Should Marijuana be Legalized?

[3kKristin]

    The legalization of Marijuana has been highly debated. I am constantly wondering weather or not the legalization of Marijuana will cause more harm than good. For a long time I was completely against Marijuana. I believed that it only harmed people and made teenagers less productive in school, however I also knew that it was good for medical purposes. Even so, I was against the total legalization of Marijuana. Medical Marijuana is, in my opinion, acceptable because it is for people who need it, but many people do not need Marijuana and in fact should not use it because of the negative effects it has on the body. During the summer I worked at a center that dealt with immigration and minority rights. My boss was an extreme advocate for Marijuana and I could not understand why. She called me a conservative and made me feel so inferior for wanting Marijuana to remain illegal. She believed that crime rates were high because Marijuana was illegal and if it was legalized crime rates would drop. She also believed that many people of the minority are incarcerated because they use Marijuana. She mainly disliked the fact that so many people of color were put in jail for petty crimes such as the usage of Marijuana. Although that may be true, I also believed that drugs were one of the main reasons that minorities aren't progressing in society very quickly. I always believed that one could turn away from drugs and just not use them. Why was it so hard to stay away from drugs? Marijuana is not something we need if we can live without it. Why legalize something that will only harm you? Isn't the government just trying to protect us?
    The Legalization of Marijuana would have many positive effects on the economy. When we think of tobacco and cigarettes it seems that no matter how high the price, people will just keep buying more and more. In a way Marijuana would make great business, but why would we want to risk our lives just to benefit the economy. One may argue that Marijuana is not necessarily bad for the body, but anything that is inhaled into the lungs through smoking can damage the lungs. I just find it so frustrating that people keep asking, "Why not make it legal?" when the question they should be asking is " Why make it legal?" Do people really believe that Marijuana  will be any different than cigarettes. Tobacco is just another plant. Alone tobacco is not dangerous, but all of the chemicals and waste that they place into these cigarettes will kill someone. many people don't take into account that Marijuana is one out of many drugs. If Marijuana becomes legal people will look for another illegal substance to smoke. History will repeat itself. Yes there are many positive sides to the legalization of marijuana but people who use marijuana will still be looked down upon by jobs, colleges and interviewers. Would anything really change?
    As I write this i am trying to come to an understanding myself. I am wavering between weather it should be legal or illegal in my head, but my heart only tells me that marijuana is not good. Maybe its something that has been drilled into my head as a young child, but I just don't see what all the fuss is about. I don't see why we as people cant overcome something so simple as this plant. Why do we need it? What's so great about Marijuana? The answer i that there isn't anything great about it. No, I've never once tried Marijuana in my life, but I don't need to try it to know that its not good. Marijuana will just be the next tobacco, and then we will see a bunch of PSAs on why we should stop smoking marijuana. Marijuana should not be legalized. 
 

[10levan]

My opinion here is that the debate on the societal connotations of drug usage is a moot point to the topic of legalization. The idea that the government should be there to protect ourselves from ourselves is a dangerous one and an infringement on our personal liberties. However, I will say this. Heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs that are exponentially more addictive and dangerous than marijuana should remain on the DEA Schedule I substances list. However, our nation's method of incarcerating drug users is detrimental to our society, and addiction should be treated as a sickness, not a crime. Marijuana is treated in the exact same way, even though studies have shown that the primary psychoactive agent in cannabis, THC, is much less dangerous than the nicotine in cigarettes or alcoholic beverages. I strongly believe in the legalization of marijuana for these reasons: civil liberty, drastic reduction in prison populations for marijuana-related offenses, and government regulation of product quality. Also, the government can provide safety warnings to any person concerned.
Also, I disagree with the notion that minorities do not progress in society quickly due to drugs alone. Which minorities? Could it be that the effect of a low-class environment be the real inhibitor of progress? I believe so. I think this because I personally have friends that have used marijuana recreationally, and have went on to study at prestigious conservatories or Ivy League schools. However, they came from better educations and upbringings, and educated themselves about the danger of gateway drugs and addiction and planned accordingly. While I recognize that everyone is different, you can see that alcohol and tobacco cause major problems in teenagers and young adults as well, and we do not see them banned.
As a recap, I just want to point out that if we want to shed this hypocrisy, we should turn marijuana usage into a regulated business such as the sale of alcohol and tobacco, and by extension, turn the lengthy prison sentences for much more dangerous drugs into rehabilitation programs. This will help cut down the disturbing population in our prisons. Deal with the root of the problem; violent crime, poverty, inefficient education, instead of blaming a substance for it as an excuse to continue this costly and ridiculous "War on Drugs".