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Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

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There are many states that have legalized marijuana, and more states are lined up to do the same. Very soon, marijuana could be legal in all of the United States. There are many views from both sides of the subject, so it is important to know why legalization is happening now. Most people have been brought up to believe marijuana is a drug and therefore bad. When looking at cannabis (marijuana), it is easier to compare and contrast it to other substances, like alcohol. If marijuana is being debated, it is common to bring alcohol into the conversation. One reason these two substances are grouped together is because alcohol, like marijuana, was also illegal for a short time during the Prohibition. If these two substances are being compared, …show more content…

An overdose generally means taking in more than what the body can handle. When comparing alcohol and marijuana in terms of overdosing, there are stark contrasts. Alcohol poses huge risk for overdosing, and often times the outcome can be fatal. As the article "Alcohol" puts it, "Severe intoxication may lead to COMA and respiratory failure". (Para 2) This is opposite to marijuana use where Philippe Lucas explains, "There has never been a substantiated case of death resulting from cannabis overdose". (Para 1) These facts may put into perspective as to which is more harmful, whether it was on purpose or an accidental overdose. With an alcohol over-dose a person may experience vomiting, blacking out, poor decision-making, or even death. Marijuana on the other hand, a person may experience paranoia, hunger, or …show more content…

Short-term side effects from alcohol and cannabis are often less concerning, such as hangovers and paranoia. The long-term side effects can be more detrimental to a person’s health. For both substances a person may experience a level of dependency to where it can affect ones professional and personal life. According to the article “Alcohol”, “The wide range of life-threatening problems caused by heavy drinking includes Hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and pancreatitis”. (para 6) In regards to marijuana (canabis), Versteeg reports, “Smoking cannabis is associated with oral premalignant lesions, including leukoplakia and erythroplakia”. (Pg 317) There has been a significant amount of studies that have shown just how devastating alcohol is on the body as well as the mind. There is currently less amount of studies and statistics on the damaging effects of marijuana. The last comparison between alcohol and marijuana is the use of the substance medically. Alcohol does have its uses medically, but that is a different type of alcohol that is not consumed. This form of alcohol is useful for sterilization and it is even in mouthwash. That is about as far as alcohol goes for medical usage. On the other hand, Cannabis has a long list of uses; in fact, for thousands of years, cannabis has been used medically. This includes, controlling seizures, pain relief, reduces anxiety, depression,

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636). Thus, they argue that the legalization of marijuana, should be similar to those of alcohol and tobacco where there are regulations for the sale to minimize any health related problems it may cause (Joffe & Yancy, 2004, p. 636). Additionally, tobacco and alcohol are among the most abused substances used by adolescents; despite having regulations for their sales through enforcing legal ages for purchase, they still find ways to purchase and consume these substances. Moreover, the legalization of marijuana would assist in pain relief as a less toxic, addictive and essentially safer drug in comparison to what some individuals use for chronic pain such as opiates and alcohol. It has been reported that there has been 25% of a decrease in the deaths related to opiate overdose; essentially, marijuana could contribute to the harm reduction that other substances cause (Mitchell 2016, p. 63)

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True, the efficacy for specific conditions is up for debate, but the low toxicity and the fact that people generally report feeling better make it a great risk/benefit trade-off. Marijuana is not harmful to people around you Alcohol is often used in comparison with Marijuana. Alcohol is known to elevate your feelings, ranging anywhere from love, to sadness, to anger. Alcohol intake is more likely to result in impulsive behavior and poor decision making, subsequently having an effects, and not necessarily good ones, on those around you. Individuals who smoke are impacting those who are in their immediate presence.

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However, alcohol was never used to benefit the individual health wise. Marijuana, once known as cannabis, has been used for medicinal purposes. Which could benefit the individual health wise. Alcohol has been known for impairing an individual. In “The Rise and Fall of Prohibition” scientific studies found the harmful uses of drinking the substances including “alcohol limited motor reaction, caused issues with nerve centers controlling the heart, interfered with digestion, and worsened diseases.”

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Marijuana has had a significant amount of medical breakthroughs in its ability to help treat many diseases and disorders such as, glaucoma muscle spasms and even anorexia and bulimia. However, despite these many medical advances, there still lay many controversies surrounding the topic. Marijuana supporters argue that the drug should be used in medicine and be legalized for recreational purposes; on the other hand, those against marijuana argue that it is a gateway drug and should not be used in medicine or recreationally.

