The Legalization of Marijuana As a teenage indvidual residing in Idaho, the most prevalent activists and adversaries for the legalization of marijuana are potheads, too high to see past their noses, arguing with their parents in a sad attempt to justify underage drug use, and fanatic religious members venturing to outlaw anything and everything that doesn’t fit within their strict moral code. For this reason, it has become clear that the controversy over the legalization of marijuana has become a joke to those on neither side of the issue. The arguments, for or against, have mutated into a haze of incoherent thoughts, touching on every aspect other than the only one of significance- the matter of freedom. Because the United States government has an obligation to grant personal freedoms into every American home, citizens with a minimum of 25 years should be allowed to partake in any substance, specifically marijuana, that is not harmful to those surrounding them, even if the outcome is injurious to the individual. For years, health classes have indoctrinated the idea into today’s youth of marijuana being a …show more content…
Nearly 1 out of 8 U.S. drug prisoners are locked up for pot. Currently, “...there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for marijuana offenses.” This alone is costing the American citizens 1 billion dollars annually. That’s not all though, “several hundred thousand more Americans are arrested each year for violating marijuana laws, costing taxpayers another $8 billion dollars annually in criminal justice costs.” In view of the fact that the United States government is spending a gross amount of American tax dollars for an unjust war on drugs, one might find their monetary freedoms being stripped as