One of the most debated topics recently is, should marijuana be legalized, specifically, in the United States of America? There is no specific group or ethnicity that opposes it as a whole; a majority of opposition comes from people with a lack of knowledge, a closed mind, or ulterior motives. Jonathan Caulkins et al. shows us that, “since 2012, four U.S. states have passed ballot initiatives to remove prohibition and legalize a for-profit commercial marijuana industry” (Caulkins). The motives associated with this movement can be attributed to: taxation, non-violent offences, and the safety of the drug. However, President Barack Obama tells us that, “marijuana continues to be an offense under Federal law” (Obama). Opposition comes from the …show more content…
So under the state level more states are beginning to realize the potential good that marijuana can provide. The main argument as more and more states begin legalizing marijuana will be should we legalize it as a federal level? Federally, this drug should be legal throughout the whole country.
Tista Ghosh, a medical doctor, et al. tells us that “on January 1, 2014, Colorado became the first U.S. state to allow sales of recreational, or retail, marijuana” (Ghosh). Being the first state to legalize marijuana, they have had some implications. Ghosh says that, “The commercialization of medical marijuana in Colorado has allowed the proliferation of new consumable marijuana products, including candies, lozenges, baked goods, and beverages” (Ghosh). These products had not been as widely researched and thus a recommended dose was not available to the consumer. Ghosh tells us that, “edible products were implicated in two deaths in Colorado” (Ghosh). Implicated does not mean that marijuana killed the person due to an overdose, it means they had a high does in their system when the body was examined. This is primarily due to the fact that when the main ingredient in marijuana, called THC, is