Idea Of Marijuana Legalization example essay topic

We all know how new ideas can change the world and these new depend on newly obtained information that can be based whether on researches or simply acquired during everyday life. New ideas always had lead to the progress, regardless whether they were useful for people. Sometimes new ideas inspired people to do new researches, which allowed discovering new knowledge that was beneficial. Today in our society, any new information can make drastic changes, because it spreads out around the world with blasting speed.

Many people share their ideas and many have same views on a certain subject. However, usually one form of knowledge is privileged over another, which greatly influences views of people on a certain subject. Thus, with appearance of new knowledge, which is based on facts and researches, people tend to change their views on the subject this new knowledge concentrates on. Over the last 30 years, many people in different countries became supporters of marijuana legalization. Idea of marijuana legalization was opposed by conservative information against marijuana legalization, which was based on beliefs of people on what a bad decision to legalize this drug would be because of negative consequences it will cause.

In the beginning of century, marijuana was considered evil drug, which was dangerous. Today not so many people share such a belief. Many people suggest the marijuana is not harmful at all and is even useful according to latest researches; however, marijuana remains illegal. There is enough evidence gathered that marijuana is less dangerous than other legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. Nevertheless, since marijuana is not legalized, it is possible to assume that information proving the danger of marijuana is more privileged over the knowledge on marijuana being safe and useful, at least in our country. Around 1972, the Dutch government made a new policy that regulates sales of small amounts of marijuana.

This policy seems to be successful according to statistics. The Dutch have less drug use and abuse than the United States. Some people believe that marijuana should never be legalized, because it increases homicide rate, however real homicide rate for the Dutch is eighteen per one hundred thousand, which is one quarter the United States rate (Reinarman 103). Society has found no evidence marijuana causes murder (Reinarman 102-108). Marijuana effects are nearly harmless. In fact, lethal overdose of marijuana is virtually impossible (Lowry 36).

No one can say the same about alcohol. President Nixon once said, There is little proven danger of physical or psychological harm from the experimental or intermittent use of natural preparations of cannabis (Qty. in Glasser). The author, Richard Lowry, of Weed Whackers agreed in his article by stating, it makes little sense to send people to jail for using a drug that, in terms of its harmfulness, should be categorized somewhere between alcohol and tobacco on one hand and caffeine on the other (Lowry 36). Not only is this drug practically harmless, but people enjoying this drug for many personal reasons. They smoke it to relieve stress, mellow out, or just have fun (Kale t 82).

The British medical journal Lancet could not have said it better by saying, When used in a social setting, it may produce infectious laughter and talkativeness (qt d. in Lowry). The effects of marijuana do not affect anybody else except for the user. If the effects of marijuana feel good to the user and no one else is harmed, why should it be illegal to use the drug? Although dependence on marijuana is not common, some marijuana fighters believe that this drug is addictive. Some time during four or five years of heaviest use, one in ten users become dependent on marijuana. A study on lab rats proves this fact.

Two scientists tested caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana on these rats. The scientists had similar results. One of the scientists had a tie between caffeine and marijuana being least addictive, and the other showed marijuana being slightly less addictive than caffeine (Lowry 36-37).