Tiago Flores Feijó
Professor Lawrence
097 – M03
25 November 2014

A current topic in political debates, TV shows or even in chatting with friends is the legalization of marijuana. It is a polemical issue in our society with a lot of pros and cons. However, the main issue in this debate is why marijuana is still prohibited? The legalization will be the solution for several social problems that we have in our society, such as traffic, murders and everything that is involved in this illegal market.
Serious dependence is the first argument that people against the legalization use in a debate. They say that marijuana causes dependence, and this dependence could interfere in social life of users, for example, school and job performance. First of all, there are research comproving that marijuana is less harmful to human health than most of other banned drugs, such as cocaine or crack. Furthermore, marijuana is less harmful than the main two legal drugs that we have nowadays. The dependence of tobacco and the changes in our mind of alcohol are countless times more harmful than marijuana.
The main point in this discussion more than the dependence, is the social problems that the illegal commerce of marijuana causes. The current ways adopted by the government to combat the traffic are not working. The government does not know how to stop this illegal commerce. It happens because even with the legal prohibition the consumers do not stop to consume drugs and it does not stop trafficker to produce and sell illegal marijuana. In summary, only the combat against the crime is not the right way to stop this social problem, because consumers will not stop to consume. The government should create a way to control the producing and the selling of marijuana to stop this illegal market.
Currently the government spends millions and millions of public money to fight against the crime behind the illegal commerce of marijuana. Our politicians do not realize that if they take control of the marijuana they can save a lot of public money. It will be possible because with this control they can create new government taxes to marijuana. Moreover, spending in organized crime will be decreased. The legalization of marijuana can be a new fount of money to the government, also, the legalization can be a solution for a lot of murders and violence that happen because of the illegal commerce.
In conclusion to this topic is important contrast one more time, that the actual policies against the illegal commerce of drugs are not working. As the marijuana is the main illegal drug consumed in the world, it could be a good solution for some social problems its legalization. Considering that the effects of marijuana are not so harmful than other legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, and also, considering that the legalization could be a new fount of money to the government.