Argumentative Essay: The Legalization Of Marijuana

Marijuana (or cannabis) is a plant that can be used in various ways. It can be both smoked using joints, pipes bongs or other paraphernalia and ingested by baking it into food or ingesting concentrated butane hash oil. Eating the mixed in THC with food causes a slower process of reaching a high since it has to get digested first before the THC can reach the blood stream. Smoking the marijuana allows the delta-9-tetrahydrocannbinol (THC) to move through the blood stream quicker than when ingested which gives the user a faster high. Thus, smoking marijuana is more common among users, but at the same time it is more dangerous since the lungs are absorbing all the tar. There are many affects it can have on the brain such as memory, coordination,

A common argument against the legalization of marijuana is that making “marijuana lawful would encourage the legalization of stronger drugs such as hashish and hashish oil” (Kahler). Also, it would cause controversy for more harmful drugs to be legalized. Although there is a high possibility of debates for the legalization of other drugs to occur; there needs to be valid reasons in order for the drug to be permitted. Marijuana is not only a social drug, but it can be prescribed to help treat certain illnesses as well. While people believe that marijuana itself is a gateway drug, there are arguments by many such as Diane Russell, a government representative who says that the drug dealer is the gateway, not the drug itself (Murphy). She also said that “marijuana isn’t physically addictive and doesn’t necessarily lead users to ‘graduate’ to stronger and more dangerous drugs — while illegal drug dealers push those stronger drugs on customers who come to them for marijuana” (Murphy). Also, the death toll for marijuana consumption is nonexistent while a variety of other drugs have been a cause for death. In addition, the affects marijuana use has on the body is significantly less damaging than other drugs that are possible candidates for becoming legalized. Therefore, marijuana has an edge over other drugs when talks of legalization