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Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

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As with any change to current laws, there is a cause for contemplation. The thought of legalizing a drug that has been said to be a "dangerous gateway drug" for years, causes many concerns to arise. Many people are worried about marijuana becoming legalized, but have justified the legalization of alcohol and tobacco. It's no secret that the two have been proven to be very harmful, causing illnesses such as cancer, emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver. As stated in the Jan 8, 2018 edition of Issues and Controversies, "Marijuana cannot lead to a fatal overdose. There is little evidence that it causes cancer. Its addictive properties, while present, are low, and the myth that it leads users to more powerful drugs has long since been disproved" (Marijuana: Should the …show more content…

These results are promising, suggesting that fears of widespread increases in use have not come to fruition." (Prohibition to Progress) One would think, with marijuana so readily available, use of the drug would increase. However, it has been proven that is not the case. Teen usage has stayed relatively the same in the states that have legalized. The last controversial point for those who are not in support of marijuana legalization, is the crime rate. People predict that criminal elements would be attracted. According to Scott Johnstone, the author of the article, Five Years in: The effects of legalization in Colorado and Washington State, "On the whole, crime statistics for Washington state reached a 40-year low in 2014, with violent crime down 10 percent and a 13 percent drop in the state's murder rate. Colorado also saw decreases in overall crime rates, violent crimes and property crimes" (Johnstone). Marijuana has the potential to create peace nationwide. Legalization has reduced the amount of drug trafficking thus lowering a significant amount of

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Since marijuana was legalized there have been dramatic results. States that allow the use of marijuana have increased the public’s awareness of the drug’s effects. After an increase in public awarness, many people are setting the drug aside due to long-term effects. If other drugs were made legal in the United States and their long-term and short-term effects were taught, it is very likely that there would be a decrease in their use. People are less inclined to get hooked onto drugs when they realize it could kill them.

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It causes safety issues, can get in the hands of minors, and leads to other dangerous drugs. People think that marijuana cures and relaxes cancer patients. True, it has some benefits, but there are numerous other medications and treatments that relax patients and compromise the risk of cancer. Marijuana is a big safety risk, it causes the multitude of car accidents and other crimes. It also can affect minors who use it, causing them lower life satisfaction and later in life, psychosis.

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Many in favor of legalization would state that marijuana has minimal health risks, is not addictive, can treat many major illnesses. One interesting statistics suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana actually lowers the abuse or experimentation of marijuana use in youth. Also, legalization of marijuana in all states suggests an overall decline in crime rates. One can assume that legalization would provide necessary medical treatments for those who need it, less abuse of marijuana use, and a lower crime rate involving drugs. It has been said that marijuana is safer than many other drugs that are already legalized, and marijuana has never killed anyone from an overdose.

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One of the major arguments used by supporters is the simple fact that there are way less toxic ingredients in marijuana than there are in cigarettes and alcohol, which are legal. Cigarettes contain around 600 toxic chemicals, much of which are known to cause cancer, including formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia. The side effects of marijuana are temporary and way less harmful. Also, medicinal marijuana is recently being used to treat many conditions such as nerve pain, eating disorders, seizures and many more. Many people believe that the prohibition of marijuana is causing the United States more harm than good and that the legalization of marijuana could increase the amount of jobs and

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Additionally, the potential legalization for growing marijuana may also result in decreased law enforcement expenses and decreased rates of violent crime due to the effects of marijuana has on the body. As marijuana becomes more popular, prices of the product could potentially become the same cost of production. Meaning the government could possibly lose money if they are not careful with who and how much can be produced at a time. Supporting additional studies proving medical marijuana has and could potentially have a greater

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There were 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% of the arrests were for just having weed. In the first 11 months of Colorado having marijuana recreationally legal, there was a 2.2% decrease in crime compared to the first 11 months of 2013. Traffic deaths were also thought to increase after legalization but instead did the opposite. In the same first 11 months of 2014, there was a 3% decrease in fatalities compared to 2013. This kept a 12 year long continuing decline to keep going down.

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Illegal marijuana sales or manufacturing has gone down .7%. As well as possession, which has, went down 3%. These numbers are from what has happened sense it was legalized. Simultaneously homicides have nearly halved.

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”About half of Americans (52%) say that legalizing the recreational use of marijuana is good for local economies; just 17% think it is bad and 29% say it has no impact.” “More adults also say legalizing marijuana for recreational use makes the criminal justice system more fair (42%) than less fair

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If this change were made, it is possible that those who are industrious and willing to work hard would have a higher likelihood of doing so legally. Many of those who sell drugs are doing so for an income which is very close to minimum wage, effectively making the sale of drugs to be a kind of social safety net. In those neighborhoods where very few legitimate jobs are available, it seems that there is a high degree of encouragement to sell drugs. Although, according to studies cited by Kepple, N., and Freisthler, B. (2012), even the legal sale of drugs can attract a criminal element to the general vicinity of those locations where marijuana is sold. The illegal activities are not always related to the sale of other (illegal) drugs, as noted by studies cited by Kepple, N., and Freisthler, B. (2012), that these locations have attracted people who commit violent

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However, the articles fail to show the other crime statistics involved with the legalization of this substance. The Denver Police statistics show that summing across all crime types -- about 35 in all -- the crime rate is up almost 7 percent compared with the same period last year. Interestingly, crimes such as public drunkenness are up 237 percent, and drug violations are up 20 percent. (Sabet, 2014, para.

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but it’s the way it goes. Marijuana is the most common used drug in the United States. After a decline in the last 10 years, its use has been increasing among juveniles

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According to the Drug Policy Alliance “In 2012 there were about 800 thousand marijuana arrests in the U.S and half were all drug arrest. 87 percent of those arrested came with small possession and their record is sabotage because of a plant.” Also shown the “Marijuana Policy Project” research that “Blacks are the most effective because ages 18 to 25 whites are more likely to use marijuana ,but African Americans and others are 4 times likely to get arrested.” The drug is related to criminal organizations and contributes to violence, crime and corruption,but if legalized it could slow down the crime rate. If you are scared of teens of getting their hands on the drug easily and the growth of more young people don't worry because instead of getting it in the streets the kids would have to go to a retail business in which they might have to be 21 years or older to get it like alcohol beverage.

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Since the beginning of 2015, marijuana is becoming the fastest growing industry in the United States. People worldwide are becoming more open minded about marijuana and its uses. It’s also generating millions in dollars for states that have legalized and regulated it. Despite its pros to being legalized nationally, many people oppose it. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 44% of Americans who think marijuana should be illegal say they feel that marijuana hurts society and is bad for individuals as a whole.

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Prohibition leads to increased incarceration rates, increased government spending and mistrust in law enforcement. In 1990, 350,000 arrests were made over cannabis related charges; in 2006, there were 800,000 arrests (Room). Over that 16-year span, cannabis related arrests went up 56%. Prohibition has been attempting to reduce the amount of cannabis users, but all it achieves is putting more people in prison. Despite increased spending (from 1.5 billion in 1981 to 18 billion in 2002), cannabis use has increased by 5%(Room).

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In the past decade, a number of movements to legalize the use of marijuana has been gaining momentum. According to the 2016 Gallup survey, a record high 60% of Americans say that marijuana should be legalized and this figure marks a 9% increase compared to 2014. Support for legalizing marijuana was 31% in 2000, 50% in 2016 before reaching 60% last year. This shows that despite government efforts to eliminate its use, marijuana is becoming more popular. It is clear that

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