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Jonathan Nwosu
Mrs. Scaife
Comp II TTH
24 October 2016
To Be Legal Or Not To Be Legal: Marijuana
The legalization of Marijuana has been a hot topic issue in all states along with
other issues like abortion, texting and driving just to name a few. These issues and
topics are most popular among the younger demographic (18 to mid 30s). I think this is
mostly because younger people can see both sides of each of those arguments for
being for or against it. Also I think that much older people are stuck in conservative
ways in thinking with these topics and the younger demographic is more open minded.
But once again these are just my own opinions. What I am going to be addressing is the
legalization of marijuana in the United States. Over the past twenty years half the
states in the country (twenty-five) have legalized marijuana in some way. That may
include recreational or medical use this also includes the District of Columbia. The other
states that have not legalized marijuana have not seen the upside in the legalization of
Marijuana. Those states that have seen a very good increase in their economy which
will be discussed later. In this essay I will be talking about both recreational and medical
use of marijuana and how it can be good for not just states alone but also the country.
Also I will discuss the negative impact of having the legalization of marijuana which
some may say is the main reasons why this drug is still illegal today.
Some background information about marijuana itself I feel is very important into
understanding why I support my stance on the legalization of it. In a lot of countries

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marijuana is used for religious ceremonies, herbal remedies, alleviating symptoms for
many reason since as early as 2737 B.C. (Lusk, Paul, Wilson. 2015. 3). Now since then
on marijuana has been used varieties ways between the 16th and 19th century in many
countries. Also of the key substance of marijuana is THC which can be isolated in many
ways so that certain plant of marijuana can be used for different ways. Meaning that
increasing or decreasing the level of THC 1 is key. Another little piece of background
information that I feel is important is that there are 3 different types or marijuana
formerly called strains. These strains are called sativa 2, indica and ruderalis and they
are all effective in different ways.
First I will start off by discussing why marijuana should be legal and in positive impacts it
has in both the recreational and medical communities. In the medical communities it has
shown very positive impacts for patients that have cancer, chronic pain and other
medical issues. A new use for marijuana in the medical community is palliative care 3. In
an article titled The Potential Impact of the Legalization and Decriminalization of
Marijuana on the Vocational Rehabilitation Process. Why the Buzz? the authors
Stephanie L. Lusk, Teresia M. Paul, Raylon Wilson they discuss how palliative care
helps patients. They said that, Many of the medications used in palliative care have
high levels of toxicity and severe adverse effects, whereas THC and other

1 THC- short term used the scientific name is tetrahydrocannabinol which is represented by the symbol
delta raised to the 9th power.

2 Sativa- it is known as one of the earliest domesticated plant species. Indica- this strain is in the same
family as Sativa but doesnt have the same levels of THC considerable lower. Ruderalis- has very low
levels of THC and is not used called the wild hemp.

3 Palliative care- special medical care for people that have very serious illnesses.

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cannabinoids4 have remarkably low toxicity and no lethal doses in humans have yet
been described (Lusk et al.2015.pg 5). Basically they are saying that it has been shown
that medical marijuana is very helpful and used in palliative care. Another point that
they make is that some patients dont respond to other treatments and they begin to
have nausea and vomiting when they are are doing chemotherapy (Lusk et al.2015.pg
5). Also the authors point out is that marijuana is very helpful in in chronic pain. The
types of chronic pain that they mention is fibromyalgia 5, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer,
MS6. They furthermore explain how marijuana is helpful with MS. They explain that, For
individuals with MS, orally administered dronabinol 7 was found to significantly reduce
pain when compared to the placebo(Lusk et al.2015.pg 5). Lusk et al point is that using
dronabinol and trying it out was very impactfully. These authors also report were using
marijuana or forms of marijuana have been used. According to Lusk, Paul, Wilson in
Canada, New Zealand and 8 other European countries forms of marijuana are being
used (Lusk et al.2015.pg 5). There are plenty of other diseases, disorders and chronic
pain issues in which marijuana is proven helpful and beneficial in a medical sense. The
ones I mentioned are just some of the main and important ones that people may know.
Another reason to legalize marijuana, other than for medicinal purposes, is
recreational marijuana can increase the economy while lowering the crime rate
4 Cannabinoids- any of the chemical compounds that are the active principles of marijuana. Commonly
called CBD.

