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Shaun Goode
Health 1050
Professor Paul Roberts
15 December 2016
Should America Legalize Marijuana
The subject of this paper is to research whether marijuana should be legalized or
not. Marijuana has been debated for years now whether it has medical use. Is it moral
for America to allow it to be legal to be used for recreational purposes like alcohol and
tobacco? This paper will discuss both sides to the argument whether marijuana should
be legalized for medical use and recreational use.
Marijuana has been used to for ages now. It is described in a Chinese medical
journal that is said to be dated back to 2737 B.C. by Emperor Shen Nung. They used it
mostly for the treatment of gout and malaria. In India it was used for recreational
purposes. Muslims also used it recreationally because alcohol consumption was
banned by the koran. Marijuana was introduced to the new world by the Spanish in
1545. In 1611 the English introduced marijuana to jamestown where it became a major
cash crop along with tobacco. By 1890 hemp had been replaced by cotton as the major
cash crop. There were some patent medicines that contained marijuana at the time but
most contained opium and cocaine. It wasnt until the 1920s that marijuana started to
gain some popularity, most experts attribute this to the prohibition of alcohol. The
recreational use of marijuana was limited to the Jazz craze being used by performers
and fans. Marijuana clubs started popping up in every major city where people could go

and use marijuana. Authorities tolerated these clubs because marijuana was not illegal
and people partaking in these clubs werent causing disturbances.(narconon.org)
From 1850 to 1942 marijuana was listed on the United States Pharmacopeia for
the treatment of nausea, labor pains and rheumatism. In the 1930s the Federal Bureau
of Narcotics set out on a campaign to portray marijuana as a powerful addictive drug
that would lead people into using other drugs. Which is where the term Gateway drug
came from. In the 1960s college students and hippies used marijuana as way of
rebelling against the system. The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 classified Marijuana
a schedule I drug along with LSD and heroin. This meaning it had no medical use and
had a high potential for addiction and abuse. Most marijuana at this time was coming
from Mexico. The zero tolerance of the Reagan and Bush administration brought strict
laws and penalties for people caught possessing marijuana. In 1982 the Drug
Enforcement Administration turn attention to marijuana farms inside the United States.
This caused a shift to indoor marijuana plants that could produce a lot of marijuana
while staying small.(narconon.org)
Marijuana is gaining a lot of support across the nation for legalization. As of 2012
marijuana has been legalized for medical use in eighteen states.(levinthal 184)
Marijuana has also been legalized for recreational use by adults in Washington and
Colorado. There are many arguments being made for the legalization by doctors and
researchers. Dr Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School said Back in 1966,
concerned that so many young people were harming themselves through the use of
marijuana, I began to review the medical and scientific literature to help clarify the
nature of this harmfulness. Much to my surprise, I discovered that it was a substance

remarkably free of toxicity. In fact, it is far safer than any pharmaceutical or recreational
drug. There is no record of a single overdose death around the world from its
recreational or medicinal use. Compare that to aspirin, which is responsible for more
than 1000 deaths per year in this country alone.(Kiernan, Should Marijuana be legal
Experts Weigh In) RIchard N. Gottfried Chairman on the committee of health in the New
York state assembly, another proponent of legalizing marijuana said We need to move
beyond our completely broken prohibition model on marijuana to a sensible tax-andregulate model. Its widely recognized that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol, and
our law is dishonest in how we treat it.(Kiernan, Should Marijuana be legal Experts
Weigh In) Both of these men are highly respected and are making an argument for
legalization.
One of the biggest argument on legalizing marijuana is how much it is costing the
American government to keep it illegal. America spends billions of dollars every year on
marijuana. Proponents argue America should legalize marijuana so it can be taxed.
That way money spent on the prevention of marijuana and the taxes of marijuana can
be spend in other areas of need. Also the argument that marijuana isnt as bad as
alcohol and tobacco is being made. Studies show that tobacco is three times as
addictive as marijuana.(Jacques, Renee This is why Marijuana Should be Legal
Everywhere) If legalized marijuana can be regulated like tobacco and alcohol for purity
and safety. That way people arent using marijuana that is laced with other drugs without
them knowing. Legalizing marijuana will also reduce costs in the justice system because
there wont be all the arrest related to marijuana. This will reduce cost of prosecution,
conviction and housing them in jails and prisons.

There are also many experts that are against legalizing marijuana. William T.
Carpenter professor of psychiatry and pharmacology and University of Maryland said
Among the vulnerable, marijuana consumption increases the likelihood of progressing
to schizophrenia by about fourfold. There is good evidence that marijuana is causal in
this progression, perhaps in relation to the potency of marijuana consumed.(Kiernan,
Should Marijuana be legal Experts Weigh In) Janet R. Daling professor of public health
at university of Washington said One of my studies was related to marijuana use and
the incidence of non-seminoma testicular cancer. I found an association. This
association has been verified by two other studies. For this reason, among others, I
definitely do not support legalization of marijuana.(Kiernan, Should Marijuana be legal
Experts Weigh In) Kevin A Sabit director of the drug policy institute at University of
Florida College of Medicine said Though drug policy certainly needs reforms people
shouldnt be given a criminal record for low-level pot use, and we need more treatment
available, to name some examples marijuana legalization is a very bad idea, unless,
of course, we want to experience the 100-year disaster of Big Tobacco all over
again.(Kiernan, Should Marijuana be legal Experts Weigh In)
Arguments are being made that marijuana users have a bad lifestyle. Also that
marijuana causes cognitive problems. Marijuana has been shown to infringe on
complex motor skill thus affecting the ability to drive or operate machinery. Thus making
them say why make another drug legal that can have such terrible effects and can
cause accidents.
Many arguments can be made for and against legalizing marijuana. There are
both pros and cons to each side. America has a big task on their hands to decide

whether it is worth legalizing or not. Do the pros outweigh the cons, we can only wait
and see what America decides.

Work Cited
Jacques, Renee. "This Is Why Marijuana Should Be Legal Everywhere." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.

"Marijuana History." Narconon International. Narconon International, n.d. Web. 15

Dec. 2016.
Kiernan, John S. "Should Marijuana Be Legal? Experts Weigh In." WalletHub.
Wallethub, 14 July 2016. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.
Levinthal, Charles F. Drugs, behavior, and modern society. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 2010. Print.