For the past decade, marijuana has slowly become a popular topic to the citizens of the United States. As marijuana’s popularity and success grows, so does the research associated with it, such as the medicinal benefits or the effects of recreational use. This comes with the question of legalization in the United States and whether it be medical or recreational. There are many pre-notions that adults today have about the effects of marijuana, but only now are studies being done proving that there are indeed many benefits to the use of marijuana. Along with any new idea, there are many who say that the adverse effects outweigh the positive ones, and vice-versa. The outcome of this fight for legalization will be decided by the supporters with the most passion because they are fighting for what they believe in. Marijuana should be legalized in the United States both medically and recreationally because of the recent studies and new knowledge we have gained about marijuana, such as being useful in relieving stress, treating certain diseases and disorders, replacing certain prescription drugs, and countless other benefits that make legalization a clear answer. 

The reason that marijuana became illegal in the United States was when the material hemp was introduced, it could replace other raw materials used to make clothing, rope, paper, etc. This was in 1937 when little to no research had been done on the effects of marijuana. The years that followed, certain people who wanted to keep many of these big manufacturers in business in the United States began to smear marijuana claiming that it was extremely bad for you and could damage the brain, all because they didn’t want hemp to be available to manufacturers. This cemented the belief that marijuana is bad for people and this belief continued in the United States until recently when studies on marijuana occurred and people started to realize that they had been told lies about marijuana and its effects for their whole lives. 

In 1970 the DEA classified marijuana as a schedule 1 drug which any person with common sense can assume that schedule 1 is not where marijuana should be (Bostwick 1). In Colorado doctors prescribe medical marijuana to patients as they would any other prescription drug (Bostwick 1). Using marijuana to replace certain prescription drugs is a major plus for many reasons including the fact that many prescription drugs are highly addictive and can have many harmful effects on the body, as well as the chance of an overdose, which has been proven to be close to impossible when using marijuana. Using common sense, one can easily see how the rankings of drugs according to the DEA is far from the truth. The DEA lists marijuana as a schedule I drug making it more harmful than schedule II drugs such as methamphetamine, and cocaine. Any sensible person can look at this and determine the falseness of these rankings. The criteria for a schedule I drug in the United States is as follows: The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse, the drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical treatment use in the U.S., and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or substance under medical supervision. 2 out of these 3 statements have been proven to be false, while marijuana in some extreme cases can fall to abuse, there have been studies done on marijuana proving its medicinal use for things like asthma, nausea, glaucoma, etc.

There is no question that the acceptance of marijuana use has increased within the United States in the past decade. This generation of young adults are the first to not have completely been exposed to the false claims made by the media about marijuana, allowing them to intelligently research and uncover possible uses in medicine. In the book, Marijuana Legalization: State Initiatives, Implications, And Issues, the author discusses some reasons why the legalization of marijuana in the United States could satisfy multiple problems, one being the amount of drug trafficking in the United States from many countries, one major source being Mexico. Marijuana is the most smuggled drug brought into the United States by Mexico. If marijuana were to be legalized nationwide, this would be severely decreased because we would be growing and selling legal marijuana within the United States, removing the need for it to be smuggled in (Derrickson 1). Not only would this decrease the amount of marijuana smuggled into the United States, but it would also allow the United States to focus more on the more harmful drugs being brought into the United States. The amount of issues that could be solved or reduced from the legalization range from drug trafficking to creating jobs across the nation. 

Colorado has proven that legal weed works great economically. Legalizing marijuana in Colorado has proven to the rest of the nation that legal weed works, in 2015 the legalization of marijuana generated about 18,000 full-time jobs and as well as strengthened Colorado’s economy (Pyke 1). Marijuana has been a larger economic instigator than 90 percent of the industries in Colorado (Pyke 1). Colorado has shown the United States that legal marijuana is beneficial to more people when it is legal than when it is illegal. Whether pot is legal or illegal, people who want it are still going to be able to get it, it’s a question of whether we can turn those illegal transactions in an unregulated market, into an economy-driving industry that is regulated and can be channeled to create advantages for the United States. The marijuana industry in Colorado is the one of the largest economic multipliers in the nation only behind government spending. Not just is recreational weed a helpful initiative for the economy, but medical marijuana would allow people to get the help they need while lowering the risk of becoming addicted to some prescriptions, and increasing the number of jobs where marijuana is produced and cultivated.  

One might discuss the repercussions of medical marijuana laws regarding adolescence when deciding to legalize marijuana. Even with the expected outcomes of legal marijuana and teens, studies have shown that the medical marijuana laws have had almost no effect on teenagers in places where marijuana is legal (Anderson 1). One could discuss the possibility that marijuana can affect teen’s performance in the world and how it can harm their school/work ethic (Anderson 1). Many will go on listing the harmful effects that marijuana use can have on adolescence, and say that it should not be used at such a young age for recreation (Anderson 1). These claims people make are likely but do not mention the application of medical marijuana on adolescence who could very well need marijuana as a treatment for some diseases and disorders.

The growing acceptance of marijuana has been one of the largest bursts during the past 5-10 years. Young adults are realizing that marijuana is not as dangerous as they had been told growing up. This is because young adults of today’s generation are shown the facts of marijuana that have been proven by scientific studies. According to one source, marijuana legalization is accepted by 57% of adults in the United States (Geiger 1). Marijuana is compared many times to alcohol and is often seen as less harmful. Rarely do you see it compared to drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth. This is because people in the United States are educated enough to know that the claims made about it in the past 60 years are unreliable and have never been proven by scientific research or studies. The article that was last referenced as well as every other resource used to find these claims are credible because of the extensive research that the authors of these sources have used in order to find the information they provide. None of these articles were written more than 6 years ago and that is important because this type of information and these claims are quickly being reproduced and creating a whole new encyclopedia for the science of marijuana and the acceptance of marijuana. Reports about the effects of marijuana more than 10 years ago cannot be completely credited because most are based off of false claims and opinionated description about what they grew hearing. The middle-aged adults and up of today’s generation were not given the information that young adults are given today. The reason for these false beliefs of these adults who oppose the legalization of marijuana are under the influence of bias because of the time period they grew up in. 

