Rockwell 1 Bailey Rockwell Professor Baird English 1010- Section #089 April 22, 2014 Mari-Juana Legalize The

argument of the legalization of marijuana has been in the news for quite some time. The most surprising of the legalization coverage was when Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use, being the first state in the United States to do so. This all was supported in Matt Ferners article in the Huffington Post. This was surprising for most people I talked to at the time, only because the idea of legalizing something so controversial was beyond taboo, especially in such a conservative state as Utah. More states are pushing more and more to either legalize marijuana, or ban it. It is very important that citizens voice their opinion on the issue of legalizing cannabis because one vote could swing it one way or another. On one hand, people who are against legalization argue that it would promote marijuana use in our children. On the other hand, people who agree with the legalization contend that it could be scientifically beneficial for medicinal purposes. Others even maintain that either way, they are indifferent. But not having an idea can be non beneficial of many reasons. If a person doesnt voice their true opinion, they will be stuck with the outcome, whether it is positive or negative. I have had the same standpoint for most of my life about the legalization of marijuana. I have openly had conversations hearing both sides of the argument, but in the end I still hold strong to my beliefs. I believe that having marijuana legalized for medical and/or recreational use would not be harmful at all. I personally believe it is no different

Rockwell 2 that being intoxicated with alcohol. The legalization would not personally benefit me at the moment, because I am not of age to use it legally for recreational use in other states, but this does not affect how I feel towards the argument. When one side claims that the legalization of medical marijuana will lead to teens smoking pot more, I can only disagree with their ignorant facts. According to a study done by the Center for Disease Control on states that have legalized medical marijuana, only twenty one percent of high school students have participated in the illicit use of marijuana in the past month. This seems likes more than expected, but that number is no different than before when medical marijuana was not legalized. Also, in Kathleen Hopkins article, Its High Time to Legalize Pot, she shows both sides of the argument as well. In Hopkins article she recognizes the risks of legalizing marijuana, but reassures the reader on how minimal those risks are. This concludes that the legalization of medical marijuana does not in fact lead to teens being more accessible to marijuana. In my experience with teenagers who have used marijuana illicitly, they do not have a problem accessing marijuana at all. They can receive it as easy as someone receives a bottle of soda. I think that no matter what, teens will have access to things they are not allowed to access, including: drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and pornography. Legalizing something such as medical marijuana would not give teens an easier access at all, if anything I believe it would make it more difficult. It would become more difficult to access because of all the regulations they would have along with the legalization. This means that the government would crack down on people selling and using marijuana illicitly easier because they would have the ability to question every single person and demand proof of medical cards.

Rockwell 3 While it is true that the legalization of marijuana for medical or recreation use could lead to a larger number of people participating in the act of using marijuana, it does not necessarily follow that the legalization of marijuana could lead to more accidents involving the drug. It is true that it is a risk that people will drive while under the influence of marijuana, just like alcohol and other drugs. This will be something each state has to enforce and teach to all drivers. They could teach it to students who are taking drivers education, like how they teach them about alcohol. This would be easier to educate the teens and also the adults. This would be good because most of the people, who use the drug illicitly, drive anyways. These people do not understand the consequences of driving while under the influence of drugs. This should be taught to these people so that they understand the seriousness of driving while intoxicated, and how it could affect their family members in many ways. All these arguments are very convincing, but I would like to raise some questions and doubts that have been inspired be the skeptic in me. He feels that I have been ignoring the complexity of this argument in a few ways. I believe that if recreational marijuana were legalized, drug testing for jobs would be more difficult and confusing. If marijuana if classified along with alcohol, how could a job ban something that is legal according to the government. This would create something more confusing than it should be. Also, I would be curious about how they would prevent people underage using recreational marijuana. I think that they could keep drug testing the same for someone that is under twenty-one, that way they can find out if she or he is using the drug illicitly. These are the only things I could think of that could make the legalization more complex. I think that no matter what, the government will find solutions to various issues in order

Rockwell 4 to crack down on those people who should not be using certain illicit drugs. The government can be beneficial in many ways when it comes to marijuana, but most of all, medical marijuana. The government could step up and promote the experimentation on marijuana on certain diseases in the Unites States of America. I believe that legalizing medical marijuana would be extremely beneficial to cancer patients who need the appetite and need the excruciating pain to be eliminated. I do not understand why each state has to have different regulations on why they will not accept the legalization of medical marijuana. They have conducted more and more studies on what medical marijuana will help in patients who have different disorders. According to a new study done by the American Academy or Neurology, medical marijuana can help alleviate or mitigate some of the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis or commonly referred to as MS. They have also been doing more studies to determine how it will help different neurological and nervous system diseases. This may be beneficial to the medical world in many different ways, but mostly by being an inexpensive medicine to prescribe to the patients. The only problem with trying to study the affect of marijuana on different parts of the body for medical reasons is that it is highly regulated in the United States still. This means that we have to conduct most of the experiences outside of the United States in countries like Europe. If we legalized medical marijuana in the United States, we could conduct these studies in our own country and become beneficial to the medical world on the subject of medical marijuana. This could boost the possibility of finding out diseases in which medical marijuana could become a main component in helping the patient overcome the specific disease. If we could do this,

Rockwell 5 we could boost the mortality rate of certain diseases and help the others not suffer as much while dealing and fighting their diseases. If we contributed in legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use, we would not have to waste our precious time worrying about something as harmless as marijuana, and focus on other world issues. Using marijuana, as a recreation drug is extremely harmless and is the choice of the user to use it safely or to be negligent. This responsibility in on every single persons shoulders in everything they do. When someone goes out to the bar and drinks excessively, they understand that they can be safe by having a ride back home, or to be negligent and drive home and risk the lives of the people on the road at the time. This is a risk that people have to decide everyday when they make certain risks. This is a big issue because we could be discovering possibly thousands of different cures that marijuana has. But until we legalize marijuana for either medical or recreational use, we wont find out. If we legalize marijuana, it would only benefit the government by the profit they would receive. So why not legalize something that is God Given, after all, we should appreciate all of Gods gifts, right?

Rockwell 6 Works Cited Ferner, Matt. "Legalizing Medical Marijuana Doesn't Lead To More Teens Smoking Pot: Study." The Huffington Post. 25 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Grush, Loren. "Medical marijuana may treat MS symptoms, ineffective for other brain disorders." Fox News. FOX News Network, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Hopkins, Kathleen. "It's High Time to Legalize Pot, N.J. Prosecutors Say." USA Today. Gannett. Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. Ferner, Matt. "Lawmaker Predicts Marijuana Will Be Legal Within 5 Years." The Huffington Post. 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.