Marijuana is one of the most regulated drugs in the world. Different countries have enacted many laws to prohibit the sale and the use of marijuana, except for medicinal purposes. Despite the effort of governments, its use has continued to increase. There are varied opinions on whether the drug should be made legal or not. Although people have divergent views on the issue, recent pressures by proponents of legalizing marijuana have increased. This paper will support the view that marijuana should be made legal in the United States.
The effect of marijuana on people’s health is smaller compared to those of alcohol and tobacco. Studies have shown the excessive use of alcohol and tobacco have far-reaching consequences. The level of alcohol and tobacco addiction is higher than those of marijuana. Thus, marijuana should be legalized like both tobacco and alcohol. Arrests for those who use and sell marijuana are frequent and carry severe penalties than arrests for alcohol users. The long-term effects of both alcohol and marijuana have been found fatal while there are not known any fatal consequences of using marijuana. Therefore, there is no justification for arresting people and treating them harshly for using marijuana.
Arrests related to marijuana have strained the justice system and decreased the efficiency of the police force dealing with more serious crimes rather than marijuana users and sellers. In the United States, 750, 000 marijuana users are arrested annually. They have to be arraigned in court and once found guilty, they are sent to prison. Dealing with marijuana cases is time consuming, moreover there is not a justification for considering it illegal. Moreover, the United States has limited prisons. Overcrowding these facilities with marijuana users, instead of hosting people with heavy offenses is an under-utilization of resources. While the government is busy arresting and jailing marijuana users, thousands of dollars are being sent out of the United States through underground economies to finance marijuana trade. The country, therefore, loses on two frontiers; crowded jails and loss of money through the black market. The best way to deal with marijuana is to legalize it and then levy taxes on it. The government can earn a huge amount of money from marijuana trade, which can be used to finance social projects to boost people’s living standards.
The current legislation that has prohibited the use and sale of marijuana in the United States has failed. Many of those arrested for marijuana possession and use are African-Americans and Hispanics. Such arrests did not really change the attitude of marijuana users. However, it does not necessarily mean that the two races are the heaviest users. White marijuana users face a lower probability of arrests than other races. Statistics have shown that African-Americans constitute 13 % of the American population. Annually, African-Americans account for 13.5% of marijuana users in the United States. However, the rate of arrests for marijuana users is disproportionate because black people constitute 26% of all marijuana arrests. These figures have clearly shown that the current justice system is biased when dealing with marijuana related cases. Instead of having a biased system where minorities are being treated harshly, marijuana should be made legal. Once it is legalized, unfairness in these arrests will be reduced and it will give the justice system more credibility.
Enabling the justice system to curtail marijuana use and the unfair arrests against minorities, it will be rather fair to legalize this drug. When the law treats people differently concerning the same offense, it demonstrates that the offense is not a global problem like terrorism and murder. Therefore, since the use of marijuana is not a great threat to the people, it should be made legal. Its legalization will be a win-win outcome for the government and the minorities who have been subjected to unfair arrests.
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