For the past couple of decades, the legalization of marijuana has been a growing problem in our nation that needs to be stopped. It has to come to a point where either it is completely outlawed and banned almost like now, or it gets legalized fully or for certain uses. It has been legalized in certain states around the United States and has slowly began to spread to other states that are beginning to see the benefits of legalization. Going back to the 1990's, the United States began growing and smoking more marijuana than in past years and officials began to crack down. Then in 1996, California had another vote for the Medical Marijuana Initiative and this time it passed the voting. The passing of this initiative made it legal for citizens of California to grow the marijuana plants as long as it is being grown for medicinal purposes (Annas). With the medical use of marijuana, people with issues such as cancer, AIDS, arthritis and other illnesses can use this drug to provide relief from the pain. This law was basically used for those who are in possession or growing marijuana the defense they need if they were to be approached or stopped by the police. Now there has been a lot of research done since 1996 on the affects and legalization of marijuana in the United States. 

In 2011, the DEA classified after years of research that marijuana would be considered as a Schedule 1 drug which means it has a high change of abuse, no accepted medical value and that there is a lack of safety when using the drug ("Medical Marijuana"). With this, the consequences of being caught with marijuana are now worse than before. And everyone who was already against the use of the drug legally, oppose it even more now due to the government classifying the drug as one of the most dangerous ones. Since then, there has been no strong evidence to keep marijuana as a dangerous and addictive drug. There have been no overdoses on the drug, less crime has happened and other factors play in to why it should be legal. This is why all the arguments that have occurred over the past decade or have happened because of the denial of the drug being used in a positive way. As well as all of the violence that the drug brings to the communities with the trafficking and gangs that are so closely related to the drug because of the market in the United States. With the drug being illegal in the United States. The drug brings in billions of dollars a year with the black market selling and buying marijuana and other narcotics. With that, I must ask why our nation is where it is at right now. Why has the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana not been legalized in every state as a federal law instead of just state? It should be legalized due to the facts of increased use, medicinal use, decrease crime rates and an increase in revenue. There is not enough evidence to keep marijuana as such an illegal and dangerous drug. 

In todays society, most people would agree that people are trying more drugs as opposed to 10 years ago. With this, it allows more people that try the drugs to be able to testify for the drug and say whether or not the drug should be legal or not. In America, about 40% of the population have tried marijuana before which is higher than most of the drugs that are classified in the Schedule 1 class (Jacques). With 40% of the population saying that they have tried it and that number rising, many more people are trying the drug now and feel more safe doing it. As of the year 2000, 11.7 million citizens were actively using the drug and that number has only gotten larger since it was 16 years ago ("Drugs"). With this many current users and no overdoses or deaths due to the use of marijuana, how are people going to say that it should be illegal and kept from being used? Having that many people using it and not getting hurt or abusing it shows that the drug is not an addictive drug and can be used recreationally with even less violence if it was legal. And with the proof of no addiction and death, marijuana can not be looked at as an addictive or gateway drug to more serious drugs. If it was such an addictive and dangerous drug, then there would be more then 0 deaths from is usage. 

Now from the other side of the argument people have said that marijuana is an addictive and dangerous drug that can lead to death and the usage of more severe drugs. They believe that it is true because of some results stating that when using marijuana everyday, you are more likely to become addicted. And if you are addicted to the drug then when you stop using it you will experience some withdrawal symptoms. It is proven that marijuana does in fact alter a person's perception when under the influence, so why should something that can alter someone's perception like other hardcore drugs, be legal? It should not be legal from the more conservative side of the argument. Even in low doses, marijuana does have the capability of distorting or altering ones' view and perception. This is what can lead to deaths such as automobile accidents when someone is too impaired to drive and they get behind the wheel and wreck. "In fact, study shows that weed is one of the most prevalent illegal drugs found in fatally injured and impaired drivers" ("Primary Pros and Cons"). Most of the people who oppose legalization, often have not experienced or seen the benefits first hand therefor do not believe in the medicinal side either. 

