Marijuana: Friend or Foe?

Marijuana: Friend or Foe?
Marijuana should be legalized because prohibition has been tried before, and it failed, while   it doesn’t move the United States forward in any way. The argument for and against the legalization of marijuana has been raging for over seven decades and only now is it becoming a major issue with the voting public. Although opponents argue that marijuana should not be legalized because of the health issues, because of children having easier access to the drug, and the “success” of prohibition, the government should legalize the drug because of the taxes that can be brought in, the savings from reducing frivolous arrests and jailing, the stopping of the explosive situation on the U.S. and Mexican border, and because of the inherent medicinal properties of the plant.
Some who support marijuana prohibition claim that the drug is unhealthy.   Arguing that marijuana is unhealthy directly opposes the fact that two of the most deadly drugs in America – alcohol and tobacco – are completely legal and sold across the nation. In 2007, the Center for Disease Control reported that alcohol was the direct cause of death for 23,199 people in the United States, dying of alcohol induced causes such as chronic liver disease, alcohol poisoning, and suicide (CDC₁ 21). Not included in that number is accidental deaths relating to drunk driving. Tobacco is much worse as every year about 443,000 people will die because of lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CDC₂). Alternatively, the C.D.C. keeps no yearly reported death statistics about marijuana. Furthermore, the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s Principles of Addiction Medicine states that there is very little evidence of a death as a direct result of marijuana ingestion; “In healthy young users, marijuana’s cardiovascular effects are unlikely to be of clinical significance. Documented evidence of death resulting from recreational use, even in large doses, is...