Legalization of Marijuana
In the United States, the legalization of illicit drugs, specifically marijuana and its related paraphernalia, has been debated for the last century, resulting in many mixed feelings and laws toward the drug. Marijuana, a drug used for tens of thousands of years by countless individuals, is under scrutiny by many. Opponents of legalization continuously equate marijuana with evil for different reasons and claims, of which almost all are completely fiction. With recent scientific studies, marijuana clearly does not harm a country or its citizens; in fact, it is beneficial for both.
The usage of marijuana as a medicine can be traced back to thousands of years to the Xia Dynasty. This ancient Chinese civilization, introduced …show more content…
Opponents generally begin with the false syllogism that marijuana is addictive: Narcotics are additive, marijuana is a narcotic, therefore, marijuana is additive. On paper, this may seem logical; however, a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse concluded that less than 9% of user of marijuana smokers would become addicts. Moreover, opponents also claim that harms the human brain because of a French study. However, this study displayed differences only, and didn’t claim that the brain was negatively affected. Furthermore, there is no direct proof: only correlation is found, which can easily be impacted by a confounding variable. Opponents may go as far as claiming marijuana can cause death from overdose and cancer. Even if marijuana can cause death, which it clearly does not, let’s look at all the other drugs that have been proven to cause death yet are legalized by every single state: alcohol and tobacco. These two drugs have hurt thousands of more people compared to marijuana and are much more addictive. However, opponents are correct in saying that marijuana may be addictive, since studies have shown that about 9% of users became addicted. All the other claim, however, that view marijuana in a negative perspective, such as “it causes cancer” or “it’s addictive and will kill you” are completely fiction and have been backed up by thousands of studies proving the exact
In the United States, the legalization of illicit drugs, specifically marijuana and its related paraphernalia, has been debated for the last century, resulting in many mixed feelings and laws toward the drug. Marijuana, a drug used for tens of thousands of years by countless individuals, is under scrutiny by many. Opponents of legalization continuously equate marijuana with evil for different reasons and claims, of which almost all are completely fiction. With recent scientific studies, marijuana clearly does not harm a country or its citizens; in fact, it is beneficial for both.
The usage of marijuana as a medicine can be traced back to thousands of years to the Xia Dynasty. This ancient Chinese civilization, introduced …show more content…
Opponents generally begin with the false syllogism that marijuana is addictive: Narcotics are additive, marijuana is a narcotic, therefore, marijuana is additive. On paper, this may seem logical; however, a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse concluded that less than 9% of user of marijuana smokers would become addicts. Moreover, opponents also claim that harms the human brain because of a French study. However, this study displayed differences only, and didn’t claim that the brain was negatively affected. Furthermore, there is no direct proof: only correlation is found, which can easily be impacted by a confounding variable. Opponents may go as far as claiming marijuana can cause death from overdose and cancer. Even if marijuana can cause death, which it clearly does not, let’s look at all the other drugs that have been proven to cause death yet are legalized by every single state: alcohol and tobacco. These two drugs have hurt thousands of more people compared to marijuana and are much more addictive. However, opponents are correct in saying that marijuana may be addictive, since studies have shown that about 9% of users became addicted. All the other claim, however, that view marijuana in a negative perspective, such as “it causes cancer” or “it’s addictive and will kill you” are completely fiction and have been backed up by thousands of studies proving the exact