With medicinal marijuana there are many benefits to being able to use it. With marijuana being legal, anyone who is in need of pain relievers or have illnesses that may not have medicine that can help with it, marijuana could be used. Marijuana has been used many times by many different people for different medical reasons. One reason that many people are prescribed this and use it is because it is used help relieve pain in illnesses such as AIDS, MS and arthritis. These are three of the major pain ridden illnesses because of the take over the body with AIDS, the body decomposition of MS, and the swollen and painful issues that arthritis patients deal with everyday with their illness. It can help with the pain of these illnesses because the drug can relax your muscles and make it so that the body will not be so tense and locked up. Probably one of the most well known reasons for using medical marijuana is to reduce the nausea created from patients who are having to go through chemotherapy. Kind of like pain, marijuana will calm down your body and relax it so that nausea does not take over. Marijuana is used for a number of other illnesses to help relieve the symptoms or other side affects. It can be helpful with muscle spasms, it can slow the onset of Alzheimer's and could slow and possibly stop the progression of cancer cells into the body. Once the law passing the legalization of growing and distributing marijuana, "The number of registrants, both adults and children, grew rapidly from 4,819 in December 2008 to 115,467 in December 2014" (Ghosh). Right now, with weed being illegal, it is difficult for those who would benefit from to obtain it. And with the difficulties of obtaining them, many lives may be lost if it is not legalized. If passed like in California, Colorado and other legal states, many lives could be helped and even spared.

On the other hand, many conservatives and others opposed to legalization see marijuana as a substance that should not be used medically. Similar to tobacco, they use the facts known that anything that uses smoke to get into the body will have negatives affects on your body along with any positives there may be. One point that they make about smoking marijuana is that it can cause some damage to your brain. Marijuana can cause the vessels in your head to constrict and restrict blood flow to your brain and other important vital body parts. As well as tobacco, smoking marijuana can cause an individual to have poor lung health from having to smoke and breathe in everything in the drug as well as whatever it is wrapped in, heating with or smoked out of. With cigarettes, you breathe in the tar from the tobacco as well as the addictive nicotine that is in them. With marijuana, you can smoke it out of a number of things. Bowls/bongs, papers/joints, and blunts are most often the most common ways of smoking. With Bowls and bongs you are heating up the pack every time so you are inhaling gas with it as well. Blunts you will have a little bit of tobacco from smoking tobacco rolls and papers are the cleanest way since they are nothing but paper. All of these points of emphasis show how marijuana can lead to poor lung and heart health and even cancer from certain chemicals from the drug as well as the ways of smoking them. In 19 Primary Pros and Cons of Legalizing Weed, it states that "Marijuana use raises the heart rate from 20 to 100 percent for up to three hours after being smoked, increasing the risk of getting other health problems." This shows that smoking marijuana medically would not benefit everyone as people with cardiac conditions and seniors would be a high-risk activity. But for younger users, it can cause problems that could shorten their lifespan from smoking as well as the violence that comes with it. 

For decades in the past and now in the present with the criminalization of marijuana, there has been violence to follow the flow of drugs through the United States and other surrounding countries. With the trafficking of drugs and the power of Mexican Cartels in the Black Market and in the drug world, violence was at an all time high in years past. Anywhere there was marijuana there was Cartel linked to it. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, "over $51 billion dollars are spent annually to fight the war on drugs" (Bernabe). Because the 

United States has been on a prohibition of marijuana since the 1990's, the drug cartels have been in control of the market for several years earning billions of dollars well as killing many people along the way. If the United States were to legalize marijuana in every state, then the cartels would be forced out of the country due to the fact of citizens no longer having to get marijuana from another country illegally and the market for it would diminish. "The only people hurt by continued societal acceptance and legalization of cannabis are the cartels and their friends," said by Amir Zendehnam when asked about cannabis oriented networks (Bernabe). With the cartels gone and marijuana legalized, crime rates would drop and communities would not have to worry about violence related to marijuana anymore. With decreased crime rate, the country will be more safe and jails would be less crowded with criminals with marijuana related convictions. Since the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado crime rates have actually spiked down, proving that if fully legalized every where crime rates would decrease drastically and so would trafficking. 

