The war on drugs must stop, it is based off of sending vulnerable people to jail, this happens because “on the local level the war on drugs involved police operations targeting low level drug dealers, often in urban, low-income neighborhoods.” (Addiction and Substance Abuse) Marijuana legalization would reduce drug crimes. In turn allowing the police the opportunity to focus more harmful, addictive drugs out of the U.S., instead of sentencing people who were caught with 1 gram of marijuana to a mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison. Most often marijuana violations are minor but have major consequences,“roughly 600,000, or 87 percent of marijuana arrest are for nothing more than possession of small amounts” (Nadelmann 77). “A majority
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Just like any substance long-term, overuse of marijuana can cause harm to one’s brain or body, health risks included impaired short term memory, damage to respiratory system, slower reaction time, and risk of heart attack (Addiction and Substance Abuse). These are things that pose a risk to marijuana users and to be cautious of when considering legalization, but when compared to alcohol and tobacco products there are less risks and there is more to gain from using marijuana. Some fear that marijuana will have a worst health if legal than alcohol or tobacco do, and that marijuana will be addictive for a majority of people. The World Health Organization in a 1995 study concluded “that even if marijuana usage increased to the levels of alcohol and tobacco it would be unlikely to produce health effects approaching those of alcohol and tobacco.”(Boffey) When looking at marijuana in the worst cases it ‘can be a detrimental drug. Impure batches, a certainty when it is criminalized, result in trips to emergency rooms. It can result in dangerous driving. It is usually not seriously addictive. It is the drug of an age cohort; almost a rite of passage. Its most serious effect is as an escape mechanism that de-motivates the young.” (Nadelmann). But, research has shown that marijuana isn’t as bad as it is
Just like any substance long-term, overuse of marijuana can cause harm to one’s brain or body, health risks included impaired short term memory, damage to respiratory system, slower reaction time, and risk of heart attack (Addiction and Substance Abuse). These are things that pose a risk to marijuana users and to be cautious of when considering legalization, but when compared to alcohol and tobacco products there are less risks and there is more to gain from using marijuana. Some fear that marijuana will have a worst health if legal than alcohol or tobacco do, and that marijuana will be addictive for a majority of people. The World Health Organization in a 1995 study concluded “that even if marijuana usage increased to the levels of alcohol and tobacco it would be unlikely to produce health effects approaching those of alcohol and tobacco.”(Boffey) When looking at marijuana in the worst cases it ‘can be a detrimental drug. Impure batches, a certainty when it is criminalized, result in trips to emergency rooms. It can result in dangerous driving. It is usually not seriously addictive. It is the drug of an age cohort; almost a rite of passage. Its most serious effect is as an escape mechanism that de-motivates the young.” (Nadelmann). But, research has shown that marijuana isn’t as bad as it is