In recent years, more and more people's opinions on marijuana have begun to morph. With this societal shift will hopefully come a legal shift as well. Weed culture has been slowly solidifying itself in modern society likely due to celebrities such as Snoop Dogg who has been known to smoke "indo" while "sippin on gin and juice" (Dogg). It is mainly the generations prior to millennials that are hesitant to legalize cannabis, however strong political and societal shifts are broadening the minds of many. Marijuana should be legalized because it is not any more harmful than other legal drugs, in fact it can aid those who suffer from mental illnesses. The current criminalization often leads to a great amount of racial disparity in arrests and prosecutions, which is a large factor in America's economically and ethically atrocious incarceration rates. …show more content…
Recent research in a peer-reviewed journal reported on by the Washington Post has shown that "Weed... [is] roughly 114 times less deadly than booze... [and it was] the only drug studied that posed a low mortality risk to its users" (Ingraham). Yet modern society creates an environment through various media outlets that approves of social drinking and smoking, but marijuana users, who are the ones making better drug-choices, are penalized by both the legal system and society as a whole. The societal penalties lie in the perceptions individuals have of cannabis consumers. A majority of the population see users as "Pot-heads" and "lazy", despite the fact that most of them still live extremely productive lives. These notions affect people's careers, family life, and social life in often disastrous ways. People commonly view this drug as something harmful, despite the fact that marijuana is often beneficial to its users in a variety of