MPower
Well-Known Member
This a political issue which has stumbled into the political forum lately. I believe that in the 2004 US Elections, 11 states were voting to legalize marijuana. Of those 11 states, I believe all of the 11 passed the legislation. There are many pros and cons... lets discuss them here.
My take:
Well, this happens to be an issue which I have a very strong opinion about, take it or leave it (again, I intend on offending anyone). I feel that marijuana should be legalized throughout the United States. Of course, I have many reasons to support that opinion, so I will start with the most obvious: the medical reasons.
Throughout the world, including Canada I believe, marijuana is legal in some countries and the primary reason is for the medical value that it provides. It is proven that generally with eldery patients, marijuana can be perscribed to help the patient get through sergery or for use as medication. It only seems logically to allow this drug to be sold legally in the United States seeing as it does have a significant advantage in the medical industry. However, this must be regulated with an extremely watchful eye. It would be best if the drug is only perscribed if and only if two seperate doctors agree that marijuana should be perscribed for this patient. With that, we can ensure that teen agers and those which the drug would be uneffective medically avoid taking advantage of this new legalization of a popular drug.
However significant its medical users are, however, the biggest reason for the legalization of marijuana is more practical. In my mind, legalizing marijuana has two major advantages. The first of which is the fact that if it is legalized, the US government (or any other world government) would have the responsiblity to regulate and tax the drug and take advantage of what has become one of the strongest businesses in the world. Having sold millions and millions of dollars worth of marijuana, taxation of that profit will help fragile economies, like the United States', regain their financial independence. The second major advantage is that it, in an indirect way, lowers the amount of drug lords using marijuana as a major source of income. Let me explain. When the drug is legalized, it lowers the cost of the illegal product (or black market product) due to the fact that the US government will make the drug available at a much, much lower price. That lowers the advantage for the drug lords to develop such a drug seeing as their profits are lost. Lets face it, the main reason there is a drug war in Colombia is because the people their realized the drugs full economic potential. By legalizing it, you kill that economic potential and force drug lords to rethink their plan and back off from this industry (if it were up to me, I would think about legalizing almost every drug for that reason).
Now there are many that would say that legalizing it brings harm to the country but that isnt necessarily so. It is now proven, and accepted by the scientific community, that the drug of marijuana is not a gateway drug: meaning that the drug will not lead to addictive habbits which would cause the user to feel the need to "upgrade" to more powerful drugs such as LSD and PCP. It is also now accepted that the drug is not as harmful to the body as orginally thought. I believe I read somewhere that smoking a cigarette is more harmful than marijuana (and hey, thats legal).
My main point however, is that the marijuana industry is gigantic. And lets face it, the only reason that cigarettes are legal is because of the profits that they bring to the US and global economy. Doesnt it only make sense to tap into this financial well (of course, not without regulation which is another major advantage)?
My take:
Well, this happens to be an issue which I have a very strong opinion about, take it or leave it (again, I intend on offending anyone). I feel that marijuana should be legalized throughout the United States. Of course, I have many reasons to support that opinion, so I will start with the most obvious: the medical reasons.
Throughout the world, including Canada I believe, marijuana is legal in some countries and the primary reason is for the medical value that it provides. It is proven that generally with eldery patients, marijuana can be perscribed to help the patient get through sergery or for use as medication. It only seems logically to allow this drug to be sold legally in the United States seeing as it does have a significant advantage in the medical industry. However, this must be regulated with an extremely watchful eye. It would be best if the drug is only perscribed if and only if two seperate doctors agree that marijuana should be perscribed for this patient. With that, we can ensure that teen agers and those which the drug would be uneffective medically avoid taking advantage of this new legalization of a popular drug.
However significant its medical users are, however, the biggest reason for the legalization of marijuana is more practical. In my mind, legalizing marijuana has two major advantages. The first of which is the fact that if it is legalized, the US government (or any other world government) would have the responsiblity to regulate and tax the drug and take advantage of what has become one of the strongest businesses in the world. Having sold millions and millions of dollars worth of marijuana, taxation of that profit will help fragile economies, like the United States', regain their financial independence. The second major advantage is that it, in an indirect way, lowers the amount of drug lords using marijuana as a major source of income. Let me explain. When the drug is legalized, it lowers the cost of the illegal product (or black market product) due to the fact that the US government will make the drug available at a much, much lower price. That lowers the advantage for the drug lords to develop such a drug seeing as their profits are lost. Lets face it, the main reason there is a drug war in Colombia is because the people their realized the drugs full economic potential. By legalizing it, you kill that economic potential and force drug lords to rethink their plan and back off from this industry (if it were up to me, I would think about legalizing almost every drug for that reason).
Now there are many that would say that legalizing it brings harm to the country but that isnt necessarily so. It is now proven, and accepted by the scientific community, that the drug of marijuana is not a gateway drug: meaning that the drug will not lead to addictive habbits which would cause the user to feel the need to "upgrade" to more powerful drugs such as LSD and PCP. It is also now accepted that the drug is not as harmful to the body as orginally thought. I believe I read somewhere that smoking a cigarette is more harmful than marijuana (and hey, thats legal).
My main point however, is that the marijuana industry is gigantic. And lets face it, the only reason that cigarettes are legal is because of the profits that they bring to the US and global economy. Doesnt it only make sense to tap into this financial well (of course, not without regulation which is another major advantage)?
