The marijuana battle in the United States has been an ongoing debate between the government and people for quite some time. It is a widespread debate that has yet to be settled. The effects of the legalization of marijuana can range anywhere from replacing opioids as pain killers to bringing millions of dollars from taxes into a state to lowering the crime rates and criminal records. Aside from all the positive effects that come from legalizing marijuana, many argue that there can be consequences or repercussions for allowing this drug to come out from under the hood of the law. Even after all these years and the benefits that stem from legalizing marijuana, the question still stands: should marijuana be legalized in all fifty states?

In the beginning of this assignment, it was difficult to come up with a research topic and even more difficult for me to come up with a solid research question. After much contemplation, I decided on the legalization of marijuana. I chose this topic for my research paper because it is a fairly new battle and I really did not know all that much about it. Before the ILP's, I still didn't really have a strong interest in the topic but now I'm very interested in seeing how it all is going to pan out over the next several years. I'm from a small town where everyone pretty much knows everyone which means everyone hears about everyone else's business; with that being said, my hometown is full of free spirits, tobacco shops and people who love to smoke weed. Marijuana, whether used recreationally or medically, is not legalized in the state that I am from. Although I have no investment of my own in this topic, however many of my close friends are stakeholders in this subject. I would need at least four hands to count the number of friends I have that have either been charged with a marijuana related incident or have come very close to being charged and just got very lucky. This research question relates to my personal values in a way that is very hard to explain. I am not an advocate for breaking the law, nor do I recommend the use of drugs. It is easy to avoid bias in my research because I am not entirely sure where I stand in this argument. It is easy to see both sides of the spectrum and take all causes and effects into consideration. To avoid bias entirely, the basis of my research paper will stem more from studies and facts rather than a "these states have legalized marijuana so why don't we all" kind of attitude. Most of the information I know about this topic has come from only the research I have done with ILP's. Because of this, it helps me avoid bias even more but hinders a fluent thought process on the topic because I have to look up any and everything about the topic since I am so in the dark about the subject.

Legalizing marijuana countrywide is a possible and very real thing. Because of this, it makes my research somewhat easier and more feasible. With my argument, I hope to gain a better understanding of the drug war in the United States and how marijuana affects the country as a whole. I feel like there is so much controversy and research since the subject is so new that it would be fairly easy to cover this topic in a research paper lasting eight to ten pages. Aside from finding sources on my own, the library database contains thousands of journals and surveys related to the topic of my discussion so research is not scarce or limited. There is a lot I do not know about this topic. I chose this topic without any background knowledge on the subject whatsoever. I thought that only two or three states have legalized marijuana, whether recreationally or medically, but it turns out that there are over thirteen states that have adopted some sort of law on the matter. I believe if I revise my research question to something more along the line of the war on drugs in the United States as a whole versus just focusing on the legalization of marijuana and the effects it has on the country, I will find that it is easier to obtain a lot more substantial information as well as bigger and more important case studies and journals. On the spectrum of scope, I believe that the subject of legalizing marijuana falls pretty much anywhere depending on the sources I use and what kind of information I want to focus. It is a broad topic, but if I have a solid point to make and I stick with it throughout the duration of my paper, it will be feasible. The complexity of the subject is fairly simple but that does not make it a topic not worth focusing on. There are a lot of different parts associated with the war on drugs or even just the legalization of marijuana so I have no fear that I will be unable to discuss any of my research. On the spectrum of controversy though, this topic runs pretty high. Not everyone comes from the same background or feel the same way about drugs as the next person. I feel like a lot of the opinion gap stems from location and generation. Areas with a larger population usually have a higher rate of marijuana use. This is not because the state is larger or has twice as many people as another state, but because the more people that partake in smoking marijuana, the more socially acceptable it is.

All in all, I feel as if the legalization of marijuana, or the war on drugs in the United States as a whole if I do so decide to change my research questions, is not too broad, not too complex and a little on the controversial side but I believe I can make an argument. Legalizing marijuana will have many different effects on the state it is legalized in as well as effects on the country as a whole. The effects range from monetary and tax intake to legal changes to reducing criminal records to downsizing on government jobs and the increase of job rates for said criminals. Even after my research paper is complete, the question still remains: should marijuana be legalized in all fifty states?
