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Keith Kleckler
English 250
April 14, 2011
The Argument for the Legalization of Marijuana: A Time for Change
Currently there are three approaches a government can take when deliberating on the status of
a questionable drug or substance like marijuana. Prohibition, the state the government currently
supports on this issue, stops any sale or possession of any kind. Decriminalization is another approach
where the substance is still illegal by law but the government makes much less effort to enforce the law
and the offender is usually not punished. Finally, legalization allows for commercial sale and possession
of the substance. Legalization, moreover, does not mean that the state or national government
promotes the use of the item; it is simply no longer illegal and therefore is left to the individuals to make
the decisions of whether or not to use the substance. Many state legislatures today are arguing the
practicality of legalizing marijuana and how it will affect our nation. As with any argument worth having,
there are benefits and drawbacks to either side’s approach. So, the question is, do the benefits of the
legalization of marijuana outweigh the benefits of prohibition and the negative aspects of the
legalization itself, or will prohibition forever be the better alternative? I contend, after reviewing the
research, that the benefits of marijuana, be it medical or recreational, do indeed far outweigh those
negative affects produced. The legalization process will enhance the quality of the drug by regulating
sellers to reduce the possibilities of lacing and over potent forms; it will provide taxable revenue that
the government is currently missing out on, and it will decrease crime and decrease the amount of tax
payer’s money directed to the trivial pursuit of those selling and using this minor drug in today’s society.
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One of the most important positive side effects that the legalization process will have is the
regulations that will be applied to the drug once the government controls the production and sale of the
drug. Many of those in favor of prohibition claim that the drug is unsafe because it can be laced with
poisons or even more powerful drugs. Although this information is true about today’s branches of
marijuana, this is actually a better argument for the legalization of the drug. Since the government will
control the entire process from manufacture to sale in retail businesses, the opportunity for the drug to
be tampered with or laced in any way becomes virtually zero. Similarly, the legalization of the drug will
lead to more appropriately proportioned potencies. Prohibition produces higher potencies. Meaghan
Cussen explains in her journal that because the possession of this drug is legal, it makes more sense for
the dealers and even the buyers to buy more potent strands thereby lowering the carried quantity
without lowering the overall effectiveness in the batch. Legalization, however, would regulate the
potency of the drug thereby making it safer in the long run (Cussen 529). Finally, legalization would lead
to a less dangerous exchange process. Students, businessmen, every day law abiding citizens (excluding
their current use of illegal marijuana) are forced into unregulated criminal environments to purchase
this product. The idea of legalization would stop these average members of society from having to deal
with the undesirable criminal individuals making their lives safer in general. With millions of people
currently using marijuana in our country, legalization is an effective way to make the use and purchase
of the drug much safer for those that choose to use it.
The amount of revenue the government would gain in this national time of recession is
irrefutable. Currently billions of dollars worth of marijuana is sold in the United States under the table,
and currently the government is gaining zero dollars in sales tax on this product. The intent to stop the
sale and consumption of marijuana is obviously not effective enough to stop production by any
substantial measure so legalization is the rational alternative to at least profit from the inevitable
transactions. If the production and consumption of this drug is going to continue, the government
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should make the move to benefit from these dealings. Ray Boyd in “Cannabis Cultures”, a magazine
branch in favor of the legalization process, provides evidence from over 500 of today’s leading
economists including Nobel Prize-winner Milton Friedman that the government could gain an estimated
6.2 billion dollars in tax revenue from the a sin tax, the tax used on good such as alcohol and tobacco,
per year. This is revenue that the United States government could use in various ways to improve the
state of our nation during the time of recession. These same economists also estimate an additional 5.3
billion dollar savings for the state governments by reducing the amount of money currently spent on the
marijuana drug war. This large amount of taxpayer’s money, therefore, could be spent on schools and
roads thereby benefiting society rather than persecuting those who handle this drug. Many contend
that with fewer funds applied to the war on drugs there will be larger crime rates and more use of drugs.
This, however, is false. The Netherlands was the first country to make steps toward legalization, and
although marijuana has only been decriminalized there, the nation as a whole has seen both a decrease
in general crime rate since the decriminalization and a decrease in the use of harder drugs such as
cocaine argues Douglas McVay in his article “Marijuana Legalization: The Time Is Now.” The legalization
process would overall benefit both our nation’s economy and the crime rate.
