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Legalization of Marijuana

Introduction

Making marijuana legal under law has been a widely debated topic for many decades now. Although the legalization of this drug may have a lot of advantages, there are n equal number of disadvantages as well. Some consider Marijuana to be a getaway drug of sorts, and consider it morally wrong. Those against its legalized and regular use believe that more criminals may crop up under the influence of this drug, as well as children using it from a minor age due to peer pressure or social conjectures. Lung damage is considered to be one of the disadvantages of the drug, besides the physical damage that may be endured through second hand smoke, damaging users and nonusers. Although there are advantages of the medicinal kind, legalizing it may not reduce its harmful effects at all.

Discussion

Those who advocate the legalization of marijuana agree that in a free country, use of such a drug should be made legal owing to the principles of freedom and liberty itself. Individuals living in a democratic, free system should be able to decide for themselves what choices they wish to make, limitations should only be imposed if the use of marijuana is affecting and endangering the health of someone else. Provocation of rights to use marijuana may also be stamped on an individual if they are under serious threat from the drug, but only a health official may be able to decide this, although logically marijuana is a definitively milder drug when compared to tobacco or alcohol. As Zimmer relates in his works, “…no dose of marijuana is fatal to humans, even very large doses do not damage tissues or organs” (1997). The decision to choose whether an individual may use marijuana should be on them alone.

This does not mean that individuals who use marijuana don't run into problems, but they may not always be health related. Psychological difficulties such as withdrawal from peers and family may be an effect of marijuana among individuals who regularly use it. In case of addiction, marijuana users often deny that they have a problem at all when confronted by family, it may just be to diffuse the situation but often denial itself leads to further problems in family life. Denial is often consistent until the addiction becomes so drastic that it cannot be ignored, the result of which might be marital ...