Some of the most famous people in today’s day and age have used Marijuana, take for example Brad Pitt, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, and so many more. Marijuana is a plant that has two parts to it, it has Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannibidiol (CBD). Marijuana itself has so many benefits to the plant that we should make it legal. marijuana has a rich history, it would solve many problems in our economy, and can help people with our medical problems. Marijuana’s history is full of twists and turns so we are gonna get right into it. 

It all started in 1937 when the Marihuana tax act of 1937 became a thing. What it was basically saying was that any use of Marijuana is prohibited (medicinal included). They made it illegal initially because of racial factors, they believed that there would be more immigrants or smuggling of drugs across the border. They believed that Marijuana had a “Jekyll and Hyde” effect on the human body. This basically means that you were one person before you consumed the Marijuana then you were a completely different person afterward.  An article from history.com says “Even though there was no evidence to support claims that Marijuana had a Jekyll-and-Hyde effect, 29 states outlawed Marijuana between 1916 and 1931.”  What this is saying is that the Jekyll and Hyde theory has no actual evidence backing it up, therefore making it an invalid theory. The act came out a year after The film “Reefer Madness” was produced. This film was a film to explain to parents how dealers would take teenagers to jazz parties and give them “Reefer.”  During the “ War on Drugs” Marijuana along with LSD and Heroin was categorized as a Schedule 1 drug, and according to the DEA what that means is “Drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), Marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote.”  They made those drugs illegal with some opposition but not enough to stop it. In 1996 California released “The Compassionate Use Act of 1996” What this did was make medicinal Marijuana legal. So anyone with a chronic or severe illness could use Marijuana. Since then 33 more states have decriminalized weed with any content of THC. The legalization of marijuana has many benefits. 

If we were to legalize Marijuana for recreational use there would be so many benefits. 

Just imagine the economic advantages. If we were to sell Marijuana in stores then the government could tax us on it, therefore, making a fortune. Also, the prohibition of Marijuana doesn’t really stop people from “Getting their fix” people will still find ways of getting the Marijuana. The government will willingly give the general public tobacco and alcohol because if we were to stop that the income would severely go downhill right, well if we started selling Marijuana the income would be noticeably higher. An article from BNN Bloomberg says “ Canada’s cannabis industry generates about $8.16 billion to the country’s economy, according to latest data from Statistics Canada. The legal cannabis industry contributed about $3.96 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product as of February, StatsCan said. That’s up 215 percent since recreational cannabis was legalized in Oct. 2018.” Canada’s economy skyrocketed after they started selling Marijuana and that happened in Colorado. Their whole economy now is marijuana distribution and if they were to stop they would crumble. That could easily happen everywhere. Marijuana was accused of being a gateway drug in the war on drugs era,  but an article from the CDC says “ The majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances.” The CDC disproved the theory that it is a gateway drug. Also if we legalize Marijuana it lets the law enforcement that they can focus on other crimes instead of focusing on whether or not someone has weed on them. Which would overall help keep the peace and offer a safer future for our children. Also if the government sold it in stores they can regulate what is in it and how much there is,  therefore making it safer for the consumers. There are some bad sides to Marijuana though.

Along with all of those benefits, there are some downfalls. Marijuana has some detrimental short-term and long-term effects on the body. The short term being, the THC content gives you the “high” people talk about, your brain has receptors, the receptors respond to the THC or THC like things in a way to give you the “high”. The THC goes to the parts of your brain with the most amount of those receptors to really attack the system. Some of the symptoms are an altered sense of time, altered senses (EX seeing brighter colors), and hallucinations (Taken in high doses). Some of the long-term effects include things like if you use it as a teen (between the ages of 13 and 25) it can cause memory and thinking problems. There is always the argument that you can get addicted to it and my response to that is that you can become addicted to it in the sense that if you are a regular Marijuana user and you quit cold turkey you will have withdrawal symptoms but that goes for tobacco and alcohol too or really anything you consume. If you quit eating refined sugar cold turkey then you will for sure have some side effects, it’s undeniable! The biggest argument against Marijuana use is that people who use Marijuana will cause more harm to people on the road, but on the other hand, if we have laws, just like we do for drinking, for Marijuana such as “Don’t smoke and drive” or something like that then that could prevent or at least help with that concern; and sure that wouldn’t stop some people but for the majority, it would just like how when people drink and drive they get DUI’s. 

To refute that there is the health argument. If we were to sell Marijuana in our stores we can regulate how much THC is in the weed we are producing. Also in most places, CBD (the other part of the plant) is legal. CBD is the part of the plant responsible for helping with pain and anxiety disorders. THC slows down the receptors but does not slow down reaction times or how you work, it helps with stress and anxiety by slowing down your brain. When people get an anxiety attack they tend to have racing thoughts and hyperventilation but Marijuana can help you slow down those thoughts and your breathing. Also, some people will say that “What if someone takes too much and overdoses?” Well, you would have to do so much Marijuana and in such a short amount of time to OD on it. Doctors don’t even know how much it would take to overdose because it’s never happened. There have only been a couple of isolated deaths from Marijuana but they had a pre-existing condition that caused them to unfortunately die, but their deaths had nothing to do with how much Marijuana they were taking or the amount of THC in the Marijuana. The smoking of Marijuana can cause other things like an accident from impairment but according to an article from Forbes “ A 2014 study in Forensic Science International reported two cases of sudden death that doctors linked to health complications possibly worsened by marijuana use. The report indicated that before these deaths, the researchers were not aware of any other deaths related to marijuana use alone.” What this is saying is that there have only ever been 2 deaths related to marijuana and they had a preexisting condition to make it so the smoking of the marijuana was the last thing their bodies could handle. It is found that over 158.8 million people consume Marijuana, or at least have admitted to it. 

 Marijuana was outlawed mainly because of racial reasons but other reasons as well. More states are slowly allowing it to be produced and consumed. Marijuana has some detrimental effects on the body but more beneficial ones. As well as it has amazing benefits to your body and the environment. So as Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”