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Vinh Nguyen
Devin Patten
Engl 1010
8-3-14
Legality of Marijuana
Before the United States was established as a nation, the use of marijuana had been going on for
centuries. Hemp the cannabis plant was grown for its fiber, extracted from the stem and used to make
rope, stout fabrics, fiberboard, and paper. Hemp is a form of cannabis like marijuana and was grown for
commercial use. The first colonies established on the U.S. were ordered by King James I to grow hemp
for its commercial use and they contained little THC. THC is Tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical in
cannabis that makes you stoned. Marijuana grew wildly popular for getting high during the prohibition
years and was banned by the U.S. subsequently. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 led the way with the
taxing of marijuana followed later by the ban. Currently marijuana is a Schedule I drug. According to the
DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) A substance or chemical are defined as drugs with no
currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous
drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Marijuana
has been used in medicine before the 1930s and even in recent times. Many states, including Utah, has
passed laws for medical marijuana usage for epileptic seizures, schizophrenia, cancer and many other
symptoms. In recent trends, 23 states legalized the use of medical marijuana with low THC percentage for
medical purposes. With this in mind, should Marijuana be legalized or at least moved to a lower drug
Schedule? Currently, if you possess marijuana you can face jail time, thousands of dollars in fines, and
suspended license. According to the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, almost one
out of eight inmates currently in jail on drug charges are for marijuana related crimes. In my opinion,
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marijuana should be treated like alcohol; we should legalize and regulate it. It clearly has medical usage
and the cons are no worse than a lot of legal drugs on the market today.
The reasons for legalizing marijuana are: no one has died of overdose, marijuana is much safer
than already legalized drugs, marijuana has medical use and the addiction/gateway drug information was
unsubstantiated as an argument against it, the war on drug specifically marijuana is not working and the
amount of resources spent on it could be better use allocated somewhere else. According to the
Huffington Post, there has never been a death recorded from high levels of THC but in 2010, 38,329
people died from drug overdoses. Sixty percent of those were related to prescription drugs. In that same
year, 25,692 people died from alcohol-related causes. This argument has some merit but also has a lot of
flaws. Although marijuana does not kill the user, there are plenty of negative effects resulting from using
it like hallucination, delusions, impaired memory and lung damages. Similar to tobacco, marijuana might
not kill you immediately but the damage can be done longer term or cause death through other means like
impairing a persons driving leading to accidents.
Tobacco is a legal drug that has no medical value, kills millions every year and has as much or
more symptoms causing illness yet it is legal. Marijuana was heavily attacked and labeled as a gateway
drug but cigarettes are just as addictive. Tobacco has no medical value and according to the National
Institutes of Health, nicotine makes the brain more susceptible to cocaine addiction. Two wrongs do not
make a right but comparing drugs with similar negative effects is reasonable. The closest similarity I see
is between marijuana and alcohol. They both impair a persons judgment, addictive and have as many
cons as they do pros. In fact, there was a prohibition act banning alcohol in 1920. Alcohol created many
social problems as well as killing people who over used it. The only difference between the two was
much more public outrage when alcohol was banned that created more chaos than the good it did. So why
than should marijuana be legalize? Unlike alcohol, marijuana can be used for medical purposes.
A major point of contention is labeling marijuana as a Schedule I drug. There have been many studies
showing proof that marijuana has medicinal value. Utah has recently approved a bill that would legalize
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cannabis oil for seizure-stopping. Governor Herbert made a quote on the bill "Cannabis oils show
promise of offering some relief to Utahns suffering from seizures and epilepsy and we should do all
we can to help them". The California Compassionate Use Act allows people with arthritis, cachexia,
cancer, chronic pain, HIV, AIDS, epilepsy, migraine and multiple sclerosis to be treated with medical
marijuana. An argument used against marijuanas medical uses are there are other drugs that can be
substituted for marijuana that can do the same job with less health hazard. In a Utah case of a child having
seizures and epilepsy reported by the Salt Lake Tribune, non-intoxicating cannabis oil was better for
treating seizures and epilepsy. One of the reason cannabis oil was better suited was because the other
medicine damages bone marrow and weakens the immune system. There are many other cases of
marijuana being prescribed by doctors for medicinal use which makes a convincing argument for
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes only. Currently the U.S. uses oxycodone and morphine for
medical purposes. They are much more addictive and oxycodone also effects the brain. Marijuana can be
used in the same manner and anyone possessing it without a doctors prescription/labelled bottle can face
criminal charges.
