The Need to Legalize Pot is Long Overdue

The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so according to his or her own free will, and the government also may have a right to limit individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual. But this argument does not logically apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs are which legal, such as alcohol and tobacco. There for the most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why should marijuana be legalized?" but we should ask "Why should marijuana be illegal?" From a abstract point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves.

There is no logic why someone would be pushed to take legal drugs that are proven to be worse for ones body and mind. “Marijuana is far less subject to abuse than most drugs used to treat the same conditions. It is also less addicting. Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, says that “Marijuana is safer than most drugs used to treat the same problems.” Since there is no known case of lethal marijuana overdose, that would mean marijuana is safer than aspirin. One thousand people a year die of aspirin overdose. The side effects of aspirin can also harm young children. The estimated ratio of lethal to effective dose is 40,000 to 1. Marijuana was also ruled "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known," by the D.E.A.”

The second major reason that marijuana should be legal is because prohibition does not help the country in any way, and causes a lot of problems. There is no good evidence that prohibition decreases drug use, and there are several theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase drug use (i.e. the "forbidden fruit" effect, and easier accessibility for youth). One unintended effect of marijuana prohibition is that marijuana is very popular in American high schools. Why? It is readily available to students. You don't have to be 21 to buy marijuana; marijuana dealers usually don't care how old you are as long as you have money. It is actually easier for many high school students to obtain marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol, because alcohol is legal and therefore regulated to keep it away from kids.