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In today’s world, alcohol is acceptable, and marijuana is just plain terrifying. This “weed” is apparently taught to be a plague to society and only brings violence and criminal activity, Society is afraid of this drug, but fails to realize that both alcohol and cigarettes actually have some nasty side effects that are not present in marijuana. It has been proven that people who use alcohol usually are too drunk to rationalize anything, and can turn violent and aggressive out of nowhere, meanwhile people who use weed are calm and chilled due to its effectiveness as a mood stimulant (Marijuana Policy Project). In comparison to cigarettes commonly known cancerous side-effect, there has been no link to pot and lung cancer (National Organization

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At least marijuana helps people with nausea and they don't black out when they smoke it. Alcohol is also one of the most dangerous drugs to detox from. When someone is addicted to pills, and they try to detox, they feel like they are going to die, but the chances are low. Its proven that there a 30% chance for alcoholics to die when they try to stop drinking. Alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana

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Marijuana and alcohol gives a different sensation and effects to the user of the substance. Both seen as negative effects on the user but both used so often by Americans. Alcohol is more popular because it is legal in the United states and thought to have less of a negative effect to the user. Marijuana is not as popular because it is illegal and is believed to give users

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Too much of this drug can cause (THC damaging brain cell receptors): change in senses, changes in mood, uneven body movement, problems with thinking and solving problems, and damaged memory. It also has many health effects which include: paranoia and hallucinations, breathing problems, and fetus’s brain might get damaged while in their mother’s womb. The depressant Cannabis intoxicates the person in specific ways. Its intoxication causes a person to relax but sometimes could have serious side effects. Smoking pot has faster signs and symptoms than eating it.

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Many citizens in America today depend on alcohol and cigarettes, which are causing harm to them daily. According to Marijuana Policy Project, alcohol causes more harm to the body than marijuana (Marijuana Policy Project). Many citizens who use drugs such as alcohol are at risk of intoxication-related violence, sexual assault, and reckless behavior(Marijuana Policy Project). Also, compared to marijuana, alcohol is said to be the cause of many cancers such as the esophagus, stomach, colon, lungs, pancreas, liver, and prostate, marijuana use has not been conclusively associated with any form of cancer(Marijuana Policy Project). With that being said Marijuana should not be classified as a hard core drug if it does not cause the pain and damage that alcohol does.

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The age old debate of whether marijuana should be legalized or not has been a discussion for years among the public and throughout the country. The United States currently four states in which recreational marijuana is legal, along with 20 other states where medical marijuana is legal. The argument that always comes up in discussion is that marijuana is less or no more dangerous than alcohol. These comments are hardly ever backed up with statistics or data.

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The question of debate is what is genuinely worse for your health, alcohol or marijuana? Both alcohol and marijuana consumption can affect the body, and both can ultimately result in long and short-term health effects. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), alcohol intake has been linked with annually 88,000 deaths. Whereas for marijuana users, there is no specific number because the deaths are harder to count for since it 's easier to detect alcohol within the body.

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Now, when we talk about marijuana there’s more ways to ingest it than smoke it, so you can go tit-for-tat against tobacco on that sense. Alcohol, on the other hand, has had far more deaths from irresponsible use than marijuana ever had. Research shows that nearly 88,000 people die from alcohol related accidents annually. If you try to find anything about deaths linked to marijuana accidents, it’s very hard to find any solid information. The best I could find was that within 1997 to 2005 there was roughly 279 marijuana related deaths over an 8-year period.

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You have probably once asked yourself, seen or heard of this repetitive debate. What is worse alcohol or marijuana? These are often pitted against each other with the goal of determining which would be a healthier choice. There are various themes when it comes to this dialogue like, overdose and mortality rate, the effects on pregnancies, along with side effects on the brain related to memory and learning. There are alcoholics that would tell a stoner that smoking weed is bad for you; marijuana smokers would probably be quick to cite smokers sustain fewer deaths than alcohol consumers.

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Hence, the question, does the effects of marijuana and alcohol on human the same or one inflicts more pain seems to be mind blowing. Alcohol is one of most used psychoactive substance. Alcohol can be used uncontrollably by people

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People believe that if marijuana is legalized users will get addicted. Marijuana use disorder become what is known as addiction when “the person cannot stop using the drug even though it interferes with many aspects of his or her life” (“Is Marijuana Addictive”). Although addiction is a problem, out of all the people who use marijuana, only 9% become dependent on it (“Is Marijuana Addictive”). Also, opioids and painkillers are very addictive as well, and they can lead to an overdose resulting in death. The second concern is abuse.

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