When it comes to the decrease of crime rate in the United States, many people see that it would not stop the crime rates. Many believe that if marijuana was legalized that crime would actually increase because the minorities will still cause crime when dealing with drugs. Even with it legalized, there will still be violence linked due to arguments from other drugs. One reason for the fact of legalization not being voted for is that many criminals that were being looked for have been put away for being caught with drug related cases with specifically marijuana. Another is that crime rates when first legalized, actually sky rocketed in the Seattle and Denver areas. In Seattle property crimes rose when the possession of an ounce or less of weed became legal. Since 2012, crime rates went from 32,000 to 36,815 in 2013 and then up to 40,666 in 2014. "All told, property crimes have jumped by more than a quarter in the two years following the legalization of marijuana" (Williams). Away from Seattle, Denver had close to the same thing happen. Since 2012, crime rate jumped 29% in 2013, then another 15% into 2014. With the increase in crime rates in those cities, there is no other reason as to why the crimes happened. 

One given that would come out of legalizing marijuana in the United States, is that it would bring a large amount of revenue to the economy. In Colorado, they are expected to have "$98 million in tax revenue," (TestTubeNews) from the purchasing of marijuana in dispensaries and in the pharmacy. Along with all of the revenue that would come along with legalization, it would also bring another wave of jobs to the community. Since legalized in Colorado there are approximately 10,000 people working in the weed industry. This rise in jobs helps with unemployment and those who struggle to make ends meet. The marijuana industry only makes up for "about 0.04% of Colorado's workforce," (TestTubeNews) so this shows how little the industry is, but how valuable it would be. With such a boost in revenue the country would have enough money to build things such as new parks and to repair many roads across the country. It is estimated that if legalized and taxed, the drug could bring in millions of dollars per year. Along with revenue, if legalized marijuana would be regulated similar to alcohol in that those over 21 will only be able to purchase it from a dispensary. This means it will be more regulated and labeled which in the end will bring back more customers to spend more money on marijuana increasing their own revenue. 

Going against the revenue facts is difficult in that it is proven that from the sales of legal marijuana that the states that have been legalized are gaining millions of dollars in tax revenue. With this, one negative that would come out of the large revenue amount that would be gained is that it will be easier for minors to access the drug still. They could use fake ID's to try and buy marijuana like people do to try and buy alcohol. If someone who is too young gets a hold of the drug or an edible that has a strong amount of THC or CBD in it could possibly hurt themselves because their body would not handle it right. It is statistically proven that "more children were admitted to hospitals in a 6-month span of 2014 then the whole 2013 year" (TestTubeNews). 

In conclusion, I believe that the legalization of marijuana in the United States is key to the improvement and self esteem of our country. I believe that it is so important because there are so many benefits that come from marijuana if it was legal. If completely legal, those who need it for medicinal purposes, could freely obtain the drug and be able to use it however he/she wants. Throughout the years, we have been under a prohibition that has been overpowered and out of control. It has over crowded our prisons with pointless criminals who were put in there because of possession of marijuana. Most of which were less than an ounce of marijuana which would be legal in any of the legal states. Hopefully now that marijuana is being used as a medical herb, and it has been legalized in many states, that the drug will be unclassified as a Schedule 1 drug. I believe that it should be legal because with legalization in certain states may people use it for medicinal purposes of pain relief and other symptoms, more people have begun using it more often to be able to feel good, crime rates will eventually decline to an all time low and tax revenue will be an astounding level of money for the states. 

