In our society much of what is deemed acceptable and what is not, really centers around social taboos and not the facts alone. For example, marijuana use has become the hot seat of much debates, concerning whether it should be legal. Marijuana on prescription basis has become legalized in nine states, but the changes in our laws are long overdue and our society can no longer postpone this decision. Marijuana should be legal throughout America.
It can be argued that the user base for marijuana might increase significantly if marijuana is legalized, but with seventy million people already having tried marijuana and another twenty million people having smoked it in the last year alone; one has to wonder, what kind of change would legalization bring? Where would crime play a role when Marijuana does finally become legalized? The fact is once marijuana is legalized the market for growers and sellers would be lost to the more organized states that could grow it in large quantities and turn into a cash crop. Eventually companies will be licensed to sell marijuana cigarettes or more commonly know as "joints" and the immense revenue made from taxation of marijuana and the saved budget once spent on the prohibition of Marijuana could be spent on anti drug programs targeting much more dangerous drugs like cocaine and morphine. .
Somewhere in between providing bored high school kids something to do and being used to treat terminally ill patients marijuana has acquired the title of the "gateway drug." What does that really mean? Well on a dictionary outlook it means " A habit-forming substance whose use may lead to the abuse of drugs that are more addictive or more dangerous"; or more simply put a substance that opens the doors to more harmful drugs. On that token, alcohol fits the bill much better. Alcohol can be found in almost any home and for most people it is the first experience with a drug taken outside of the sphere of medicinal uses.