"Legalize it"
...ijuana is a gateway drug and the use of it will take people farther into the drug community and may cause serious addiction and harm. However, some people disagree with this view and believe that marijuana should be able to be used by adults as long as it does not interfere with the liberty or health of others. Also the war on drugs is incredibly expensive and is moderately effective. The battle against Marijuana itself “costs taxpayers more than 9 billion dollars a year” (White 313). And furthermore there are “over 60,000 marijuana offenders” (White 313) doing time in prison. This seems a bit futile because about 75 million American citizens smoke Marijuana. So obviously despite whether or not a drug is legal or illegal, people will still use it. We can look at history for proof of this. Years ago alcohol was outlawed because men tended to get drunk and treat their wives improperly. Although this is the case, men still found ways to get a hold of alcohol and to get drunk. Some people even used this time to get rich, such as Al Capone, who was notorious for having illegal alcohol operations and speak-easy’s. If someone has already become addicted to something, then their only hope is to break that addiction through rehabilitation. However, rehabilitation is not necessarily inexpensive and not always a cure for addiction. The legalization of recreation drugs, such as Marijuana, is such an issue to the culture wars because plenty of people are for the legalization of Marijuana while many people are against the legalization of Marijuana. Both sides of this case have very good arguments, but I believe that the people for legalization have an upper hand. While supporters of Marijuana feel that the drug is less harm causing than alcohol and nicotine, drugs which are legal in our country, some also believe that law enforcement will be able to direct their attention to more pressing matters such as murder and theft, and medical patients will be able to find temporary relief from the stresses that their diseases may cause. However, people opposing the legalization and uses of Marijuana feel that the drug will only lead its users to other drugs and that the drug Marijuana inhibits a person’s natural ability to succeed and to do well. In other words they feel that Marijuana makes people lazy and apathetic towards life in general. In the early weeks of November in the year 2005 the city of Denver, Colorado voted for and opted to legalize the possession of up to an ounce of Marijuana for adults through the legislation called Initiative 100. By adult, the law means any person who is 21 years of age or older and only the people that meets this requirement. The polls showed that a vote of 54 percent to 46 percent decided the outcome of this vote. However, this poses a problem for citizens of Denver because officials say that despite the city law, the state law of Colorado still outlaws the use and possession of Marijuana and incidences will be dealt with on a state level. Some believe that the outcome of this vote is simply proving a point, because Marijuana is still outlawed by the state, and a city ordinance can not override a state or even a federal law. I feel that this case is a bit pointless because the majority of Marijuana charges filed by police are dealt with on this state or federal level. This to me negates Denver’s law of legalizing any amount of Marijuana to adults because the adults will still be prosecuted on a state or federal level. However, other large cities in our country have legalized the possession of small amounts of Marijuana by adults and this has successfully accounted for bigger crimes to be focused on. Crimes such as murder, sexual battery, and theft. I agree with the idea that individuals should be able to do with their body as they please, as long as it does not interfere with another individuals well being. I realize that there are people in the world who feel that they should play a mother or father role to society, but I do not believe that these people are correct in doing so. I feel that if I want to smoke pot, than I should be allowed to unless I am endangering another person in any manner. I believe that if I want to become intoxicated in the privacy of my home, than I should be able to do so because I am not causing harm to anyone besides myself. I think that it is dumb to legalize such drugs as alcohol and nicotine, which cause a majority of the deaths in our country, but to outlaw a drug that calms people down, mellows its users out, and can even act as a medicine to people who suffer from certain diseases. I believe that as American citizens we should have the “freedom of self-medication,” (Szasz 346) because through the process of self-medication we are not harming anyone other than ourselves. I also think that if our government were to legalize less problem causing drugs, such as Marijuana that they would be able to generate income from the taxation of it. Also I believe that the Marijuana will be more pure and not ...