In the past 10 or so years people have had many factors that sway their ideas or beliefs. One being their political party affiliation. Most 10 or so years ago would agree with whatever their political party would agree with, and many still do. Usually in the past according to some studies, republicans tend to agree with the illegalization of marijuana and want to keep the law in-tact (Lydia 1). This belief tends to derive from large tobacco corporations and timber corporations that favor the illegalization of marijuana because of their interests in these and other industries that could be negatively affected by the legalization of marijuana. Just as most republicans tend to lean towards the illegalization side of marijuana, democrats tend to lean towards the legalization of marijuana. Historically in the past 50 or so years, democrats have been more open to new ideas and enjoy exploring different industries that could change certain aspects of the United States (Lydia 1). Democrats tend to side against what most conservatives believe in, this is mostly the result of decades of complications and fighting one another on different topics about American society. All of this is beginning to change in that today’s generation of adults is developing a new understanding of marijuana’s effects and how it can be favored by those of both parties, which does not happen often. Republicans can look at the legalization of marijuana as being a boost for state economies and creating more tax revenue, and democrats can look at it as a major change that effects the overall attitude of American society. Not saying that if you are a republican or a democrat you have to believe in these claims, but looking at both political parties from a general, overlooking view, one can easily see that one party leans one direction on most topics, and one leads against (Lydia 1). Both political parties have noticed the swaying of beliefs about marijuana that cross over political barriers. Both parties however, are able to learn more about the effects of marijuana because of the research that has been done.

Most people who are against the legalization of marijuana have these false beliefs because they refuse to look at the proven benefits of marijuana and they only hear what they want to hear. Although, those who have done research do bring up some good points about the adverse effects of marijuana. Like anything, it can be abused and since it alters the state of mind, it can have negative impacts on some users. Many individuals make specific points on how marijuana causes negative effects, one being that it is a gate-way drug, which means that after people use marijuana, they feel they need something stronger to feel good because marijuana starts to feel weaker after the user develops a tolerance (Volkow 1). Some say that marijuana leads people indefinitely to harder drugs such as cocaine, heroine, or even meth, but this is only opinion-based. Marijuana can be abused and is abused in some cases, but the same goes for alcohol and alcohol is legal. The only difference is marijuana has scientific-based research that proves its medicinal uses. Marijuana is only a gateway drug to those who have addictive personalities or have other issues that cause them to act a certain way. In the same article mentioned before, the author discusses how marijuana effects school performance. One claim made about performance is the adverse effect on short-term memory after using marijuana, stating that using marijuana affects student performance because it negatively effects memory (Volkow 1). Marijuana can also impair a person’s abilities to react quickly when driving which can lead to car accidents which can result in serious injury or death (Volkow 1). This statement is valid and can be proven with studies if it were ethical, but this goes along with the effects and use of alcohol, it is dangerous if under the influence but that is only if it is abused. Driving under the influence of some prescription pills is extremely dangerous, and there is no difference in risk if someone were to drive under the influence of marijuana. Marijuana needs to be seen as a medication at the very least considering its proven medicinal applications.

In one ted talk, the speaker, Josh Stanley, talks about how there is a form of marijuana that is non-psychotropic and is beneficial in the treatment of epilepsy. Josh and his brothers developed this and see it as a necessity for the future of treatment of seizures and potentially other diseases/disorders (Stanley 1). Josh’s research is backed up by proof and talks directly about this medical breakthrough. The relevance of this article shows the American public yet another medical use of marijuana (Stanley 1). This story that Josh Stanley describes is extremely important in the future of medicinal marijuana legalization. If a corporation were able to effectively mass produce a strain of marijuana that has no psychotropic effects the industry and acceptance of marijuana would grow rapidly. Stanley is developing the idea of extracting the part of the cannabis plant that treats certain diseases and disorder, but does not disturb the patient’s ability to function in their normal state of mind. The limits to this idea are endless in that if it were successful, large amounts of potentially dangerous prescription pills could be eliminated and abuse for them could be taken out of the equation. The possibilities of medical marijuana seem endless because of the little research that has been done on the medical uses. This seems odd considering how much we have learned in the past 10 years about the science of marijuana, but this development of a non-psychotropic strain of marijuana provides evidence that we may just be at the tip of the ice berg with the possibilities of medical and recreational marijuana. Going back 60 or so years ago when marijuana was illegalized nationwide in the United States, little to no research about the effects of marijuana had been done, the illegalization was solely based off of popular belief and false claims and putting fear into the hearts of American Citizens. 

In conclusion, the legalization of marijuana in the United States is a question of whether or not enough citizens can get behind the legalization process. The government and higher-ups want to keep it illegalized for unethical reasons and will not admit the beneficial uses of the herb such as treatment for medical issues. The growing acceptance of marijuana contributes to the legalization happening in states across the nation. People are realizing the applications of marijuana and are backing what they know whether it be good or bad, but as the acceptance of marijuana grows, so does the research behind it. The next 10 years will be a journey in which we discover the new uses and implications of marijuana both medicinal and recreational.
