The Pros And Cons Of Marijuana

Marijuana: Medicine or Menace A natural herb has been shown to eliminate cancer cells while promoting the health of regular cells. Marijuana for medical use has been an enormous debate within the past few decades and continues to this day. This natural herb can be seen throughout the course of history. Many great leaders and people have used this drug as medicine since 2000 B.C. In 1213 the Egyptians used cannabis to treat many diseases like glaucoma and even inflammation. Around the 1840s marijuana emerged as an extremely popular medicine in the west before it first got outlawed in California, 1913. By 1931, twenty-nine states outlawed the use of this drug. In 1937 forty-six states have either outlawed or had laws against the use of marijuana.

Many people automatically jump to the idea marijuana is bad for you because it is a “carcinogenic substance” that you put into your lungs. One of the biggest health fears of using this drug is that it causes lung cancer. According to Donald Tashkin, a doctor from David Geffen School of Medicine,” We did not find any evidence for an increase in cancer risk for even heavy marijuana smoking” (“Pot Smoking Not Linked to Lung Cancer”). This means that marijuana has not shown any signs of cancer even for people that use it on a day to day basis. If one changes their perspective on the situation and keeps an open mind they can find that marijuana is not as bad as it is portrayed to be. Marijuana is a perfect medicine for a numerous amount of reasons. It is a natural herb so it doesn’t have a bunch of manmade chemicals in it. Cannabinoids are chemicals in marijuana that are responsible for the relaxing or healing effect that helps people deal with many diseases. Doctors have legally prescribed it for a poor appetite, seizures, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, nausea, and even muscle spasms. It has also helped many patients with depression and anxiety. Short terms of using this drug are a euphoric feeling, drowsiness, increased heart rate, and short term memory loss. THC, also known as Tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main active chemical in marijuana. THC is the chemical that interacts with your receptors

If this natural herb was to be legalized for medical use it would benefit the state economically. States are believed to see their economy boom soon after legalization. For example it is estimated that legalizing marijuana could save the United States an average of around 14 billion dollars per year (Bradford). Law enforcement would be spending less money on people who are in federal prisons due to marijuana charges. They would also be gaining a lot of revenue from the tax on marijuana. Legalization is also believed to reduce marijuana prices allowing people to spend their money on something else, also boosting the economy. Crime rate was also a factor present after legalizing marijuana. Many would think that legalizing this “deadly drug” would increase crime rate and create chaos in our society. Crime rate substantially decreased in Denver, Colorado after the legalization. According to the Denver Police Department, crimes that are violent fell by a massive 6.9% (Delmore).These crimes include robbery, assault, and homicide. It is worth throwing someone in prison for murder but is it too much to do the same with someone who uses marijuana