...Winston Williams 7/2/2014 English 120 I am pleased with the way my draft is coming along so far. I have my main ideas and I’m fixed on how I want to organize these ideas and form my paper. I am pleased especially with the topic I have decided to discuss about, because I am very familiar with the subject and I’ve had a certain feeling about this topic for the past few years. I specifically want my audience to focus on the comparison between alcohol and marijuana as far as, the government implementing marijuana into the economy as alcohol. In this case, marijuana would take on the same laws and restrictions as alcohol does as far as age limit and those matters. I want my audience to give their honest opinion about my topic and how they feel about the situation. The main aspect I want to hear from people when reading my paper is what is their feel on marijuana and why do that feel that way. I believe this is an important issue in today’s society and I would love to know how people feel towards the drug. I was able to implement comments and suggestion into this draft fairly well. The suggestions people gave me were very helpful and I found out they helped me with some grammar errors I had no idea were in my paper. Marijuana is a topic of significant public discourse in the United States, and while many are familiar with the discussions, it is not always easy to find the latest, research-based information on marijuana to answer to the common questions about its health...
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...The legalization of weed in America has been an important issue in the last few years and is a high priority to some. There has been a cultural revolution in the decade and the majority of the United States seems to finally agree that it should finally be legalized. With that said there are still those on the fence about the possible legalization of a drug that was once seen as a drug that would turn you into a lazy, stupid criminal. So should smoking pot be legal in every state the same way that smoking cigarettes and drinking beer is legal? The answer is obviously yes. The use of marijuanna for recreational purposes should be legal because it is a well known fact that cannot overdose and therefore cannot die directly from smoking weed which means its safer than most other drugs. The people who smoke weed or do any drugs are going to do them despite their legality so why not make them pay taxes and help put money in our economy instead of a drug dealers pocket. It should also...
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...Justin Tonter Professor Smith English 1A 8 July 2014 Why We Should Legalize Cannabis While more and more people are supporting the legalization of cannabis, there are still many who are on the fence about the issue. Even though I do not smoke marijuana, I am all for legalization as I believe the positives that come from it outweigh the negatives by a great deal. So far we have seen two states legalize marijuana for recreational use, the two being Colorado and Washington, and the positive effects it’s having on these states are outstanding. The people who are still not all the way on board with it believe that weed is just for lazy people who eat Doritos and watch Family Guy all day long and they can’t see any of the great benefits cannabis can actually have. Seeing what has happened in Colorado and Washington more people are seeing the benefits legalization can have, not only on people for health benefits but for the states economy as well, not to mention a decline in crime. Between January 1 and 2 April 30, violent crime and property crime in Denver dropped 10.6 percent compared to that same span one year earlier. Homicides have dropped to less than half of last year’s levels, and motor vehicle theft has shrunk by over one-third (“Crime down and revenue up in Colorado since start of marijuana legalization”). A long with lower crime rates the state is gaining a bunch of money from taxes on marijuana as well. Kelly Phillips Erb who is a writer for Forbes said this...
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...The history of Marijuana dates back many years, and has served every culture since the beginning of time. Weed, ganga, pot, hash, bud, and mary jane, have become apart of many peoples lives today across the world. This growing “green” movement has become a huge topic of discussion in the recent years. Marijuana has been adapted to fit our lifestyles, and social environments. The love for pot in the United States of America is blatant and common. With such attention from celebrities, and rappers, such as Wiz Khalifa, Snopp Dogg and many more, Mary Jane continues to be everyones favorite girl. The realization that a great majority of people in America smoke weed, state governments such as California, Washington, Colorado and many more have legalized pot for either recreational or medical purposes. The legalization of pot nation wide is eminent, and in the near future. I believe that pot should be legalized because of its helpful medicinal purposes, the governments inability to stop this movement, and the incredible potential weed has to help state and national economies. The use of marijuana dates back 2737 B.C and has been used in civilizations for different purposes ever since then. Some ancient societies such as the Chinese used the herb for medicinal purposes to treat gout, malaria, and even absent mindedness. Other places such as India, the drug was used strictly for recreational purposes. Marijuana was first introduced to the United Sates in Jamestown in 1611 and instantly...
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...Drug use is a common habit among teens and adults. With the drug use rising, especially with marijuana, the crime rates and dropout rates are rising as well. Jails across the country are filling up with addicts and marijuana users. Streets are rich with dropout stoners and “gangsters”. Marijuana, or its scientific name cannabis, is a leaf plant that is commonly referred to as hemp or weed. It is crushed and rolled within a thin paper to form a joint. It can then be smoked, to produce a dreamlike state of hallucination. This raises the question, should marijuana be legal? Marijuana, compared to other drugs, is mild and has minimal side effects. Marijuana also has health benefits. These factors present many questions, including:...
