Controversy of Legalizing Marijuana

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Controversy of Legalizing Marijuana America is the land of the free and the foundation of democracy. This countries foundation is based on the fact that an individual can enjoy freedom from oppression and the minority's opinions can be heard along with the majority's. Our government is designed to be fair and open minded, to be a servant to the people it governs. Unfortunately once an opinion is placed into the collective mind of society, it is a struggle to alter that opinion through argument and information. The opinion in our country on the subject of marijuana use has always been a sensitive issue, open to debate and sparking many controversial questions and moral issues. The same questions come up time and time again when the debate starts. What are the effects on marijuana on the body? Does marijuana create a desire to try more potent substances? Is the resistance society places on the use of marijuana costing the taxpayers more than it is worth? What is the reasoning behind our decision to generally view marijuana as a bad substance worthy of resistance? And even though most hesitate to admit it isn't marijuana already a part of our culture and a major factor in the identity of multiple generations of Americans? So many questions surround the issue, likely they will not go away in the near future. Marijuana is not a threat to our society, other than opinions that have been generalized into our cultural beliefs of right and wrong, we have much more productive ways to spend our tax dollars. Marijuana has never been proven to have any long term medical effects that are detrimental. Cigarettes, alcohol, and various drugstore stimulants should be of more concern than marijuana. The opinions that have been... ... middle of paper ... ... once made alcohol illegal through prohibition, it did not work in any sense. We are becoming a smarter, more educated people in our century, we should be able to learn from our past mistakes. Bibliography: Works Cited Clark, Henry. "The Fallacies of Marijuana." American Family Physician 1 Dec. 1999: 5- 10 Massing, Michael. "Mindlessness on Drugs." The Nation 7 Feb. 2000: 32-35 McWilliams, Peter. "The Stand on Marijuana." Playboy Dec. 1999: 61,70-72 Monfreddi, Jamie. " High Hemp Hopes." High Times Magazine Oct. 1998: 12-15 O'Neil, John. "Substance Abuse Commentary." The New York Times 28 Dec. 1999: F7 column 4 Phillips, Andrew. Living the High Life Ontario: Hunter Publishing, 1999 Zimmer, Lynn. Marijuana Myths: Marijuana Facts London: Hartford, 1997

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