Benefits Of Legalizing Marijuana
Marijuana is illegal in many parts of the United States, yet there are some states in which it has become legalized. As of 2011, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, have made marijuana legal (Walkley, Alison, 199-2012), while on the other hand, there are twelve more states that are pending the legalization of marijuana.
One reason marijuana should be legalized is for anyone who is suffering from medical conditions such as different forms of cancer to help nausea and vomiting, for HIV/Aids to help keep food down, for patients with glaucoma to help reduce eye pressure, and asthma which can help from getting an attack by opening up the lungs.
Marijuana is way less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol and there is no record to prove that marijuana has killed a person directly, however it has been reported that 76,000 deaths related to alcohol occurs in the United States every year. Marijuana contains an ingredient called THC which is less toxic than nicotine, therefore a person cannot get addicted. With Alcohol and tobacco being far more addicting than marijuana, these two are available legally in stores to be bought not just by adults, but also the younger generation who are under age.
In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services conducted a study in which had published 69.7 million Americans currently smoke tobacco products, 15 million Americans are abusers of alcohol, and only 4.2 million Americans smoke marijuana (Marijuana Today, 2001-2012). Smoking causes 1,000 people to die each day, 550 people die in accidents related to alcohol, and less than 20 people pass away due to causes of marijuana. According to the United States (DAWN) Drug Abuse Warning Network, has found through reports of medical examiners that even though marijuana is on the report, it is said to be combined with other drugs and alcohol since marijuana by itself has not been shown to cause death due to an overdose (Fellow, Herb, 5-20-2008).
A second reason that marijuana should be legalized is to help the United States save millions of dollars by treating marijuana as a medical problem and not a criminal problem. If marijuana were to become legalized, police officers would be able to concentrate more on the heavier crimes that are being committed such as child abuse, people getting robbed, and school