Recreational marijuana should be made legal in South Carolina. Presently, recreational marijuana has been made legal in California, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada, and the District of Columbia; medical marijuana is legal in twenty states, excluding the states listed above. Marijuana is highly controversial as the conflict on whether it should be made legal seems to be a splitting decision in the United States. In 2013, 58% of American citizens supported the legalization of marijuana (Gallup, Inc). South Carolina should make recreational marijuana legal due to it being much safer than already legalized drugs and it can be used to alleviate a lot of medical ailments. To start, marijuana has been proven to be much safer than already legalized drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol (Project, Marijuana Policy). Furthermore, there have been no deaths due to a marijuana overdose. In comparison, there are at least six people a day who die by alcohol poisoning, which is a result of drinking copious quantities of alcohol within a brief period. Additionally, marijuana has a minimal risk of abuse with a rate of 9-10% of users becoming addicted. Tobacco has one of …show more content…
There are many people who argue that marijuana should be legal for medical purposes. In fact, a growing number of states have legalized marijuana for medical use. Marijuana contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main ingredient in marijuana that makes people ‘high’, that may help treat a range of illnesses and symptoms such as increasing one’s appetite and reducing nausea. It can also decrease pain, inflammation, and muscle control problems (Abuse, National Institute on Drug). Furthermore, the chemical cannabidiol (CBD), another ingredient in marijuana, but it does not get people ‘high’, could potentially help reduce pain and inflammation, control epileptic seizures, and possibly treat mental illness and