The Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Marijuana

One of the biggest arguments of this decade has been whether or not marijuana should be legalized. There are many people who will argue the cons of marijuana, while there are others who believe marijuana could solve our problems. Although this discussion has been happening for many years, the legalization process hasn’t made any significant progress. The only true breakthrough has been the recent announcement that Colorado would legalize marijuana for “medicinal” use. The biggest reason for marijuana to still be illegal is that people believe marijuana is a “gateway” drug and will only lead to destruction in the long run. Although there are definitely some cons to marijuana, the pros of legalization definitely outweigh the cons and should be

A few of these pros include, relief from symptoms of cancer/glaucoma, low toxicity and rate of addiction, and virtually no deaths directly related to marijuana use. Most marijuana is taken for medicinal use, mainly to treat the ocular (eye) disease known as glaucoma. Glaucoma causes eye damage through the rise of fluid pressure in the eye. When a glaucoma patient uses marijuana, the smoke relieves the pressure inside the eye and doesn’t cause as much pain/damage (The Pros & Cons). If marijuana was to continue to be illegal, we’d have millions of people suffer from unexplainable pain.
Medicinal marijuana is also used for symptoms of HIV, nausea, vomiting, hepatitis C, and symptoms of cancer (The Pros & Cons). When a patient goes through chemotherapy to treat cancer, they generally become malnourished and very underweight. One of the key side effects of marijuana is a gain in appetite, so marijuana is the perfect solution for people who are struggling with anorexia, or are going through chemotherapy treatment. Marijuana also helps with the nausea and vomiting that goes along with certain types of treatment. If you knew marijuana would help your loved one, wouldn’t you want access to

Even when low levels are alcohol are consumed, there are adverse effects on mood, behavior, and negative effects on the brain. People who are compulsive drinkers are very easy to point out in a crowd, because the alcohol has had such a tremendous effect on them. Frequent marijuana users aren’t easily as noticed by people just passing by them on the street. According to Government Statistics, over 100 million people have tried marijuana, and over 25 million have tried it in the past year (Fox, Armentano, Tvert). The big question is, why do people smoke marijuana? Well, there really is no clear answer to that question, but many scientists believe it to be environmental factors that cause us to want to smoke. President Barack Obama has even admitted to smoking when he was younger. In fact, many celebrities have admitted to smoking. Statistically, most marijuana users are gainfully employed and are more academically successful. Essentially, the most famous of people have smoked marijuana (Fox, Armentano, Tvert). How can marijuana be said to ruin lives when it’s more prominent among the most successful