The last point of the argument for legalizing marijuana is the legal aspect of it. Marijuana is the
most widely used illegal drug in the world. Since it was banned in 1937 and the war on drugs declared by
President Reagan in 1982, the United States has spent billions of dollars and resources on enforcing,
criminalizing and jailing users and distributers of marijuana. A portion of tax that goes into law
enforcement goes into drug enforcement. The person getting charged goes through many trials and the
government spends money on prosecutors, judges, juries and drug lab/equipment. That person then
spends time in jail and the government has to pay for housing, correction officers and medical expenses.
What then is the reason that drives a person to go through all this for? The common use of marijuana is to
get high. It has been highly publicized that many people including actors, athletes, businessmen and even
the president has used marijuana recreationally. This is the case where the crime does not fit the
punishment. When alcohol was banned it did not stop everyone from using it. It created a large black
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market for alcohol that was unregulated. Many people died due to alcohol poisoning, the tax money once
received by the government was no longer there and people were being ripped off. This exact
circumstance is happening right now with marijuana. If it was as dangerous as the government states than
there would not be as many people inclined to use it recreationally.

The argument against the legalization of marijuana is it is harmful, addictive, impairs a persons
judgment and the different cost associated with it. What are the harmful effects of marijuana? Those who
use marijuana are called potheads for a reason. Marijuana affects your mental stability as stated The drug
sucks the life out of people. Those who use it regularly are more likely to drop out of school, have
accidents, quit jobs, lose interest in life and feel generally demotivated. Some studies also have linked pot
to suicidal thoughts (Grady). Marijuana used heavily by young people effects thinking and memory. It
may last a long time or even leave permanent damages. People smoke marijuana to get high, what
happens after the high is over? Marijuana can cause anxiety, fear and depression. Marijuana inhaled
produces three times more tar compared with tobacco. Tobacco causes lung cancer and marijuanas
effects on the lungs are similarly as harmful. Since marijuana is the mostly widely used drug in the world,
there has to be a reason for this. One of the reason experts predict the wide and continuous use of
marijuana is because it is addictive. Marijuana addiction can lead to its abuse and create a bigger need for
a high leading the user into much more dangerous drugs. Since it has so many negative effects on a
persons health, being addicted long term will lead to an unhealthy and problematic life. One of the
reason a drug is considered Schedule I is the addictive nature of the drug and its high dependency. The
argument for marijuana not being addictive is highly debated. The topic of marijuana withdrawal is still
highly debated but currently it is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual which is the bible
of mental health disorders. Marijuana impairs a persons judgment and if made legal would be misused
similar to alcohol with driving while impaired. The reason this a valid concern is those that do not drink
alcohol would still be inclined to smoke marijuana and the number of people driving while impaired
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would greatly increase. This will lead to more accidents and deaths. While I do agree that all of the
negatives of marijuana are a great concern to a persons health, the legal drug of alcohol and cigarettes
can cause similar results. One thing I can see that should keep marijuana illegal would be the permanent
effects on the brain. If it lowers a childs I.Q. or causes serious mental depression that are irreversible
than that would justify not legalizing it. It has short term effects of impairing judgment, anxiety,
impairing movement, lowering reaction time. The long term effects are reduced resistance to common
illness, growth disorders, reduce sexual capability, apathy, and inability to understand things clearly.
Using marijuana long term poses a risk of irreversible brain damage in children and teens. The suicidal
rates for teens smoking marijuana and those that are not have similar results but once they smoke
marijuana well into adulthood the studies show a much higher depression and suicidal rates. The full
extent of the damages marijuana causes on the human body and teens should be further tested. Currently
there is not enough data due to limited research from marijuana being illegal. The studies are
underfunded, few and out of date.
