Marijuana. The Great Debate

A very controversial topic that almost everyone is aware of is none other than 'good ole' marijuana. Almost anyone you ask has an opinion on it and there are good arguments for and against whether or not marijuana should be legalized. Of course there are pros and cons to everything in life but the real question here is do the pros of legalizing marijuana outweigh the cons of doing so?

One of the most common pro marijuana legalization arguments in the United States is that if weed were legal, it could be taxed and therefore help bring us out of our horrific economic recession. Supporters of legalizing marijuana argue that law enforcement has better things to worry about and if weed were legal, the on average 750,000 people arrested a year for use of marijuana would be out of the concern of our law enforcement officials. By reducing the amount of people arrested each year for illegal drug use, the money saved could be used to support more beneficial government programs.

Another extremely common argument made for the legalization of marijuana is that it is not as harmful as many people believe it to be. In parts of California, there are places where marijuana is legal for patients that have medical conditions including anxiety. In this case, marijuana helps people with extreme cases of anxiety to become more calm. Also it is claimed that marijuana generally isn't more harmful than alcohol or tobacco when used in moderation. Of course when abuse of the drug comes into play it can be harmful but that is the same with both alcoholism and excessive use of tobacco.

A huge opposing argument of the legalization of marijuana is that it is considered to be a 'gateway drug' or a 'stepping stone drug.' Both meaning that the use of marijuana may progress to the use of much harder, more dangerous drugs such as cocaine or heroin. This is known to be true in some cases where overuse of the drug is displayed and a high tolerance begins to set in. When marijuana is abused and overused, the user no longer receives the same high they did when they first started and therefore use more or switch to harder drugs to in turn get that desired high again.

Another popular opposing argument is that driving or operating machinery under the influence of marijuana can be extremely harmful. This is true because marijuana can impair the senses and reaction times of people who are using. Many have argued against this argument that laws could be imposed like those against drunk driving, but marijuana is a little bit more tricky. Unless the user was smoking in the car, it is very difficult to determine whether they are high or not because there is no distinct smell or way of testing for use besides the classic urine test. Unlike the breathalyzer for drunk drivers, there is no quick way of knowing whether someone is under the influence of marijuana therefore making it hard to enforce laws about 'driving while being stoned.'

All in all, both sides pose strong arguments for the controversy but in my opinion I believe that it in fact should be legalized. I think that it will do more good than harm to legalized marijuana. Lets face it, everyone knows someone that smokes weed, so regardless of whether it is legal or not, people are going to do it.