Reason To Reform The Marijuana Laws example essay topic

According to government figures, nearly 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some time in their lives. 18 million have smoked marijuana within the last year, and ten million are regular smokers. Almost all of the people arrested for marijuana are arrested for possession. And because of harsh federal and state penalties, these people may be sentenced to lengthy jail terms. This is an abuse of drug laws in a great nation. The marijuana laws need to be reformed, and the war against marijuana rethought.

One reason these laws need to be rethought is for medicinal purposes. Most people think marijuana is a dangerous drug that can kill. This is true if taken in heavy doses but that's also true for aspirin, alcohol and ibuprofen, which are all largely legal. Doctors have discovered that under controlled and medical supervision, marijuana has is "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" says Dr. Grin spoon, at the University of Florida. This is just one reason why it should be allowed for medical purposes. Marijuana has been proven to help cancer patients recover from the results of chemotherapy.

Sometimes these results of chemo are so great that cancer patients can't continue with the procedure and walk away from it. Marijuana has also been used successfully to help people with anorexia. It has given these people appetites and in some cases almost completely cured them. And another medical use for it is glaucoma. Marijuana has been known to help glaucoma sufferers greatly and to enhance their lives. Although marijuana has all these positive qualities that don't seem to have bad side effects, federal law allows physicians to prescribe far more dangerous drugs to patients.

And yet refuses marijuana into the medical field. Another reason to reform the marijuana laws is to help our country socially and economically. America spent 20 billion dollars on the anti-drug budget last year, and the government's own research says that drugs, including marijuana, are more cheap, pure and available than before. This large amount of money that comes out of taxpayers pockets could be used for more useful things like schools, roads, and cancer research.

Over half a million people in our nation's jails are in there on drug charges, 53% being charged for marijuana possession. These overcrowded jails could be holding much more serious criminals. It takes 23,000 dollars to hold each prisoner in jail for one year, which is also very costly to America. Marijuana offenders can loose their driver's license, their occupational licenses, loss of child custody, loss of federal benefits and even face removal from public housing.

They can even lose their cars, cash, boats, land, and houses. Another reason for marijuana reform is because the laws don't work. The prohibition against marijuana hasn't stopped marijuana use by teens, or anyone else. Research has been done on high school seniors in decriminalized states compared to states with marijuana penalties since the mid 1970's.

These studies show that "decriminalization has had virtually no effect on marijuana use". Another thing to think about is: Why is this country trying to end marijuana use when studies show that the prohibition is bringing crime with it? If laws were reformed, the black market would disappear and many marijuana dealers would surface overnight. International studies also indicate that if marijuana laws were to be removed crime actually declines instead of increasing. Another thing is that casualties from marijuana are very rare. In fact, deaths from all illegal drugs is less then 20,000 annually.

Compared to 450,000 people who die from alcohol and tobacco, this is a tiny number. Should alcohol and tobacco be prohibited? Of course not, that would bring utter chaos. The Netherlands are a living model to solve the marijuana problem America today. Since 1976 marijuana possession has been allowed by the government of the Netherlands. Investigations show that marijuana use or crime relating to marijuana hasn't gone up.

Who is to question that the same wouldn't happen here? Overall, the marijuana laws need to be rethought and the fight opposing marijuana needs to end. There are many important reasons that for this, including the medicinal use for marijuana, improving crime rates, and superior budget spending for the country. Also, illegal drug use would go down and the policemen and law enforcers could spend more time on serious criminals. The nations jails would be much less crowded and money on the prisoners could be used elsewhere. It's not crazy to think that if America followed the Netherlands and other countries footsteps, our country would be a better place.