The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013 was introduced into the House of Representatives at the beginning of this year. The bill seeks “to decriminalize marijuana at the Federal level, to leave to the States a power to regulate marijuana that is similar to the power they have to regulate alcohol, and for other purposes” (Polis, 2013) such as distributing permits to produce, package, and/or sell marijuana. Some people believe that drug abuse is a health issue, not a criminal one, and this bill provides relief to the state and the people to make their own decisions regarding marijuana. Legalizing marijuana, however controversial, is the best decision we could make in the ineffective “war on drugs”. It would rid us of that black market, allow the states to permit and tax accordingly, and place the responsibility of use back on the individual that chooses to use the marijuana. The benefits far outweigh the setbacks. The evidence that the “war on drugs” is not effective can be seen in any jail, courtroom, high school, and in-patient rehabilitation center in the United States. The United States has been ignoring one of the basic laws …show more content…
There is much confusion by the government that it should monitor how people act instead of protect invariable rights of its citizens: such as life, liberty, property rights, and the pursuit of happiness. The whole reason this government was established was to protect those things. After protection of those things it is hardly easy to legislate behavior. If we believed marijuana should be illegal because it is just bad and dangerous to use, than we should carry that mentality to pharmaceuticals and make all prescription drugs illegal since prescription drug abuse has been labeled an epidemic by the C.D.C. People make their own decision about the things they put in their body depending on their own values and beliefs; it is all a health issue, not a criminal