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Khorri Ellis

AP English Lit

Mr. Pickard, Period 1

April 2, 2010

Research Paper

In today’s society the very thought of legalizing a narcotic may bring

discomfort to the average citizen. After many years, opinions have been created

on this broad topic and as time passes, the issue of legalizing marijuana

becomes a greater challenge. If marijuana were legalized, our society would

experience a drastic change. Crime rates would be lowered, money would be

saved, and our nation would live with more freedom.

Marijuana, primarily known as cannabis, is taken from the stems, seeds,

shredded leaves, and the flowers of the hemp plants. The mixture can either

have a green, brown, or gray color. Cannabis has been used for thousands of

years for many different purposes. The earliest known record of cannabis dates

back to 2700 B.C. when it was used in Asia for medical purposes. Throughout

the centuries, many early civilizations have used this plant for religious purposes,

medical reasons, or simply just as an act to experience pleasure. Early

civilizations include the Egyptians, the Aryans, early Mediterranean cultures, and

many others.
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Egyptians revealed their use of cannabis through their drawings known as

hieroglyphics. With the practice of using marijuana, Egyptians used the drug to

help relieve patients of pain and stress caused from their injuries or disabilities.

While many civilizations used this plant as a remedy, over time many

people started focusing only on the negative aspects of marijuana. During the

early 1900’s America began to take action by enforcing strict regulations on

cannabis. The Uniform State Narcotic Act was passed in 1932 due to the crimes

linked with marijuana. In 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which

finally put an end to the legalization of marijuana.

Even though marijuana can be used to treat many problems, it still

comes with many negative side effects. Marijuana can affect the body, the mind,

and alter someone’s behavioral patterns. When inhaling the smoke of burning
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cannabis, the user’s lungs can be greatly damaged and weakened. The smoke

and carbon dioxide given off can cause potential lung cancer and or lead to other

respiratory failures. Along with the nasty side effects occurring inside the body,

the chemicals can also affect the user’s memory, perception, and their judgment

to make rational decisions. The use of marijuana may lead to potential

destructive social patterns where the user would act out with more aggression

than usual. In conclusion there is also the theory of marijuana being a gateway

drug, where once the user has experienced it, they then move on to more

dangerous drugs and more delinquent behavior.

While many topics have their cons, they also carry many positive side

effects. Some positive benefits that cannabis can provide are the aid of treating

pain and helping those who are treated with asthma and glaucoma. Along with

helping physical human illnesses or injuries, marijuana can also be used to help

someone’s mental state. Marijuana can be used as an aid to help deal with

stress, anxiety, and even depression.

In today’s society more and more people are joining the fight of legalizing

marijuana. An interesting point is that if alcohol and tobacco are to be legal, why

not marijuana? Taken from national surveys, more than 100,000 people die each

year from alcohol, and nearly 400,000 from the use of tobacco. So far in history,

there has not been a single case or report of someone dying from overdose of

marijuana. With these statistics in mind, it is a rational thought to believe why

marijuana should be legal.

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Taken from the Uniform Crime Report of 2006, a man named St. Pierre

said the following, “Enforcing marijuana prohibition has led to the arrest of nearly

20 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge

having used marijuana during their lives.” The report gave statistics of record

high 829,625 arrests linked with marijuana that year. If the use of marijuana were

to be legalized the U.S. national crime rate would be significantly lowered due to

the high number of arrests each year. Legalizing marijuana can help with a

common problem found in almost every prison today. Many prisons today are

overcrowded and treat their prisoners unfairly due to the high amount of

maintenance required to take care of them. If marijuana were passed to be legal,

the U.S. would not have to worry as much about the growing number of drug

related charges.

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As mentioned earlier, with over 800,000 arrests linked with marijuana, our

nation would save a great amount of money if marijuana were passed legal. With

the high crime rate comes a vast amount of money being wasted, when it could

be saved or used for more important reasons. Studies have shown that each

year a total of nearly $10 billion dollars is spent on putting away marijuana users

behind bars. More jobs instead could be created to help the current struggling

economy. The act of taxing marijuana could also show benefits of helping our

economy. With all these reasons in mind, our country would be saving money in

the process and even making profit if marijuana were passed legal.

A more straight to the point argument on this current issue is that humans

should carry the right to do whatever they want with their own self. If this means

putting their body in risk than so be it. The government should not be able to

control someone’s life so easily, especially when the topic involves a drug that

can’t do as much harm in comparison with other legal drugs on the market.

People deserve to have their freedom and liberty. A controversial issue to take

into consideration is religion. Some religions that most still practice today involve

the use of marijuana. Examples of these religions are Buddhism, Hinduism,

Rastafarianism, and so on. Would it be right for the government to keep people

from practicing certain aspects of their religion?

In today’s current society, the government has flooded the media with

countless sources of information to ward the public from marijuana. Many

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individuals are actually uneducated about the realities of marijuana. If the public

only knew how much they would gain from legalizing marijuana, our society

would experience a drastic change into a having a better economy.

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Annotated Bibliography

Gerber, Rudolph J. Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition

Politics. Praeger, 2004. A comprehensive analysis discussing the political

issues on marijuana. Gerber analyzes the whole subject in a non biased

point of view. He reflects both the positive and negative side effects along

with how it affects our nation. The document describes our governments

involvement with this issue and how they have attempted to solve the

problem.

Earleywine, Mitch. Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific

Evidence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. This document

reveals the main points about marijuana use and the history of its

background. This illegal drug has existed over ten thousand years and has

been used by millions of people. The illicit drug has also been used for

medical purposes for over five thousand years. Earleywine doesn’t tell the

reader who’s side of the argument she's on, but her written facts reveal

that she is more flexible and doesn’t put much concern into the topic.

Bachman, Jerald B. The Decline of Substance Use in Young Adulthood:

Changes in Social Activities, Roles, and Beliefs. New Jersey: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, 2002. The author of this document analyzes the use

of drugs in young adulthood and how it affects their lives permanently. The

author describes the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs to be taken

due to stress, peer pressure, and other mental issues. This book implies
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that one in every three teenagers have tried marijuana and the number of

users grow each year. Bachman shows a more conservative approach to

the topic of marijuana and hopes for the issue to be solved appropriately.

Inciardi, James A. The Handbook of Drug Control in the United States. New

York: Greenwood Press, 1990. This source of literature handles the topic

of marijuana very well. Inciardi believes that drug-use in the United States

began from the lack of control of opium, morphine, heroin, and cocaine in

over-the counter medications. Throughout the book the author doesn’t

give an argument but describes every aspect of marijuana and other illicit

drugs. Inciardi also provides scientific research along with field tested

experiments to help give this topic a broad understanding.

Nunuk, David. Leaves of Marijuana Plant. 2003. Photograph. Vancouver, British

Columbia.

<http://www.nunukphotos.com/Other-Nature/Leaves-of-marijuana-plant>.

Marijuana is native to central Asia and is labeled illegal throughout most of

the world. It is cultivated mainly for the fiber found in the stem, for its seed

oil, and for the use as a drug. The picture shows the details of marijuana

and how it is shaped. The picture represents how to spot marijuana and

how to spot its physical characteristics.

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Forman, Werner. Seshat Luxor. Photograph. Art Resources, New York.

<http://www.teenwitch.com/herbs/pict/SeshatLuxorfulloptim.jpg>. The

Cannabis plant has been used for many centuries by some of the oldest

civilizations. The plant has been used for medical reasons as well for

the luxurious purpose. Cannabis has been known for causing relaxation

and was used only by those with higher power in the older times. This

picture reveals that Cannabis was used by the ancient Egyptians and

shown as a common practice.