"I did not inhale". Well what if it didn't matter if he did or didn't inhale? I'm not going to go into great detail but I will present enough reasons to get your mind going on why it should be legal to smoke marijuana. I do not currently smoke nor would I if it was legal. So you can throw out all the reasons you typically hear when people argue for the legalization of marijuana.
Legalization of marijuana would be a benefit to this country on so many levels. The economy, crime level, medicinal value, waste of tax dollars fighting it and much more would be seen by the legalization of marijuana. Obviously I'm not advocating that 15 year olds be able to go to the store and buy a pack of marijuana cigarettes. Obvious laws would have to be made about the use of marijuana to keep it under control. You could apply the same laws to marijuana use as you do for alcohol: Age requirements, driving restrictions and marijuana licenses. Studies show smoking cigarettes are much more hazardous to your health than marijuana but tobacco is still legal.
The economy could greatly benefit from the legalization of marijuana. By making marijuana a legal substance and able to be bought in stores, you would be able to tax people who use the substance. Right now, how do we charge users of marijuana? By giving them fines and tickets for using it. How effective is this? Not very. If it was, people wouldn't still be using it. I can sit here and think of all the people I know and maybe 5% of them have never tried it or don't currently smoke. I bet if you did the same your % of people you know that have never tried it or don't currently indulge in the occasional puff, would be very similar to mine. So what if every time someone did light up it was taxed? Well it would put our economy in much better shape than it is today. Not only for tax purposes but the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs. More jobs means more people buying things. The effects of it are ultimately endless.
Next is the crime percentage. Countries that have legalized the use of marijuana show lower crime rates. Obviously the factor of all the people that were being arrested for marijuana use would go down causing a direct hit but there has to be more than just this. Marijuana is a depressant not a stimulant. Someone who smokes a fatty is less likely to go rob a liquor store than someone who is drinks a liter of liquor. More crimes are committed while consuming alcohol than after taking a bong rip. Plain and simple, marijuana makes you want to sit on your couch and watch a movie and eat some snacks (also known as the munchies). When is the last time you read a story about someone who smoked a joint and had the urge to go rob someone. I bet you've seen that story recently but the person was drinking.
Medicinal value is a big reason for the push for legalization. Cancer patients have a tough time eating after their surgeries. As stated above, marijuana gives you the munchies. It's perfect for patients who can't keep an appetite. They already use artificial THC pills to achieve this effect. I bet there's more chemicals in those pills than a joint.
Now by all means, I am not saying there shouldn't be laws that govern the use of marijuana. That would simply be assanine to think that's what needs to be done. Put age requirements on it, you would have to be 21 as with alcohol to consume marijuana. Driving infractions on the use of marijuana would have to be in place as well. It's already illegal to do it now so just make the driving infractions the same as alcohol. In order to sell marijuana in a retail form or at a bar, you would have to have a marijuana license. More money to the economy when a place has to buy a license to sell and they in return have another avenue to make customers happy. The fact is people will continue to consume marijuana and our jails are filled with violators. This would help free up prison space as well.
Articles - Legalize It!