5 Fibromyalgia- a syndrome characterized by fatigue and chronic pain in the muscles and in tissues
surrounding the joints.

6 MS- scientific known as Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where one's immune system eats at its own
nerves.

7Dronabinol- this is used to treat nausea and vomiting for MS and also Cancer when other medications
dont work. In some cases it helps people with gain their appetite back that have AIDS.

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nationwide. Most people really wouldnt see the connection on these two topics, but it
can be seen in many states that I will mention later. Christina Sarich who wrote a book
titled Colorado Crime Rates Down 14.6% Since Legalizing Marijuana discusses how
the major at the time Michael Hancock was against the legalization of marijuana but
later Denver enjoying a 14.6% decrease in crime rate within the following year at the
exact same time. According to Sarich, Many Denver city officials, including Mayor
Michael Hancock, fought pot legalization tooth and nail saying it would cause increases
in petty crimes and even sexual assault, just three months after Colorado voters helped
pass the legalization of marijuana, Denver is enjoying a 14.6% decrease in crime from
the same time last year. (Sarich. 2014). What the author just gave an example of is
how the crime rate dropped because of the legalization of marijuana versus what people
thought was going to happen. She later on explains the some crimes that have lowered
because of legalization of marijuana. Sarich herself writes, Property crime is down
14.6%. Violent crime is down 2.4%. It certainly doesnt look like what opponents of
Amendment 648 would have liked to everyone to believe..etc (Sarich. 2014). Basically
Sarich is saying that the evidence is there and can be supported it is just that people
have to look for it. Finally one of the main points that she is going to make is how much
the projected marijuana income is going to be. In her article she says, And what is
better than low crime rates? How about a projected $1 billion in marijuana sales that will
translate in $100 million in revenue for the states of Colorado, according to budget
projections by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (Sarich. 2014). Sarichs point is that
when marijuana is legalized it will stimulate the economy a huge amount. A follow up
8 Amendment 64- does three things: 1) makes private use of marijuana and, limited possession for home
growing allowed for people 21 or older. 2) makes marijuana regulated and taxable the same as marijuana.
3) makes the state legislature permit for cultivation.

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point that I am going to make is that also another person by the name of Matt Ferner
gives some insist on the research that he did in his article called Legalizing Medical
Marijuana May Actually Reduce Crime, Study Says. In his article he basically explained
the research of a study that was done by a associate doctor University of Texas at
Dallas his name is Robert Morris. Him and his colleagues overall looked at crime rates
for the entire country the time framed they looked into was from 1990 to 2006. In those
16 years they found out that 11 states legalized marijuana for medical use. To gather the
base of their information they looked into what the FBI calls part I crimes 9.Their
conclusion on what they saw is that, In fact, for some forms of violence - homicide and
assault - we found partial support for declines after the passing of this legislation
(Ferner. 2014). To explain they found in their research is that when these 11 states
passed the legalization of marijuana for medical they saw evidence of a decline in the
major part I crimes.

Now that I have gave my perspective on why I think marijuana should be

legalized and the impacts the legalization could have, I will go into the negative effects.
So first I will start off by discussing a newspaper article by Charlie Savage entitled
Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States The Legalized Marijuana Use. In this
article he is discussing what may happen to some states if they legalized the use of
marijuana because of the CSA10. Savage says that, One option is to sue the states on
the grounds that any effort to regulate marijuana is preempted by federal law (Savage.
9 Part I Crimes- Based on what the FBI is homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny
and auto theft.

