Marijuana Should Be Legal Essays -- Legalization of Marijuana

AbstractThe following is a proposal for a public insurance policy that would legalize ganja and have the medicine be enured as alcohol. This is necessary because the current policy is detrimental to society and the legalization of marijuana would be beneficial. The prohibition of the drug is unfounded because tobacco and alcohol, legalized substances, are more than dangerous than marijuana. Also, the legislation regarding the drug was created on racist sentiments, reducing the laws credibility. The current policy also creates a dangerous black foodstuff and renders our prison system ineffective. The legalization of cannabis would bring undeniable medical and economic benefits to society and the government. Varying degrees of marijuana legalization have proved that, if controlled, the drug is rarely damaging to a society or its population. In fact, the benefits of such legalizations seem to greatly outweigh the drawbacks, making legalization the only logical choice. The regard over marijuana is endless. Due to historical portrayals, marijuana is still often seen as a dangerous drug. This myth, however, is outdated. In fact, marijuana is actually a multipurpose drug that, if legalized, would bring many positive consequences to society. Marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol with regards to its regulation. A change in the outdated federal policy of strict prohibition would be an advancement of society and its values. To begin with, the racial implications behind the enactment of the policy suggest that it should not have been enacted in the inaugural place. Throughout the early 20th century, marijuana was associated with Mexican laborers in the United States. There was a strong racist sentiment towards Mexicans in America, especially in the Southwest. Consequently, elite Americans looked down upon marijuana use for its association with this particular group (Rowe 26-27). The drug was actually originally spelled marihuana, which is how the word appears in the 1937 Marihuana Tax guess that made marijuana illegal. The drug is now commonly referred to as marijuana. This happened with the help of William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper-publishing giant in the early 20th century. Hearst began calling the substance marijuana so it appeared foreign and became further associated with Mexicans (Gahlinger 34). Later, marijuana became associated with the jazz scene and Af... ...Works CitedBarrett, Devlin. New Medical Marijuana Policy Obama Administration Will Not hearArrests For People Following State Laws. The Huffington Post online 1 Nov.2009. 18 Oct. 2014. .Fish, Jefferson M. Five Drug Policy Fallacies. Drugs and Society U.S. Public Policy. Ed. Jefferson M. Fish. Lanham, MD Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006. 79-96.Gahlinger, Paul. Illegal Drugs A pure(a) Guide to Their History, Chemistry, Use, and Abuse. New York Plume, 2004.Grinspoon, Lester, and James B. Bakalar. Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine. New Haven Yale U niversity Press, 1997.Hoeffel, John. Medical Marijuana Gets a Boost from Major Doctors Group. The Los Angeles Times online 12 Nov. 2009. 11 Nov. 2014..Krisberg, Kim. Fight for Reform of U.S. Drug Policies Slowly Making Headway.Nations Health. 39.8 (Oct. 2009) 1-10. EBSCOHost. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.Mills, BJ. Medical Marijuana-Is it All Smoke? Med-Surg Matters. 17.5 (2008) 3-5.EBSCOHost. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.Rowe, Thomas C. Federal Narcotics Laws and the warfare on Drugs Money Down a Rat Hole. New York Haworth Press, 2006.