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...Marijuana’s legalization could earn billions of dollars for the government that could be used to lower the national debt, improve schools, or other major projects that need funding. The handling of drugs is not safe, whether it is the back alley deals, or the people killed in drug heists. Since 2006 more than seventy thousand people have been estimated to have died in the drug war. This all comes from the lack of supervision in handling of drugs with their distribution, and use. Problems most people illegal drug users face are the quality of the drugs they purchase. Often people lace drugs with other ingredients to either improve or alter their effects. Sometimes suppliers lace drugs with substitute products to spread out into more units of that drug to sell, like filler products in today’s overly processed foods. A substance usually found in laced marijuana is Viagra, or lead. Rarely, and generally in the United States weed has been laced with Phencyclidine. In other extreme cases weed has been found laced with rat poison and plastic. When suppliers try to improve their product they lace weed with harder drugs typically heroin or cocaine. Heroin and Cocaine have much stronger addictive properties so often people have addiction to laced weed more than regular causing them to become repeat customers, or branch off into harder more pure drugs. These are just a few of the problems when using the drug, there are even more problems in trafficking and distribution. First off, since...
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...sides of marijuana, there is more benefits than people realize. Nobody has ever overdosed from smoking weed, and in order to do so you would have to smoke 1,500 pounds in 15 minutes. (greenrushdaily, pg 1) There are more reasons marijuana should be legalized than people think. Such as impact on tax revenue. Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fee on medical and recreational marijuana, sales in the state totaled over $996 million in 2015.(Investopedia, pg 1) Income and jobs is another great example. Jobs such as working at dispensaries or nurseries would create a lot more occupations in the states. A RCG economics and marijuana policy groups says that legalizing recreational marijuana would generate over $1.7 billion in labor income. (Investopedia, pg 1)...
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...The Benefit of Legalizing Marijuana Of all legal reformations that should be made, the legalization of marijuana is perhaps the most necessary. If legalized on a controlled basis, it could greatly benefit our country in a variety of ways. Clearly the most controversial topic is marijuana's benefit to the medical community. The economy would also be a beneficiary of marijuana's legalization through taxation and all the while crime rates would inevitably decrease throughout the country. While many citizens are opposed to the legalization of marijuana they are often misinformed and misguided. Marijuana is a drug that is overlooked and can be used in many positive ways. There are many people that oppose the idea of legalizing marijuana and their point of view can be justified, but marijuana can be used for other purposes than getting “high”. Although there are valid points to each side, ultimately, if legalized the benefits of legal marijuana could greatly outweigh the risk. It has been documented that marijuana can severely reduce some effects of cancer. Also, it is known that marijuana has prolonged the lives of people who were diagnosed as terminally ill. Many rely on the drug to ease their pain and suffering. Another useful benefit is its aide in reducing nausea in chemotherapy patients. Medicinal uses for cannabis date back to 2737 B.C. when the Chinese emperor and pharmacologist Shen Neng prescribed the drug for gout, malaria, beriberi, rheumatism, and memory problems...
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...Taji Bhinder English K101 Final Research Paper 12/17/13 Legalization of Marijuana Have you ever wondered if there is a natural medicine that can heal, help, and possibly cure people with irritable and deadly diseases? Well, there is a medicine; it’s an herb that is naturally grown from the Earth. Scientists have made discoveries leading back to 7,000 B.C.E. of this miscellaneous victor and its usage (Norml). The herb is called marijuana also known as pot, cannabis, weed, and God’s medicine in today’s society (Norml). Marijuana is a cannabinoid which is a chemical compound that naturally affects the immune and nervous system of humans and animals. It has been used for centuries as a natural therapeutic substance. This mysterious plant combats nausea, cancer, leukemia, and many other variants that still cannot be cured with prescription drugs. No one knows where this plant comes from, but findings of this plant’s DNA reach up to Northern China, thousands of years ago. For many decades this plant has been looked down upon. Media analysts and government officials in the United States give it a negative approach which allows the public to think negatively about it. Many people assume that weed is deadly because of what authority wants the public to believe, but what many do not know is the positive scientific evidence and facts that proves how effective it really is. The social policies regarding marijuana have changed throughout the years in the U.S. Although, several...
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...Marijuana Legalization Name Institution Marijuana Legalization Uruguayan government must be the most daring in the world. According to Mic (2014), they proved this as late as they legalized the use of marijuana. There have been divergent opinions on whether to legalize weed or not. And with Uruguay providing the laboratory for scientific prove, it sounds an alert to other nation on pressure to appreciate and embrace the legalization of weed. Against many false dogmas surrounding the use of the ‘drug’, there exist countless benefits from its legalization. This writing elaborates why nations should follow the trend and legalize marijuana. Firstly, the illegality of marijuana is based on unproven theories and delusions. Use of the modern scientific records proves against dogmas of reefer madness associated with marijuana consumption (Alternet, 2007). Claims of how vastly dangerous marijuana use can be, are nothing else, but 20th-century prejudices that existed without any scientific evidence. Since the discovery of cannabinoid receptor system during the late 1980s, cases of psychoneurotic hysteria concerns are yet to be confirmed. Also, a belief wide that marijuana helps in generation of criminals is nothing away from lies. Somebody’s character in inborn and prevalent. We have as many criminal culprits who don’t know the taste of marijuana. There is no any ground to support this. Secondly, almost every government has failed to control the use of marijuana. According to WHO (world...
