The Importance Of Legalizing Marijuana In Arkansas

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Marijuana is a misunderstood substance. Many believe the usage of weed, hemp, or cannabis is a dangerous choice, but it 's the total opposite. So why is the legalization of marijuana in Arkansas such a problem? Both Colorado and Oregon are two states in America who have legalized marijuana. The crime rate has gone down; however, finances have gone up for both Colorado and Oregon. So I ask again, why don 't we legalize marijuana in the state of Arkansas for medical use, economical use, and recreational use?
MEDICAL USE
In the first place, Arkansas should legalize the usage of medical marijuana because researchers have proven that it helps cancer patients. Cancer is an awful disease that destroys families and kills those who have it, the
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Maria Roberta Cilo, MD, Ph.D., principal investigator for the multi-center study and director of research at the UCSF Pediatric Epilepsy Center says, "Better treatment for children with uncontrolled seizures is desperately needed" (Bunim). Researchers have found a type of marijuana called Charlotte 's Web that has almost no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which makes those who do smoke marijuana have that high feeling. However, Charlotte 's Web contains a cannabinoid (CBD) which does not give a high feeling or have any known side effects like a weed with THC in it. A young girl named Charlotte had this type of cannabinoid named after her because this certain type of cannabis helped cut her seizures to nearly having none per day; however, if it weren 't for this type of marijuana Charlotte would still be experiencing seizures every thirty minutes if not dead. In the article titled "Charlotte 's Web: Meet the Little Girl Leading the Fight for Cannabis Oil" Paige Figi Charlotte 's mother explains to researchers of RYOT "The family had tried every drug and had failed to see results with any of them. At the age of 5 years old, Charlotte was confined to a wheelchair and could not speak or engage with the outside world. She was on a do-not-resuscitate order" (Charlotte …show more content…
The legalization of marijuana can get the United States out of debt by increasing the job opportunities and having more money already made than literally having to print off more money to help the United States. Another benefit marijuana would do is lower crime rate for both Arkansas and the America. Oregon and Colorado’s researchers have watched how one of these state’s crime rate has gone down. In the article titled "Marijuana the legalization in Colorado: One-year Status Report" researchers of We are the Drug Policy Alliance reported, "The city of Denver saw a decrease in violent crime rates in eleven months of 2014, following a similar trend in 2013"(Marijuana Legalization). Even though small towns like Mena do not have crime problems, however big cities like Fort Smith are known to being the worst city to live in because of the crime and violence they have. Which if marijuana is legalized in the state of Arkansas is will decrease the crime and violence, it’s been proven by researchers who have watched big cities such as Denver, Colorado who have legalized marijuana decreasing in crime and violence over time. Overall, legalizing weed can decrease the number of people going to jail because they were caught having possession of marijuana. All the money that goes to prisoners for using and/or having possession of cannabis will no longer go

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