The Reasons Why Marijuana Should Be Legal

Cannabis, marijuana, pot devil's lettuce. The plant's usage strays from medical to recreational. It comes with many great benefits, such as being a treatment option against depression, it is fun and calms you down. Therefore, countries have legalized it for medicinal use and some have even allowed recreational use, for instance, both medicinal and recreational use of marijuana is legal in Canada because they recognize that legal marijuana use comes with a lot of positives. However, in Sweden all use is illegal, causing more pain than good. The plant has stuck around for so many years and it’s not going to disappear anytime soon, hence we need to stop searching for the negatives of cannabis and instead use it as an asset.

To begin with, in this persuasive essay I will present some relevant arguments why marijuana should be legal. Normal cannabis smoking has not taken one single life. You would have to smoke more than 20 kilos to risk overdose. Meanwhile, alcohol and tobacco that has killed millions are considered perfectly legal. Some claim that a little alcohol is good for the health, although the side effects are not worth the risk. And what many forget is that this claim is only true if you’re over the age of 50. Alcohol impairs our judgment, memory, and reaction time. Our balance and eyesight are also affected badly. Cigarettes are not better, when someone inhales nicotine, they are at risk of becoming addicted. When they are hooked, they can smoke over a pack a day. Not only is this extremely expensive but cigarettes are packed with lots of chemicals, many of them know to cause cancer.

Second reason why weed should be legalized is that it can be used for pain relief. There are people with chronic diseases, cancer and such, they feel like they have to grow it on their own and self-medicate. Our drug law is way too strict, causing these people who simply want to live a normal life to be treated as serious criminals. It is considered normal to get prescribed strong medicines, that give a powerful high, but these drugs also have the chance of killing and giving permanent damage. In addition, our police puts enormous resources in the effort of finding its users and dealers. Even though their efforts are in vain. These resources would be better spent on improving our healthcare and school system.

Some claim that cannabis smoking leads to other drugs. But it usually does not. Even though most hard-hit heroinist started off with cannabis, most people who have tested cannabis will not try another drug. However, some people have addictive personalities and they are at risk of wanting to try the more dangerous drugs.

After taking a deeper dive into this subject, I think that it’s irrefutable and undeniable that marijuana should be legalized. We cannot let the stigma around cannabis scare us, each and every one of us have to look at the subject with open eyes.

References

1. Pound, K. (2016). 15 Reasons Why Smoking Weed Is Actually Really F*cking Good For You. Elite Daily. https://www.elitedaily.com/wellness/smoking-weed-good-for-you/1657009
2. Robinson, M. (2017). This is how much weed it would take to kill you. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/how-much-marijuana-take-to-kill-you-fatal-weed-a8043856.html
3. American Lung Association. “What’s in a Cigarette?” ALA, http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette.html
4. Drugabuse.gov. (2019). Want to Know More? https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana-facts-teens/want-to-know-more-some-faqs-about-marijuana
5. Msn.com (2019). Wine DOES get better (for you) with age: A glass a night is good for the elderly - but not for anyone else https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/wellness/wine-does-get-better-for-you-with-age-a-glass-a-night-is-good-for-the-elderly-but-not-for-anyone-else/ar-BBUyDny