Introduction
Marijuana is a product of a plant known as Cannabis sativa. People refer to is as weed, pot or ganja. Users normally use marijuana for recreational purposes. It relaxes the mind and gives the user a happy feeling. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the active element in Marijuana. This element causes an increased heartbeat, which makes the body relax. Smoking is the most common way of taking Marijuana. It is more effective when a person smokes Marijuana as opposed to when he ingests it. In addition, some people use it as an ingredient in making cakes. Marijuana is the most used drug in the United States of America (Gerber 67). Despite the fact that Marijuana is illegal, activists are making efforts to legalize it. This paper will try to demonstrate why the government needs to legalize Marijuana.
Why Legalize Marijuana?
Marijuana has incredible medicinal attributes. Tetrahydrocannabinol is one of the components in Marijuana that doctors use to treat patients. There is evidence that Tetrahydrocannabinol destroys cancerous cells. Furthermore, Marijuana is beneficial to people suffering from depression, Alzheimer’s disease and many more (Gerber 68).
The war on drugs is a real war. Drug peddlers also have their own government with its soldiers. Rosenthal and Kubby argue that “Because people are dying. The drug war is a war. In Mexico, in the last five years, police and drug cartels have killed more than 55,000 people. Now the Department of Justice says that drug cartels are running drug-distribution networks in over 1,000 U.S. cities and growing marijuana in national forests. If they are going to cut people’s heads off, they are getting lots of practice” (89). If the government legalized Marijuana, there would be no need for all this killings.
Marijuana is the only drug that does not lead to bad acts. Scientists argue that alcohol kills more people in the United States than any other drug yet it is legal. Ironically, there are no reports of deaths caused by Marijuana. Every year, alcohol abuse kills more than 75,000 people. A hundred thousand people are dying from prescribed drugs. Statistics reveal that most people break their marriage because of alcoholism. Surprisingly, Marijuana has not been associated with any form of violence or illegal activities yet it is illegal (Gerber 69). Marijuana users are peaceful and calm people. Based on these facts, it beats logic why Marijuana is an illegal yet the real drugs are legal.
Despite all the millions of dollars used in the fight against Marijuana, it is obvious the government is losing. The price of marijuana is less by 16 % than it was last year. This is an indication that the government is fighting in vain. Governments should reconsider their priorities. Critics suggest that the government should use this money for better projects that fighting Marijuana (Rosenthal & Kubby 90).
One in every five people, in prison, is serving time for drug use. This means that as the government intensifies its war on drugs so does the cost of building prisons go up. The cost of holding one prisoner for a year is around $ 25,000. There are more than 1.6 million prisoners serving time for drug use in the country. In the real sense, it costs the taxpayer 40 billion a year to keep a drug user in prison. The government should use this money to increase the welfare of people rather than looking after prisoners (Rosenthal & Kubby 91).
Opponents of Marijuana argue that any arrest or jail time served because of drug use tarnishes one’s reputation. It makes one ineligible for many jobs and loans. It also marginalizes one from the society. However, this is not always the case. The last three presidents are a proof that Marijuana use does not hurt one’s reputation. If Marijuana does taint one’s image, then none of the three presidents would have been fit to vie for the presidency (Rushmann 45).
War on drugs has led to racial discrimination. There are as many white users of marijuana as there are black and brown. In New York City, police arrest more black people than white. For every 14 people arrested, only one is white. The easiest way to convict a person of color is to associate him with Marijuana (Rushmann 56).
The government should legalize Marijuana to increase its annual revenue. This will help the government save a lot of money from war on drugs. Rosenthal and Kubby argue, “Drug legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco. Approximately $8.7 billion of this revenue would result from legalization of marijuana and $38.0 billion from legalization of other drugs” (101).
Since the war on Marijuana began, corruption has been on the increase. It is hard for police officers to resist the huge amount of money that the drug dealers offer for protection. In fact, it is only prudent to conclude that police officers work for drug dealers.
Conclusion
Cannabis Sativa has been in use by many generations for its medicinal properties. The criminalizing of Marijuana has only led to police brutalities, corruption, deaths and organized crimes. The only way to stop the war on Marijuana is to legalize it.
Works Cited
Gerber, Rudolph. Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. Print.
Rosenthal, and Kubby, Steve. Why Marijuana Should be Legal, New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2003. Print.
Rushmann, Paul. Legalizing Marijuana. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2004. Print.