The legalization of marijuana has been a very controversial topic in the past ten to fifteen years. Many believe that the plant should never be legalized because of its harmful effects and its ability to impair our judgment. Others believe that marijuana should be legalized for both its medical benefits and its recreational benefits. Both sides have very good arguments with facts to support them, but when comparing the facts for both sides, legalization seems to be safe and healthy for the American citizens, compared to substances that are already legalized such as alcohol and tobacco. It is known in America that alcohol and tobacco are two of the leading substances that can cause death. When trying to find, deaths related to marijuana most experts found that there is no relation (Shapiro). Since alcohol and tobacco are legal, yet very harmful to Americans, marijuana, which is less harmful, should be legalized not only because it is not as harmful, but because it can generate income for our country, help our citizens who need it medically, and decrease the amount of drug dealers and money spent on the drug in the streets. 

Nobody knows how much money is spent on marijuana in the United States. Since it is an illegal drug in most states, the government does not keep records on how much is bought and how much is spent. What the government can do is approximate how much revenue they would bring in if it was legalized. The state of Washington recently legalized marijuana and estimates that “it will generate as much as $1.9 billion in additional revenue in five years due to the legalization of marijuana” (Fairchild). This could, and most likely would improve the economy of the state by using the money to improve public services, such as roads, schools, and to help prevent crimes that cause pain and suffering to people unlike marijuana. By using the money on schools, the country could help uneducated children by making better schools and giving them better supplies to learn. One of Colorado’s campaign’s is to use the money they get from marijuana to build better schools, and they estimate that they will get between five and twenty-two million dollars a year (Lawrence). This would be plenty to help our schools. Even if the government does not spend the money to build new schools, they could renovate the old schools and make them more advanced. This is just one of the ways legalizing marijuana recreationally could help improve our country. Another way the legalization of marijuana could improve our economy is that the law enforcement could stop its focus on the drug. “One study estimates that nationwide marijuana legalization would save governments $8.7 billion each year” (Legalizing Recreational Marijuana – Pros and Cons.). Along with the tax revenue that marijuana could bring in, stopping the law enforcement from fighting the drug would also bring in money for the government. The law enforcement could use this extra money to stop more serious issues, such as homicides, domestic violence, and more serious drugs. This would also free up room in the justice system, by freeing up space in prison and letting judges focus on more serious work that needs to be accomplished. “Advocates of legalization contend that by making the substance less profitable for criminals, it will decrease the violence associated with the trade” (Legalizing Recreational Marijuana – Pros and Cons.). Most criminals make their money by selling illegal drugs such as marijuana. By taking this drug and selling it legally the public could go to dispensaries instead of funding these criminals. This would help stop crime in its tracks. With no money to buy things criminals would be forced to stop what they are doing. Most criminals who sell the drug could find a job in dispensaries or growing the drug since they know so much about it now. Growing marijuana takes precise measurements and takes time to grow. It must be grown in the right environment and some plants must be grown inside. Many of these dealers that sell the drug know how to grow it and the government could use them to find out how to grow good marijuana and get great sales. 

Another topic in the legalization of marijuana is the amount of jobs it could create. This would be a great way to improve our economy since unemployment is one of our country’s most problematic issues. Gaining any amount of jobs would be a blessing for our country. Marijuana has already made a lot of jobs, “the marijuana industry currently employs about 150,000 people nationwide” (Williams). This is astonishing. Marijuana is only legal in a handful of states and 150,000 people are already employed. If it were legalized nationally there could be an increase in hundreds of thousands of jobs. This would cut the unemployment rate by a substantial amount. Approximately fifteen million Americans are unemployed, by legalizing marijuana we could cut this rate. The number of jobs in the marijuana business is increasing as well. Without knowing if other states are going to legalize marijuana it is hard to estimate the amount of jobs that are coming but it is estimated that “the marijuana job market could double or triple in the years to come, meaning 150,000 to 300,000 additional cannabis-related jobs could be filled in the near and intermediate terms” (Williams). As long as we kept the marijuana business in the United States we could turn our country’s economy around. By legalizing marijuana, the country would create jobs and make money at the same time. Marijuana is a huge industry and has a potential to do many things and our country is stopping it from showing us that. Maybe one thing to convince the government to legalize marijuana would be the health benefits. 

Marijuana is known to treat many diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, and one man knows that more than any other and his name is Larry. In a documentary about a man with Parkinson’s called Ride with Larry, Larry, the man with Parkinson’s, tries a new medication that he has never tried before. Larry tries medical marijuana. He does not smoke marijuana which most people believe is how medical marijuana is used. Medical marijuana can be smoked, but most patients who need it, use pills or oral marijuana medications. Larry uses a gel that he rubs between his gums to get the medical marijuana into his blood stream. Before Larry takes the medication, he cannot stay still, he is very difficult to understand because of his voice, he cannot walk very well, and his overall posture very bad. He sits down and takes his medication. Around ten to fifteen minutes later he is perfectly still. He stands up and his voice goes back to normal, he can stand, and move steadily and calmly. His hands were as steady as a rock (Villarreal). This is an astonishing video. It is amazing what medical marijuana can do for someone like Larry. It is unbelievable that the government is keeping such a wonderful drug away from people who need it. While other drugs can treat the effects of Parkinson’s, none of them have such a beneficial effect like medical marijuana does. While marijuana does a great job at treating Parkinson’s, this is not the only disease that it can help. 

