About 8.6 million people in the US have at least 1 serious illness that's caused by smoking. Smoking is the cause of 1 in 5 deaths in the US annually. For every person that dies from a smoking-related disease, there are 20 more who suffer from at least 1 serious illness associated with smoking. The CDC estimates that adult male smokers lose an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lose 14.5 years of life because of smoking.

"It" leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing. "It" is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind. "It" is a gateway drug that will lead to a life of drugs and crime. "People who smoke it have a 5-word vocabulary and are too lazy to be helpful for society. 

Looking at the differences between what people are saying about the two different substances, it is hard to imagine that the one mentioned in the first paragraph is legal, and the one in the second paragraph is not. Marijuana is currently one of the biggest controversial topics in America, and is definitely starting to make its name heard in the political world and among the nations people in general. Political platforms are being built around it, scientific research is being done on it, companies are being made to help strengthen the positive image of weed, companies are being made to help assure that weed remains illegal. No matter the stance, the legalization of marijuana is an issue that, for most people, is the difference between black and white, there is no grey, or in this case, green.

There are many claims for why people believe that weed should, or should not, be made legal. One of the biggest arguments that political figures are making to back why they believe that marijuana should be legalized, is the large economic boost that the state would expect to see if they were to make weed legal. First, the money that is spent on marijuana crimes would be significantly decreased. Experts estimate that over $13 Billion would be saved on marijuana prohibition enforcement alone. In the state of Washington, after the first year of legalization, they had accumulated over $500 million in tax revenue off of selling marijuana legally medicinally and recreationally. Marijuana consumers could expect prices to go down, which would free up the spending in other markets, ultimately helping much more than just the weed industry. The United States spends over a billion dollars in marijuana-related incarcerations, this obviously would be better spent in other parts of the budget, or helping the US get out of their debt a little at a time. In fact, it costs the US a whopping $41.8 billion annually just to enforce pot prohibition. 

Then there's all the benefits that would directly translate from legal, to illegal. Jobs would open up in the economy for people with only a high school degree, all the way up to people with PhDs. With the illegal weed industry bringing in over $36 billion a year illegally, if made legal, this industry would see a significant rise. In Sacramento, the failing newspaper business even saw in increase in their revenue, as dispensaries continued to buy adds to promote their business. Some California police have been regulating medical marijuana growth by charging growers for a permit for each plaint raised, and in Mendocino County, California alone, they raised over $600,000 for the sheriff's department. Expert economist Stephen Easton has estimated "That legal Marijuana could be a $100 Billion a year industry". 

With all of these positive economic claims, it is hard to see how this could be something so hesitant to be made legal. But the benefits go far beyond economical reasons. One of the more controversial specific issues on the topic of weed is how it will affect a person's health. 

Most analysts believe that the legalization of weed will help to decrease the cigarette and tobacco industry. The think that they will switch from cigarettes to weed which will not only prevent the smoking of the harmful carcinogens, but also smoking weed can help reverse the effects off tobacco and improve lung health. Medical marijuana is consumed for helping seizures, glaucoma, and even is shown to help stop the spread of cancer cells. In elder citizens, the THC has been shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Muscle spasms and other pains are eased by smoking weed. With these effects and many more, marijuana, in the medicinal field, is becoming more of a medicine that the doctors want to prescribe.

Then there are the societal benefits that would come from legalizing weed. Marijuana is often associated with bad-rep gangs or drug dealers. If weed were to be regulated by the government, this would start to eliminate the drug gangs and illegal drug influence in America. And despite all of the efforts that are put into trying to prevent it, the US is not seeing a decrease in the use and trafficking of marijuana, so why continue to peruse it? 

After interviewing a marijuana legalization activist and asking him the five major questions that we are seeing circulate around legalization, this is what I have learned. When it comes to the increase in tax revenue for states that legalize weed, we can expect to see this in all cases, as it is just opening up new assets for the state to tax and make money off of. There is not a single state that should expect legalization to go any differently. For medical marijuana, diseases such as anorexia, epilepsy, and even cancer can be helped by the THC and CBD found in weed. Legalizing pot would make this medicine available for the people that need it, and would be one step closer to getting the real help they need. Recreationally, marijuana would be similar to alcohol. For example, a group of friends, instead of hanging out and drinking some beers or what not, would smoke a joint. There have been too many cases where friends are just hanging out and getting a little drunk, then one of them wants to leave and makes the bad decision to drunkenly drive. Now I'm not in any way saying that smoking marijuana will not have any effect on your driving, but in the past 10 years, there have been no claims of accidents due to high drivers, and over ten thousand due to drunk drivers. When it comes to economics, industries like the tobacco and possibly the alcohol industry could possibly take a small hit in sales, but nothing over all disastrous. It would open up more jobs in each state it became legal, and would even give people a better alternative to smoking cigarettes or drinking. 

There are, like in all cases when it comes to debatable topics, counter arguments and people who believe that marijuana should remain illegal. Some doctors do believe that cannabis can be an addictive substance. Dr. Drew Pinsky, a drug addiction doctor, claims that although most people will not develop an addiction to cannabis, some people with a natural addictive personality could become addictive. While yes, this statement does make sense, it is something that can be made a claim for anything. Someone with an addictive personality can get addicted to LEGAL alcohol just as easily as ILLEGAL weed. People also claim that making marijuana legal would also make it easier for children to attain access to the drug. While this may seem like a possibility, it is more likely that the kids who want to smoke weed, are going to find a way to get it legally or illegally. Making it legal will not make every kid suddenly want to start smoking weed, and with the legalization would come the education, similar to the way alcohol is handled. And lastly, one of the biggest claims is that smoking marijuana will harm your mental health by lowering IQ and hurting your memory. This is only slightly true as no sure-fire research has given statistically significant evidence in this, although doctors do believe that smoking marijuana before a certain age could potentially harm the growth and development of the hippocampus (the part of the brain used for memory).

So I say to everyone who apposes and critics this drug, marijuana is no more dangerous of a drug than alcohol. It has not been proven to be a gateway drug. And just because I smoke weed, that doesn't mean that I'm not going anywhere in life. There are plenty of cases of people being successful stoners. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs burned down every once in a while. Big actors like George Clooney and Morgan Freeman would never think about giving up weed. Even the country's first president, George Washington, had his own hemp farm that he grew marijuana in. While I might not be the next Steve Jobs or Morgan Freeman, I've made it into college, I made it all through high school. I have had numerous jobs, including high managerial job positions, and have a very bright future ahead of me. And has smoking weed altered this? Not one bit. People for some reason are just stuck on making these false claims for reasons that are either outdated or just plain wrong. And I can honestly say, that I am proof of that. So should weed be legalized? I've given you my reasons, so I guess that is ultimately up for you to decide. 

