One very important aspect related to smoking marijuana concerns the number of deaths reported on an annual basis linked to using other legal and illegal substances. For example, according to the U.S. Bureau of Mortality Statistics, 400,000 Americans die annually as a direct result of smoking cigarettes; 100,000 die prematurely from drinking alcohol; some 20,000 die from abusing legal prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Valium, Percodan, and other drugs prescribed by physicians; 2,000 die from the effects of consuming too much caffeine, mainly from heart failure, while the number of Americans who die from smoking marijuana currently stands at zero, an indication that smoking marijuana does not directly cause any known fatal and debilitating disease ("The Legalization of Marijuana," Internet).
Therefore, considering the number of Americans who die prematurely from consuming alcohol which has been legal since the end of Prohibition in the early 1930's, there is no logical reason not to legalize marijuana; in fact, a number of U.S. states have recently made medical marijuana legal despite the fact that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Many studies have conclusively shown that marijuana is an excellent pain reliever and has some positive traits for those suffering from the side...
Also, as compared to alcohol and tobacco which are legal, many studies have shown that smoking marijuana "does not cause serious health problems" and does not cause "brain damage, genetic damage, or damage to the immune system," nor does it "kill brain cells or induce violent behavior" like consuming too much alcohol ("The Legalization of Marijuana," Internet).
In conclusion, it is clear that the current laws in the United States which makes marijuana illegal under all circumstances needs to be repealed, just like Prohibition in the early 1930's. Obviously, it is time for the U.S. government to stop spending billions of dollars on enforcing marijuana laws and arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens for smoking a substance which grows naturally in the world and which as shown by numerous studies, does not negatively affect society like consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Franklin, Michael J. The Pros and Cons of Marijuana Legalization in the United
States. New York: Random House, 2006.
"The Legalization of Marijuana." 2009. Internet. Accessed November 24, 2009
from http://www.legalizationofmarijuana.com.
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