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Austin Squire
Mr. Casper
Sociology
20 April 2016
Legalization of Marijuana
The legalization of marijuana is a big social issue in the United States, 4 states and the
United States capital have already legalized it for recreational use. These states are Colorado,
Washington, Oregon, and Alaska (Drug Policy Alliance). More and more people are moving to
these states so they can use marijuana for medicinal purposes. They are not limited to just those
states, some have legalized it for medical use only. The problem with that is they put a limit on it,
like 30-60 day amount. Which what is a 30-60 day amount, some people may need to use more
than they usually use one day because of the severity of pain, or severity of their symptoms. This
issue is becoming more and more popular. Although it may be becoming more popular; states
still have to consider these factors the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, what type of
legalization, and the results of legalizing marijuana in other states.
The pros of legalizing marijuana is all the tax revenue the state can bring in. Colorado
brought in about $60 million in tax revenue from marijuana in 2015 (Mint Press News) . Not
only does the legalization of marijuana bring in a lot of money for states, but it also creates a lot
of jobs and many different economic opportunities for people (Drug Policy Alliance). States
would also save money and reduce harm to their citizens, because by legalizing marijuana there
would be a lowered demand for drug dealers that sell marijuana, and there would be less
organized crime. There would be less organized crime because there wouldnt be enough money
to support organized crime, and as a result there would also be less street gangs, less 13 year old

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kids being killed on the streets all over selling marijuana (NYLN). Not only that but drug
dealers are like weeds, once you take one out, twenty more come in their place. This battle
between drug dealers/drug users and law enforcement is a never ending battle, but by legalizing
marijuana the number of drug dealers will decrease, and will make it harder for underaged teens
to young adults to get marijuana (Voice of OC). Not only that but the scarce resources that law
enforcement have wont be used up to lock up people with possession of marijuana, those
resources could be used to stop other more serious crime (Drug Policy Alliance). There are
about 400,000 untested rape kits, because of the cost of them, while in California about $300
million dollars go towards marijuana prohibition. When that money could be used to pay for rape
kits and get rapists and sex offenders off the street (Voice Of OC). Another pro would be that
the government would put safety regulations on their recreational marijuana, so it would help
people because if someone went and bought weed from some random drug dealer, they will have
no clue what could be in it that could be potentially dangerous.
By legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, it will allow for more research on to
what other medical uses could marijuana have. Some medical uses are known like it can help
people with Crohns Disease, epilepsy, PTSD, ADHD, multiple sclerosis (NYLN). Thats just
what the U.S. knows with marijuana legalized in only a few states; imagine what can be found
by scientists all over the U.S. if marijuana was legalized in all or most of the states.
There are also many cons for states to legalize marijuana. The common one is that
marijuana is very addictive, an individual who tries marijuana for the first time wont be addicted
right away, but after a few more uses, the individuals body will begin to build up more of a
dependence for marijuana each time they use it. Stopping individuals who are addicted to
marijuana, will have the same result as other people who have abused another drug like alcohol,

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they will go through withdrawals and have high anxiety. That is one con to legalizing marijuana.
Another one would be that it is a gateway drug, what that means is that marijuana can lead users
to trying other harder illegal drugs like heroin, acid, etc.; and even can cause users to abuse
prescription pills. Also by legalizing marijuana there will be an increased chance of children
having marijuana, this is bad because kids cant handle the effects of hard drugs, their bodies are
not fully developed yet along with their minds, and it does some damage to their brains and
bodies. Marijuana also has some major effects to the brain, smokers of marijuana have memory
loss because when they smoke marijuana it constricts the blood vessels in the brain, and even if
the individual stops smoking it for a month the effects will still be present. Marijuana is also two
times worse than cigarettes at causing lung cancer, because smokers of marijuana inhale longer
than smokers of cigarettes allowing for two times as many carcinogens to enter the body.
Marijuana use is also linked to mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression, although
no one knows for sure if marijuana had a direct link to the mental illnesses or if they started
smoking marijuana to help with their mental problems (NYLN).
There are three categories for legalizing marijuana that each state needs to think about
which category that they will legalize marijuana under. The three categories are
decriminalization, medical marijuana use, and recreational marijuana use. Decriminalization is
when a person caught with a small amount of marijuana wont be prosecuted, given a criminal
record, or sentenced to jail time. The only thing youll be given is like a fine that is the
equivalence of a minor traffic infraction or ticket. Medical marijuana legalization is when people
can now be prescribed marijuana for pain and to help with mental illnesses. Those who are
prescribed medical marijuana can only be prescribed a 30 to 60 day supply. A lot of states in the
U.S. have legalized medical marijuana, just about half of them have. Recreational marijuana

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legalization is the legalization of marijuana use for everyone who wants to use it; anyone can use
it as long as they are 21 and up.
States must also take into consideration on how other states are doing with it legalized;
this would be mainly Colorado because they have had recreational marijuana legalized the
longest, so they have more data on their results. Colorado is making millions in tax revenue each
month, which is used to help benefit their states schools, and by legalizing marijuana, crime has
been reduced significantly. In the first eight months of 2015 Colorado earned $60 million dollars
on marijuana tax. The citizens of Colorado also approved of a 15 percent tax on marijuana that is
only to be used for school construction. The schools in Colorado earned $13.6 million dollars in
tax from marijuana in just the first five months of 2015; which is higher than what the schools
gained in a whole year back in 2014, which was $13.3 million. This shows that by legalizing
marijuana, the amount of tax revenue will continually increase sharply in the first few years, it
may not be as high as Colorados tax revenue at first, but as marijuana gets more and more
popular in the state then the results will come in. From this tax many schools in Colorado got to
make renovations to their schools, or build new ones, that have all the better technology and
learning tools that will benefit childrens education. Also crime in Colorado has dropped 2.2% in
the first eleven months of 2014 compared to the first eleven months of 2013 (Mint Press).
Marijuana legalization has become a big social issue in the United States. Many states
have legalized marijuana in some way, shape, or form. Many have legalized it for medicinal
purposes, some for recreation, and some have decriminalized it. Legalization of marijuana has its
pros and cons, and states that are thinking about legalizing marijuana will have to consider them
and the results of other states who have legalized marijuana. They also got to figure out how they
are gonna legalize marijuana, for recreational, medicinal use, or decriminalize it. Soon marijuana

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legalization will become the new social norm in the U.S. In a few years from now, marijuana will
be legalized in most of the U.S. just watch.

Works Cited
"Marijuana Legalization and Regulation." Marijuana Legalization and Regulation. Drug Policy
Alliance, 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
"Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization Overview." Find Law. Thomas Reuters, 2016.
Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Connel, Kit O' "New Schools, Less Crime: Colorado Sees Benefits Of Marijuana Legalization."
MintPress News. Mint Press, 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 08 Apr. 2016.

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Goldstein, Diane. "Goldstein: Legalized Marijuana Benefits, Not Hurts, Society." Voice of OC.
Voice of OC, 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
"19 Primary Pros and Cons of Legalizing Weed." NYLNorg. NYLN, 12 June 2015. Web. 12 Apr.
2016.
Pollick, Michael. "The United States of Marijuana." Medical Marijuana. Herald-Tribune Media
Group, 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.