The Pros And Cons Of Legalization Of Marijuana

Legalization of Marijuana The Legalization of Marijuana has been a major issue and been on ballot during 2012 Elections. There are many debates related consequences of legalization of Marijuana. Marijuana is drug which is limited for medical purposes only, but some states like Colorado and Washington have legalized it for recreational purposes in 2012 elections and the other 48 states where as in other states like California it is limited for medical use only. Today we are going to explore the advantages and disadvantages of Marijuana being legalized. Despite marijuana is illegal under federal law, but it is estimated that about 18 million people were current marijuana users in 2011. There are now 23 states which have legalized it for medical purposes in response to growing awareness among the people that the active ingredients in the drug may be useful as an analgesic for chronic pain, an antiemetic, and an antispasmodic. In The Effect of Medical Marijuana

For adults, the baseline predicted chances of an individual having used marijuana in the last month was 8.6 percent. Legalization increased it by 1.37 to 1.40, an increase of 16 percent. The number of marijuana use days per month rose by 0.14 to 0.21 days a month, or 12 to 17 percent. Legalization increased the probability of adolescent initiation of marijuana use in the last year by 0.32 to 0.46 percent, a 5 to 6 percent increase. While this suggests that more adolescents experimented with marijuana, the data do not suggest that regular use increased in this group. The authors note that the 6 to 9 percent increase in frequency of adult binge drinking, along with an estimated increase in the probability of simultaneous use of marijuana and alcohol of 15 to 22 percent, suggests that legalization could result in “considerable economic and social costs from downstream health care expenditures and productivity loss.” —Linda