Marijuana is currently decriminalized in many states, but that doesn’t mean it’s legal. The support for legalizing the substance has gone up over the years. According to a Pew Research Center survey, about six in ten Americans support the legalization of marijuana (Pew Research). That is about 61% of the United States population. This shows that there is a lot of support behind legaliation. Not only do people support the legalization, many are regular users, “A poll conducted by Gallup in the summer of 2016 indicated that 13 percent of Americans—one in eight—were regular marijuana users” (issues and controversies). Thirteen percent is a lot of people, and that’s only the people who are reporting. This shows that culture is shifting and normalizing
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Decriminalizing marijuana means that it is still technically illegal. In the context of marijuana, decriminalization means that the states are reducing the penalties, but it is still illegal. Some acts in decriminalized states can have penalties, “In many states, possession of small amounts of marijuana is treated like a minor traffic violation.” (findlaw). Even if the state has legalized it, people can have bad penalties for possessing a large amount of the substance (findlaw). In states that have decriminalized it, the penalties would be worse. The places where it is legal, there are normally a certain amount of cannabis someone can possess. It would be good for states to have set laws, so that people are not unknowingly commiting a crime with significant penalties. Legalization of marijuana with regulation means that it would be sold in the market and the government would have clear set laws. Whether it’s legalized or decriminalized people can still be arrested for selling and/or trafficking marijuana. People think legalization would make addiction worse, but it could do quite the …show more content…
Marijuana isn’t physically addictive, and it’s the choice of the person to abuse addictive drugs, “Compared to other substances, marijuana is not very addicting… It is much harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it is to quit smoking pot” (psychology today). People can get addicted to the feeling of smoking marijuana, but a person would normally have to smoke a lot to become addicted. Other addictive substances like alcohol or tobacco/nicotine are legal. Those other substances encourage addiction a lot more than marijuana does. They are also much more dangerous, and can lead to dieseases such as lung cancer or liver failure. There is no documented death of marijuana overdose. There are only a couple of cases that someone choked, which can not be directly related to marijuana (transformations). Over 480,000 people die from tobacco related diseases year (cdc). Also about 88,000 people die per year from alcohol related diseases or accidents (niaaa). The difference between those numbers is drastic. It would take a lot to overdose on cannabis, “Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug—about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high” (drug war facts). In reality, someone would have to
Decriminalizing marijuana means that it is still technically illegal. In the context of marijuana, decriminalization means that the states are reducing the penalties, but it is still illegal. Some acts in decriminalized states can have penalties, “In many states, possession of small amounts of marijuana is treated like a minor traffic violation.” (findlaw). Even if the state has legalized it, people can have bad penalties for possessing a large amount of the substance (findlaw). In states that have decriminalized it, the penalties would be worse. The places where it is legal, there are normally a certain amount of cannabis someone can possess. It would be good for states to have set laws, so that people are not unknowingly commiting a crime with significant penalties. Legalization of marijuana with regulation means that it would be sold in the market and the government would have clear set laws. Whether it’s legalized or decriminalized people can still be arrested for selling and/or trafficking marijuana. People think legalization would make addiction worse, but it could do quite the …show more content…
Marijuana isn’t physically addictive, and it’s the choice of the person to abuse addictive drugs, “Compared to other substances, marijuana is not very addicting… It is much harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it is to quit smoking pot” (psychology today). People can get addicted to the feeling of smoking marijuana, but a person would normally have to smoke a lot to become addicted. Other addictive substances like alcohol or tobacco/nicotine are legal. Those other substances encourage addiction a lot more than marijuana does. They are also much more dangerous, and can lead to dieseases such as lung cancer or liver failure. There is no documented death of marijuana overdose. There are only a couple of cases that someone choked, which can not be directly related to marijuana (transformations). Over 480,000 people die from tobacco related diseases year (cdc). Also about 88,000 people die per year from alcohol related diseases or accidents (niaaa). The difference between those numbers is drastic. It would take a lot to overdose on cannabis, “Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug—about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high” (drug war facts). In reality, someone would have to