Essay on Whether or Not Marijuana Should be Legalized
Essay on Whether or Not Marijuana Should be Legalized
Should Marijuana Be Legalized? In society today, many people look for a feeling of freedom. Many people go on vacation and spend money. The most common gateway for people is drugs. Our American society is facing a tremendous drug problem. It has become a highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation while others oppose because it will increase the number of drug users and drug related crimes.
Marijuana is a drug that is illegal in the United States. This drug as you know is bad and causes severe side effects to your brain and body. Marijuana has both short term and long term effects. However, according to scientific experiments, marijuana is known to be beneficial in medicine. The question is should marijuana be legalized?
One of the consequences of legalization will be a tremendous increase in drug users. Right now, drug users have fear of law enforcement agents, but if drugs were to be legalized, they no longer will have fear and will feel that it will be okay to use drugs. Over twenty years ago, estimates of drug use among Americans went as high as 24 million, but we now estimate that the number of Americans who use illegal drugs is down to about 11 million. And a recent study done by my office shows that Americans are spending less on illegal drugs, not more. In 1993, Americans spent $49 billion on illegal drugs, down from $64 billion in 1988 (Brown 629). This decline is due to more officers on the streets and drug awareness programs. An increase in drug use will result in an increase in drug related crimes if drugs are legalized. Supporters of drug legalization believe that crime and violence would decrease if drug use was legal. Statistics tell us that almost half of those arrested for committing a crime test positive for the use of drugs at the time of their arrest. Making drugs more readily available could only propel more individuals into a life of crime and violence (Brown 629).
Also drug users turn to crime to pay for their habits because they are stimulated by drugs and therefore act violently. If drug is sold legally, it will...