Another negative effect of legalizing marijuana is the cost. There will be a greater social cost
from decline in worker productivity, school performance, need for drug education, rehabilitation,
treatment and other social cost similar to alcohol. Tobacco is heavily taxed for the negative effects it has
like lung cancer. If marijuana has three times as much tar and causes a greater risk of lung cancer than the
tax must be higher to cover the health related cost. The speculation of cost stemming from marijuana is
reasonable. Cigarette related cause cost the government millions every year for lung cancer treatment,
obesity, second hand smoking and many other health risk problems. Although, similar to alcohol and
cigarettes we can tax equivalent to the levels needed to deal with the social cost.

So what does this all mean and who is right and wrong? The biggest obstacle of marijuana
legalization is the health concerns. Marijuanas positive medical impact on a persons health must be
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greater to justify the legalization of it. The issue with lung cancer, addiction and social cost can be viewed
as similar to cigarette and thus be answered in the same manner. Everyone knows the consequences of
smoking a cigarette and given the option to decide on how they live. I feel that rule should also be applied
for marijuana. Marijuana impairs a persons judgment and can lead to more traffic accidents. This
argument is reasonable and should be expected but should be treated in the same manner as sleep
medicine. When sleep medicine was introduced, there have been more cases of accidents committed from
drowsy drivers. It is still the responsibility of the person using the drug and the not blame the drug for
causing the person to be drowsy. Accountability should be held by the person and not object. This logic is
similar to owning a gun. If a kid takes the gun and shoots someone with it, should the blame be put on the
gun for taking a life or the person misplacing the gun? For marijuana to pass the legalization it needs to
pass the health standards. I feel like more studies need to be made and solid research detailing the exact
extent of the damages. Unlike cigarettes, we do not know all the information to decide if the risk is worth
taking. With cigarettes we know exactly the risk even though there are no medical values. My biggest
concern with marijuana is the psychological effects it has on a persons health. I have first-hand
experience of some friends smoking marijuana for long extended periods of time and seen the mood it
puts them in. Marijuana makes some people lazy, inactive and unmotivated. All drugs affect everyone
differently and if it was to be legalized than a much larger population would start to consume it. Part of
the large population that would consume it would also be underage smoking. If marijuana was legalize
than the accessibility to these teens would also drastically increase. With this in mind, I think it would be
a better approach to do more extensive research on marijuana or wait and find out the results from states
like Washington and Colorado where it is currently legal.
To summarize both sides of the argument. Marijuana has many negative health issues that are
detrimental to people. The medicinal use can be cured with other medicine and the risk of using marijuana
is not worth legalizing it over. The positives of marijuana is it does fill in some medical void other
medicines can not. There are already millions of people smoking marijuana that are over burdening the
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legal system and would relieve much needed resources to other parts of the government. While both sides
of the argument makes compelling cases, I think the best approach would be somewhere in the middle.
Marijuana has been evolving to be more potent and can also be made to be safer if regulated correctly.
Even if future studies show marijuana is more dangerous than the benefit it provides, I think the laws
should better reflect the dangers of marijuana and lower it to a schedule 2 or 3 on the drug schedule.
Currently the laws are too harsh for the known risk. Whether this is true or not on the scientific levels, it
is true in the mindset of many every day users. There is a reason that it is the most used illegal drug
around the world. I think with some solid research to substantiate the claims or disprove the risk of
marijuana everyone would be more accepting of the results. Even if it does not become legal for
recreational use, I think the government should provide medicinal use similar to oxycodone.





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Works Cited
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Stewart, Kirsten. "Utah Governor Signs 'hemp Supplement' Bill." The Salt Lake Tribune. The
Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.
Grady, J. Lee. "5 Reasons Why Legalizing Marijuana Stinks." Charisma News. Charisma Media, 16 Jan.
2014. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.