Rebekka Sherry
English 1108
Essay #3
28 April 2015

The debate for marijuana legalization has been getting more and more attention as more and more states are opting for legalization for not only medical purposes but also recreational purposes. Since it was outlawed in “1937 when congress enacted the marijuana Tax Act made it a federal crime to possess,” (Alex & Alexander pg1 13s) people believed that marijuana was a terrible drug that did harmful things to our bodies, and that it lead to the use of harder drugs. It just had a bad reputation all together. More recently there has been more and more people deciding to be pro legalization. Marijuana has been studied rigorously and over many years and has proven to provide a very beneficial impact on society in many different ways and this is why there has been a huge push for legalization in most recent time. These benefits have been seen in positive health gains for adults and children being treated for an array of illnesses, revenue gains in several different areas, as seen recently with amendment 64 being passed in Colorado, and criminal/court system spending goes down, along with spaced being freed up in prison systems for harsher criminals. These benefits should be viewed as something that can greatly help are economy and citizens within which in turn would make our country a more thriving better place to live and that is why marijuana should be legalized. Marijuana is a naturally grown plant that can be grown anywhere. There is a main ingredient in it known as THC. This is the chemical that produces the euphoric high that users seek and that has the medicinal benefits. Researchers’ suggest, “Its use as a medicine dates back a thousand years”. (Nadelmann p2 10) So there has been studying done for quite some time now. In doing my own research, I have found that there are more than 23 health benefits