10 CSA- Is the Control Substance Act and it regulates how drugs are enforced and which drugs are
illegal.

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2012. pg A20). What this is saying is that the United States government has the ability
to sue that states based on the fact that the federal government should be the ones that
regulate how marijuana should be enforced and not the states themselves. This is kind
of a catch 22 situation because of the whole democracy argument. Some more negative
impacts come from an article that I cited earlier entitled The Potential Impact of the
Legalization and Decriminalization of Marijuana on the Vocational Rehabilitation
Process. Why the Buzz? These authors have gave some great examples on how
marijuana can affect your Brain and Bodily Systems. First with the brain affects they
mention that, Marijuana use has been found to affect the brain myriad of ways. It has
been shown that executive functions such as concentration, attention, motor
impulsivity..etc (Lusk et al.2015.pg 6). Basically the authors are saying that studies
have been shown that marijuana use can be a huge impact and not allow people to
focus or do simple tasks. Another thing that they point out is how marijuana is a big
impact when talking about mental health issues. The authors state that, Mental health
is also impacted by marijuana use researchers have found that regular users of
cannabis had higher rates of psychotic symptoms and disorders when compared to
non-users (Lusk et al.2015.pg 6). In this quote they are saying that is it not uncommon
for people to have some mental issues when using marijuana. That in itself is not a
good thing at all. The last point that I am going to mention is what marijuana does to the
bodily system and what happens to your body when you use marijuana. According to
Lusk et al they say that, Its use affects the cardiopulmonary system by blocking air
passages and causing lung irritation, chronic bronchitis, a buildup of phlegm, and
shortness of breath...etc (Lusk et al.2015.pg 6). Their point with this quote is that found

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research to support that long term use of marijuana can be very impactful to your health
which is not a good thing.

In conclusion, both sides of the argument contains weighty evidence that supports
why marijuana should be legal and why it shouldn't be. It is upon people themselves to
do the research to decide which side of this argument they support. With this being a
hot topic issue at this point this debate is at a stand still. By my stance on it is that the
pros overweigh the cons in my opinion. That is why I support marijuana being legalized
for both recreational and especially for medical use. I can see why some people dont
support legalization, but it cant be any worse than any other drug or thing that people
use for recreational use ie alcohol, cigarettes and other things.

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Work Cited
Bradford Harry. 14 Ways Marijuana Legalization Could Boost The Economy.
The Huffington Post. 11 Nov 2012. Web. 14 Sept 2016.

Ferner Matt. Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Actually Reduce Crime, Study
Says.

The Huffington Post. 28 March 2014. Web. 14 Sept 2016.

Indiviglo Daniel. Would Ending The Drug War Stimulate Economic Growth?.
The Atlantic. 8 Feb 2010 Web. 15 Sept 2016.

Ingram Christopher. Arizonas Governor asked voters to fact check whether pot
is safer the alcohol. So we did.
The Washington Post. 9 Sept 2016. Web. 15 Sept 2016.

Lusk L. Stephanie, Paul M. Teresia, Wilson Raylon. The Potential Impact of the
Legalization and Decriminalization of marijuana on the Vocational Rehabilitation
Process. Why The Buzz?. Summer 2015. Web. 19 Oct 2016.

Savage Charlie. Administration Weighs Legal Action Against States The

Legalized Marijuana Use. New York Times. 7 Dec 2012. Article. 19 Oct 2016

Amendment 64 FAQ. Sensible Colorado. 24 Oct 2016. Web.

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Drugs and Human Performance Fact Sheets. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Web. 20 Oct 2016.

What are Cannabinoids. Leaf Science. 23 Oct 2015. Web. 20 Oct 2016.

Staff Clinic Mayo. Diseases and Conditions Fibromyalgia. Mayo Clinic. 8 Sept
2016. Web. 20 Oct 2016.

Dronabinol: Medlineplus Drug Information. Medlineplus Trusted Health

Information for You. 1 Sept 2010. Web. 20 Oct 2016.