization of their state ballot for 2016. Many states are starting to see the benefits that other states are having due to legalizing marijuana. Legalization …show more content…

A 12-year study by the University of Pittsburg shows evidence contradicting the old gateway drug theory. This study followed 214 boys beginning at ages 10-12. They all eventually used some type of drugs, whether legal or illegal. When the boys became age 22, they were put into one of three groups. Those who only used legal drugs (alcohol and tobacco), those who started with alcohol and tobacco then went on to marijuana (gateway theory), and those who used marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco (reverse sequence). “Nearly a quarter of the study population, 28 boys, exhibited the reverse sequence of using marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco. Those 28 boys were no more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who followed the traditional succession the gateway drug theory” (David Glauser). Marijuana is much safer to use than alcohol and tobacco, which are both federally legal. Cannabis is known to have medical benefits, while alcohol and tobacco don’t. When marijuana is legally sold in a dispensary, they have budtenders that can recommend certain strains to patients to help with their medical problems as each strain has different effects. There has not been one recorded overdose due to marijuana as well. However, there are more than 2,200 alcohol poisoning deaths in the U.S. each year (CDC

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