Legalize Our Leaf
Have you ever hear of a hypocrite law? Well I
have it might be the most hypocritical law out there. Since marijuana's first
recorded use dating back five thousand years ago, it has never gained much
popularity until the last century with prohibition and antiwar movements. Now,
more than ever, propositions to legalize the plant have risen and been subject
to controversy and heated debate. Marijuana is the most widely used drug in the
United States and considered to be the most harmful by the government with its
anti-marijuana stance and laws aimed at curtailing its use. Basic research will
show that legalizing this plant can benefit our country whether you smoke it or
not. A simple lesson in supply and demand will show that legalizing marijuana
would create a significant drop in price due to the elimination of the risk
factors of growing and also selling paraphernalia. Some people use marijuana as
a religion such as Bob Marley. In the bible God said “treasure everything I
give you”, and when Bob Marley practices his religion he smoked marijuana to
express his feeling towards God.
The basic reason why marijuana should be legal is that
there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why marijuana
should be legalized?" But we should ask "Why should marijuana be
illegal?" From a philosophical point of view, individuals deserve the
right to make choices for themselves. The government only has a right to limit
those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not
apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so
according to his or her own free will. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “the
goal of America is freedom” (Martin Luther King Jr. 180) and why shouldn’t be
entitled to our freedom. The government also may have a right to limit
individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual.
John F. Kennedy once said “the world is different” why because the government
is trying to take some of our rights away. But this argument does not logically
apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs
which are legal, such as alcohol and tobacco.
The second major reason that marijuana should be legal is
because prohibition does not help the country in any way, and causes a lot of
problems. There is no good evidence that prohibition decreases drug use, and
there are several theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase
drug use. Marijuana is very popular in American high schools. Why? It is
popular because it’s available to the teenagers. You don't have to be 21 to buy
marijuana, but marijuana dealers usually don't care how old you are as long as
you have money. It is actually easier for many high school students to obtain
marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol, because alcohol is legal and
therefore regulated to keep it away from kids. If our goal is to reduce drug
consumption, then we should focus on open and honest programs to educate youth.
But then police officers go spreading lies about drugs in schools, and policies
that result in jail time rather than treatment for people with drug problems.
We tried prohibition with alcohol, and that failed miserably. When the alcohol
prohibition ended, the price dropped to a third of its prohibition cost. So
maybe if they legalize marijuana then it would benefit the economy even more.
Huffman, Steve. " Reddit: The Front Page of the Internet. Steve Huffman, June-July 2005. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.reddit.com/>.
