Political Science

When the word marijuana is mentioned, the notion that comes upon many peoples mind is crime, drug abuse and prohibition. In my opinion, this is not how it should be. In essence, governments all over the world should be in the first line of granting each citizen the right of making choices for themselves if any activity they choose to undertake do not pose a danger to others. Abraham Lincoln, in 1840, observed that any legislation effectively prohibiting citizens from doing anything undermines the basic principles upon which a democratic government is based on (Gerber, 21). Prohibitive laws aside, I have a number of views as to why I think marijuana should be legalized.

It is important first of all, to note that there are millions of people in the United States who smoke marijuana on a regular basis, as well as millions of others who smoke it infrequently. Medical research has clearly pointed out that smoking marijuana has far much less dangerous side effects and hazardous consequences than many other legal drugs alcohol for example. Undoubtedly, prohibiting the drug has had no impact towards the production and use of marijuana in the country (Bock, 40). Despite the penalties and sentences administered for possessing or using the drug, the number of people using it has continued to rise.

Secondly, a larger percentage of marijuana users are African Americans and Hispanics. Consequently, these groups will be the main victims of prohibition laws, a fact that will reinforce the perception that law enforcement is strategically targeting the minority population groups in American society. African Americans comprise over 30 percent of all arrests associated with the possession andor use of marijuana. Even with these arrests, cases of possession and use continue to rise, and the circumstances have proved that there is no way these laws can be enforced without the race issue emerging to complicate the matter. To avoid this, the drug should just be legalized.

Secondly, the government uses a lot of money in drug wars. Billions of dollars are spent every year by authorities at the federal, state and local levels to chase after people who just want to get high on marijuana and carry on with their lives. Once these people are apprehended, they are locked up in correctional facilities and taxpayers have to pay for the costs of their stints in jail. These convicts have to be fed, housed and granted rights to attorneys from taxpayers money. If marijuana was legalized, there would be much saving on public funds and furthermore taxes charged on the growing and selling of marijuana as a cash crop would supplement the national budget or be used to foot bills of a more effective drug awareness campaigns and other services (Sheperd, Blackley, 215).

Another reason as to why I think marijuana should be legalized is that its prohibition has led to more uncontrolled consumption. By being illegal marijuana has increased its popularity in high schools and colleges throughout the nation. If it were legal, marijuana sellers would seek to establish the age of any prospective buyer but its prohibition has given it the forbidden fruit status and anyone can buy it from the streets regardless of their age. It is much easier for juveniles to obtain and use marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol because the latter is regulated and therefore kept away from underage users (Gerber, 64). It is because of this fact that instead of trying in vain to prohibit some substances, the policy should be to engage in honest programs that educate the youth on the dangers of drug use therefore equip them with the ability to make informed choices when it comes to drug use.

Smoking marijuana has some positive attributes to it. Some chemical substances present in it have medicinal value and its use provides reprieve from chronic pain, nausea and a variety of other symptomatic illnesses that conventional medical procedures have failed to treat. Additionally, marijuana is very applicable as a recreational drug just like alcohol but bearing much less severe negative side effects (Bock, 89). Marijuana users are more unlikely to develop dependency on the drug as compared to users of alcoholic drinks and tobacco. Even to people in whom the drug brings about side effects, there is a tendency to develop tolerance, and it is relatively much easier to quit than most other drugs.

Last but not least, marijuana users have shown great determination to soldier on with the struggle to have the drug legalized. The persistence is due to availability of evidence that marijuana is one of the safest drugs and has medicinal value. In addition, some religions have instructions to their followers to use marijuana as part of certain religious rites. Just like Christians drink wine to commemorate the last supper and other festivities, Buddhist, Hinduism and Rastafarians have within their doctrines the use of marijuana while performing some religious ceremonies. As part of granting each citizen the freedom of worship as provided for in the US constitutions First Amendment, marijuana should be legalized.