The War On Drugs: The Legalization Of Marijuana

The War on Drugs has been a long battle between the government and drugs in the United States. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes can have a great impact on society and legalizing marijuana for recreational use can have a much larger impact. Some people believe that legalizing marijuana would do more harm than good; but this is not the case. In this essay, I will be arguing for the legalization of marijuana because it reduces the stats for the number of criminals, it saves taxpayers money, it strengthens the economy, it is beneficial to health, and it is less harmful than other drugs, along with countering the common misconception of marijuana as a gateway drug for teenagers its abuse.
Elliott Currie proposed two prominent solutions

Even worse, ideas that the use of marijuana fuels the involvement of the user into other heinous crimes has even been argued. According to a Human Rights Watch report, 30,000 New Yorkers who were arrested for possession never had prior convictions or felonies (New York Times, 2014). Legalizing marijuana would be beneficial because it can be controlled. The government has controlled alcohol and tobacco exceptionally well. With the use of underage drinking laws and tobacco taxation, the number of underage drinkers and smokers has dropped. In 1991, there were almost 33% underage drinkers; in 2011, the percentage fell to almost 25 (New York Times, 2014). Legalization of marijuana in Colorado has led to initiatives that combat the usage of marijuana in teens and it is starting to show some positive results in curbing underage abuse of marijuana. Marijuana falls in a similar category like alcohol and tobacco because these drugs are not represented as gateway drugs and marijuana can be added to the

More positive results can aspire from its legalization and restricting it raises many challenges. From a business standpoint, it is not cost effective to keep it illegal and legalizing marijuana can bring revenue for the government. The amount of money the U.S. spends on criminalizing marijuana users can be used to target the real criminals. Marijuana is not like the other drugs and its use for recreational purposes should be allowed. Marijuana continues to offer us remedies for many ailments and it should not be treated as a drug, rather a medicine or for the pursuit of happiness. It is the time for marijuana to be deregulated by the United