There has been a "War on Drugs" campaign alluding to that marijuana is the cause menacing our society. So this "war" has continued with clever advertising slogans such as: "Just Say NO to Drugs". Over the past few decades there has been opposition against the illegalness of it. In more recent years there have been many debates within state governments about the medical usage and benefits. I have found that marijuana can help with numerous ailments such as: chronic pain, glaucoma, and certain types of cancer. Even the National Cancer Institute acknowledges that marijuana is good at minimizing nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite among chemotherapy patients. Although marijuana essentially may be legalized in certain states in the eyes of the Federal Government it is still an illegal dangerous drug. For this assignment I plan to research more on the history of the Federal Governments studies and justifications. I also want to learn about the medicinal factors marijuana has to offer. There is so much data and from what I can tell if the government legalizes marijuana they can direct more of the budget to fighting real drugs, to education, immigration, the deficit, etc. Statistically the average marijuana smoker is arrested every 45 seconds in the U.S. and Canada; imagine how much that would free up law enforcement if not for petty arrests and citations? With the overcrowding of jails as well, it would make room for real hardened criminals. .
With my general knowledge and articles that I obtained I can see both sides of the argument. Opposition is always a factor with anything in the world. Some of the arguments I can imagine are the older generation stuck in the "War on Drugs" mentality, which is becoming outdated. Some other opponents would be politicians in general so they have something to campaign or lobby against. I found a quote relevant for the matter, "Pot causes insanity-not in its users, but in politicians"-Anonymous.