Another great thing that marijuana can accomplish is relieving pain. Medical marijuana is known as a great pain reliever and can stop chronic pain if used daily. Multiple clinical trials were made to test if marijuana could hinder pain. Six trials including 325 patients examined chronic pain, and six more trials including 396 patients investigated neuropathic pain. The findings were as expected, “Several of these trials had positive results, suggesting that marijuana or cannabinoids may be efficacious for these indications” (Hill). Chronic pain is one of the highest medical problems older citizens have. If medical marijuana was legalized nationally we could stop this. Some people would argue that it would cause these patients to have altered minds and inhibit their ability to work and do daily activities, but most of the drugs that do stop pain such as oxycodone also inhibits their ability to do daily activities. Most of the treatments used to stop chronic pain are very expensive and can ruin a family’s financial status. Marijuana is inexpensive and can do the same thing as all these other drugs. Medical marijuana can also take place of surgery that can be used to stop this pain. These surgeries are also very expensive and most families cannot afford them. Another disease studied in these trials was Multiple Sclerosis. There were twelve trials with 1600 patients and the results were the same as the chronic pain and neuropathic pain trials (Hill). Marijuana should be legalized to help the United States’ citizens maintain a better lifestyle even though they have these diseases. One man who fell at his job nineteen years ago, had disk bulges in his spine at L2-3, L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1. These are his lumbar and sacrum sections in his spine. He had surgery which did not help at all and was given narcotics to relive pain. Narcotics are very addictive and are known to ruin people’s lives if taken daily. This man was given medical marijuana and, “He has found marijuana to have a sedative effect, enabling him to get a good night’s sleep and to have less pain the next day” (Hill).  There are multiple cases in which medical marijuana has helped many people with their diseases and problems. Marijuana is one of the only drugs that doctors can uses to treat their patients with any disease that can cause pain. 

After studying all these positive effects of marijuana one should question, why is marijuana still illegal? To find out why we have to know how the drug effects how we operate. The main chemical in marijuana, THC, mimics other chemicals that we produce naturally, these chemicals are called endocannabinoids (Khamsi). THC replaces this chemical giving the users the “High” that they feel. Our bodies do not have receptors to notice that we are smoking marijuana. The binding sight on THC is the same shape as the binding sight on endocannabinoids which is why it can affect its users. This high gives people a feeling of relaxation and can inhibit their ability to act on certain issues. This is caused because, “Marijuana also temporarily impairs an array of mental abilities, especially memory and attention” (Khamsi). This is where people believe that it should not be legalized. If people believe this than alcohol should also be illegal. Alcohol also impairs mental abilities such as memory and attention and the government noticed that and tried to make it illegal in the nineteen-hundreds. The only reason that alcohol is not illegal is because the citizens became outraged and fought against it. If the citizens of the United States did the same with marijuana it would become legal. This is beginning to happen. Legalization is becoming a popular topic, and just because it is out in the news, people are beginning to realize that it is not a bad drug. If the user does not operate machinery while on the drug it is very safe. When driving, it is found to act almost the same as alcohol, “A 2009 study found an increased risk of accidents for levels of THC higher than five nanograms per milliliter of blood, which some evidence indicates is as impairing as a blood alcohol concentration around the legal limit of 0.08 percent” (Khamsi). It would take a couple puffs from a joint to get to this level but, it can happen. This is a good reason for it to be illegal, but alcohol affects us in the same way. Since alcohol is legal, except when driving, then so, should marijuana. As long as it is used in a safe way, marijuana can be a fun and legal way to take a break and calm its users stress. 

In conclusion, marijuana is safe enough to be legalized. It has the some of the same effects of alcohol and can also help treat diseases. If such a drug can be used to treat these diseases than it should be released to the market for user consumption if needed. For recreational purposes studies, have shown that marijuana does impair our senses, but it is safe to the human body if machinery is not operated while the user is under the influence. As long as the government can regulate the drug to prevent dangerous outcomes, the drug would be perfectly safe for users to consume. Other than the side effects from the drug the profit the government would be making from it would be astonishing. Millions of dollars would be given to the government with tax revenue alone not including the amount the government could save not enforcing the law against the drug. Overall legalizing marijuana would be very beneficial to our country and could stop many problems with crime, unemployment, and money issues within the government. 
