Argument for the legalization of Marijuana

Can I see a show of hands how many people have ever smoked Cannabis, also known as Marijuana? I see none of you have raised your hands. Well evidently no one would want to admit to a criminal action in front of others from their community. But why is it that smoking ‘pot’ is so forbidden in our society? George Washington said, â€Å"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere! † Marijuana is a natural plant, known to grow in the wild in Central and South Asia. Traces of people smoking Marijuana go back as far as 3,000 B. C so, what had changed over the years to make cannabis illegal? When considering the legalization of marijuana, the normal reaction would be to think about the negative factors of the drug. But what people forget is, marijuana’s positive features overrule the negatives by far. There would be many benefits if the ‘drug’ where to be legalized, especially for the government and the economy as a whole. Our government spends 500 million pounds a year on ‘overall response to drugs’, but receive no taxes from the estimated 1. 8 billion pound illegal drug market. If our government were to legalize marijuana, they could place high taxes on it because people are used to buying the drug at a high price anyway because of the risk of selling it illegally. This would be very beneficial to the government because they would have a larger increase of tax that then could be fed into the NHS and other funds, which are beneficial to the general public. This brings me neatly onto my next point, I am fully aware of the abuse potential of the drug, but its value to the medical world outweighs this potential by far. Although the argument of legalizing marijuana is extremely controversial, without knowing it, hundreds of people around you are in desperate need of its medical side, and are suffering dramatically without it. How would you feel? Marijuana would be of high value to the suffering, distressed, and disheartened cancer patients fighting for their lives. Let me try and paint you a picture: imagine there is only one medication that will relieve you from the pain you are caused by nausea, marijuana will free you of this pain and will give you a little bit of assurance and courage that you need to keep on believing that you are going to be safe. But yet, we still refuse to believe that the drug is acceptable, but there is something I must ask you all. Do you know what ‘the black market’ is? Well let me tell you, the black market is a market in goods or services in violation of legal structures defining the scope of appropriate forms of trade. It is a market for products that are illegal or stolen. Marijuana appears frequently in the market, and has become extremely popular. The problem with the drugs produced in the black market is that they are not manufactured under any safety or health regulations, this can result in unsafe drugs being produced and users experiencing problems from consuming unknown substances. If the government where to legalize marijuana they could potentially safe lives, as the drug could be bought in shops from legal proprietors, this would assure users of good quality and information about what you are buying and consuming. Jeffery Miron, the visiting professor of economics at Harvard University estimates the national marijuana market at about 10 billion pounds per year. When will the public and government realize? Marijuana is only dangerous and harmful when sold and consumed illegally, and the government is preventing and keeping us from a product that is so beneficial not only to cancer patients, but also to the paper and clothing industries, the government itself, and for the crime rate of our country. Long gone are the days when we could go outside at night and not be worried about our safety, long gone are the days when we didn’t have to worry about our kids getting involved in gang activity, and long gone are the days in which we had the freedom to consume a substance which satisfied us. I am thoroughly aware of how high the UK’s crime rate is, and how terrifying and worrying it is for the citizens of our country. I am aware that the amount of crime that goes on in our country impacts and affects almost every single person in the country, which is why legalizing marijuana would be extremely helpful. The crime rate in the Netherlands is generally low, especially compared to other European countries with tougher crime polices such as the UK. Indeed, in the UK they have found that 60% of inmates in British jails have served a jail sentence previously. In the UK where the consumption of marijuana is illegal the crime rate is actually higher than in Amsterdam where it is legal and the consumption is lower. This proves that, if our government was to legalize marijuana, it would result in the use actually decreasing, as it is known that when humans are not allowed to do something it appears much more attractive, and have a larger urge to do it.