Middleton 1

Robert Middleton
Instructor: Peterson
English 1010-119
April 26, 2013
Should Marijuana be Legalized?
Legalizing marijuana has been an ongoing debate for years in America. While some parts of the
world have begun to legalize the drug, most of the world remains adamant on keeping marijuana illegal,
mostly due to its negative effects on the body and mind. But some would argue that the benefits of
legalizing the plant outweigh the benefits of keeping the plant illegal. As a young adult and student, I am
exposed to many types of substances, mostly marijuana. Some of my friends are consistent smokers and
I wanted to research this topic to educate myself and my friends about the effects of marijuana for
personal use, and the effects legalizing marijuana has on our society. Comparable to the Prohibition,
legalizing marijuana is a topic that affects everyone, not just those who use the drug, just as the
legalization of alcohol has had an effect on everyone in one way or another.
Michelle Alexander claims that the potential harm from smoking marijuana is not comparable to
the harm done to those who have been arrested for possessing weed. She states that those with
criminal records can be discriminated against when applying for education, employment, housing, and
public benefits. Alexander claims that although white people use/sell marijuana at a similar rate to
people of color, its people of color that get arrested and punished the most. Alexander believes the way
to solve the problem is to have no punishment for possessing marijuana. Michelle Alexander is a
professor of law at Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University and is the author of "The New Jim
Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness", and gives us a perspective from the legal view
Middleton 2

point. She gives statistics on a study conducted in California, showing that although the rate of use and
selling are similar between whites and colored youths, colored youths are arrested three to four times
more than white youths. She appeals to our sense of emotion by stating that as a mother of colored
children, she is more worried about her children going to jail than getting high. This source was an
important find because it changed the way I looked at the topic. I had thought of it as a black and white
topic, the negative effects of marijuana and the positive effects. But Alexander has informed me of the
effects of having a criminal record, and how vast of a problem it is compared to the effects of smoking
marijuana.
Unlike Alexander, A. Eden Evins argues that marijuana should stay illegal due to its negative
effects on the mind. Evins argues that marijuana is addictive and harmful to adolescents and to those at
risk for mental illnesses. Evins claims that regular cannabis use can possibly drop your IQ by eight to ten
points over the course of twenty years. She claims that it worsens verbal learning, verbal working
memory, and attention accuracy, and does not improve with abstinence. Evins also claims that it also
increases the risk of acquiring schizophrenia. She argues that marijuana should not be legalized as it will
increase the use and harm done by the drug. A professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and
director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, A. Eden Evins gives
her argument from the medical stand point, stating the different parts of the brain that is effected by
cannabis. She uses statistics to support her argument, such as nine percent of adolescence who use
cannabis become addicted and those who use cannabis over a twenty year span lose eight to ten points
in their IQ. She also appeals to emotion by focusing on adolescence users. This perspective was
important to include as it was the perspective that I expected to read about. I had previously known
about some of the negative effects of marijuana but this article has taught me other negative effects
that I did not know about. It gives us an important insight on the medical view of the use of cannabis
and a perspective from one who does not want the drug to be legalized.
Middleton 3

Like Evins argument, this source also believes marijuana should stay illegal due to its negative
effects on the body and mind. Amrutha Gayathri states that the DEA remains adamant on its stand
against smoked marijuana, believing that legalizing the drug will lead to misuse among the youth, and
the misperception by the public that the drug is safe. She writes that the DEAs arguments are
supported by medical community including American Medical Association (AMA) and American Cancer
Society (ACS), along with various other communities. She states that a recent report by the Office of
National Drug Control Policy can possibly worsen depression or lead to other mental illnesses such as
anxiety and schizophrenia. The DEA establishes credibility by stating that their arguments are supported
by medical communities. They use facts to appeal to the audiences sense of logic to support their claim
that smoked marijuana is harmful in various ways, and that the legalization of marijuana will only
increase the misuse of the drug among the youth, therefor increasing the damage done by cannabis.
Similar to Evins arguments against legalizing marijuana, the DEA used facts from credible medical
sources to support their position. As a logical person, I felt that both Evins arguments and the DEAs
arguments spoke strongly on the position against the legalization of cannabis.
Although, the medical view of marijuana is not of a good one, there are those who believe
legalizing marijuana will have a positive impact on our economy. DPA, or the Drug Policy Alliance, states
that the legalization of marijuana will create jobs and economic opportunities for the economy, rather
than for the black market. DPA believes legalization will allow law enforcement to use their resources
toward public safety and reduce the costs of court hearings. DPA claims the criminalization of marijuana
use hurts the youth and colored populations, while at the same time encourages corruption and
violence. DPA established credibility by stating they helped lead the campaign of 2010 to support
proposition 19 in California, and helped draft initiatives, build coalitions, and raise funds for Washington
and Colorado, the first states to legalize marijuana. They further support their claim by giving examples
of positive effects that legalizing marijuana can have on state governments, and appeals to emotion by
Middleton 4

addressing the harm done to the youth and colored people by the criminalization of marijuana. This
argument was a very important find in my research as it tied together other arguments of different
perspectives, such as an economic and legal viewpoint. It further supported the stand that marijuana
should be legalized using evidence that more people can relate to other than just the users.
Like the argument before, Garrett Peck argues that marijuana can have positive effects on our
economy. Unlike the previous argument, Peck focuses on the past to work toward the future. Gerrett
Peck compares the marijuana market today to the alcohol market during the prohibition. He states that
the marijuana that people buy from their dealers may not be 100% marijuana, and could potentially be
dangerous. He believes that states should regulate marijuana to give the user confidence that what they
are smoking is truly marijuana and to protect users from potentially dangerous replacements. He also
believes that states should tax marijuana to create revenue. Garrett Peck is the author of The
Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet, which gives him
credibility to speak on legalizing marijuana, as it is very similar to the prohibition. He uses examples from
a similar situation from the past to support his position. He appeals to the audiences logic and emotion
by claiming the regulation and taxation of marijuana can stimulate state economies, while protecting
the user from an illegitimate product. Garrett Pecks argument is important to my research as it gives us
a perspective from an economic viewpoint. Like Alexanders argument, this has shown me that this topic
is not just about the negative and positive effects of marijuana use, and, like the other articles, has
influenced my position on the topic. His argument has given me a sense of how legalizing marijuana can
affect our society, and not just the user and law enforcement.
This research has taught me many things about the legalization of marijuana, from a
parental/lawful view, from an economic view, and from a medical view. I had previously thought that it
was a black and white issue, that there were only two sides to the argument, that there were only the
Middleton 5

sides of the smokers and the non-smokers. But learning about the different parts of the brain that are
affected, the economic impact that the industry could have, and the harms of criminalization of
cannabis use, has taught me otherwise. I take the position of legalizing marijuana as it will be used
whether it is legal or not, and could be regulated to make more safe for the users, and to keep the youth
population from being regulated into a permanent second class status. I can only imagine how the
government would plan to regulate and tax Americas number one cash crop.













Middleton 6

Work Cited

Alexander, Michelle. Legalizing, and Ending a Gross Injustice. Nytimes. 22 May 2013. Web. 26
April,2014.
Evins, A. Eden. A Risky Habit We Shouldnt Encourage. Nytimes. 22 May, 2013. Web. 26 April, 2014
Gayathri, Amrutha. Why DEA is Against Legalizing Smoked Marijuana. International Business Times. 21
July, 2011. Web. 26 April, 2014
Peck, Garrett. Lessons From Prohibition. Nytimes. 22 May, 2013. Web. 26 April, 2014