Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized Essay

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, has had its legality debated among Americans for decades. Few states have made this drug legal for recreation in the United States. While it can be harmful to users, so can many other legal substances. This puts into question whether recreational use of cannabis should be illegal in the U.S..

Widespread, legal drugs currently being used should be compared to use of cannabis. According to the C.D.C., cigarette smoking is related to 480,000 deaths in the United States yearly. Alcohol, another substance widely used among Americans, is responsible for 88,000 deaths. The amount of deaths due to the top legal substances in the United States should justify their being illegal, but that is not the case. For deaths due directly to cannabis, there are none.

Minors could frequently use marijuana if it was made legal: an argument frequently made. General arguments also mention that young people are the future of the world and legalizing a drug that could damage their developing brains would be ludicrous. The fact is, teenagers constantly use alcohol, which also causes brain damage and is documented to be responsible for more than 4,000 deaths per year. This is a problem that would persist regardless of the legal status of the substances.

Given how damaging research proves they are, the F.D.A. would not approve whatsoever and the proposal would be turned down immediately. When cannabis comes along however, studies show that it is substantially less harmful and even benefiting towards health medicinally, but it is equally shunned. If following F.D.A. guidelines, none of these commonly used substances, including alcohol, should be legal. But, thanks to the long history of fighting the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco in the early United States, they are still legal