Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

Marijuana has been an ongoing topic of controversy in the last decade. The United States has dug deeper into the effects of the drug and whether it possesses extreme life threatening causes. Many medical conditions including anxiety and depression have been treated with marijuana in which positive results were produced; however, the negative effects involving increased heart rate, cancer- causing agents, the inhibition of motor skills, and the suppression of white blood cells, outweigh the positive.

Marijuana, also called, weed, or pot, is listed as a drug that comes from a hemp plant with the scientific name, “Cannabis sativa” (Johnson 1). The drug is known for stimulating and altering a person’s mind causing physical relaxation and behavioral

Using the substance for these purposes produced great results, but many feared that the abiding effects of the drug could lead to more detrimental conditions including dependence, chronic bronchitis, and cancer. According to the Johnson Institute, the inhalation of smoke from a joint could be far more harmful than a “pack of tobacco cigarettes” (3). Research has already provided evidence on how cancerous tobacco is which means that marijuana may have the same toxic

In a brief comparison of the ban of marijuana to that of the attempt to ban alcohol, Matthew Shechtman explains “just as prohibition failed to cure, and even exacerbated, the social ills it attempted to curtail, the federal reign over marijuana law could do the same” (qtd. In Agha 2). Since alcohol has some similar mind altering and short lived effects to marijuana, the comparison was somewhat valid. Marijuana has become a drug that is just as popular as alcohol which is why the amount of money and effort used to keep it away could be futile; however, there are still important reasons that validate why it is safe to control the use of