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Alyssa Hilliard

Professor Stanger

College Writing

November 16, 2016

Should Marijuana be Legalized?

Marijuana has been used for various reasons for thousands of years. For instance, in first-

century China, “Surgeon Hua Tuo reportedly performed painless surgery using an anesthetic made

from cannabis resin and wine” (Wanlund). Today, it is used to reduce the symptoms of many

ailments and it can help with stress through recreational use. Even though studies have proven the

benefits and medical properties that marijuana has, it is still illegal to use in the United States of

America. However, some states have utilized one (21 of 50) or both (8 of 50) purposes ("State

Marijuana Laws”). Marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational use at the federal

level.

Marijuana has many resources that can help heal people. In the past, it was used to help

treat “menstrual fatigue, malaria, rheumatism, gout, boils, constipation and ‘absent-mindedness’”

(Koch). As time went on, different people found new medical uses for marijuana, such as to

“increase appetite, mental cheerfulness, and to help with depression” (Koch). Eventually marijuana

was replaced by “more chemically stable drugs for pain relief, including aspirin, chloral hydrate,

barbiturates and opiates administered with hypodermic syringes” (Koch). Even though these drugs

replaced marijuana, they are not necessarily safer. According to International Business Times,

“Prescription drugs kill about 100,000 people in the world each year” (“Medical Marijuana”).

Whereas “Marijuana,.…, medical or not, is not only non-lethal, but likely beneficial” (“Medical

Marijuana”). One leader of marijuana research, Dr. Paul Hornby, said “I've heard you have to
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smoke something like 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to get a toxic amount of delta-9

tetrahydrocannabinol,” which is humanly impossible (“Medical Marijuana”). Today, where

marijuana is legalized, it is used to help alleviate the symptoms of “Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy,

multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, arthritis, depression, anxiety, hepatitis C, morning sickness, cancer,

HIV/AIDS and chemotherapy” (“Medical Marijuana”). Obviously, marijuana has many medicinal

purposes that need to be accessible to everyone.

Marijuana should also be legalized for recreational use because it alleviates stress and is

not as unhealthy as tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs. In one study, twelve teens that smoke

marijuana to help with stress were interviewed. They found that these teens smoked to help with

“dealing with bullying at school, heavy demands of school work, taxing shifts at work, and just

"giving as much as you can" alongside difficult relationships with parents or guardians, and

receiving threats from neighbors” (Bottorff, Johnson, Moffat, & Mulvogue). By smoking, the teens

were able to manage these situations better and “helped them feel "not so nervous" and "not so

uptight about everything"” (Bottorff, Johnson, Moffat, & Mulvogue). Facts and studies show that

marijuana is safer than tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Marijuana has never killed anyone, while

alcohol kills about “88,000 people” ("Alcohol Facts and Statistics") every year, tobacco kills about

“480,000 deaths per year” ("Fast Facts"), and “during 2014, 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred

in the United States” (Rudd). Also, if recreational use was legal, it could possibly help reduce

crime rates and generate more revenue for the state government (Dills, Goffard, & Miron).

According to The National Academy of Sciences, “chronic marijuana users, THC — the active

ingredient in pot — actually causes a decrease in “aggressive and violent behavior”’ (Ferner).

Legalization could also help states collect more revenue from taxes. For instance, “Colorado made

$135 million from recreational marijuana taxes in 2015, or more than $10 million per month. In
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Washington, the state collected double the forecasted amount with $70 million during the first year

of sales. Oregon, which began taxing recreational marijuana in January, has collected $14.9

million in taxes so far, far more than the predicted $2 million to $3 million.” (Summers). That’s

only three states, if it was legalized federally it could bring in a lot of money for the economy.

While some studies show recreational use could help decrease crime rates and make more money

for the government, more studies and tests need to be done.

On the other hand, some argue that legalizing marijuana will lead to use/abuse of harder

drugs and/or alcohol, evade laws, and increase use among young people. In 2009, John Lovell said

“medical marijuana has virtually nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with attempting

to evade controlled-substance laws” (Katel). Others also argue that “younger users are more likely

to become addicted to marijuana, and are at a higher risk of developing mental and physical

problems, than are older users” (Foerstel). However, The Denver Post said “One out of every five

Colorado teens say they have used marijuana in the last month, but that rate has not increased since

pot was legalized in the state and is in line with the national average, according to a new report

from the state Health Department” (Ingold). Advocates of legalization said that “prohibiting

marijuana has done nothing to stop teenagers usage,” which was backed by a study “by the

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found that teenage use had dropped

slightly in the years since the state legalized marijuana” (Foerstel). Some people who do not want

marijuana to be legalized, have said that using marijuana can lead to harder drugs and/or alcohol

abuse. On the contrary, the Institute of Medicine said “Marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway

drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug

abuse”’ (Boffey). Another argument made is that marijuana kills people. Bruce Mirken stated that

“about 7 million Americans illegally use prescription drugs in a given month” and in correlation to
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that, said “there has never been a system devised by humans that someone won't manage to cheat”

(Katel). Finally, marijuana does not kill people and has “never been the direct contributor to a

single death” (“Medical Marijuana”).

Although, some might say marijuana is just a way to cheat the system or harmful to the

people who use it, marijuana has never directly killed anyone. It has many medicinal purposes and

could be a better option for people instead of prescription drugs. Recreationally, there are many

benefits that can help people manage stress and is a safer option than other drugs, alcohol, or

tobacco. Marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational use at the federal level,

because the benefits and medical properties marijuana has outweighs any kind of drawbacks it may

have.
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Works Cited

“‘Medical’ Marijuana: 10 Health Benefits That Legitimize Legalization.”

International Business Times 08 Aug. 2012: Regional Business News. Web. 16 Nov. 2016.

Katel, Peter. “Legalizing Marijuana.” CQ Researcher 12 June 2009: 525-48. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

Wanlund, William. “Marijuana Industry.” CQ Researcher 16 Oct. 2015: 865-88. Web. 17 Nov.

2016.

Foerstel, Karen. “Marijuana Legalization.” CQ Researcher 23 Aug. 2016. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.

Koch, Kathy. "Medical Marijuana." CQ Researcher 20 Aug. 1999: 705-28. Web. 6 Dec. 2016.

Dills, Angela, Sietse Goffard, and Jeffrey Miron. "Dose of Reality: The Effect of State Marijuana

Legalizations." Cato Institute. Cato Institute, 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

"State Marijuana Laws in 2016 Map." Governing Magazine: State and Local Government News

for America's Leaders. Governing, 11 Nov. 2016. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.

Bottorff, Joan L., Joy L. Johnson, Barbara M. Moffat, and Tamsin Mulvogue. "Relief-oriented Use

of Marijuana by Teens." Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. BioMed

Central, 23 Apr. 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

"Alcohol Facts and Statistics." National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, June 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

"Fast Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Rudd, Rose A, et al. "Increases In Drug And Opioid Overdose Deaths--United States, 2000-

2014." MMWR. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report64.50-51 (2016): 1378-

1382. MEDLINE. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.

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Ferner, Matt. "Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Actually Reduce Crime, Study Says." The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Summers, DJ. "Study Says Legalized Marijuana Does Not Affect Crime or Economics." Alaska

Journal of Commerce. N.p., 28 Sept. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Ingold, John. "Marijuana Use Remains Flat among Colorado Teens, Survey Finds." The Denver

Post. N.p., 02 Oct. 2016. Web. 07 Dec. 2016.

Boffey, Philip M. "What Science Says About Marijuana." The New York Times. N.p., 30 July

2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2016.