In addition to these monetary and safety benefits, marijuana has many health benefits and can
be used to treat many illnesses. In an article by Steven Wassilak in The New England Journal of Medicine
states that many individuals with illnesses such as AIDS and Cancer have obtained striking relief from
these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana. One of the major medical uses of this drug would be
to help the appetites of those with anorexia or even cancer and aids and to help relieve their pain and
stress. Joycelyn Elders, Medical Doctor and former US Surgeon General, is quoted on ProCon.org
claiming that “marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused
by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS.” With such severe diseases and illnesses
plaguing our nation, why is out national government opposed to these revolutionary and possibly life
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changing alternatives for these suffering individuals? Prohibitionists contend that there are safer
treatments for these illnesses that won’t have such negative effects of inhaling smoke. Many of those
same prohibitionists fail to realize that the cannabis can be imbibed in the form of a pill avoiding the
smoke altogether. Furthermore, Doctor Lester Grinspoon, now a professor of Psychiatry Harvard
Medical School, states that “there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed
to marijuana.” This evidence seems to shatter any argument that the prohibitionists seem to argue
about the safety of the drug. Although the inhalation of smoke can have some negative effects on the
lungs and reparatory system, compared to cigarette smoke, a currently legal drug, it has no viable heath
risks to prevent legalization. This leads to the idea that with more dangerous drugs currently legal in
today’s society, what is stopping legislature from repealing the ban on marijuana. Douglas McVay later
in his article continues to illustrate that the legalization of marijuana would lead to a drop in the
consumption of less healthy drugs such as tobacco and alcohol that are more damaging to the human
body and have much higher risks of dependency. It becomes exceedingly obvious that the
prohibitionist’s misconceptions of marijuana lead to the public fear of legalization and the research and
specialists all point to the fact that it can have far greater benefits for the health of the Americans that
choose to consume it.
Legalizing marijuana makes moral sense, makes economical sense, and it make sense for the
wellness of our infirm. With painful and life altering conditions including AIDS and cancer, physicians and
lawmakers should be utilizing and considering every possibility to help these suffering individuals
regardless of personal feelings or pretenses of marijuana. If marijuana is an effective treatment for the
symptoms or side effects of other more painful treatments then it should be used in today’s medical
practices. Additionally, the legalization process would help stabilize the drug into a safer substance and
the government could monitor its amount and quality. The financial benefits of legalization are also hard
to ignore in our nations time of need. But regardless of all these glaring issues, why is the government
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regulating what people can put in their bodies. Joe Klein implies in Time magazine that the abuse of
McDonald’s can lead to health risks, so how is this any different? People are given basic rights in this
nation to their own pursuit of happiness as long it does not interfere with the rights of other. So if the
legislature of our nation will not address the obvious benefits to our society brought on by the
legalization of marijuana, they must at least understand the basic liberties that they stand for as our
country’s leaders. Legalizing marijuana simply makes sense.
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Works Cited
Boyd, Ray. "Legal Weed: A Pot Of Gold?." Cannabis Culture Marijuana Magazine 25 Oct. 2005: n. pag.
Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/articles/4539.html>.
Cussen, Meaghan, and Walter Block. “Legalize Drugs Now!: An Analysis Of the Benefits Of Legalized
Drugs.” American Journal Of Economics and Sociology 59.3 (2000) : 525-536. Web. 4 Apr 2011.
Joe, Klein. "Why Legalizing Marijuana Makes Sense."Time 02 Apr. 2009: n. pag. Web. 14 Apr 2011.
<http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1889021,00.html>.
McVay, Douglas. "Marijuana Legalization: The Time Is Now." Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. SAGE
Publications, 01 Jan. 1991. Web. 5 Apr 2011.
<http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/mcvay.htm>.
ProCon.org. "Top 10 Pros and Cons." MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 6 May 2009. Web. 14
Apr. 2011.
Wassilak, Steven. "Federal Foolishness and Marijuana." New England Journal of Medicine (1997):
n. pag. Web. 14 Apr 2011. <http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199701303360509>.