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...English 1B 16 February 2016 Legalizing Recreational Pot Heavy marijuana smokers are at risk for some of the same health effects as cigarette smokers, like bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses. Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal drug in the United States and around the world. Those who support its legalization, for medical or for recreational use, fail to recognize that the greatest costs of marijuana are not related to its prohibition; they are the costs resulting from marijuana use itself. If the United States were to legalize marijuana, the number of users would increase. New users would not be limited to adults if marijuana was legalized, as regulations on alcohol and tobacco does not prevent use by youth. The legalization of recreational pot in America will increase the number of drug users at a younger age nationwide because many youth are more susceptible to peer pressure, the curiosity and sensation of what other drugs will feel like will grow causing more people to try and become addicted to other types of drugs, and finally because the recreational use of drugs will become a social norm instead of a taboo. The legalization of recreational pot in America will increase the number of drug users throughout the country as well as increase the number of younger users. There is a possibility that since this drug would be legalized, there would be easier access to it. Since access to marijuana would be extremely easy with stores selling it in shelves, more...
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...Legalization of Marijuana In today’s society what is accepted in different American cultures as far as drugs are on a thin line of what people accept. The Gore Vidal was published on September twenty-six nineteen seventy, so the discussion on marijuana has been talked about over forty-four years now. It is about time that the American society accepts legalization of marijuana. Many Americans do not see anything wrong with a doctor prescribing them “legal drugs.” People think of marijuana in a negative ways because they are against the law. Many people don’t realize that there are many things that are legal that are a lot worse than marijuana things like prescription drugs, alcohol, and even in some instances cough medicine, but none of these are illegal why is that? When in all reality can we really put a difference on which is okay in today’s society. In the article that Gore Vidal wrote, he believes that our society should legalize marijuana. In comparison to Gore Vidal an article on the website called the Huffington post they also think that there are good reasons to legalizing marijuana and also some negative stand points. America has been fighting to legalize marijuana for nearly forty-four years now. Recreational marijuana is for sale in Colorado, one of the few states that have actually gone through with legalizing it in the United States. There is a Huffington Post article about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and the effects of it. Amendment 64 is the...
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...Marijuana legalization has strengthened Colorado's government funding. Every society has under gone major changes completed in different states, communities and even countries. In these cases some changes are unwelcome. Today I've chosen a development that affects not only the world around me but also the choices of friends and people who support the use of recreational marijuana. There are two states in the US that has legalized recreational use of Marijuana. The first state to legalize this gateways drug was our Nation’s capital. Following in the footsteps a few years later the great state of Colorado joined the movement. Today I will be focusing strictly on the state of Colorado. There is seemingly more publicity and problems for the state...
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...Legalization of Marijuana Derane Walton English 215 June 11, 2013 Victoria Stewart Legalization of Marijuana Can there be a show of hands how many people here have ever smoked Cannabis sativa, commonly known as marijuana? Well obviously no one would want to admit to a criminal activity in front of their teacher, but why is it that smoking pot is so taboo in our society? After all numerous famous intellectuals support marijuana. Al Gore is considered by many to be the leading figure in climate change awareness and environmental preservation, but few people know that Al Gore also supports the legalization of marijuana. The famed German philosopher Freidrich Nietzche once said, if one seeks relief from unbearable pressure one is to eat hashish. The founding father of our nation George Washington, said, “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere”! (Stack exchange, 2013) Marijuana is one of the safest medicinal substances on the planet and is supported by many acclaimed celebrity role models. Famous Hollywood actor Johnny Depp says, I’m not a big pothead or anything like that but weed is much, much less dangerous than alcohol. Other well known supporters of marijuana include Snoop Dogg, all of the Marley family, Niel Young, Willie Nelson, Michael Phelps, Chris Farley, Al Gore, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Nietzche, Barack Obama, John Adams, James Madison, JFK, and of course myself. A total of 11 United States presidents grew, smoked, or supported the...
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...Legalizing Marijuana makes Pennsylvanians Rich Introduction Growing up on the gritty streets of West Philadelphia I was exposed to many drugs. From an early age I can remember seeing guys hang out on the corner. It wasn’t until I became a preteen that I realized that these young men weren’t just “hanging out”. They were actually hustling and making drug transactions. In high school I was offered my joint. Scared of my parents finding out and remembering the negative effects of drugs that I learned about in school forced me to decline. Many of my peers were not as strong and fell into peer pressure. The smell of marijuana on the way to school became a familiar scent. As I got older and began to explore the City of Brotherly Love I learned that Philly is drug infested. I’ve met a lot of good people who have fallen into addiction. Their drug usage impedes their everyday life. I have a friend who I went to high school with. My friend was a top athlete and scholar. After a terrible car accident he developed an addiction to prescription pain killers. He ran from doctor to doctor trying to keep his fix alive. The process lingered on for a couple years, One day I asked him why he didn’t get help or try to stop. His main argument was that he wasn’t doing anything illegal like crack or heroine, so he didn’t think he had a problem. His argument got me thinking about the government and how they dictate what medications are okay and not okay for people...
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